Hey, do you think Zach celebrates his bday- like first, with his mom when he was young, second when he's at blackthorne/teen, and now after uws with cam?
Hi friend, the short answer is yes.
I think Catherine tried to celebrate Zach's birthday. At least for a few years. The important ones in her book. 1, 2, 3, 4... And then she just stops.
It's too hard to be a single mother. In her eyes it's too exhausting. She does try. But she gets tired of failing so eventually she stops. She stops trying so hard. She just doesn't quite see the point...
It started as a dinosaur coloring book. And then it was a box of hot wheels. And then it was a blanket...
By the time Zach was 8, everything became more practical. A new pair of boots. A set of throwing knives. A pack of socks...
And then she stops. She just forgets.
Zach doesn't mention his birthday. He doesn't care. But every year, he picks up a pack of cinnamon chewing gum, a singular package of peanut M&Ms, and a tiny pack of playing cards. He wanders down the halls of Blackthorne or down the streets of whatever city he's in, and he sits.
He stares at the sky, breathes deeply, and whispers a broken happy birthday...
But when Cammie finds out Zach's birthday is in November, she wastes no time in making Zach's night the best night ever. She orders burgers and fries, Chinese food, Italian food (even though its not the same as authentic Italian). And then she picks up a slice of cake, pie, a giant cookie, and a ton of ice cream from each and every grocery store, ice cream truck, and ice cream joint she could find within 45 minuets of their apartment at Georgetown. And she practically dumps it all out on the floor of their kitchen/living room. And they eat until they can't anymore. And they laugh and they talk. And they tease each other and then they just sit in silence. Until Cammie leads Zach away from the mess, pulling him to the bedroom.
Nothing happens. Nothing like that. But for once, Zach sleeps without nightmares because all he can focus on is Cammie's heart.
do you think that beth was in love with rio, or that she was in love with him equally as much as he was in love with her?
yes, and i think that their choice to want each other despite are hugely significant for both of them.
yes, rio chose beth despite the fact that she shot him, but beth chose rio despite thinking he might've had mick shoot her. despite thinking, for months, that he could really kill her. despite the fact that he kidnapped someone that is one of the few people she would choose over him. despite the fact that she could never forgive her husband for cheating, but she simply let sleeping dogs lie with rio. these are all huge gestures for beth based on her characterization and history.
the easier, safest, and most logical choice is to take rio down with nick and walk away the sole victor, but she doesn't. she saves him, and she chooses to stay in detroit, even when she thinks her sister and her best friend are on their way out to vegas.
You are so right about the do you wanna die/kinda line being one of the most honest Beth lines ever!
(x)
Oh Heatherwax, hi!!!! How've you been? I've missed your asks! 😘
I mean... Canon has established since day 1 that Beth has a blatant death wish, oh yea please do go on, shoot me, let's see what happens, BUT, somehow she spends the entirety of the series claiming that she's a mother, I'm doing this for my family, for us, blah blah blah, so the dream sequence feels like an acknowledgment, finally, of what Beth really seeks out of this?
To be fair it's a little too on the nose that she then decides to call off Nevada, but this show has never exactly been super subtle, y'know?
Anyway I really like that she so earnestly admits that she kinda wants to die, her life makes her want to die, and I like how it's then echoed in ghost!Fitzpatrick's little speech, because he saw that in her right from the start, just like Rio did, and also it ties in with the line about dying if she has to make another cookie or something, which is something she says around the end of season 4 too if I remember correctly?
So I guess that what I'm trying to say is that since Fitzpatrick was introduced, there's been this slow arc of Beth coming to terms with the fact that crime has been a matter of survival at this point, because this perfect housewife life is slowly killing her, and that is not a temporary phase, and that this darkness that she has in her and draws her towards danger and death isn't a fad either but who she is, and it all culminates in the dream sequence because it's pretty much the first time she admits it out loud? (except for the cookie line but it was said in the tone of a joke)
And the reason I'm mentioning Fitz is that he's been portrayed as an evil version of her somehow, and he's kept telling her that they were the same, which makes him some sort of a script personification that's here only to hit Beth repeatedly in the head with the truth until she actually admits it.
Although I must say that most of the show and especially season 4 is very blurry in my mind, so maybe I'm garbling complete nonsense here, who knows 😅
bruh. rewatching the episodes by myself and I’m a me Sss s
I’m so emotionallll.
