I have not been this sucker-punched since the first time I watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If I were anymore floored, you could put carpeting on me. So, all I have to say is…
Well done, guys. Very, very well done. I haven’t been this emotionally traumatized over the death of a fictional character in a while. I thought the death of Sturm Brightblade in Dragonlance Chronicles was harsh but at least there had been some serious foreshadowing for that event. No, this is up there with losing Aeris in Final Fantasy VII right after you get her Ultimate Limit Break and spend over 20 hours leveling her so she can learn it. Even watching the Doctor lose Rose in Doomsday wasn’t this gut-wrenching.
Of all the times to run out of Phoenix Downs…
I may need to join a support group for this.
It’s not just that Beth and Daryl were my OTP ever since “30 Days Without An Incident.” It’s not just that she brought something that no one else could to the group — hope, idealism, and a little ray of sunshine. Yes, she started out in a bad place but that was just an aberration. She grew so much and was such an important but constantly taken for granted part of the prison gang that knowing that there is no chance we’re going to see her grow further is really, really depressing. But that is not the worst.
Yes, I was a Beth-Daryl shipper. Look at this and honestly tell me you don’t see it happening.
No, the worst is that her death was completely her own fault. Beth Greene practically committed suicide and she had to have known it. As soon as she put those scissors in her cast, I knew that there was no way this was going to end well. And I was right.
Now, before you jump on me with “well, she wasn’t just going to let Noah go back and let Dawn keep being Queen Bitch,” I get that. I know that she couldn’t do that. But, Cthulhu help me, she could have stopped and thought it out a little bit better. Rick can be a pretty silver-tongued fellow. He’s talked them out of some pretty bad situations when he was dealing with people who had at least some rationality left in them (so the Governor does not count because he was bat-crap crazy). She also knew that Dawn’s days of running Grady Memorial were well and truly numbered. Chances are that if Beth had just stepped back, one of the other cops would have taken Dawn down and then everyone (who wanted to) could have walked out of that hospital which is what Daryl wanted.
Instead, we got this
I’m both dreading and anticipating the second half of the season in February. I know it’s going to be tough watching the rest of the characters deal with the aftermath just when all of us in the fandom will have begun to move into the “Acceptance” stage of grief. However, gut-wrenching as this is, it must be necessary to the plot. It will give the characters who still live a chance to grow…or to be paralyzed. Watching them decide which way to go will be interesting even as it may wind up being heartbreaking.
Tell me that’s not heart-wrenching
And no, I’m not pissed at the writers. The only way they’re going to piss me off is if they take a page from Captain Kirk’s Kobayashi Maru playbook and throw us “The Search for Speth” or some other kind of deus ex machina maneuver. Beth’s death is a tragedy. I feel horrible for Maggie* because I know exactly what must be going through her mind. I feel terrible for Daryl* because I know how this has to have hollowed him out completely. But she died. Nothing’s going to change that. And if the fandoms turn against the writers and the show because they’re not going to magic up a solution to this relentless and remorseless fact of life, then they can vote me right off the island, too.
And now permit me to deliver my rebuttal…
Still…hardest sucker-punch since Wrath of Khan. That’s a badge of honor, Kirkman. A badge of frickin’ honor.
— G.K.
*I do mean the characters and not the actors. I’m sure it must be difficult for them to lose a coworker in what must be a very emotionally-charged environment. But, I do respect that the actors and the characters are separate people so no, I’m not spending a lot of time wondering what Lauren Cohen or Norman Reedus is thinking. It’d be a bit creepy if I did since they probably already have half the fandoms sending them sympathy cards or the like. I’ll just continue my respectful “not ever interacting with them because the 30 seconds I don’t take from them is 30 seconds they can do something they’d rather do” policy. So far, it’s working great! 😉