#2.07 analysis

[foxmagpie]

Just curious, is Rio’s reaction to his professional/personal jealousy over Nick and Beth what you would’ve expected? Like if you were writing a fic with this plot line, would you have had him return her stuff, be supportive (I think he even did a little of that in the last ep with his trust in her ability to get and keep the club running), all this? I don’t think what’s happening on the show is out of character at all, I’m just so surprised (and delighted ofc) and am wondering if you are too!

Ooh, what an interesting question!

I'd say that up until 4.13/4.13, no, I wouldn't have written Rio making such a grand gesture like that, but that scene works because of what came before it, and I think it played perfectly because of how carefully it was built.

Now I think the development of those feelings stretch as far back as to 2.07, and I'm particularly obsessed with that because I think 4.14 is very much in conversation with it. Before 2.07, Rio was attracted to and interested in Beth, he'd already behaved irrationally in reaction to her, but I don't think those feelings were very deep, and I think that's supported by the end-of-season reveal that he'd been carefully setting her up with the storage unit, which started in 2.03.

The dubby gesture was significant because Rio so rarely does anything freely, and especially things that do not benefit him, but he went to that drug den and he retrieved that baby blanket and he was utterly incapable of looking at her in the eye when he handed it back to her. What's even better is that reaction from Rio was triggered by him feeling worried for her. In their alleyway fight, Rio is not gentle or kind despite the circumstances, but his anger isn't senseless—he tells her that if she messes up, "you go to jail or you die." Before this, Rio wasn't particularly concerned about consequences for Beth. He set her up in 1.09 at the risk of arrest and he offered her bare minimum advice for dealing with Turner in 1.05 despite her nerves. Here, he's agitated at the idea, and while that could be brushed off because of their stronger professional ties at this point in the series, it's not supported by his decision to go to the house (while pretending he's sure its not possible that they have Jane) and then collecting the dubby (which he could've left behind) simply because she cared about it. The whole scenario makes him consider what it would be like to lose her, and we see a new side of him as a result.

It's significant, too, that the dubby moment is a moment of connection that, at its root, is one parent understanding another parent. I think the show legitimized Rio as a love interest instead of merely a fling by giving him a son. Marcus's role is to reveal another side of Rio, one that Beth is curious about and wants to connect with, a side of Rio that she relates to and for which she admires him. The dubby shows that Rio understands Beth on this level, too, even if he judges her for going back into the house to retrieve it before he knows what it is.

Of course, these feelings were built on through 2.08 and 2.09 when they were at their best before Beth brutally dumped him, and from there, I think we got the sense that his feelings were masked, but that he knew about them, particularly in the 2.12 "work" conversation where he puts on a show of being once again indifferent to the idea of Beth getting arrested.

The big question, then, was how Rio would feel about Beth after she shot him, and I think the show deliberately and explicitly suggested that he was in love with her to explain his reactions to her behavior across season 3, to rationalize his inability to kill her after that initial rage wore down with the pregnancy lie. Although the insight came from an outsider POV that couldn't really know whether what he was saying was true, it was supported through Rio's actions: it's in decision to kill Lucy instead of touching Beth or her girls, it's in the way he sits beside Beth and is comparatively gentle when she's crying over Lucy, when he reluctantly checks her out in that dress because he can't stop himself, it's in the way he softens when she impresses him again when she shows off Boland Bubbles.

Frankly, Rio's feelings for Beth are the linchpin of season 3, and if you don't believe that Rio is in love with Beth, nothing he does makes much sense. Still, though, if season 3 Rio had pulled a 4.14 move, it wouldn't have landed for me. We knew we were supposed to believe he was in love with her, but we knew that didn't mean he wasn't still punishing her or willing to treat her harshly—as much as not touching Annie or Ruby was a signal, he did still force Beth to see Lucy executed to punish her, which they circled back to confirm in the conversation with Nick in 3.09.

And the introduction of Nick is absolutely crucial in further exploring Rio's feelings for Beth. We saw how quickly Rio re-established physical touch with Beth when he put his hand on her back after Nick's questioning and specifically the way Nick was trying to use Rio's name for Beth (that she tried to shut down), so we saw the way Rio was staking a claim from Nick's piqued interest in her. The flashbacks in 4.08 established the symbiotic relationship between Nick and Rio, but also the way Nick has used and abused Rio for the entirety of his life, and that gave us a good basis for a long-simmering resentment between them.