I don’t wanna say goodbye to them ;___;
tbh while the Nevada-dream felt too long last night, I didn’t have that one rewatch. maybe because now you know everything is from Beth’s perspective and it makes it even better.
- I caught on the red dress reference from the get go. But that song at the beginning ughhhh should have known it was the nightmare scenariooo
- White Lily coming back several times; symbol for rebirth or rejuvenation of the soul. But also death (or the death of death in this case) soo good. And she picks it herself in it
- All her dumb kids being all well-behaved, lol who are these clones.
- Blueberry pancakes!!
- Kevin portrayed as a big man-child with zero responsibility (thank you Beth for sharing our collective opinion) - I’d argue he’s like a version of Dean in the way Annie is taking care of him
- THEM HILLS - jaskldfjsdk Beth picturing them in matching outfits the whole vision, making THEM the unit they should be.
- Also, cryingggg; even after this huge overhaul she immediately switches to scenario’s she fears the most for Ruby and Annie
- Annie not having the stability she craves. Ben not being being accepted at his school. No financial stability AGAIN. Sara rejecting her kidney - all back to square one and I AM fjadlkssldk
- Dean back to being a car sales man icannot.
- Awkward Death hug kill me now
- “I never thought you could be you again.” “Thank you.” (he will never accept you for who you are run Beth run).
- E D D I E - the first man that was offed directly because of her.
- Also love the juxtaposition in this supermarket of Beth lecturing Eddie (the least experienced criminal that dies) vs Fitz (the most experienced criminal) lecturing Beth
- “Do you wanna die?” “Kinda.” (= plz kill me i hate my life)
- Wearing the same dress she wore when she broke out of her housewife role with Fitz, also endangering herself
- While not exactly the same, I feel like Beth is almost picturing Annie as herself growing up. Annie has to mature real fast now, her kid’s not doing well, her living situation isn’t stable, Kevin is absolutely useless as a partner - not mature, not supportive. And while we know Kevin isn’t manic depressive like their mom was, he’s all over the place with highs and lows like someone who is might be.
- Even if Ruby and Stan start out as solid work-partners, it’s clear they disagree on how to handle things at work - which is small now, but Beth can obviously see this as a start of a snowball running down the hill
- sdkjfklasdkfj the three girls on the bench with the ‘our kids were fine at home’
- “I’ve been knitting.” DREAM BETH HAS NEVER BEEN THE PERFECT HOUSEWIFE SHE CAN’T DO IT
- Even if Beth can picture this move might be a new start for all of them (or moreso for anyone not her) it’s BACK TO SQUARE ONE
- And then after she gets shot Fitz juggles around a peach, which symbolisms: “ Peach reflects happiness in all areas of our life and the satisfaction that comes from being at peace with our health, work, love and relationships. Peach also reminds us to stay grounded during this time in order to not get carried away in our fantasies. ”
AND THEN.
She wakes up again
And Dean is close to yelling how much she should say it was RIO, that he had her shot because DEAN needs Nevada.
But she knows. That while she didn’t die from the gunshot. Nevada will truly be the death of her. And she doesn’t believe it was Rio who did this. So she can’t. She lies about Mick. Tells them it happened too quick.
And Dean feels the bubble burst inside his chest. Nevada, like he wants, is not going to happen. Not now. Not ever.
And Beth feels the same. Nevada isn’t going to happen. Not now. Not ever. Only in her case, that’s a good thing.
We see the lilies again, when Beth’s sitting on the bed. In her vision they symbolized the death of her normal. But now. Now they symbolize her rebirth, or maybe rather her tossing away that shell she wore for all those years and never 100% got rid off, but now she is doing that.
Beth chooses crime. And not only that. She chooses to go do that, gives Annie and Ruby their own choices in the matter. But she is going to do that, with Rio. She made her choice, and she choose herself and him.
Arghhh, I generally don’t like complaining about the show and I have been good with the way its been progressing this season. In the end, its a TV show and I can choose to not watch it if I am super unhappy with it. But last night’s episode made me sad/mad in a way that I cannot not say anything.
We all know that Beth is a curvy woman. They have never tried to hide that before and I don’t feel like it has ever been downplayed in any way by the way they have dressed her. But....BUT!!! Why in God’s green earth did they feel like they needed a body double with a perfectly flat stomach?????? Not only is it completely unrealistic, based on anyone looking at Beth’s body the last four seasons, but I am sure there has got to be at least one curvy body-double in all of Hollywood that they could have found.
