Could it be a coincidence that this episode featured Eddie the Eagle just before the release of the movie about him? Yeah, I didn't think so.
S3E16 "Edward"Eddie the Eagle"Edwards"
Barry always thought he was a great athlete, always trying out different sports while beating Adam at them. Adam always thought that his brother was great at what he did and idolised him for it. But Barry soon learnt the hard truth when he loses the athlete of the year award to Ruben Amoro Jr.
Feeling disheartened, he opens his heart out to Lainey which doesn't really help. But soon, Barry becomes inspired by one of the greatest underdog stories of all times, the story of Eddie the Eagle. Barry decides to try out for the Olympics but soon realises that he is not good at any of the events. So then he decides to bring in a game he is already good at, the made up game of ball-ball. Barry and Adam introduce the game to the school and the game catches the interest of Ruben who joins the Ball-ball club after Barry decided to kick Adam out to get Ruben into the game. Barry then plays against Ruben and loses, soon being kicked out by him after the club makes Ruben their leader. Out of anger, Adam tells Barry that he isn't good at sports and breaks Barry's heart. feeling bad for Barry, Erica steps in to fix things by telling Adam that his admiration towards Barry meant a lot to him. This leads to Adam starting the Home Olympics, a series of games meant to test their limits as athletes and have fun. This helps out Barry's confidence and helps them find a new tradition.
Meanwhile, Murray starts becoming more careful about spending money. This leads to Beverly realising that Murray's furniture store is struggling financially and so she decides to help him out by suggesting that he start selling futons. Murray shuns the idea and tells Beverly he doesn't need help. But Beverly soon sells a futon which enrages Murray to the point where he just gives Beverly ownership of the store.
Murray then puts up a Going Out of Business sale advertisement in the newspaper to convince Beverly that he isn't doing well but she thinks it is just a sales ploy. Frustrated, Murray goes to sleep in his store and ends up sleeping in one of the futons. The next day, Pops wakes him up and tells him that they sold 6 futons thanks to Murray sleeping on one. Pops then tells him that he knows that Murray was brought up in a house where he had to do everything himself, but he needed to realise that he now had people who were willing to help him. In the end, Murray asks Beverly to help him out in the store.
It's been a while since they focused on Murray. It was actually interesting to see him deal with a critical situation as well. Beverly's meddling usually deals damage but this time helped Murray and the whole family. While I wasa little surprised to see that this episode did not focus on Adam considering the outcome of the previous episode, it was good to see Barry in the spotlight. Ball-ball may never beat Calvinball as best fictional sport, but it sure was entertaining.
Quote of the week: "My flash and pizazz can't be contained in a gymnasium"