Beth: You're going to miss me when I'm gone...

[joelene]

I posted something similar in the spoiler thread, but, in "defense" of Beth.

I like that they finally tried to do something decent with the character in the, what, three episodes(?) we've seen her in since the fall of the prison. "Too little too late" some may cry, and they might be right, but I'm going along with it. It's made me appreciate her more and the situation she's ended up in I think is interesting. I thought her shooting all those zombies was great. Good try escaping, Beth! I enjoyed the episode and thought EK carried it fine (yes, "fine"). I never saw Beth and Daryl as potential love interests (nor do I with him and Carol, anymore. I really hope Daryl is gay so all the shipping nonsense can come to an end), I saw them as friends growing closer during duress and enjoyed this odd team, albeit more in theory than in practice during their season 4.2 episode. It was a snooze, I admit.

Before that time I never gave her much thought either way but I'm certainly more interested in "her story" now than in any of the other ladies that isn't Carol or Michonne. I'm not gonna fight for her being a great character (she's not, clearly) but compared to Maggie (relationship gal, zzz), Tara and Sasha (the pair of them a big fat shrug). I know comparisons is a somewhat weak way to argue for a character but as she is one so it's all I got, so compared to other characters, I'm rooting for her.

Edited November 6, 2014 by joelene

[halgia]

Hey everyone,

 

Obviously Beth is a very polarizin' character, and EK a polarizin' actress, who lots of people like and lots of people hate. But let's stop assumin' that people who disagree with us on that front are doing that because they're jealous of how she's prettier or younger or whatever than them, or because they're vacuous CW-watching teenagers, or whatever else.

[blueridgerobin]

Ghoulina, I need to work on using the quote function, so for now:

 

"except when her smile goes full Joker"

 

I laughed out loud...it's TRUE!

 

Yes,I really didn't want to have to bring up the issue of looks, but then again, it's already been mentioned, and more than once.  So it was time to get real.

 

This is the bottom line for me...there aren't many episodes left until the mid-season break,  I resent having to sit through the trials and travails of a third-string character when there's so much else I want to see, involving people I really care about.  Maybe I would have found it a little more tolerable if they had switched back and forth between Beth and someone else.  But as it stands, "Slabtown" makes me actually look forward to seeing the Comic Book Crew, and that's something I didn't think was possible.

[kikismom]

Awww, you know I didn't even think of that. Probably because I was just waiting for the episode to be over. But now I kind of want to go and rewatch that, because that was one of my favorite Hershel moments ever. 

 

 

To everyone who mentioned Beth's smile as she was being held down and watched Noah escape: I thought it was a call back to Hershel's beatific smile right before he was beheaded.

 

 

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8368537600/hA8E31CB7/

Edited November 7, 2014 by kikismom

[kikismom]

I find it difficult to understand why an emotionally backward and stunted 40+ year old man is a suitable mate for a teenage girl.  What it makes him is fucked up.  Even in a zombie apocalypse a fucked up man twice her age isn't a suitable candidate for a teenager, no matter how slim the pickings are.  And the pickings can't be that slim since Beth managed to get at least two boyfriends in little over a year.  Her batting average was pretty damn good.

 

If Daryl wasn't the show's dreamboat the conversation wouldn't be taking place.  Eugene seems emotionally stunted and backward.  Is he a suitable candidate for Beth?  And what about Carl?  If a guy twice her age is okay, what about a guy a few years younger?

Respect your right to your opinion; having said that, the entire concept of "suitable" or "suitability" gives me the fantods.

 

Too reminiscent of the days of is he she of a suitable race/religion/class/financial background etc.

And that's with the world the way it is today. Without a ZA.

Every time I watch the evening news, I become more convinced that if you aren't committing murder, kidnapping/raping children, shooting up a school, or beating your wife or kids or nursing home patient or seatmate on the school bus...then pretty much anything else is okay.

The characters on TWD aren't eating suitable food (in type or quantity), aren't wearing suitable clothing, don't have suitable hygiene standards/medical care, Carl is way past get a suitable education, etc.etc.

Why should partnering be different?