The message this sends is quite troubling, in terms of the ideal body. So, as viewers, we are supposed to be dumb enough to believe that a mom of FOUR kids and a woman that has enormous breasts has a completely flat stomach???? It’s ridiculously unrealistic, and further perpetuates the “ideal” body, which is actually anything but ideal. For a show that is supposed to be all about female empowerment and positivity, they missed a huge chance to prove that.
I understand that it’s triggering to me, being a curvy mom myself. But this is not the bullshit body-image crap I want my daughter to see and think that she should strive for. Yuck, writers, you did us wrong. Please be better. For our sake and the sake of our daughters....
Hey queen i absolutely agree with you The show's writers have a habit of giving their white characters more nuance and plots than they need.! I won't forget that they gave Boomer OF ALL PPL a storyline.Was it really necessary to meet his racist ass grandma???. I know that story, was more about Annie but the writers made a point to give Boomer more nuance and a storyline and its just...😠 Considering that we're Four Seasons in and we barely know anything about Rio's family just makes me sick. Aslo there's no reason why we got a Tyler getting ready with me moment , these fucking writers man. A POV SCENE FROM TYLER
ALSO they rly missed an opportunity with introduction with Rhea . Maybe there were other factors involved that her character couldn't be in the show for that long. with her interactions with Beth. Though we could have got way more insight on her , Rio, their relationship etc. They could have done the bare minimum . like maybe Make Her Say Rio's real name just SOMETHING.
And this cops POV like you said it's so unnecessary. Why couldn't they introduce Lucy's family or something like??? Just the way their handling that whole storyline makes no sense!! sry for this rant just this show makes my blood boil I swear
Dear lovely anon, you made valid points and I love you for that but most of all you are absolutely right. So, don't apologise for ranting, please. You are not ranting, you are expressing valid emotions. Let's address this, yeah?
The major problem with this show is the conscious choices the writers make about their white characters. With their white characters, there is always special attention to details and honestly, that attention always leads to one thing, the road to empathy. It's about writing them in a way where they really want the audience to connect with them in a way that feels like propaganda. It's like these white characters can do horrible things but there is more to them. Boomer's grandma can be a racist but there is more to her, she's sweet and lonely. Boomer can be a rapist and a misogynist but there is also more to him cos he's lonely and he's never fit in. Noah is by default of his actions a rapist and a liar too. But there is more to him cos at the end we got to see his guilt about the whole thing as if his feelings for Annie justifies his actions as an undercover agent sleeping with the asset. Beth can be selfish and be downright condescending but there is also a reason, it's because of her tragic childhood and the fact that she grew up too fast. All of these acts and thoughts are conscious efforts to make you feel more about these characters. What you feel is up for interpretation but the goal is to make you think about these people beyond what is being shown.
The poc's, on the other hand, is an entirely different story. These characters are also written with a deliberate choice of using them to move a plot forward, nothing else nothing more. Rhea, Lucy including Rio. Even if Rhea was brought in to service Beth's plot, there is nothing wrong in using her to also explore Rio's world without stripping her of her agency. They could have used Rhea to show the non-criminal aspect of Rio, let the audience see how he interacts in the version of his own world without the influence of funny money, pills, guns and every stereotypical shits they have got going for them. We also could have seen Rhea interacting and responding to all of these. They could write a scene where Rio tells Rhea about where he's been, there is nothing bad in seeing these scenes but that would cause the audience to empathise with Rio and justify all of his actions against Beth in season 3. There could also have been a scene where Marcus keeps pestering Rhea for his dad and her response to it but that would be putting too much consideration into the feelings of a Latino kid. Bringing Marcus into the fold is not really about humanizing Rio but more about Beth considering Rio as a viable option to fuck.
So, the POC's on this show are just there to service plots and yes that includes Turner whose inner workings we were occasionally privy to through his interactions with the Hills and most especially Stan but at the end of the day, we still didn't feel any human connection to him except for the antagonistic angle/energy that he brings to the show. Turner existed as a foil to the girls and then as a foil to Beth. I think most people also excuse the way they write the Hills just because the show is writing them to be this amazing black couples in contrast to the other two girls but the reality is at the end of the day, the writers are making deliberate choices to write the Hills to explore capitalism without addressing it.
