While it is undeniably tricky for The Goldbergs season 10 to handle the death of Jeff Garlin’s Murray, the family sitcom has wasted Beverly’s best story thanks to the show’s refusal to touch this subject. It is never easy for sitcoms to kill off beloved characters. Every comedy relies on the dynamic between its cast members, and there are always teething pains when a character permanently leaves the show. Furthermore, dealing with death is tough for any series that mainly wants to focus on the lighter side of life.That said, while Murray’s death isn’t the only problem with The Goldbergs season 10, the family sitcom has let down its characters in the show’s handling of the storyline. Murray was a beloved father and a central part of the titular family’s unique dynamic, and their attempts to move on from his death in season 10 haven’t done much to address this loss. While The Goldbergs season 10 can’t be expected to spend entire episodes in mourning, the show’s family focus does mean that the sitcom can (and should) mine story from the paths of losing a father and, in Beverly’s case, a husband.
Beverly Got Over Murray’s Death Too Fast
Of all the characters in The Goldbergs, Wendi McLendon-Covey’s Beverly is the one whose loss season 10 should have focused on. The Goldbergs season 10’s Christmas/Hannukah episode depicted Beverly’s first holiday season without her husband, but the outing ended up focusing on the new grandmother’s struggles with her daughter’s disinterest in passing on her Jewish heritage. This storyline could have appeared in any season of the show and proves that Beverly hasn’t really gotten a chance to grieve the loss of Murray in The Goldbergs season 10, even though she was his life partner for decades and the character’s loss has both dramatic and comedic potential.
Outside of The Goldbergs season 10, episode 1, “If You Build It,” Beverly has barely reacted to losing Murray. While this is obviously heavy territory, it’s exactly the sort of story that The Goldbergs would have mined for both comedy and pathos in earlier seasons. The Conners handled Roseanne’s death in an awkward, haphazard fashion but, since both shows are family sitcoms, The Conners and its fellow sitcom The Goldbergs get a little leeway with characters reacting to death in messy, imperfect ways. In real life, grief and loss do affect different families differently, which is why The Goldbergs should honor this reality instead of devoting one episode to the loss and instantly moving on.
Why The Goldbergs Season 10 Needs To Get Serious
Beverly is back to being her zany, over-doing self in The Goldbergs season 10 and, while this can be funny, it isn’t true to her character. The reason Beverly could be so unhinged in earlier seasons was that she had the reliably laid-back Murray to support her, something that is now missing. Instead of dragging Adam back to school, The Goldbergs season 10 needs to lean into this loss and how it changes Beverly’s character. Whether that means she is more erratic than ever or needs to slow down and take stock, The Goldbergs will be able to make Beverly’s journey funny, moving, and relatable—but the show needs to address it.