I personally hope he doesn't hook up with Carol or Beth; but it isn't because of anyone's age. (Or jealousy oh please no more). I just think some of them have gone past the point where they could do that, and turned in the direction of family. Now, doing it with family---that's one thing where the word unsuitable is an understatement.

Aside from age, as far as being messed up? Psychologically, socially, emotionally?  They all are. Be scared of anyone who isn't.

[GreyBunny]

I resent having to sit through the trials and travails of a third-string character when there's so much else I want to see, involving people I really care about.  Maybe I would have found it a little more tolerable if they had switched back and forth between Beth and someone else. 

Someone in the episode thread brought up that dividing an episode between Beth at the hospital and Carol and Daryl coming to get her and having the storylines converge at the end with Carol being wheeled in would have worked much better than a painful and drawn-out bottle episode on a 2nd tier character played by a 3rd rate actress.

[NoWillToResist]

Ok, I lied a little. I am writing more in Beth's thread today. :)

 

Assuming Noah is with Daryl and assuming Beth returns to our group, I'd like to know how she and Noah play out. They seemed to trust each other awfully quickly (which probably isn't that difficult when you're the only two decent people in a 2 mile radius) and I'd like to see that expanded upon. For a while, we only had Beth and Carl as the teens, Mika and Lizzie and Judith as the kids. Then Beth got taken and Mika/Lizzie are now dead.

 

Judith brings the cute and some truly stellar reaction shots, but can't contribute much else since she's a baby. I would like to see the young adult population increase now that Carl isn't an annoying dipshit anymore and Beth isn't the singing babysitter anymore. Throw Noah in, who seems like a nice, normal young man, and I think we could have something really nice on our hands. So many of the adults have lost young loved ones; it would be nice for their family to have some 'foster kids'. :D

 

Carol lost a daughter a little younger than Beth. Michonne lost a son. Can you imagine those two ladies teaming up to mentor Beth and Noah? I think that would be awesome...

[JBody]

Kikismom, what's in the link, please? I get a message, "InvalidCust"

I have been mulling this latest ep over in my mind. It's not so much the ep itself, which had its moments, and EK fared better than I would've assumed, and I did want to know what happened to Beth obviously because she is an important character now by virtue of the fact she's been on the show since S2 and she is a Greene, it's just I'm wondering whether this character earned a bottle ep? I mean, really? I don't know if I buy that. It is what it is but I think, as many of we hardcore fans have asserted, the hour would've been better served split between groups. I'm not asking for The 100-style six way split (can't keep track of that shit) but a true bottle ep with Beth as the sole focus --it doesn't feel earned, to me.

[SoSueMe]

Beth=beautiful.  ???? Strictly subjective, a matter of personal taste. I find every other female on the show prettier, personally. She is not someone I would aspire to look like.

 

Beth=vacuous, vapid, vacant ???? Oh yeah, well maybe not Beth so much as EK. The least convincing actor in the bunch, including the kids who played Sophia, Mika and Lizzie.

[kikismom]

Kikismom, what's in the link, please? I get a message, "InvalidCust"

 

I fixed the link; hope it works now!

[Raven1707]

 

Plus, we have the Daryl remark that Merle was "shacked up with some cocktail waitress" when 9 year old Daryl was lost.

Wasn't it Daryl's abusive father who was "shacked up"? I seem to recall Daryl saying Merle was in juvie...

[Watcher0363]

I have really been containing my self when it comes to the character of Beth. Because I do not know how other people watch TV shows. I am one of those people who sit down and soak in the television program I like. So from my point of view I have never seen Beth as a background character. I have seen her as an expositionary  character. Perhaps a better phrase would be she was a conduit for unspoken shifts in the groups dynamics.

 

It started with her singing. Here at Herschel's urging, she did something that she did with close friends and family she was reluctant to share at first and so was the others who were sitting at the table. When she got the passive okay from Rick and Lori and Glenn and started to sing. It marked the start of the family that the group was becoming.

 

Beth's suicide attempt mark the change in both Andrea and Lori. When they spoke to Beth about what she was attempting to do, at those moments you knew both had accepted the world they were now living in. Andrea was no longer going to be a victim and except death easily. Lori and Andrea at that point realized that everyone now, was responsible for their own lives and how they chose to live in the new world.

