‘Lopez vs Lopez’ Recap: ‘Lopez vs Goosey’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

LOPEZ VS LOPEZ -- "Lopez vs Goosey" Episode 118 -- Pictured: (l-r) Matt Shively as Quinten, Mayan Lopez as Mayan, Selenis Leyva as Rosie, Brice Gonzalez as Chance, George Lopez as George -- (Photo by: Nicole Weingart/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Eighteen of ‘Lopez vs Lopez’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One universal truth about parenting that comes to light shortly after the baby comes home, is that parenthood is no easy task. After all, parents are tasked with not only keeping a young life safe and healthy but imparting powerful lessons upon a young human mind. The kind that they hope will give rise to a great person that accomplishes wonders in adulthood. But alas, children are their own person and go through unique phases to discover who they are, wherein they ignore those lessons, and that makes life tough for parents and leaves them wondering what it takes to be a great one and what it takes to keep their child on the right course. If anything, those concerns are top of mind today, because they were explored in the next episode of Lopez vs Lopez on NBC.
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For when we caught up with the Lopez family in ‘Lopez vs Goosey’, Mayan and Quinten were struggling with Chance’s new and aggressive behavior. Because he smacked a kid at school, and his bad behavior didn’t end there. For he was defiant at home and lying to them about being sorry and just putting his parents through the wringer and well… that prompted this duo to try and figure out the best way to reach their son and get him on the right path again. Some of which was advanced, such as using positive reinforcement and a goofy hand puppet named Goosey to try and get him to acknowledge his mistakes and their consequences with kindness, and when that didn’t work, they both turned to Mayan’s parents for advice.

Which led to some interesting suggestions. The kind that was the opposite of what Mayan wanted to do. Since they told her to take part in the negative stuff, she wanted to keep out of her household, the stuff that put her in therapy. But mom and dad insisted a little tough love and manipulation would go a long way and well… they tried it and dealt with some ugly results. Since it definitely made Chance scared and uncomfortable, and it painted them as manipulators for certain. Plus, it scared the hell out of George since they used him as a prop when going through their machinations, and that really put Mayan and Quinten in a tough place. Because they really felt as though they were failing Chance by not knowing the right method to use to raise him to be a good man. 

But thankfully, George and Rosie pointed out that they were good parents, and that this is a tough road and that really in the end… there is no right way to parent. For there are just too many variables to deal with in life, and the best that a parent can do… is make sure that they properly care and cater to their children’s needs, and keep imparting lessons upon them that matter, and put them on a pedestal where their emotional needs and wants are met. And of course… to find balance in discipline. For there have to be consequences for one’s actions. But there are ways to make that happen without being too harsh or too soft and that, simply takes time and trial and error, but the best parents will indeed figure that out and raise a magnificent child.

If anything, this was quite the powerful episode when all is said and done. Simply because… this is a topic that we don’t talk about enough in the everyday world. Sure, we reassure parents and parents to be that they got this, and all will be well. But that really is all they get. And they quite frankly, need to know that mistakes will be made and that raising a child will drive them up the wall sometimes. So, it was wonderful to see this series express all of that in an honest and frank, and funny manner. Since the gags here made the lessons impactful and digestible, and they brought about new lessons as well. Such as how we should never, ever… eat Couch Queso. But that aside, this is another episode that demonstrates how versatile this series is and how much it wants to explore regarding the human experience, and it will be fascinating to see what lessons await us next week, when we return to the Lopez household. Until next time.  

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