I agree with your point about Lucy, if it was really about lucy, then there is nothing wrong with showing us her family reactions to their daughter dying in such a violent and mannerless way. But it is more about the white cop and further dehumanizing Rio and Mick to let us know how these Latinos are about to kill this white cop for caring about his job and delivering justice. That's copaganda if I ever see one. At the end of the day, just like they have brought in Lucy to service Beth's plot and further dehumanizes Rio, her death is also about the same thing. Everything about Lucy right now is far away from Beth to not remind the audience of Beth's involvement but very close to Rio to remind us of his deeds. It's like being on a journey and a Being is using the travellers to direct a compass rather than using the compass to direct the travellers. In this case, the writers are the Being directing us toward something (lack of empathy towards poc and empathy for the white characters) rather than you know allowing us to make our own evaluations/choices.
I absolutely hear you on a lot of what you said about Rio’s development this season, but I don’t think the show is saying that Nick’s comment about Lucy’s murder is what we’re supposed to think about it. That’s just what Nick thinks, and considering the way they’ve portrayed him, I really don’t think we’re meant to agree with him. In fact I thought we were supposed to do the opposite. Why do you think the show itself is reframing what happened through him? I’m curious in your reading of that
(x)
you know? you make an excellent point. this one also got unintentionally REALLY long, so it is too, under the cut haha
-shout out to @jade-marie and @00gangfriend00, without them I don’t know how coherent this entire response would be haha
Alright, well firstly, I think it’s unfortunately clear that even some of the show’s writers don’t actually have a good grasp on the events leading up to Lucy’s death, both during s3 and now. It seems like depending on who is talking, and the timing of the discussion, the answer will shift. It is… really hard to speculate sometimes when the writers don’t even know the reason behind a scene. However, since it’s canon - whatever the reason or goal of the scene - I’m just going to go on my merry way and create/keep my own interpretation.
The more I thought about your ask, the more I realized, yeah, through Nick’s scripted words alone, they aren’t necessarily reframing what happened, since Nick does seem to be unaware of much of the entire sequence of events regarding Lucy: “So… you were just gunna, what, keep it to yourself?”. Assuming the diner scene with the cop was the first time he heard about it, his impression most likely wouldn’t be a fair representation of what actually happened. So, this is me eating my own words from before, so I apologize for using his quotes to reinforce my idea. This is simply my opinion, and it does regularly change quite a bit… I am wrong a lot haha
To some degree, I think reframing or shifting of some sort is kind of unavoidable when a show continues a plotline from a previous season, especially in addition to incorporating new characters into the past events. Nonetheless, I do think that the show is deliberately in fact reframing Lucy’s death and why it happened - through Rio’s backstory & POVs, Nick’s character development, and the show’s choice to show Rio having a lack of scars.
1. The backstory and Rio POVs
According to the backstory we’ve been given so far, Nick is this person who apparently is so deeply entrenched in Rio’s life and decision-making but he doesn’t know 1) that Rio killed someone, 2) the fact that Rio killed Lucy for Beth (as opposed to killing Annie, Ruby or Beth), and 3) why, which makes me wonder how exactly they are using Lucy’s death as a plotline in combination with Nick and Rio’s relationship. As I said in my previous post, I believe that the events leading up to and including Lucy’s death were heavily tied into if not directly a reaction to the shooting in 2.13.
According to this season, it seems Nick is Rio’s backstory, and Rio is Nick’s. So far, we’ve gotten approximately eight Rio POV scenes, separate from the girls, including flashbacks (excluding the Fitz kill):
4.02:
-the police station
4.08:
-baby Rio (rotten eggs with Nick)
-teenage Rio (the boxing scene(s)/contrasted with Nick’s POV on the golf course)
-teenage Rio (locker room theft)
-teenage Rio (grandma/stove and locker room arrest)
-adult Rio (outside the police station)
-teenage Rio (with Nick, kitchen flashback - I think this is more just an omniscient POV, however)
4.09:
-the boxing scene (with Nick)
With the exception of the police station in 4.02, Nick has been present in some capacity in each one of these Rio POV scenes. Since it’s only been through the flashbacks that we’re getting the main context of their relationship, it’s clear that the storyline the show is perpetuating this season is that Nick and Rio’s characters are very tightly weaved together in some capacity. And have been historically.
Rio, as a teenager, was a victim of Nick’s early manipulative actions, but in the end, it made him money, so (we are able to gather) he was able to justify falling into a criminal relationship with him. After Rio’s six-month stint in prison, he spent (probably) the entire time resenting Nick (and also, this is where he most importantly - in my opinion - developed adult Rio’s mannerisms haha jk).
So, moving forward with this knowledge, let’s take a look at their adult relationship.
