i think about the turning point that daryl experienced with beth a lot, and i think that his lashing out at her meant far more to him than he was willing to admit.
it was something that had boiled over to the point where he could no longer run from the version of himself that he was so desperately trying to turn into something useful- something acceptable. daryl lashing out at beth i think as a narrative point exists as a mirror, one in which daryl passes by and cannot ignore the way that his lips form words like his father sometimes.
his past has found him yet again and he’s confronted by all of the preconceptions he was exposed to at the start, and he begins to fall victim to the cycle of abuse, with beth being a confused, albeit unintentionally willing and vulnerable target. a reflection of daryl- hurt, lost, having lost (or never really had) a father figure- something any abused child has to carry the grief of every day. especially with beth’s suicidality, it’s a reflection of daryl’s desire to “kill” his history, the character he has always been forced to burden- be it through an angry facade, or be it through the redemption of his preconceptions by letting his loved ones see his heart.
i’m personally very fond of the fact that the writers made sure that daryl fully, at some point, was forced into conflict with his s2 self. i think his fight with beth was less so that, and moreso a fight with himself, for his life- the one that he has now. if the life that s4 daryl had was thrust upon s2 daryl, he’d have ran. so far away that the vulnerability of happiness could never tempt him again. having internalized the idea that he was “lesser” due to class differences, i think it was difficult for him to let go of the idea that when things finally were working out for him, he was just peacocking himself into a blue collar do-gooder. and always, always, waiting for the other shoe to drop. so when beth assumes he’d been imprisoned, or when she projects ideas onto him that align less so with his personal character and moreso with his childhood incidental circumstances, highlighting the differences in their upbringings, there’s that shoe dropping. it confirms his narratives and he further confirms them by breaching the sanctity of his own character- acting dangerously and foolishly towards a child so like he was in the past.
i think that’s why he so readily calms down as well, he passes his metaphorical mirror, and it strikes a fear into him. it strikes a terror into him that causes him to flare up, and then he puts himself out (or, let’s himself be put out by beth, when she tends to him). it’s such a special moment to me to see such a traumatized character be able to, in a moment of clarity, remove themselves as the martyr of their circumstances so as to save their own life (especially when that was something daryl didn’t physically have the ability to do for himself as a child.) and especially after he begins to lose to the cycle, he begins to lose himself to it and then finally, he catches himself. not with the anger that’s saved him for so long, but with love. a tenderness that forgives the preconceptions and the soft wounds left by people meant to protect him. i think in this moment, daryl softens- he puts his carefully crafted armor down and steps up for his victimized self so as to not become who he fears the most- a man just like his father.