 

When Judith was born it was Beth who noticed that Rick did not want to hold or accept her. The look on her face when she realized Rick really did not want Judith, and the way she held on to her until Rick finally came for Judith.

 

Before we knew much about Michonne. It was Beth handing Judith to her in an almost forceful way. Then noticing Michonne break down into small tears. Beth's look let everyone know that Michonne had lost a child to the ZA. Beth never said anything she just gently took Judith back and allowed Michonne her grieving.

 

Those little conversations that Beth and Maggie had in the prison, all of them were to show growth in Maggie and Beth when  it came to the future, as it pertained to marriage and having children and the fact that it could all end in a second.

 

It was Beth who got Daryl to tell us his back story with Merle before the ZA. It was pretty much what we expected. But when Daryl told story about the guy with the gun getting ready to kill him and he really did not care. When juxtaposed where he was mentally at the beginning of the episode and where he was at the end. You see or some of us could see all along what the writers were doing with Beth. She was being used to mark transitions without great fanfare.

 

I am a huge fan of the West Wing so I am no stranger to blonde expositionary characters, who are hot in my opinion. I am still weighing whether to post a very satirical pro Beth and Emily piece of satire in defense of Emily as Beth.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Watcher0363

[Iguessnot]

Watcher, that's a good script you are describing but the execution of it by Emily is highly flawed.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Iguessnot

[GreyBunny]

Agreed.  The biggest problem with Beth is Emily's acting.

 

No matter how thoughtful, adventurous, or poignant the material is, Emily can't pull it off.

[kikismom]

Wasn't it Daryl's abusive father who was "shacked up"? I seem to recall Daryl saying Merle was in juvie...

You're right! And now his childhood doesn't seem that bad after all!

[JBody]

Thanks kikismom!

Watcher0363 great post. But I agree with Iguessnot. I can't help but wonder what the material would've been like in another actor's hands and how it could've elevated the show (possibly). Even with my love for the show I acknowledge its unevenness, which of course cannot be completely laid at the feet of subpar acting but that certainly does not help.

[Milaxx]

....  It can't have anything to do with the utter pointlessness of the character or the incompetence of the actor who plays her....

 

Really this is all it boils down to for me. I don't care about this character and the actress playing her hasn't changed that fact for me. I appreciate the show trying but the moonshine eps were stupid. That slug of moonshine was enough to get someone Tyreese's size dead drunk. Not to mention the burning sensation of taking such a big gulp. This week's episode didn't interest me except for the introduction of a new character and the potential for another badass Carol moment to come. I don't dislike her because she a pretty girl, I dislike her because she just blah. If the last we had seen of her was that car driving away with her last season, I wouldn't have been unhappy in the least.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Milaxx

[PunkyMouse]

I'm not asking for The 100-style six way split (can't keep track of that shit) but a true bottle ep with Beth as the sole focus --it doesn't feel earned, to me.

From The Flaming Zombies, our first ballad. It's a work in progress:

Beth in a Bottle

If I could have Beth in a bottle

The first thing that I'd like to do

Is to throw it away

In the Chesapeake Bay

Then I'd say

"Beth was in there? Who knew?"

Like I said, a work in progress. With apologies to the late great Jim Croce.

[Mu Shu]

Isn't Danai a real life model? She's effing gorgeous and it seems most fans love her. Emily is bug eyed and bland. Whatever floats your boat.

[Ocean Chick]

Maybe we should change the title of this thread to "Beth:  How Can We Miss You If You Never Go Away?"  ;)

[Raven1707]

 

You're right! And now his childhood doesn't seem that bad after all!

It was merely an observation, offered because I'd done a 4-season marathon a few weeks back and that scene was fairly fresh in my mind.

Edited November 8, 2014 by HalcyonDays

[RedheadZombie]

Agreed.  The biggest problem with Beth is Emily's acting.

 

No matter how thoughtful, adventurous, or poignant the material is, Emily can't pull it off.

