#2.11 analysis

[foxmagpie]

Happy hump day! Haha. I had a thought for a little gg thought exercise if you feel up to sharing your beautiful brain. Let’s say there’s an au where beth takes the last question in their little game in Rio’s apartment. What would you have her say, and how would it change the scene and maybe even the events that followed?

haha, i actually wrote something like this once upon a time, but it also hinged on her finding her pearls when she was searching his apartment and while she didn't take the last question, she did haughtily tease him and then well. they made use of the fact that they were literally standing in his bedroom when the whole game went down, haha.

if the finding of the pearls is removed but beth still takes the opportunity for the last question, hmmm. my first instinct was that she might ask something like "why me?" but i think rio essentially covered that in chiding her for asking to be a part of it and now emphasizing that this is what that means. i do think beth has a curiosity to ask him or suss out whether or not she's special, but rio basically refuses to admit to her that she is (while constantly acting in ways that prove it, haha) and i think the question is a bit too vulnerable for beth to ask (particularly when rio's not really answering her anyway).

in that sense, i think the only way beth really would take the last question is if she felt she had some leverage in the situation, which is likely why i had her stumble upon the pearls because it means she has the upper hand in terms of knowing something about rio he didn't particularly want or expect her to find out. instead, of course, rio leveraged the fact that he knew beth was still interested in him and wanted him to kiss her by teasing it and then promptly pulling the rug out from underneath her.

considering all of that, i'm not sure there is a question that beth could ask rio that would rebalance the power dynamic in the scene or produce a significantly different result. rio appeared unrattled by beth stalking him and then breaking into his apartment, let alone asking after rhea and first-naming him (and while i suspect he was rattled by his choice to quickly disappear and move, i also think he was highly amused and charmed by her pulling a copycat and being insane, as well). so I'm not sure what question could've really shaken him up to flip that switch.

imo, her best move would've been to deflate the tension by asking him something totally innocuous, like where he got his mixing bowls or something, haha, or something even more meticulous than that. something that showed how thorough she was, how much she was paying attention, something that made him feel a little invaded but which was impersonal enough that it couldn't be used against her as evidence of her feelings for him. something that made it so she had the last question, not him, so that she left without his kicking her out, so that he felt like he didn't win the upper hand.

however, i don't think it would've majorly changed the trajectory of anything, mostly because beth still found the body and rio would've still fucked off to legoland.

but more than that, i don't think beth wanted to break that tension. she wanted him to kiss her, and she wanted it badly enough that her eyes fluttered closed and she waited for it, and that will always be my undoing.

[foxmagpie]

Ooh, if Beth had said she did “want it” during 20 questions, do you think Rio would’ve responded differently? For example would he have given in himself if he got her to admit it instead of throwing her out? Or do you think he was committed to trying to hurt her like she did him no matter what

[x]

I think it would take a lot for Beth to admit to wanting it verbally or physically, but that if she had, he still would've kicked her out. After all, he already knew she wanted it—knew that he could've closed that gap and that they would've slept together—but he still pressed forward with his plan. It was really just about making her acknowledge what he already knew so he could have that power over her. Sleeping with her at that moment would make him lose that power, so I think he would've rejected her just like she rejected him in 2.06. At this point in their dynamic, it takes so much for them to both let their walls down, and it really does become all about the game.

[foxmagpie]

In the 20 question scene when Rio asks Beth do you want it? Is it obvious what he’s asking because he has said ambiguous things before so my question is, is he asking her if she wants to fuck him? 

I think the line is intentionally ambiguous! I think he literally means “do you want [the last question]” but I think he purposefully phrases it in such a way (with the slow closing of the gap and gravelly voice to match) that it forces Beth to ask herself the question of whether she wants him—mostly so she has to face that truth right before he rejects her and kicks her out like she did to him.

He’s still stung from her dumping him, but he has the power in the scene in multiple ways: he’s caught her red-handed, he’s blackmailing her with a dead body, and he’s forced her back into crime. He also knows what he’s about to do (tell her to leave when he’s built an expectation of tenderness) while she’s in ignorance, so it really is about flipping the script on 2.09.

The only other time Rio’s been so forward in initiating sex was when he didn’t have power—when Beth was strong arming him in the 50/50 deal.

I’ve always read the innuendo in the 20 questions scene, but thought it was more Rio forcing Beth to reckon with her feelings as a form of tit-for-tat punishment than it was about making a serious offer. He knows she still has feelings for him (her curiosity and jealousy over Rhea taking precedence at the top of the game establishes that), but since he only realized the true extent of his feelings after she closed the gap in her bedroom, now he tries to recreate that same wound in her when he closes the gap in his bedroom and sets up the same kind of false expectation.

Ugh, such a good scene. Now I want to watch it 150 times.

[foxmagpie]

What are your thoughts on when Rio came by the park to warn Beth about the raid? He seems relaxed and teasing (instead of calling her out, like he usually likes to do). What do you make of him sending her body parts in the mail? Pigtail pulling? A reminder she can't cut her losses that easily? Why didn't he just tell her to fuck off, instead of trying to pull her back in? Why would he let her sister and Ruby move pills for him? Thank you! :)

My personal interpretation of Rio’s behavior in 2.10 is that he believes Beth is orchestrating the Annie/Ruby Canada pill scheme. When he approaches Beth at the park, I think he believes that she does miss crime and that she can’t stay away, but that she’s behind-the-scenes. I think that’s why he went ahead with letting Annie and Ruby do that job (and why he didn’t immediately follow up with them when they failed) because he ultimately thought it would rope Beth back in. Instead, he found out that Beth had blocked his number and that she didn’t seem inclined to play the game anymore.

In 2.11, then, I think he ramps up his behavior. The body parts are used to pull Beth back in and while I think it starts as a reminder that she can’t cut her losses that easily (his world is not one people get to come in and out of whenever they feel the whim). I do think it becomes more of a game for him when he realizes that she’s going to resist that hard. The body parts are really interesting to me because he doesn’t utilize them when she tries to steal 50% of his business, but he does use them to get her back in business? And he doesn’t actually do anything besides send them with a greater frequency? The purpose is to get her to break—he doesn’t actually seem all that fussed about actually leveraging the body as evidence for the FBI to pin her; it’s simply to get her back in his orbit when he realizes how much she really is trying to step out (something he recognizes she doesn’t actually want, as evidenced by him asking her in 2.10 “they suck your soul out yet or what?”).

And the reason why I think he was so eager to get her back (as opposed to telling her to fuck off) is because I think he simply likes her—both professionally and personally. After she dumped him, I think he was wounded and hurt, but with a bit of distance and perspective (and especially when he believed that she was back in, just secretly) I think he pieced together a bit that her motives were more complicated than he may have initially believed. When he honey traps her in 2.11 and sees that she is still attracted to and interested in him, I think that he clues in even more. 

Generally, I think Rio can read Beth well—particularly what she’s capable of and what her secret desires are—but he struggles to understand a lot of her choices. Personally, I think he likes that contradiction. He knows her, he sees something in her—but she’s always surprising him.