All of those episodes and events were kind of tentpole moments that build toward the believable culmination in 4.14, but the most crucial moment was in 4.13 when they gave us a Rio POV scene alone at the bar. Rio's isolation in this moment is important because there's no performance aspect to it. The bartender is there, but only to serve as a trigger to Rio reorienting himself and realizing where he is (he's been completely lost in his own thoughts before this) and for Rio to give a direction emphasizing his inability to handle the bottle himself. It's easier to come up with alternate theories and interpretations for characters' behaviors when they are interacting with another person because there may be conflicting motivations (for instance, Krebs discusses the Rio/Nick scene purely from a business standpoint, which is one of the layers in that scene, although not the only one) but Rio really has no reason to dramatize his reaction to the bourbon. In fact, I'd say that Rio's reaction is only as intense as it is because he's alone, and it'd be far more masked if he was in the presence of someone else that mattered. And Manny does a good job with that scene, too, because his voice sounds different than it usually does, there's a flash of glassiness to his eyes before he quickly looks away, and as someone else mentioned, his physicality is altered when he gets up and walks out of the bar.

In my head, I see it as sort of a marathon. The race kicks off with 2.07 and it's a strong start through 2.09, where those feelings really solidify and become something Rio recognizes. There's a handoff of the baton at 3.05 which carries us through a slow and steady portion, another handoff at 4.06, and Nick is a competing runner closing in that sparks a pick-up of the pace. The final handoff happens in 4.13 and it's a burst of energy that crosses over into the finish line of 4.14.

Essentially, 4.14 wouldn't work without all these careful puzzle pieces that came before it. It's a significant moment on its own, but the fact that Rio shows up at her door to give her the box in-person matters more because we know he couldn't do it in 2.07, and the fact that it's spurred by Rio fearing losing her matters more because that's exactly what prompted him to retrieve the dubby. Returning the furniture means more because we know he took it and kept it in the middle of their worst period. Returning it freely with no apparently strings attached? More significant because it calls back to him offering to retrieve the money from the baby hitmen, also without strings, from their best period. Rio's given Beth money before, but he's taken it back even when she earned it (1.08, 3.10) and when it was part of a test (2.04). So the fact that he takes it in 4.14 to give it back as proof that she didn't "need" Nick is also an extension of and growth from 2.04, when things were still a little more duplicitous between them.

That's why I love 4.14 so much. Everything means so! much! more! if you think about all the ways it calls back to these other touchstone moments between them. If it was a conspiracy board, 4.14 would be in the middle with a bunch of red strings leading back to nearly every significant Brio moment over the entire series. Imo, it's a pretty masterfully constructed moment in that way.

[foxmagpie]

What's ur fav scene in 2x07?

god i was just rambling to @bethsuglywigs about how it's basically a near-perfect episode. each piece of it pushes the other storylines further and it's just SO good.

like, okay, take ruby's conflict with turner. at the beginning of the episode, she's purposefully giving him nothing and acting like she tried her best, really in a sort of stasis where she is working with him and betraying beth, but not in a meaningful way. she's thrust forward to action in three ways: 1) turner switches gears from the previous episode, outlining that if she doesn't cooperate, he will put her (and stan!) away even if his initial goal is to keep them safe because they're "good people," 2) beth's actions force ruby to reckon with how reckless and dangerous she's being when she pulls them into the drug den, and 3) turner makes good on his promise and an internal investigation is opened against stan. suddenly, the threats are very real and she can't wring her hands anymore. however, she isn't given opportunity until she's left in beth's empty house, which only happens because jane goes missing and annie rushes off because she can't get a hold of ben and thinks the same thing has happened to him.

but ben's not missing—he's just at the movies with nancy and being secretive about it, which is just the culmination of the conflict between him and annie all episode. ben is reeling from annie admitting that she slept with greg and spending all of his time with nancy, but when annie puts her foot down and forces ben to come back, she wins, but their trust isn't restored. ben is secretive with annie because annie is secretive with ben, refusing to tell him where she got her money. even at the end of the episode, ben still cant tell annie "when he'll be her kid again," which puts annie in a fragile state and makes her more susceptible to noah's tactic of getting closer to her.

meanwhile, of course, we have the overarching plot where beth reaps the benefits (money) and the consequences (decreased time with her family) from her 50/50 deal with rio. she's been spending less and less time at home since 2.05 when she took boland motors and we saw in 2.06 how she comes home late at night, after the kids are asleep, and dean is wearing thin under his new responsibilities (of providing his children with basic care) and then the realization that beth has been intimate with rio. this escalates in 2.07 when we see beth's calendar, emphasizing how busy she is, and when beth misses jane's recital at the top of the episode because rio demands her immediate attention and insists upon her delivery of the car that night. dean, however, refuses to stay with the kids in a petulant fit of rage, and beth is forced to take the kids with her (the weakest part of the episode and only significant ding, as there were certainly other options) where jane leaves behind her dubby. of course jane is going to react strongly to the lost dubby because she's lost both of her security blankets now: her blanket, but more importantly, her mother. she runs away, which causes all of the other tension to break.