 

Because this has been a back and forth on this thread, I sometimes ask myself if I'm being too hard on the actress.  I just don't think I am.  I was watching another show and observed how an actress emoted.  They were in couple's counseling, and one of the characters had come to a realization that she really loved and needed her partner, and she expresses this.  At some point, the other character began crying.  And it was obvious from the first second that she was not crying because she was moved.  She was crying because she had come to a different realization.  I thought it was just amazing acting.  I usually have to assume what Beth's emotions are depending on the situation, rather than her facial expressions.

 

It reminds me of a really lazy doctor I once knew.   He was explaining his (poor) technique in determining lungs sounds.  Basically - rather than listening to lung sounds and making a determination, he waits until he has a diagnosed x-ray, and charts the lung sounds that would correspond.

 

So I know if Beth is being attacked by a walker - that must be a scared expression.  If Beth is singing and playing the piano - that must be a poignant look.  If she's being a sassy little rebel drinking moonshine, that must be a stubborn expression.  The problem is, she looked pretty much the same in each situation, continuing on to her attempted rape.

[kikismom]

It was merely an observation, offered because I'd done a 4-season marathon a few weeks back and that scene was fairly fresh in my mind.

Wow I thought I was just being silly....guess it came off wrong; ? I actually was thanking you for the correction and joking about it. Sorry if you misunderstood.

[Emily Thrace]

Watcher, that's a good script you are describing but the execution of it by Emily is highly flawed.

That's your opinion and at this point I think I we should all just agree to disgree. Niether side is going to see the other's point and we're starting to talk in circles. One person's flat is another person's subtle and we should just leave it there. Personally it starting to feel less like a conversation and more one side bashing and the other defending.

 

 

I personally hope he doesn't hook up with Carol or Beth; but it isn't because of anyone's age. (Or jealousy oh please no more). I just think some of them have gone past the point where they could do that, and turned in the direction of family. Now, doing it with family---that's one thing where the word unsuitable is an understatement.

Aside from age, as far as being messed up? Psychologically, socially, emotionally?  They all are. Be scared of anyone who isn't.

 

I agree with this when it comes to Carol and Daryl or even Beth and Carl but I don't really feel like this applies to Daryl and Beth. Like EK said they didn't really know each other that well before this. They had never really interacted at the prison or before that. Daryl is not an easy person to know and Beth isn't someone Daryl really had a reason to notice before. They had a very shallow perception of each other before they left the prison and then they got a chance to knock all that down. That would inevitably to very different and much closer relationship coming out the other side. Throw in the fact that they're both attractive people who have a certain compatability and you could easily have an intense relationship there.

 

There really is a compatability there too, they may go about it differently but their bottom lines are the same. Like Beth, Daryl takes care of people and serve the group. Daryl just does it with security and food where Beth does it emotionally and taking care of camp. One of my favourite parts of Still is actually the scene with them setting up camp. Daryl goes hunting but Beth makes sure they have water and a place to cook it. They're both taking care of each other in a very basic way. Out of all the little seperate groups Daryl Beth are one of the ones I saw as capable of making it on thier own. Because Daryl would make sure they were safe and Beth would make sure they had a life worth living. Daryl and Beth may be complete opposites but they are an effective team.

 

Something that got me this episode is how truly selfless and fundamentally good Beth is. When Noah escaped without her she didn't navel gaze or despair she was truly happy for him. I think that's why I struggle to understand the hate most character's spout off about the greater good but Beth really seems to live and understand it. I think its what I first noticed about Beth she really doesn't seem to care about Beth much she just takes care of every body else.  Even her day off to drink turned into her comforting Daryl.  Beth has never complained she just does whatever she can to help.  Like I said over on TWOP Beth is the person Lori wanted to be.

 

Also I just want to clarify when I talk about people hating Beth I'm talking about the wider walking dead fandom not just this site. I just feel like the level of hate is totally disproportinate to the actions of the character especially considering how reprehensible and moraly questionalbe most of the other characters are. I mean Ilove Rick but at least in his case I understand why people don't like him.

Edited November 9, 2014 by HalcyonDays
Sentence can be intrepreted as insulting posters.

