#4.16 analysis

[foxmagpie]

Just thinking about the scene where Phoebe tells Nick that Rio has something that he doesn't and the screen flips to show Beth like????? That's sooo romantic I'm on the floor. My mf power couple the way I miss them. I'm weeping!!!

Anon, the way I love that shot.

Beth really had a final opportunity to betray Rio, taking out him and the person that makes it possible for him to avoid consequences in one fell swoop, wiping the board and making it so she had everything she'd been fighting to have to herself—the counterfeiting operation he took from her, the strip club he inserted himself into—and she didn't. Even though she'd been working on that specific goal all season, she changed her mind the second he gave her a reason to, and even though he didn't show up when he said he would and even though he didn't offer her a good reason and even though he switched the plan at the last possible second, she trusted him.

She chose him.

She chose him over a fresh start and new operations with no bad blood in Nevada.

She chose him over doing it alone. Beth, who is so used to doing everything alone.

It absolutely slays me that all she needed from him was to know that it was real.

[foxmagpie]

thinking about how beth chose rio not once, not twice, but three times over: first she did so by being honest with him and inviting him into the plan with the secret service, then she chose him again when he failed to show and she still made sure he was protected and only nick went down, and lastly she chose him when she decided to stay and crime in detroit when she could’ve gone and started something new in nevada. she had the option to clear the board and continue to work her way up at home, or to leave all the baggage behind and rebuild something somewhere new, and she rejected them both because she didn’t just want to crime, she wanted to crime with rio.

it’s @pynkhues line from drive you mad perfectly encapsulated: “it won’t ever feel as good without me.”

[foxmagpie]

Also I have to say I love how quiet the end of the Boland marriage was and how all Beth said was “I know” and how her last gesture to him was to take care of him one last time by folding his clothes and packing for him and how Dean’s was to take advantage of it and just sit on the end of the bed and ignore her. Like. Is anything more them? Good riddance.

[foxmagpie]

In 4.16 did rio know beth got shot by nick when he told him in prison 'to leave her be'? and why did rio make that face when nick told him he hit her where it hurts (does that mean he found out annie had been arrested then) which then has to mean beth knew about annie's arrest in the final scene.

Yes, he did know because it’s implied that Mick told him everything when he told Nick that he wasn’t going to use Rio’s people to do his dirty work.

I do think Rio figured out that Nick had other plans up his sleeve and likely that they had to do with Annie, considering Nick was directly quoting Rio himself when he kidnapped Annie in order to hurt Beth.

It’s not entirely clear whether Rio knew about the fingerprint swapping, but there’s a good chance he did. After all, he knew about Mick getting a hot tub from Beth and he knew about the shooting. It’s reasonable to think that if Mick was upfront with those things, especially the latter, that he had kept Rio in the loop. If he didn’t know in the jail scene, he probably followed up and discovered it shortly after he left as Rio is not someone who particularly enjoys being on the outside of important information.

I actually still don’t think Beth knew about Annie’s arrest in the final scene. Just because Rio knows doesn’t actually mean that he told her. Besides the fact that it would be such a large scene to skip with how important their relationship is to each other, Beth was too at peace. That news would devastate her. It doesn’t logically follow from other significant scenes that were skipped (like the fact that we didn’t see Rio discover Beth’s friendship with Rhea, but we saw how Rhea was instrumental in orchestrating their reunion).

It’s my read that in that final scene, Rio knew but hadn’t yet told Beth—which if Beth discovered that afterward would probably lead to some conflict between them.

It’s not all that unusual for Rio’s character either. Think of how much time he gave Beth to get to Boland Motors when he knew there was going to be a raid, or how he didn’t tell her that he had his guys tailing her in Canada, or how to handle the feds sniffing around or anything else. Rio’s not communicative in the best of times, and telling her that her baby sister had been arrested because of his blackmailing scheme gone wrong would be a difficult conversation to initiate especially since they just got onto good terms.

[foxmagpie]

I’m confused, when was the moment that beth just stopped resisting and “the dam burst” and what was it that rio did? Also does she know nick is in prison? Sorry i’m just asking bc my stream was patchy last night.

Nah, I’m def being hyperbolic there too especially because Beth’s shifting allegiance over to Rio was incredibly small and gradual.