dean blames it on rio, but we see beth fights for him, insisting he wouldn't and basically trying to, in her own way, protect him from dean's accusation. this even pushes her to go straight to rio, who shows up immediately when she asks for it, not dissimilarly to beth showing up when he called her out of the dance recital. despite their opposition, they really are partners.

and rio! in the alley! furious and agitated and refusing to be helpful—only to go and retrieve the dubby? fighting for and protecting beth in his own way, but only doing so after he's triggered to feel genuine worry for her and the possibility of her messing up so severely that she either goes to jail or dies? UNF!

and then it caps off with ruby finding jane and being forced to confront that she'll feel like jane when she loses beth, too. so she steals the calendar—at the start of the episode, a symbol of beth's increased demands, now shifted into evidence ruby can present to turner—because she's in a bind, but immediately at the start of the next episode she both can't turn it in and can't keep it a secret from beth anymore.

UGH IT'S SO GOOD.

but i don't know how to chose a favorite scene with how well everything flows together, but i'd probably choose the triad of beth screaming at dean that rio didn't take jane, then running to rio for help, then opening the dubby. the alleyway fight is a genuine fave, but it's heightened only by being bookended between each of them revealing their true feelings for the other in scenes where they're apart. beth trusts rio implicitly, and rio cares about beth more than he realizes.

A+ episode, absolutely.

[foxmagpie]

Do you think Rio's in love with Beth? I feel like he must be because of how he reacted to the shooting, imo he would've killed her pretty quickly if he just liked her.

I do think he’s in love with Beth, yes. I don’t think he wants to be, but I think he knows it and it irritates him. I read Rio as someone who is in tune with his emotions and that acts with an awareness of what they are, someone who is generally honest but that masks that with ambiguity, limited information, and behavior that’s intended to hurt and punish.

I think those feelings really started taking root sometime around 2.07, even if wasn’t ready to engage with them. The fact that Beth had put herself in danger seemed to trigger something in him, and despite what he said, he couldn’t stop himself from checking for Jane and then from retrieving and then returning the blanket—for no other reason than he could, for no other reason than it was important to her (even though it likely came with professional consequences since I believe that kind of move signaled weakness to either his enemies or his own boys). Notably, Rio did not have Beth meet him or come outside for that exchange, nor did he alert her that he was leaving it in her mailbox—like he couldn’t face her in the moment to reveal what he’d done for her. 

In 2.08, then, we see Rio at his most relaxed and open. Teasing, playful, loose. He offers to help her with no specified strings attached (or clear benefit to himself), gives her uncharacteristically open and clear advice about a turf war, and backs off with little more than a warning when she expresses that she wants to handle it herself. I think this moment is pretty powerful in showing what their dynamic might look like at its best, and Rio seems like someone that’s willing to protect, guide, and support her when things are good between them. I don’t think any of these things are things he gives away easily, and they signal very much how he feels about her.

Then, in 2.09, I think he was still taken aback by what the kiss unleashed. His reaction to the two first soft, tentative kisses look as if he’s just had an epiphany. He cedes all the games and fully seems to embrace letting her know how he feels, breaking to finally kiss her the way he wants to kiss her, without any apparent hurry to move onto the next step. Afterward, he looks comfortable and at ease in her bed, and we’re given access to his private reaction when Beth leaves him in her bed: blindsided and hurt.

In 2.10, he reveals that he still sees her (“they suck your soul out yet, or what?”) and that he’s bothered by her trying to cut him out of her life (“damn, that’s cold”) which is followed-up when he adamantly refuses to field her phone calls in 2.12 as payback—not to mention that during this time, he entertains Annie and Ruby and doesn’t touch them when they fail and fuck up the pill run, instead using it as an opportunity to get Beth back in business. This is really a juncture where Rio could have a clean break from Beth; the secret shopper scheme and the dealership have both imploded and the FBI is hot on her trail. Still, he ropes her back in, and he specifically aims to hurt her like she’s hurt him when he tells her that she’s “work” (I’ve said before that I think Beth’s reveal of the Boomer lie was one that impacted him significantly, particularly since their sexual relationship was jump started when he gave her the keys to the kingdom as a reward for handling Boomer, and made him think she was capable of surviving in his world). This, of course, results in him trying to push Beth—or rather drag her down in the dirt with him—in 2.13, only we know how that goes.