[GreyBunny]

Maybe we should change the title of this thread to "Beth:  How Can We Miss You If You Never Go Away?"  ;)

Hehe,

 

"Beth: I'll Still Be Annoying Even After I'm Gone"

"Beth: Chugging Moonshine Like A Bad Actress" 

"Beth: Even Maggie Can't Be Bothered"

[Watcher0363]

When it comes to characters on TV, I do not mind when people are passionate about them. After all that is what the writers and producers want. They want you to develop a personal relation with their characters, be it love or hate or the best one of them all a love/ hate relationship. So the Beth dislike or love is valid especially in this thread. The thing that some of us found interesting is that for some posters no discussion of Beth was complete until the actress herself had suffered some criticism about her acting or appearance.  Which again is probably fair within the Beth thread, but things can get dicey when some seek to defend Emily. Because as you said such things as beauty or whether you like subtle performers or scene chewing performers is very subjective.

 

For me Beth has always been on my radar. Because everything she has done seem so subtle in nature. Yet if you were watching closely her costars were reacting to her subtlety. She has even given Rick that, I want to be your baby's mama look, in the non adopted way. She has even handled Carl's awakening hormones moments well. I am interested in where they go with Beth. When the show ends I wonder if she will be one of the ones still standing.

 

When it comes to how good or bad an actor is, I have learned to hold my judgments. Because who knew when that yahoo Woody Harrelson showed up on my beloved Cheers, that he would become Woody frekin Harrelson.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Watcher0363

[HalcyonDays]

Dougal posted a nice little reminder higher up on this page about respecting people's opinions about Beth, that apparently everyone didn't bother to read.

 

SO READ THIS: Do not insult other posters, call them names or dismiss their opinion simply because it is NOT your own. Respect other's opinions, however different they may be to yours. Agree to disagree and move on.

[Raven1707]

 

I actually was thanking you for the correction and joking about it. Sorry if you misunderstood.

 

If I misunderstood, I apologize.

 

By the time I read through all of the comments in any given thread, most questions have been asked & answered, and others have pretty much said what I would have said, so all that remains for me to offer are odd bits of clarification whenever I can.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Raven1707

[Nashville]

With apologies to KISS:

 

Beth I hear you calling
But there’s no rescue right now
Glenn and Maggie are on the short bus
And their crew is DC-bound.
Just a few more episodes
And your tour with the show is through
The fans, they are applauding
Oh, Beth - what can you do?
Beth what CAN you do?

 

Your delivery is stilted
And your acting skills a joke
And before you once more start singing
Some folks want you to choke.
You told Dawn, "No one’s coming"
But the same applies to you.
Your last hope lies with Carol
But she wants Daryl, too.
No one for you to screw.

 

Your eyes, they are a-bugging
Like someone poked you with a stick
But it seems folks have gotten tired of
That schtick.

[RedheadZombie]

Any opinions on which of Beth's songs is the best?  My vote if for this one -  "Mister Potato-Head likes to punch me".
 

[NoWillToResist]

I was annoyed when Dawn essentially called Beth weak due to the old cut marks on her wrist. I suppose Dawn wouldn't know that Beth tried to kill herself during the ZA, but it still annoyed me.

 

Call me crazy but I would not call someone weak or a coward for wanting to off themselves in the ZA. Taking control of your own fate and the manner in which you will die is understandable to me. I mean, consider the ways most of our gang has been shuffled off this mortal coil. Most were ripped apart while alive; not awesome. I really can't judge someone who wanted an end to the misery. I still think Jacqui had the right idea all the way back in S1. She saved herself a world of pain and gifted herself with a death which took, like, a milisecond. I'd take that over ripped apart any day.

 

Had Beth succeeded in killing herself at the farm, she would not have to have witnessed her walker mother shot, her brother (cousin?) die, her aunt (?) torn from her arms and eaten, her father beheaded, her prison boyfriend dying...the list goes on. I really can't blame anyone for wanting a fairly painless way out of the mess the world is in...

[Raven1707]

Beth's mother and half-brother (Sean?) were shot before she tried to slice her wrist, but yeah...she could have spared herself a lot of grief had she ended it then.

[walnutqueen]

Any opinions on which of Beth's songs is the best?  My vote if for this one -  "Mister Potato-Head likes to punch me".

