#fitzpatrick analysis

[foxmagpie]

On a moral alignment scale, how would you rate Brio, the girls, or any other character on GG? I'll start with Nick. I'll say Lawful Evil. What do you think?

What a fun question! Thanks, anon! Descriptions pulled from here.

LAWFUL GOOD

Lawful Good characters always do the right thing as expected by society. They always follow the rules, tell the truth and help people out. They like order, trust and believe in people with social authority, and they aim to be an upstanding citizen, however, they can be irritatingly inflexible in their beliefs. They can come across as arrogant and self-righteous.

Stan's desire to go into law enforcement and "be one of the good guys" fits this archetype. While he does have a moral slide in the show, it wears him down in a way that I think is even distinct from Ruby. Stan desires to do good in all areas of his life, and he's rigid in his beliefs, going as far as to consider Ruby's descent into crime as "cheating." I'd say he hits the notes of arrogant and self-righteous, too, when he confronts Beth and forces Ruby to choose between the two of them.

Other Lawful Good characters: Nancy (who often comes across self-righteous and is nitpicky about rules like hair oils on the couch), Lucy (who balks at Beth duping her into creating counterfeit cash but naively trusts Rio's authority)

NEUTRAL GOOD

Neutral Good characters do their best to help others, but they do it because they want to and believe it will lead to good outcomes, not because they have been told to by a person in authority or by society’s laws. A Neutral Good person will break the rules if they are doing it for good reasons and they will feel confident and justified in their actions.

Ruby's iconic "I'm this bitch" speech places her, I think, solidly in the Neutral Good category. She refuses to feel guilty about robbing from the grocery store because she did it for a noble reason, but she's always been the best about having lines and some actions—such as dumping Boomer's body—deeply shake her.

Other Neutral Good characters: Max (who justifies hiring a hitman to avenge Lucy), Greg (who justifies an affair because of the legitimacy of his feelings for Annie)

CHAOTIC GOOD

Chaotic Good characters do what their conscience tells them to for the greater good. These people will rebel and break the rules to do what’s right and may even try to bring about societal change. Chaotic Good characters may appear strange to others because they do not abide by societal expectations to fit in.

Phoebe is driven by noble goals, but rankles under traditional rules, sidestepping them to continue working on the case after the FBI pulls them from it. She also slyly moves the chess board to advance her agenda when she creates a fake shortage of nail polish because nobody will recognize the possibility that women are craft enough to pull off this crime. Of course, Phoebe also struggles to fit in and make friends because of her sloppy appearance and awkward social behavior, so her blooming friendship with Beth creates conflict for her in terms of choosing what's right.

LAWFUL NEUTRAL

The Lawful Neutral character does not care about what others think of their actions, they only care about their actions being correct according to their code. But they do not preach their code to others and try to convert them. Moral decisions don’t come into the equation for them so even if they hurt others in carrying out their duty, they feel no guilt, remorse or anguish.

Turner's fixation on Beth is driven by a lawfulness, but his tactics to pursue her definitely align more with a personal code than an ethical or morally good one—particularly with the way that he blackmails Eddie and Ruby. Additionally, as we saw in the interrogation scene with Stan, he's willing to lie and pay off who he needs to achieve his aims.

TRUE NEUTRAL

True Neutral characters don’t like to take sides. They are pragmatic rather than emotional in their actions, choosing the response which makes the most sense for them in each situation. On the negative side, True Neutral characters can come across as apathetic and indecisive. They can be frustrating to work with because they don’t want to commit to any side.

As a survivalist, Beth is always looking out for herself first, and that drives her to make decisions—and justify them—even if they aren't really the decisions she wanted to make in the first place, like turning Rio into the Secret Service. Beth frequently shuts off her emotions to make practical decisions, coming across cold and callous in the process, and she becomes incredibly indecisive when she's split between situations that will be good for her in radically different ways—like choosing Nevada to keep her family in tact, or choosing crime (and Rio) for her own personal happiness.

Other True Neutral characters: Mary Pat (who will work with Boomer against the girls, the girls against Boomer, and then the FBI against the girls), Mick (who makes deals with Beth to subvert Rio but then seems to tell Rio about them, but then goes against what he knows Rio's wishes are to serve Nick, who offers either a stronger incentive or a bigger punishment)

CHAOTIC NEUTRAL

These individuals don’t like being told what to do, following traditions, or being controlled. That said, they will not work to change these restrictions, instead, they will just try to avoid them in the first place. Their need to be free is the most important thing.

Annie does have a desire to do good and be helpful to people, but she's also in many ways the most flippant about crime and she chafes against anyone in a position of power over her, whether that's Boomer or Beth. Her desire to do good is also very dependent on how she feels about the person at hand—i.e. she pushes for paying Rio to off Mary Pat, although the idea is horrible to Ruby and Beth.

LAWFUL EVIL

Lawful Evil characters operate within a strict code of laws and traditions. Upholding these values and living by these is more important than anything, even the lives of others. They may not consider themselves to be Evil, they may believe what they are doing is right. These characters enforce their system of control through force. Anyone who doesn’t follow their code or acts out of line will face consequences. Lawful Evil characters feel no guilt or remorse for causing harm to others in this way.

Nick is so obsessed with social power that he'll do anything to get it—even sacrificing his own cousin to the criminal justice system. Nick leaves Rio to one side of the law while he occupies the other, chasing after influence over money. The second Rio tries to disrupt that system in any way, threatening Nick's job? He takes a wooden chair to Rio's eye.

NEUTRAL EVIL

Neutral Evil characters are selfish. Their actions are driven by their own wants whether that’s power, greed, attention, or something else. They will follow laws if they happen to align with their ambitions, but they will not hesitate to break them if they don’t. Characters with a Neutral Evil alignment will hurt others if it furthers their agenda but they will not harm people for no particular reason.