2. Nick’s character development (in relation to Rio)
First and foremost, with Rio, in s1-3, he was an enigmatic, charismatic, clever, powerful, king who loved money, was in charge of every decision, well-connected, and a man of few words etc etc. Now, while Rio is being given more facets as more and more of his relationship with Nick is revealed and explored: he is being illustrated as someone who is dependant on his likely long-time abuser. This may be the case, absolutely, but, in my opinion, takes away from the last three years of work the show put into the character Rio mentioned above, including Manny’s nuanced acting. The reveal of Nick’s current power dynamic over Rio (at least the abusive part) in this past episode was quite jarring and seemed incredibly OOC of the Rio I personally know and love from past seasons, and, it kind of came out of nowhere, in my opinion. To be clear, I have nothing against the storyline of Rio being a victim (have you read my fic? haha), but I think that the way they are progressing this storyline is too abrupt and lacks the subtleties that I would have preferred to see with something like this. Especially considering this is canon.
Returning to the original point though, by assuming this abuser/abused dynamic is where the show is taking Nick and Rio’s relationship, that means that Nick likely seeks to control Rio’s life and decisions as much as he can (props to @00gangfriend00 for this articulation). Related and important side note: @jade-marie pointed out to me that by setting a preceding occurrence of physical mistreatment, the show is (unintentionally) establishing Rio as someone who is stuck in a cycle of abuse, and who seems to seek out abusive relationships and probably misunderstands abuse as intimacy. Rio’s relationships with both Beth and Nick demonstrate this. How much shit they’re both clearly able to get away with, and still have power over him. Which I think is an incredibly problematic message to be sending. This is a critical point, especially regarding the scars/acknowledgement of the shooting, because it offers the writer’s an excuse to write off the entire shooting, and by doing so, they are validating this cycle of abuse. (I won’t apologize for this particular tangent, because I really hope the writers acknowledge the damage this storyline could do if they don’t properly see it through this season)
Since it was confirmed that Nick didn’t know about Lucy (even though Rio supposedly got the alibi of the boxing tickets from him) Rio was, presumably, hiding the true extent (or the entirety) of his relationship with Beth from him. Which - I think from a writer’s perspective - does benefit the show, if they choose not to circle back to the shooting. This also allows them the freedom to ‘pretend’ that Rio got over it by himself. Obviously, there are a lot of issues and plot holes with that in itself, but to me, because Lucy’s death wasn’t something that Nick already knew about, combined with the lack of clarity of who Beth is to Rio in Nick’s mind - he doesn’t know about either the shooting or the consequences of it.
3. The lack of scars
Alright, so lastly - the show’s decision to not put scars on Rio. I think this was absolutely a conscious decision, there must have been at least one person in the building that thought of the fact that a shirtless Manny without scars couldn’t just be brushed aside. As a result, I, personally, think this demonstrates that the show is done with shooting. Pretending it never happened, erasing the trauma, moving on, yeah. Obviously, as I said, I vehemently don’t agree with this direction but I think it’s clear it’s a storyline the show doesn’t want to circle back to. Otherwise, Nick would know about Beth and Rio’s history. Otherwise, Nick would know about Lucy. Otherwise, there would be scars. This is my own opinion of course, but I’m making it based off of a couple of Nick’s lines: “Did you [kill Lucy] for [Beth]?” and in 4.08 when he talks to Beth, “So what’s the deal with you and [Rio]? […] Anyone who wears a cardigan, shouldn’t be doing what he does.” He generally seems unaware of the true state of Beth and Rio’s history and is probably genuinely curious about it considering the amount of control he has (or wants to have) over Rio.
I think that because all of the Rio POVs we’ve had are linked to Nick, I made the jump that we are supposed to believe Nick’s influence is/was at the heart of many of Rio’s decisions in the past. Obviously, during s2 and s3 writing and production, they didn’t actually know they were going to get a s4 or do a Rio backstory, so the fact is, that the character they wrote called Rio then, was someone entirely different from today’s Rio. However, we’re watching different seasons of Good Girls, not a different show from one year to the next. I think because this is the backstory we’re getting, the show is implying that this was the case all along. That s2 and s3 Rio made all of those decisions with Nick, someone he was scared of, hanging over his head in some capacity. Or somewhere in his vicinity. That’s why I have a problem with the implication that Lucy’s death was phrased the way it was, without the scars present. They coated that dialogue with innuendos about Beth and Rio’s sexual history, which is also quite layered, but at least that connection I get. It reminds us that Rio was betrayed in more ways than one. However, without the scars present, and Nick seemingly unaware of the shooting, how does the show intend to justify Lucy’s death with the audience? None of it makes sense. Jade was so incredibly helpful; she cohesively summarized the events - by erasing 2.13, they are erasing Rio’s motivations for 3.05. I just want it to make sense 😩
Do you really think they going to get rid of brio?