BUT what I mean when I say that is that Beth has been resistant to that change and refusing to really embrace or acknowledge it in the way that Rio has. She’s spent the season distrusting him and putting herself first—i.e. she called off the hit only because it benefitted her.

However, Rio’s gesture at the end of 4.14 and the way he shored it up in 4.15 by knocking because “she asked” and by telling her that all she needs to do is ask was repaid by Beth fully inviting him in. She invited him to the diner with the feds and she trusted that he was going to show up, and then he didn’t, and while I think a past version of Beth would’ve given up trusting him at that point—especially because it would be so easy not to! he offered no real excuse besides “something came up”! flipping would’ve made reason since considering he was turning on family!—this version of Beth didn’t. She was angry at him and she felt he made her look like an idiot, but she still took that envelope and she still went through with the plan even though it was doing things his way instead of hers. That’s huge for Beth who is always fighting tooth and nail to be the one calling the shots, and huger still because again, she did so at a moment where she was feeling let down by him.

But that still wasn’t the dam bursting moment. For me, that was quietly in her bed with Annie and Ruby and telling them she wasn’t going to Nevada because it meant she would give up being a criminal… give up being Beth.

But it wasn’t just that. She was always going to crime with or without Rio. But she chose with. She could’ve turned him in with Nick, but Dave and Phoebe suggested that the only reason Nick was going down instead of or in addition to Rio was because he had Beth on his team. She protected him.

And she protected him again when she didn’t turn in Mick, and she trusted him—without even needing to speak to him—when she told the girls that she wasn’t worried about her life anymore. Logically, she should’ve been. Rio’s right hand man just came into her kitchen and shot her! But she thought about it and came to the conclusion on her own that, despite the evidence, Rio wasn’t behind it and that he wouldn’t do that to her—even though she’s spent two seasons sure that he would and that he was only waiting around to get rid of her.

Again, in reality, that was incrementally built to in a way I find really compelling and beautiful—I track that gradual shift up through 4.07 here and intend to finish it—but it’s the way that Beth jumps feet first into the fire with Rio and trusts that she’s going to be safe—that he’ll keep her safe—even when she has reason and room to logically doubt—that is a dam breaking moment for me.

She just needed one gesture to believe, and once Rio gave it to her, she stopped fighting him.

[foxmagpie]

Are you disappointed in how little we got to see Beth + Rio working together to bring down nick Like a missed lunch and an envelope of info was it. I thought It could have been so much more! They had a fair bit of time to show it but chose not to. Im kinda upset about it. Love your analysis always ❤️

Nope, I’m not. One, I like the implicit trust it shows Rio has in Beth’s capabilities and how it demonstrates Rio giving up control in a way he has struggled to do in their working relationship previously. Two, I love that Beth let it go and accepted Rio’s sparse answer for his failure to appear at the diner and trusted that he was still working with her, not against her. Three, I love how little they had to communicate about the plan because they intuitively understand each other. And four, I actually appreciate Rio taking a backseat in this specific partnership move because I think it gives space to the fact that although Rio’s allegiance had shifted from Nick to Beth, and although betraying Nick is a choice he made freely, it is still a complicated move to make against his own blood. I think it makes sense that he wouldn’t want to be front and center of that move, and I really loved that Rio tuned in and watched Beth’s speech with pride but that he turned it off once he saw enough. I think it underscores that while Rio would do what he did again, it wasn’t a decision made easily or lightly (I think we saw this, too, in the scene in Nick’s car where Rio tells him he’ll “do what he needs to do”), and I like what that says about who he is as a person—especially because one of the core aspects of Beth and Rio’s connection is the way that they prioritize family.

Personally, I really loved how it all went down, and I think it worked well with their characterization and dynamic, but I also love that it also demonstrated important growth in their relationship and made me believe that their partnership could really work this time in a way it couldn’t before.

[foxmagpie]

Thoughts about the scene with Nick and Rio in the car? was it just me or was that an incredibly cringy I know Rio was supposed to be nervous but why was he so obvious about it? Lol I don't know sometimes Nick's and Rios relationship confuses me.