Interestingly, despite how different they are, I would place both Rio and Dean in this category. Rio is selfish and driven by his desire for money and power; Dean is selfish and is driven by his impulses and his ego. Dean mostly follows the laws of society, even if he breaks his marriage vows, but that changes when Rio suddenly becomes too much of a disruption to him and he tries to hire a hitman. Rio doesn't kill senselessly and is for the most part pragmatic about it (changing his mind after Beth's initial speech), however, he does kill Lucy just to further his agenda of hurting Beth.

Other Neutral Evil Characters: Gayle (she's nice until she blackms and blackballs of Dean when he rejects her advances)

CHAOTIC EVIL

Chaotic Evil characters care only for themselves with a complete disregard for all law and order and for the welfare and freedom of others. They harm others out of anger or just for fun. They may be driven by their desire to spread Chaos and Evil or because they enjoy it. They are unpredictable and freely express wild and intense emotions because they see no reason to control or suppress them.

Fitzpatrick falls into this category. While at first he seems carefully precise and like he follows a rigid system of rules—even if they are separate from society's—we see how his lines change over time, like when he assaults the chef for cooking Beth's salmon. His pursuit of Beth, too, reveals how much he prioritizes himself and has intense emotions because he ignores all of her signals and explicit disinterest.

[foxmagpie]

Do you think Fitzpatrick is only there to make Rio jealous and to bring them closer to realize how they feel about each other ?

No, I think Beth’s hiring of Fitzpatrick also functions to let us know how much Beth has been struggling under the crushing weight of Rio’s control over her life. She’s lost the bravado she had in 2.06, believing that he would never kill her, and then he’s stolen her business, made her work for nothing, murdered her coworker, and emptied her house. He’s really left her with nothing, and as she entered crime in order to find a way to save her family—and stayed in crime because it gave her power and control she’d previously lacked—I think Fitzpatrick shows how far she’ll go to try and regain a semblance of control over herself (as well as show how incapable she is of handling Rio herself). 

On top of that, I think working closely with Fitzpatrick may open her eyes to how unique her relationship with Rio is. So far, Beth has been very naive in understanding what Rio has let her get away with, and though Fitzpatrick is fond of her, he is much colder than Rio. I do not think that Beth will be able to sway him in the same ways that she’s been able to with Rio, and I think the consequences will be harsher. Working with someone like Fitzpatrick may make her realize that when she and Rio work well together, they work really well together, and that’s maybe something she shouldn’t take for granted, particularly because his knowledge and power can offer her protection in a world with which she is still wildly unfamiliar.

I’m a bit doubtful that Fitzpatrick will be the trigger point for Rio’s jealousy, mostly because I think we’re more likely to see that with the teased love triangle between Beth, Rio, and Rio’s mysterious boss.

[foxmagpie]

What do you think would be the endgame for Beth romantically? I’m a total Brio shiper but in the eventuality that they don’t end up together how do you see her? Single, dating someone, would she eventually remarry?Also, do you think Fitzpatrick could become a love interest for Beth?

I feel like in some ways it’s (crossed fingers) too early to know exactly what they have in mind for Beth’s romantic endgame (particularly because I think that they’ve been very fluid with exploring her romantic relationships, and sort of figuring it out with each season, rather than as thing for which they already have a long arc and endpoint planned). 

Personally, my prediction (or perhaps just preference) is that Beth will end the series single (with the door open for the possibility of a rekindling of her romance with Rio, or with a very recent but ultimately undefined hookup that hints at the idea that things might shake out alright for them after all). 

So much of Beth’s storyline—her background, conflicts and goals—is centered around independence: having it too early, and with it, too much responsibility caring for young Annie; lacking it within a stifling marriage and housewife role; and fighting for it in terms of financial stability. Independence is also very much a key component of how Beth defines success, which is why she asks Rio at the end of 3.11 “When does it get to be mine?” and argues that it all happened “because of me.”

It’s is also an area in which she is still struggling to grow. She desires independence at the same time that it terrifies her, as she has never truly had it, which is part of the reason why I think she’s been reluctant to leave Dean and part of the reason that I think she fluctuates between wanting freedom from Rio’s interference and leaning on him to save her when things get too hard. 

Because of all of that, I think it would be very narratively satisfying if we ended on a note where Beth is alone because she can make it work alone—and that there’s a hint but not a confirmation that she might pair up with someone (hopefully Rio!) because she wants to, not because she has to (like she did with Dean). 

In terms of other love interests, I do think they left open the possibility of a Beth/Fitzpatrick pairing, yes! I got those vibes from the “I was just bored, too” line from him, plus his general intrigue in her and her connection to Rio, plus that they illustrated that he’s a caring father and has a duality to him beyond the fact that he’s “just” a hitman, like Rio is not “just” a gang leader. However, how the hitman plot shakes out (and whether Rio knows about the hitman generally and Fitzpatrick specifically) I think will shape how that relationship goes—though I think that they could leave it open-ended enough for Fitzpatrick to reappear later in the girls’ lives and crime careers (perhaps they need him to deal with another mark?) where that could be explored. 

I do hope that they have Beth try dating post-divorce! But I think it will solidify for Beth that no average person will be the right match for her, not just because of the burden of secrecy and lies, but because I think she’d ultimately be bored, something she has been running away from since 1.03 but that she’s still grappling with somewhat (since she tells Rio in 2.04 that she wants to be “a good person”). I think dating after Dean would be a really fun way to show that Beth doesn’t ever really see herself returning to a normal, safe, crime-free life.