I still think he’s in love with her in season 3. First, at the height of his rage, he charges ahead with his plan to murder her, but he’s rattled when she tells him she’s pregnant. He lies low, processing the news, then takes her to a clinic—the same one he visited when his ex was pregnant with his son—where he’s sure he’ll catch her in the lie. Instead, what actually happens is that the doctor asks about the date of conception, triggering both of their memories of 2.09, and she then confirms that they supposedly made a baby that day. 

By the time Beth confesses that there is no baby (through more deceit, pretending that she’d “lost” it), that he has no reason to kill her anymore—Rio doesn’t seem to want to. There’s technically no barrier anymore—the reason he was keeping her alive is now irrelevant—but he struggles with what he has to do, taking a shot for liquid courage just to be able to muster up the strength to do it. Only then... Beth asks him how much it would cost for her life, and he puts on a show that he won’t even entertain the proposition, but then he does. 

Could Rio use the money? Sure! His pill business and counterfeit operation has been imploded—by her—but do I think he actually felt that 100K was a sufficient price for her life, even temporarily? Not at all. Not considering how severe her betrayal was, not considering what it put at risk for him, and not considering how we saw how he handled Eddy in S1 or how much we saw him charge her to retrieve “Boomer’s” body. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t ever remember actually seeing Beth pay him this money—the debt seemed to be erased once he decided he “needed [her] alive” at the end of the episode and took her business out from underneath her instead.

I think taking over Beth’s operations benefitted him, absolutely. But I don’t actually think he needed her, that he’d have been in an absolutely impossible bind without her. It was convenient, yes. It was beneficial, yes. But enough to keep her alive? I don’t personally think so, not without feelings steering the ship of his decisions, at least.

That was actually a moment where a lot of people did come out and say that they didn’t understand Rio’s decision here, and I think the show came back in 3.05 to really reiterate the true motive when the script had Dean announce: “He won’t kill something he loves.” The way the entire Lucy situation goes down is interesting, because I actually think Lucy was the most valuable person (able to continually reproduce passable counterfeit artwork) even if she was the weakest link. Beth, Annie, and Ruby all share the same knowledge about the process, yet they all remain untouched—Rio refuses to cross a line he knows he can’t uncross with Beth. It’s interesting, because you’d think that he’d feel the same way about the shooting—that Beth couldn’t come back from that—but it doesn’t seem to be the case? He doesn’t let it go, no, but he seems determined to address it (“that ship sailed when you put three slugs in me,” “maybe you’re right, I’m the problem,” and “next time, empty the clip”) at the same time that he continues to refuse to physically harm her, despite the fact that she’s still uncontrollable, which she proves when she steals from him. He basically admits to her that his threats are empty, too, when he tells her that he can’t incentivize her with a “gun to [her] head.” 

I don’t think Rio wants to go off riding into the sunset with her, or even necessarily that he wants to be with her. But he seems to feel something for her that he can’t control and which influences his decisions, often making it so that she’s the exception rather than the rule in terms of how he chooses to handle her. 

[foxmagpie]

2x07 was really top-tier really couldn't ask for a better episode. that brio scene rly miss that energy so much. 💔

adkfa;kdf i know, it's so good, and i feel like 4.13 was really in conversation with it? like, rio leaves the dubby in the mailbox because he can't handle being confronted with what it means that he retrieved the dubby, and then beth drinks the bourbon he left for her at the end of 2.04—and then you have this final scene where rio stares at the bottle of bourbon that's indirectly from beth, but he doesn't know it, and really, it's a symbol of rio winning because nick can't pin beth down (whereas the previous bottle was a consolation in exchange for beth losing/rio taking the money because rio knows beth).

unlike 2.07, in 4.13, rio doesn't get the option not to confront how he feels. where beth has to drink just to be able to open the envelope because she knows what's inside but she still finds it shocking, rio can't drink because he's so consumed with the idea that something has happened between nick and beth, and it just crushes him in a way that leaves him no option but to feel every painful aspect of that reality.

in both instances, a gift reveals the truth, but in really different ways, and i love how they really showcase the way that rio's feelings for beth have only deepened in a way that rio still finds completely overwhelming.

exquisite!!!

[foxmagpie]

Interested in getting your view on why Beth continues to go to Rio for help when she gets herself into these situations? He’s literally never been helpful and especially now why would she think he would be? How can you simultaneously have a hit on someone and still ask for their help? Not trying to be negative here ... truly interested in your opinion (and anyone else who would like to chime in once you respond —- if you do)!!