I loved it tbh. I don’t think betraying Nick was an easy decision for Rio despite it being what he wanted to do, and I loved that he was squirming both because he wasn’t able to show up for Beth when she needed him to (especially because their new partnership was so incredibly fragile), but because he couldn’t really handle being caught out. I think it emphasizes that unlike Beth, Rio’s super power has never been his ability to outright lie and deceive people. That’s why the moment that I think he most sold it—when he said “you know me, I do what I have to do”—was one where he was utilizing ambiguities while telling the truth. In this case, orchestrating Nick’s downfall was what he felt he had to do for himself and for his partnership with Beth.

I talk a bit more about how I liked Rio’s minimized role in Nick’s downfall because of what it says about the weight of his decision and who he is as a person and how that connects him to Beth here.

[foxmagpie]

What do you think Rio was trying to imply with the “you know me...” he says to Nick?

I talk about that conversation a little bit here and here, but don't dig too deeply into that specific line, so I'll try now!

NICK: You know, I think I finally figured it out.

RIO: What's that?

NICK: Why she's got you by the jewels. [Lick Mick, Nick realizes Beth has a "hold" on Rio and that she has the power to influence his decisions, and he specifically frames it in a way to suggest that Rio is being emasculated by her]

RIO [chuckling]: Oh, yeah? [Rio opts to play nonchalant and amusedinstead of outright denying this]

NICK: Yeah, it's always the spicy ones. [Nick suggests Rio's interest in her is because she's a little "crazy" or "wild." There's innuendo here as if Nick might still be trying to pass off that he and Beth slept together, so he "gets" it from Rio's POV now]

RIO: My kinda girl. [Although there are elements of truth to this quality of Beth's being something Rio is attracted to, it is a sliver of a more complex picture. Still, Rio plays into Nick's idea of who he is and what he likes]

NICK: Yeah, well, makes me nervous. [Nick pivots the conversation]

RIO: Don't be. [Rio denies Nick has any reason to be nervous although he's awkward throughout the entire conversation because Nick has good reason to feel nervous and Rio and Beth's relationship as they are actively plotting against him together]

NICK: Well, 'cause, when it all goes south, I need you to be clear-headed. [Nick alludes to their overarching plan of using Beth for their own needs with her new spot on City Council, and the fact that they're willing to sacrifice her to protect themselves. He's saying he doesn't want Rio's feelings for Beth getting in the way of him throwing her to the wolves when need be. The irony of Nick saying this is that this is the exact reason that Rio and Nick's relationship has finally deteriorated to the point that Rio is ready to betray him]

RIO: No, she's just some bitch, bro. [Like he has done before, Rio pretends Beth is not special to him]

NICK: Oh, she's more than that. [Beat] Hmm? [Laughs] Come on. [Nick tries to get Rio to admit that she's more a notch in Rio's bedpost that Rio's indifferent to]

RIO [laughing]: You know me. [This line is purposefully ambiguous. Rio's already leaning into Nick's conception of him in this conversation, and he wants Nick to fill in the blanks as he likes here. When it's first said, though, there's an implication that Rio means that his usual pattern with women is one of casual attachment]

NICK: Do I? [Nick signifies that he doesn't trust that he does know who Rio is or what he values or cares about anymore—that he's been so influenced by Beth that he's changed]

RIO: I'll do what I gotta do. [Rio shifts the meaning of "You know me" to reiterate that in the end, Rio always does what's best for the business and therefore their partnership. That Nick has nothing to worry about because when push comes to shove, Rio will sacrifice Beth. However, there's verbal irony here because while he means for Nick to interpret it that way, what it really means is that he'll do what he has to do to protect his relationship with Beth—i.e. sacrifice Nick]

Basically, I think Rio was trying to downplay Nick's worry by emphasizing his and Nick's history and familiarity and hoping that it would be enough to dilute Nick's suspicions. The problem, of course, is that while Rio wants to sacrifice Nick to save what he has with Beth, and while he is committed to the plan, it's not really easy for him. In dredging up the ways that Nick does know him, Rio reminds himself of why this betrayal weighs heavily on him at the same time that it signifies how far they've drifted from each other because Nick both did know Rio well enough to know that he'd changed and Beth was a threat to them but he didn't know Rio well enough to know which lines not to cross, ultimately dooming their partnership.