Sorry! Took me a minute to get to this! If it’s okay with you, I’ll answer your second question here as well:
Do you think brio fans might well forget about beth be rio being a couple because sound like bill krebs and Jenna bans is ending brio?
My straightforward answer is no, I very much doubt that the writers are going to do away with Beth and Rio as a romantic relationship on the show. I never got ending Beth and Rio vibes off of any of their recent interviews, or actually from any of the spoilers we have received so far.
For those who are interested, Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs have done a few pre-season 4 interviews:
Specifically, the interview in the EW link above has a quote from Bans:
“And it leaves Beth with a much more clear understanding of who this person is just as a human, which I think both equally softens her to him and also gives her clarity that this is someone you can't really be with romantically long-term. But it makes it all really messy and juicy. There's a lot of sexiness in there too. What's even more fun is that is happens pretty early in the season — I don't think people will have to wait very long.”
I think I’m getting sick of hearing myself say this but interviews definitely need to be taken with a grain of salt. Prior to season 2 airing, Manny said that Beth and Rio were unlikely to ever cross the line and then they banged in 2x04 so...
If we take the above quote at face value, it doesn’t change my opinion at all. To me, Beth and Rio don’t necessarily have to be in a defined relationship. In fact, I’ve never considered that a possibility for these two messes. I could absolutely see them being crime partners or bosses operating within the same region, crossing paths and banging each other but not anyone else haha.
I guess your reaction to that quote is dependent upon what you consider the term couple to mean, in the context of a TV series and for this particular pairing. If, to you, that means Beth and Rio in an established relationship, you may be disappointed. But if you broaden the definition and include unlabelled relationships, partnerships, a mutual understanding, longing with the occasional lapse of judgement and falling into bed together, etc, that might be what we get.
As I said above, I think it’s extremely unlikely that the showrunners will ever scrap Beth and Rio from the show’s storylines. There are a few reasons why.
• Other interviews that the showrunners have done repeatedly make reference to the fact that Beth and Rio are not done and that they love playing with their dynamic.
Bans: Yeah. At the same time, he’s obviously one of our favorite parts of the show. We love the Beth-Rio relationship, the push and pull. And we were going some really, really sort of interesting juicy ways with that, in the last five [episodes]. So, regardless of what happens, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him.
Bans: They've been at each other's throats for 11 episodes. The last five were really going to take us in a new direction. We were going to, and still will in the opening of season 4, throw them into putting that adversarial weaponry aside and having to begrudgingly work together in a way that they haven't before. That chemistry is not something that can be snuffed out, so it brings up all of that good stuff, them working in such close proximity. That's something we're really looking forward to jumping into in season 4 and something we're sad we didn't get to show the fans in season 3, but it's all still coming. You don't go from having the hottest sex of your life to wanting someone dead without conflicted feelings.
• While they were filming season 1, Jenna Bans actually thought it would be fun for one of the girls to sleep with Rio and thought Annie would make sense!
Beth and Rio’s relationship was a direct result of Christina and Manny’s explosive on-screen chemistry and, when they realised what they were seeing on screen, the showrunners actually leaned into it and altered the season 1 ending prior to the show being aired. In other words, Beth and Rio were an unexpected surprise but were absolutely not a product of the fandom wanting them. Their relationship exists solely because of the actors and the showrunners cashing in on the goldmine before any audience saw their chemistry. So, it wasn’t fandom pressure that forced the showrunners to make these two an on-screen back and forth relationship; they were already cultivating this relationship and rewrote season 1 to factor this in. This has been stated in interviews and at one of the Good Girls panels that Bans, Krebs and the cast did.
• Bans makes it pretty clear that whatever happens in season 4 is going to make Beth and Rio’s relationship “juicy and messy”, with a bunch of “sexiness” (isn’t that what it was lol?). She even says that it happens relatively early in the season.
At the end of the day, I have no idea what’s going to happen. We can speculate all we want but I’m sure we’ll all still be shocked by what unfolds when the season airs. I do think we have a lot to look forward to and, personally, I’m just going to enjoy the season and have fun being part of the fandom! ❤️