I think there are a few reasons, but first, we need to break down and identify when Beth goes to Rio for help. I think they can be divided into two categories: proposals and favors. 

With proposals, these are moments where Beth asks for a job or pitches a scheme. While it may not always be a fair ask (based on what she has proven to him), it is designed to be mutually beneficial—and usually, Rio benefits more as the boss and the person earning the larger cut of the money. Under this category, I would count the kitchen conversation after Beth leaves the pearls (1.03), the secret shopper scheme pitch (1.05), when Beth asks for 5x the amount they’re currently washing (1.06), and the Botox pitch (1.08).

Favors would be moments that Beth needs Rio’s help to solve an immediate, pressing issue. It might be beneficial to Rio, but that’s not Beth’s primary concern or her angle. For these moments, I would count her asking him for help retrieving Jeff’s body from the dump (2.05), asking for help to look for Jane (2.07), asking for money for Stan’s bail (2.09), asking for money to pay off Boomer (2.13), and asking for money for Dean’s bail (4.03). I think you could also make an argument that she negotiates a few more favors based on her moral limits when she asks Rio not to harm a PTA mom secret shopper (1.07), not to interfere and kill the baby hitmen (2.08), and not to harm Max (3.06). 

Within that, I think Beth continues to go to Rio for help because of four main reasons: a part of her trusts him even when she shouldn’t, her largest asks are usually fueled by desperation and limited options, she knows Rio has experience wiggling his way out of consequences, and one of her flaws is that she is entitled and often has tunnel vision about her own needs without considering the needs of others.

TRUST

Despite the ways that Rio has betrayed that trust, a part of Beth instinctively trusts Rio. We see this in the way she leans into his touch after he’s beaten up Dean and just before he shots him (2.01), the way she goes to him alone in the middle of the night to confess he doesn’t have a reason to kill her anymore (3.04), and the way she ultimately takes her hand off the handle when she’s in the car wash with him after the failed hit (3.10). This doesn’t negate that she doubts her safety with him (after all, she does explicitly worry that he might kill her in the G Wagen) but she regularly takes the chance to trust that he won’t harm her in the midst of those fears.

Most importantly, though, we see that Beth trusts Rio when she defends him in 2.07 against Dean’s accusation that he is involved in Jane’s apparent kidnapping before immediately going to him and asking for help. In that instance, Rio refuses to help her... and then helps her anyway.

He looks for Jane. He retrieves the dubby. He gives it back. From that point, we see Beth confide in him both when the baby hitman rob her (and he freely offers to help, but Beth rejects it) and when Dean takes her kids. I think this moment was really critical in their trajectory and I think a part of her remembers that he helped her even when he acted like he wasn’t going to because he cared about her and how she feels.

That is only re-emphasized every time he agrees to her limits about using violence against other people, such as Mary Pat and Max. Rio may tell her she doesn’t get a say, but he doesn’t follow through, meaning Beth continually tests her limits with him.

DESPERATION

Beth frequently asks Rio for help when she feels she has no other option. For instance, she leaves the pearls after Dean makes it clear that they can’t afford to separate and that Beth can’t get her own line of credit. She asks for the amount of cash they wash to be quintupled when Ruby is pressuring them to get out because it’s not worth it, and she tries to unload the Botox on him when her plan to make some money outside of his enterprise fails. Rio says yes in most of these instances, which encourages Beth to keep trying.

In instances where she’s asking for a favor, though, she’s often exhausted her resources or has a reason why an alternative option would be especially difficult. When she asks for money for Stan’s bail, she feels unable to commit a crime because Dean has threatened to take away her kids permanently. When she asks for money to pay off Boomer, it’s to avoid arrest by the FBI for a murder she didn’t commit. She tells Rio directly that if she could ask anyone else, she would, too. And when she asks for money for Dean’s bail, her accounts are frozen, her business is shut down, and she’s under scrutiny.

In these instances, she really feels she has no other choice.

EXPERIENCE

I think she also relies on Rio because she trusts his experience in crime and his ability to not get caught. He’s also helped her in key ways, which means that she’s more likely to go to him for help in the future. She asks and he tells her about flipping his game (1.06), he teaches her how to shoot a gun (2.02), finds and hides a dead body for her (2.05), counsels her about a turf war and tells her to set limits which is advice she takes (2.08), warns her of the raid (2.10), and advises her to set up a system so as to not burn her cash (3.10).

