The Goldbergs Season 10 Episode 3 Review: Jenkintown After Dark

On The Goldbergs Season 10 Episode 3, “Jenkintown After Dark,” the family explores the reality of expectations. Rarely does life meet our expectations. We build things up in our minds to create the ideal world but are often let down by the harsh truth.

The first person to traverse this example is Adam. After putting college on the back burner, Adam is excited to be spending some time on the set of a new movie. Of course, when you think of a movie set you dwell on ideas of fame, fortune, and rubbing elbows with the movie stars.

Adam is quickly brought back down to earth when he is given the special assignment of guarding a hole in the sidewalk. For obvious reasons, this job seems ridiculous. There is already an orange cone in the way to announce the presence of the hole — so what is he needed for?

When we start a new job, we rarely factor in how long it will take us to rise through the ranks. We estimate three months tops for training, and then we will be on our way. But the truth is, we have no clue what the complete details of the job are. 

Heck, we can’t even see the next rung in the ladder from where we are at!

This is exactly where Adam is, in the basement and behind a door that likes to stick. If he fiddles with it long enough the door will open to him, but he has to be persistent. What a gross word — persistence.

Persistence goes hand-in-hand with patience. Both words take a lot of courage to face, and neither is found on the short list of easily earned qualities. 

Frustrated, Adam dials up Brea Bee to tell her his woes. Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on, and who better than someone who truly loves you?

The ever-misguided Beverly swoops in to steer things in a different direction.  As usual, she means well and simply wants to bolster Brea’s expectations of Adam. Unfortunately, flat-out lies only further complicate things.

Thinking that Adam is thriving in his new surroundings, Brea orchestrates some tall tales of her own. She doesn’t want to admit she is miserable if Adam is living his best life — who can blame her? 

Besides our own expectations, we also have to live with the expectations of others. 

When we are born, our parents develop a dream of who we will grow up to be. This dream becomes a laundry list of expectations.

Similarly, our friends add to this list. They see who we are and where we are headed — ultimately deciding where they believe we should end up.

When we begin to fail these expectations, we tend to sugarcoat the truth or downplay our shortcomings. Peer pressure is real folks, and it can cause us to do some less-than-savory things.

This also proves true for Joanne Schwartz.

Joanne has lived a long life of quitting. Her father makes a point of mentioning this as he offers her back-handed compliments on her new job. Throughout her years in school, she has joined many clubs to only quit them a few days later — it has become an expectation of her.

But with her new job at a high-end law firm, it looks as though she is going to stick the landing. 

Joanne: I’m just not sure this job is everthing I thought it would be.

Going for a law degree and finding a job in a related field appears to be a dream come true for the entire Schwartz family. It is almost like all of Joanne’s past sins have been washed away, and Joanne has been reborn in her purest form. 

That is until the actual work needs to be done. 

The law firm Joanne is working for is known for less than noble reasons. They protect the wealthy while taking the poor for every penny they have. 

Joanne doesn’t like what she sees from the get-go.

Like Adam, Joanne has high expectations for where she is headed. Unlike Adam, she becomes leery of the circumstances for good reasons. 

Yes, she has a good-paying job, but at what cost? For what shall it profit someone to gain the world but lose their soul? 

She has a righteous conviction over this. Joanne knows this isn’t who she is or why she got into law in the first place. But if she quits, she will only be feeding into the negative expectations her family has of her.

Here is the thing, we do not have to live up to every expectation — good or bad.

Whether they are the expectations of others or our own, we will never meet all of them. Say it with me — that is okay. 

It is okay to carve a different path. It is okay to quit something that seems morally corrupt. It is okay if you aren’t promoted to CEO within two weeks of starting a new job. 

We will survive disappointment. We are human — that’s what we do. 

Every day we come across something we never expected. Face it, use it for good, and grow from it. That’s all we can really do. 

As Adam and Joanne learn to do this, they realize they are truly becoming the people they are meant to be. Maybe not filthy rich but truly honorable. In my opinion that goes a lot farther than money.

What did you think of this episode of The Goldbergs? Will this be the last we see of Brea Bee? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Goldbergs airs Wednesday at 8:30/7:30c on ABC.

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