Trading Rooks: The Romantic Dalliances of Beth Harmon

[kieyra]

I've probably watched this show a few too many times now, and while it doesn't really ping any 'shipper' vibes for me, I find the  'relationships' between Beth/Harry (episode 5) and Beth/Benny (episodes 5 & 6) to be utterly fascinating, and unlike anything I've seen on television before. 

(I'll leave Townes for someone else. I don't get that one at all. I suppose 'stoned hippie dude' (to whom Beth lost her virginity), and whether or not Beth slept with Cleo are also fair game here.)

Harry first: It took me a few times to catch this, but when Harry shows up in Kentucky, he keeps mentioning that he saw Beth's picture. He mentions this more than once.

Later, he says he got his teeth fixed for her. 

But he hasn't actually been in contact with her in the intervening years--which means he got his teeth fixed for her picture. He fell in love with her picture, and the way she had grown up into a knockout. And by the end of the episode, he realizes this. It's a pretty clean arc. I think he really does want to help her with chess, by the way, but that doesn't really go anywhere either, because she's too far ahead of him.

So what is Beth's end of this? First and foremost, Harry keeps her from being alone in the house with the memory of Alma. I know that's obvious. What's taken me a while to figure out is why she sleeps with him. I'm still not sure I know--based on her later comments post-Benny, the sex couldn't have been fantastic, and I'm not sure the show sells me on any real chemistry between them. If anything, it emphasizes how one-sided the situation is. YMMV.

What's super interesting to me is the exact moment Beth goes ahead and drops the hammer on Harry anyway--that little dance to Fever. I'm not sure any of that is about her being particularly attracted to Harry; I think she's just getting bored (especially with their chess interactions), and taking the opportunity to switch things up, and to prove to herself that she has the upper hand. The latter being something that is second nature to her.

To me, it's an inverse moment to her "I like your hair" flirtation to Benny at the end of the episode. Which Benny immediately spots for the maneuver that it is: Beth is trying to distract him from the valid points he's making: that she needs to focus on the potential Russia showdown, and that she's drinking too much/going to burn out. I love that he shoots it down with almost no hesitation: "Uh huh, sure you do." And then shuts her down further: "About sex? Forget it."

... which of course, we know, is a battle he ends up losing. But he holds out for an impressively long time. (And Beth makes him make the first move, which is its own type of manipulation.)

And after the actual sex, we again have the inverse of Harry: After she sleeps with Harry, he's kinda: "what does this mean/should I stay and sleep in your bed?" and she's all "meh, whatever". 

After sleeping with Benny, Beth is the one who wants to talk about *them*, or at least the sex, and Benny wants to talk about chess. Immediately. Which aggravates her, so I think Benny was always more 'real' to her, and more equal, than Harry. Or at least the sex was. The great thing about this show is that it's so hard to be sure. 

I do think that Benny and Beth have the most chemistry of any of the pairings--keeping in mind I find something creepy about Townes--and I'm not sure I 100% believe Cleo's take on Benny (that he's too in love with himself for anything else). I'm also sure this pairing spawned a ton of shippers and fic.

But I appreciate that the show tosses him onto the pile of people who ultimately just couldn't keep up with her, or her self-destructive bent. We don't have to hang our hopes on him 'saving' her from herself with his love and/or penis. 

As an aside: I also appreciate that both Harry and Benny (despite the theme of Beth's mom: "men are going to come along and want to teach you things") generally treat Beth with respect, and as an equal--or outright concede that she is the superior player. They don't 'mansplain' things to her, and when each of them get more aggressive about trying to help her (both with chess and with her self-destruction), it always seems to come from a genuine, non-patronizing place. 

All JMO.