In 3.01 she wonders what he would do in any given situation and in 4.03 she directly points out that nothing sticks to him, something she is both jealous and curious about.

ENTITLEMENT

But yes. She goes to him even when she has an active hit against him (4.03). She goes to him even when she’s deliberately ignored his advice to keep her safe (2.07). She goes to him when she’s lying about what she’s accomplished for him with Jeff’s body (2.05). She pitches schemes to him after she’s failed (1.05) and she asks him for favors after she’s shared his business without his knowledge of permission (1.07). This all happens because Beth is a mix of naive (as much as Rio has taught her, he’s also kept her fairly isolated and not fully explained many aspects of their business) and entitled. She has an ego—something Rio’s fed (1.06, 2.04, 3.11) and undermined (1.09, 2.06, 3.10)—and she believes she deserves what she asks for, even when she hasn’t earned it. Part of this is because she believes she is very good at what she does and gives herself credit for that (1.08, 2.11, 3.11) and part of it is because she doesn’t seem to truly understand the ways that she’s been an exception for Rio—over and over and over again.

Her ability to compartmentalize and her tendency to prioritize herself and her own survival/desire to thrive makes her behave selfishly towards Rio when she asks for help at the same time that she’s working against him.

[foxmagpie]

I don’t know if you’ve answered this before but do you think Rio knows that dean cheated on Beth? I would say most likely he doesn’t. What do you think his reaction would be if he found out?

I’m not sure I have!

But no, I agree with you. I don’t think that he knows. 

I go back and forth between thinking that Rio basically never considers what the intricacies of the Boland marriage are, haha, and thinking that it’s like a knot he tries to idly unravel in the back of his brain as he turns over all these different pieces of information about her—why she robbed a grocery store in the first place, why someone like her was ever convinced to marry a loser like him, why she sleeps with Rio when he shot her husband, why she stays with Dean and why she lets him back into the house after he takes her kids.

He might guess that Dean cheated on Beth, but I personally don’t think so. I think Dylan was a deliberate flaunting to try and make Beth jealous (I think Rio thought it would get her back into bed) but it was a huge misfire—and I think part of the reason it was such a misfire is he has no idea the effect it would have on her. 

If he found out, I sort of think that he’d mostly think Dean was an idiot, believing that he could do better than Beth? I read Rio as a pretty faithful guy, though, in the sense that he sticks to his word (if he can be bothered to explicitly state his word, that is—he does love a riddle), so I think it’d offend Rio’s value system and he’d had exactly zero respect for Dean (not that he ever had much in the first place).

What do you think?

[foxmagpie]

You may have answered this before but why do you think Rio said that there's no money in taking Jane? Ransom money could be big? Was it because he knew how those guys operated or just didn't want Beth to worry about them having her? I have never really understood that line and wondered your thoughts about it?

I haven’t answered it before! If you ever want to check out what I’ve said about a specific episode, you can reference it by checking out my masterpost here 😊

Honestly it feels a little silly but I never actually thought about it until I saw people start pointing this out in rewatch on Friday. I mean, I definitely remember always going, “Is that true?” And then shrugging and immediately trusting Rio, ha! 

But no, I think you might be onto something with Rio trying to shut down Beth from worrying. Ransom would be an obvious way to eke money out of the situation, but it’s possible that Rio thought they either 1) didn’t want to risk getting the cops involved, or 2) didn’t want to draw Rio’s attention in that way. 

Even if Rio thought these things, though, I think he’d still have a little bit of doubt but he wouldn’t want to let Beth in on those doubts—hence, fronting like there was absolutely no way it was a possibility before immediately making his way over to the drug den in question and retrieving the dubby (which he didn’t even know he was looking for). 

The only other way I can see interpreting the line is Rio making assumptions about them as drug addicts (generally more than specifically, considering this part of his business was fairly new and he might not know these guys at all). Working off of that, Rio might think that their main concern is money to buy more drugs, and that kidnapping the child of their drug dealer hurts their access line to drugs more than it helps it (similarly to how they ultimately ceded ground to the girls and let them walk away unscathed). 

Basically, I think he probably knew it would be a dumb move to make and so he doubted that it was them, but he had to be certain because the stakes were too high. 

[foxmagpie]

Do you think Rio was starting to fall for Beth? Even after the events of 2x13 you think those feelings are still there? What about Beth?

I 100% firmly believe Rio had fallen for Beth by the end of S2—that it was a slow progression from curiosity to attraction to genuine interest to genuine feelings, and I think it could best be summed up by the Pride and Prejudice quote where Elizabeth asks Darcy how he could have ever fallen in love with her and he answers, “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation …  I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

I think everyone has slightly different moments that they put on the chart for Rio’s deepening feelings for Beth, and they’re all valid.