 

 

Yes.  The really old folk song Hershel asked her to sing - pardon me for not knowing minutae - but it brought tears to my eyes then and now as I think of it.  Because there was a time in my life when a simple folk song sung under the stars was all it took to make this once young girl's world feel right, for just a golden moment, in a world that WAS sometimes bad & scary. and definitely very, very wrong.

 

So ... there's that long-suppressed emotional timebomb resolved.  This place is better than a fucking shrink's couch!!!

[ghoulina]

I believe the song was "Parting Glass", something like that. 

[AngelaHunter]

With apologies to KISS:

 

Please, could you produce that and put it on ITunes? I'll definitely buy it.

 

Your last hope lies with Carol

But she wants Daryl, too.

No one for you to screw.

 

So poignant it brings a tear to my eye.

[mandolin]

I believe the song was "Parting Glass", something like that.

Close! I think it was Partin' Glass. ;)

There is a version on the soundtrack that I enjoy.

[Trek]

Beth = beautiful...REALLY?  If she's our standard of beauty, we've really slipped.  She has no lips and an overbite.  She's cute in a wan, mousy sort of way.  But beautiful...sorry, no.  Michonne is beautiful when she smiles.  Maggie is gorgeous, a knockout.

While I don’t hate Beth, nor care much whether she hooks up with someone or no-one, as a representative of the male gender, I feel obliged to strongly endorse the above statement from a male’s PoV.

 

...  ...

I do think there needs to be a place for bland, not very clever, not very kickass characters on the show, CDB is a random rag-tag collection of people who happened to survive, not a collection camp for Charlie’s Angels and Navy SEALs. Some people needing a bit of carrying to make it through is perfectly fine and normal.  In the same way that I would hate it if there were episodes dedicated to making Father Gabriel or Eugene all cunning and kickass, so kickass in fact that they can get more headshots than there are bullets in a gun, Beth in Slabtown was as close to a complete waste of time as it gets.

[Ocean Chick]

With apologies to KISS:

 

That was perfection.  Thanks for the laugh.

[GreyBunny]

So I just watched "Pretty Much Dead Already" again, and during the barn scene the entire main cast just killed it. Madison "Sophia" Lintz was great and Scott Wilson was on a whole other plane; he was fantastic.

 

I then realized that little Sophia was more compelling had more charisma during those two minutes stumbling out of the barn as a walker than Beth ever did while alive.

 

Sorry, EK, but a 12-year-old girl playing a dead person totally acted circles around you.

[shanndee]

<laughs>

 

Oh, GreyBunny, you speak the truth! I watched that episode a couple of nights ago and I got all misty eyed. All Beth has ever been able to do is make me roll my eyes.

 

Why do showrunners try to force their "star making" pet projects down our throats? This may not be such a terrible thing if the characters were actually well written and the actresses had enough skill to sell it. However, when either one of these elements is missing it just leads to epic fail and fan discontent. The showrunners at Sleepy Hollow have destroyed that show with their underwritten, underacting "powerful" witch. I don't want to see TWD go down that path.

 

If these 2 shows feel they need both of these characters, put them both back in the background where they may be moderately useful and far less distracting from the real story.

[Milaxx]

Why hasn't Maggie mourned Beth. Looks like we're in for some retcon scenes coming soon. Either that or this is another instance of intent not matching what we see on screen.

[blueridgerobin]

I then realized that little Sophia was more compelling had more charisma during those two minutes stumbling out of the barn as a walker than Beth ever did while alive.

 

Sorry, EK, but a 12-year-old girl playing a dead person totally acted circles around you.

  Word.

[SoSueMe]

So I just watched "Pretty Much Dead Already" again, and during the barn scene the entire main cast just killed it. Madison "Sophia" Lintz was great and Scott Wilson was on a whole other plane; he was fantastic.

 

I then realized that little Sophia was more compelling had more charisma during those two minutes stumbling out of the barn as a walker than Beth ever did while alive.

 

Sorry, EK, but a 12-year-old girl playing a dead person totally acted circles around you.

I agree and would include the child actors who played Mika and Lizzie. I wonder what the show creators see in her.

[Nashville]

Why hasn't Maggie mourned Beth. Looks like we're in for some retcon scenes coming soon. Either that or this is another instance of intent not matching what we see on screen.