These are the big ones for me:

1x02 - Beth’s speech that convinces him not to kill her and the girls - This is the moment where she piques Rio’s interest. I think he noticed her beauty in 1x01, but I think he pegged her as one type of way, and suddenly she showed him she was a different type of way. She was bold enough to stand up to him, and she came up with a fair argument on the spot despite the high stakes. She impressed him, period, and I don’t think he’s easily impressed. 

1x03 - Leaving him the pearls - I think he came to her house expecting a booty call, and was surprised again that he was wrong about her. I’m sure he’d bedded more than a few women that were intrigued and attracted to the dangerous vibe he puts out (even if it was far outside their normal “type”), what with the tattoo and the gun and the swagger, and I think he correctly clocked that Beth was attracted to him, even at this point, but then she wants in? She got a taste of crime and liked it? I think discovering this, combined with the fact that he might have thought he was about to hook up with her, probably made him very interested in it happening somewhere down the line. I think this is the moment that sets up other moments where he lets her off the hook when he shouldn’t—he wants to see it play out. 

1x04 - “We’re not here to try, we’re here to win, bitch” - I think this is where he lets his interest in her be known a little more? I mean, he sneaks in through her bedroom, rifles through her stuff, asks about the husband he clearly knows is her husband, challenges her to admit he’s not good at his job, and then gives her that look when she asks what he wants. Then she surprises him (AGAIN!) by coming up with a legitimately good idea! She’s smart! She might actually be kinda good at this, and she’s actively chasing after it! She’s a bit goofy in the delivery, but she’s trying to show him that she’s in. But he still can’t figure her out, exactly, and he likes that, which is why he asks her point blank what she’s doing with someone like him the very next episode, and puts the idea into her head of fucking him. I think at this point he’s still just curious and attracted and wants to bone her, but he wants it enough that he sort of forgives her panicking and backtracking immediately after asking to be let in? And while he threatens her, he doesn’t harm her when he thinks she’s stolen from him?

1x06 - “Just give me a name.” “Beth Boland.” - I think this is the moment where he moves from being more amused by her to more impressed by her. She’s the leader of her crew. She takes responsibility for her mistakes. He gives her advice. He wants to set her up for success in this world. She ignores it—because she likes doing things her own way. He doesn’t like it, but I think he respects her tenacity—especially when she tells him never to point a gun at her again? Like, the audacity? Did she just forget who he is? He just leans against his car and watches her drive away and just uuuuuuugh. Yep. He’s into her. So he spends a little more time with her and meets her alone in cafés and tells her she’s pretty.

1x09 - “What you and me had is done. Over.” - I mean, the language. He could’ve said “you’re fired,” “you’re out,” “I don’t need you,” “I’m done with you,” but no. What you and me had? Over? There’s an “us” there. There’s an avoidance of naming what, exactly, they had. It’s break-up language—and it’s more than a break-up than we get in 2x09, honestly. And I’m curious whether this really would’ve been the end if Beth hadn’t tried to get him arrested, because I think this is sort of a heat-of-the-moment breakup? The feds have been breathing down his neck, he had to shut down all operations, and he had a kid turn. He just had to kill that kid, one of his own. He’s had a week. He means it when he says he doesn’t need her bitch-ass drama. He thought she was up for it, and she’s cracking here, and I think it frustrates him because he expected more from her? 

2x01/2x02- The touching!!! - I mean. He’s got legitimate feelings by this point, right? Even if he’s not really engaging in them? He would kill her otherwise, I think. He just killed Eddie for talking to the cops—she set him up for the cops. She actually got him arrested! But I think more than anything, this plan just shows him that she’s bold enough and crazy enough to match him. She’s not on his level, but she could be, someday. He touches her face, because he can, and sees that she lets him. Oh, sure, it’s performative. It’s show for Dean, it’s manipulating her, but he’s also escalating in the ways he’s touching her. He knows he’s got her feeling all sorts of ways, too. He reveals to her that he has a kid, and that’s manipulative, too, but he wouldn’t do this with just anyone. I think he knows the effect it will have on her. Then, when she fails to kill Boomer, I don’t think he’s actually that surprised—she couldn’t pull the trigger on him all that long ago, and he’s good at reading people. I sort of headcanon that he showed up at her house in 2x02 to kill her, but couldn’t. He touches her face again. He’s soft for her, and he knows it, even if he wouldn’t admit it out loud. He promises to teach her because he wants to bring her more into his world. 

2x04 - Bar Bathroom - He believes she did it, that she crossed over, that she got her hands dirty, that she can’t leave his world, and he’s excited. Then she initiates sex? While on a date with her husband? In public? I’ve talked about it a lot, but this is a huge shift for him. He gets openly jealous, destructive, and starts escalating in trying to maintain her total focus and attention. He flirts, but it’s more lighthearted than it was before—he’s not trying to get her off-kilter, he’s trying to get her to come closer. He’s still too into “the game” to just outright invite her into bed again, but he tries so very hard. He’s got it bad. 

2x06 - “You know, I think this thing with me and you has run its course, yeah?” and “Oh, you think you’re special, huh?” - Yes? She does? She knows he won’t kill her? He knows he won’t kill her? He knows that it’s true, that she is special, which is exactly why he says it! He wants her to believe that she’s not because she’s got him all messed up. Again, he uses break-up language her. “This thing with me and you”? “Run its course”? What thing, Rio? You think this is how he fires his boys??? No fucking way. Then she bests him in the 50/50 deal and he’s pissed, but fuck is he turned on. I 100% believe she drives him fucking crazy but he could never fall so deeply for anyone that didn’t challenge him on that level.

2x07 - The Dubby - Dude knew it was gonna fuck up some things professionally, did it anyway. This reminds me so much of Darcy paying off Wickham for Lydia. It doesn’t benefit Rio at all. He doesn’t even really want the credit. He was soft with her the very next episode in 2x08, offered to help her—for free—deal with her problems. Laughed with her. Teased her. I still think he was avoiding how genuine his feelings had become (I mean, there’s a reason he avoids giving her the dubby in person) but I think he knew, at this point, that she was different, and he stopped denying the feelings. 

2x09 - The kiss - Now it wasn’t just that he stopped denying it, he had to openly confront it. He stopped holding himself back here, and we saw that just in the kiss. He had to engage with the idea that maybe it was more for her, too. I think that sex was intense, and I 100% think he lets himself sink into the idea that they could have something real, in their own fucked up way. I don’t think he’s felt this way about anyone (ever, or for a very long time) and I think he comes to accept it, even if it’s outside of his comfort zone. He is so relaxed and so comfortable in her bed. And she dumps him by quitting. There’s no “you and me” or “what we had.” It’s “I’m done.” It’s “no more cash, no more pills.” It’s not about them at all, and I think that fucks him up a little (and is tied to his work comment later). 

2x11 - 20 questions - Rio is more impressed and amused that Beth broke into his house and learned his real name than anything else (I’m convinced it is his real name, not another alias). He allows her to follow him all day, which means, in his own way, he allows her in to his life and his privacy—even when they’re separated! I think he knows it’s not over between them, which is why he allows himself to play the game again and rile her up and make her want him—because it’ll be so much sweeter if she comes back to him. He’s willing to play the long game. 

2x12 - “That’s what I am? Work?” - There is so much good analysis of this scene from pynkhues and lunafeather, but this is resignation and frustration and exhaustion at her inability to commit one way or another. He has feelings for her, but he’s mad at her, he’s disappointed in her, and she’s dumped him (or rather, quit) but now is trying to demand that he name this thing between them in a way that she won’t? At this point, he’s made the gestures, done the flirting, and let himself be vulnerable with her in a way that she just has not reciprocated. I think he knows they’re not over, not really, but the only reason he wants to hurt her so badly in this scene is because she has hurt him.

Yes, I think those feelings are still there after 2x13. I think he had allowed himself to feel things for her that he hadn’t allowed himself to feel for anyone else, and I think they’re deep enough that they don’t just disappear, even under the circumstances. I don’t think Rio’s going to be engaging with those feelings or pursuing them, though. At this point, he’s been deeply betrayed by her, and that betrayal stings more because of how much he cares for her. (And at this stage, I do think it’s a deep, genuine care, and not love—I think they’d both have to have their walls down a little more and a little longer than the space that 2x09 allows to have it turn into love—but I think they’re on their way). 

Oh, he’ll fuck with her in S3. He might taunt her and flirt with her if he knows that it will make her off-balance, but I’m sure his walls are going back up and he’s cutting her off emotionally. I’m interested to see how they come up with a justification for him not killing her after this—because if they want me to believe that he’s a big, bad crime boss, that needs to be addressed, and I think based on where I expect Rio to be emotionally at the beginning of S3, I don’t think it’s going to be waved away easily by the suggestion that he still cares for her.

As for the Beth question, I think that’ll have to be explored in another ask, haha. This one got pretty long!