 

I'm going to play devil's advocate for a second regarding Maggie's (lack of) reaction regarding Beth. 

 

At her core, Maggie is a pragmatist - affect what you can, don't worry about what you can't, and know the difference between the two.  The only time she has acted contrary to this nature of her character, in fact, has been her reaction to Glenn's absence after the prison - and I don't believe it's too much of a stretch to think a person might react more emotionally to a missing romantic attachment than a familial one.

 

Let's look at the situation from Maggie's point of view.  Beth is missing - either dead, or (at last report) alive but abducted by car and taken to parts unknown.

- If Beth is dead, game over - there's nothing to be done.

- If Beth is alive:

1. The car's existence was unknown until Beth was snatched, so Maggie has no idea where they came from.
2. Daryl (their best tracker) couldn't track the kidnap vehicle, so Maggie has no idea in which direction to start looking.
3. Even if Maggie did have a direction - the kidnappers were in a car, so she has no idea how far away Beth might have been taken.

 

So, to summarize: Beth is either dead, or probably somewhere in the southeastern quadrant of the United States.  I think Maggie's natural pragmatism is to simply hope Beth's alive, but wait for further information.  And possibly not to get her hopes built up (or down) too much, because she simply doesn't know; in that same vein, Maggie may be afraid talking about Beth too much might "jinx" Beth one way or another.  In any case, further discussion without additional information is futile.

 

Two issues I see with this, though:

1. If Maggie were to discuss any of this with anybody at all - even if only for story exposition - she would discuss it with Glenn; however, we have seen no such discussion, even when the opportunity for exclusive private discussion has presented itself (such as their nighttime chat in the bookstore).
2. If Maggie is truly suspending presuppositions about Beth's predicament but is hoping Beth is still alive, then the general vicinity of Terminus would be the logical place to stay.  Maggie has no idea where Beth may be, but Beth knows where she last saw Maggie - at the fall of the Prison.  If Beth were to free herself from captivity, she would most likely return to the vicinity of the Prison and start searching for signs of Maggie - where she would find signs leading the way to Terminus, with Maggie's identifiable additions.  This was my primary problem with the latest production of "Glenn & Maggie Go To Washington"; such a trip would be ridiculous unless Maggie has already given up Beth for dead, and we've seen nothing indicating that yet.

 

Fire at will.  :)

[shanndee]

Nashville:

 

Fire at will.  :)

 

Poor Will! :(      (Sorry! I just always feel bad when people randomly fire at Will when he wasn't even there!)

Edited November 17, 2014 by shanndee

[Watcher0363]

Well I guess everyone has forgotten the Sasha talk. Where she did not want to even think or talk about Tyreese or look for him for fear of knowing he was dead. She just wanted to keep moving to find a place to settle into. Not knowing in the ZA is better than knowing. For not knowing is like spring to hope.

[RedheadZombie]

1. If Maggie were to discuss any of this with anybody at all - even if only for story exposition - she would discuss it with Glenn; however, we have seen no such discussion, even when the opportunity for exclusive private discussion has presented itself (such as their nighttime chat in the bookstore.

 

It's looking more and more like the omission is deliberate, rather than accidental.  When Maggie and Glenn were bedding down, and she said she knew the others would be right behind them, all she had to say is - and I wish Beth was with them.  Simple.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I think you're giving them to much credit.

Beth: Puppies

Daryl: Um

Beth: Unicorns

Daryl: Ergh

Beth: Rainbows

Daryl: Uh, what....

 

 

So, basically, they're Harmony and Spike.

 

Even that's giving Beth too much credit. Harmony actually had a personality. An incredibly annoying personality, but that's better than no personality at all.

[JBody]

All this chatter about Beth as a symbol of hope or beacon of humanity or whatever it is reminded me I saw this the other day on TWDF.  Enjoy!

 

[Watcher0363]

All this chatter about Beth as a symbol of hope or beacon of humanity or whatever it is reminded me I saw this the other day on TWDF. Enjoy!

Beth does apocalypse chic well!!

 

 

Edited November 26, 2014 by Watcher0363