#3.11 analysis

i think it's quick and it's not? and peak them, for sure.

i say it is quick because i think it's a really genuine flirtation, and it's a stark contrast to their established pattern in that run of episodes. also because i don't actually think it was going to go down that way that quick bc i think it was the result of shuffling made to accommodate the abrupt covid shutdown premature end of season 3.

i say it's not quick bc i think rio had been using their intimacy against beth for a long time—honestly, most of the course of their entire relationship—and we saw that reinitiated when he returned from the dead~ when he brushed his finger against her hair and called her "his girl." that was both genuine and not, and while the tone shifted significantly in 3.11, it was actually the end of a progression that started in 3.03 with the bar scene and twisted in the scene with the obgyn ("i hit it in the bedroom while your husband was at work") and developed in 3.08 (rio is Affected by beth's dressing up and flirtations even though he's openly resisting).

i do think it's intended to feel quick, though, as a means of reiterating the intensity of beth and rio's connection and toxic obsession with each other.

Ah, what a great catch, anon!

I think we definitely are seeing Beth change and flip her allegiance. And I do think she chose Rio at the end of the episode—but not in a way that’s definitive and absolute. I just think the needle moved and we’re going to see that transformation process happen over the rest of the season.

I think of it like this:

3.07-3.09

Coming off of Lucy’s murder, Beth is 100% committed to the hitman plot because she feels its the only viable solution. She tells Max they can’t go to the cops because, as Ruby says, “we’ll all end up in that van.” These episodes are the height of Beth struggling in her relationship with Rio. She tells Max she feels “nothing” and Annie explicitly says that “it’s not a life” if all they do is work for Rio without pay, agency, or choice. She feels utterly trapped and sees this as the only way out. After Rio gets her fingerprints on the gun, she’s distraught, but once she has Fitzpatrick lined up, she’s proud of herself and feels incentivized because it ultimately means she will be free from him.

3.10

Beth passes Fitzpatrick’s test, but she’s resistant to making the call and the needle nudges because she’s unable to watch it happen. She celebrates Rio’s death, but has a brief moment of reflection looking out over the picnic table, remembering that there were better times between them. She insists no one was jilted, but corrects the girls when they say it was a “one and done.” She chooses to let go of the door handle when she’s in the car with Rio, ultimately taking the chance that he won’t hurt her and she’s proven right. Her inability to lie to him returns when she can’t come with a plausible excuse for where her money is going—a marked difference from her cocky assertion that she “can’t control the world market” or the way she tries to play him when she dresses up in the polka dot dress. She’s proud of her hot tub scheme and she gets frustrated, throwing a temper tantrum, when Rio doesn’t give her his full attention and stamp of approval. 

3.11

Beth’s ire gets reignited when Rio “consolidates,” forcing Beth to print and wash while he takes a large cut of the profits. She’s frustrated by his control over her, but she can’t help but feel flattered when he tells her that he “loves” Boland Bubbles, asking him, “Really?” Rio flirts and while Beth doesn’t flirt back, she is somewhat playful. She asks when it “gets to be mine” because she “made all of this happen.” She wants credit, but the fact that she asks also means things might be different if he were ever willing to let her have anything to herself. Rio essentially tells her that will never happen until she kills him. The moment is loaded, but when Rio leaves, Beth doesn’t look victorious—despite the fact that she has an active hit on him.

Also...Thank you for your service in the over-analysis department, really really appreciate it, as we all know how subtle the show is by now 👏

Thank you! I know some people think things aren’t that deep, haha, but I love untangling meaning or drawing conclusions. I do think most things are intentional, but even some small inconsequential things still convey meaning, and I still think it’s fun to read into that!

And I think the show has so deliberately left it wide open, but I do tend to think that Rio knows about the hitman. I think it’s too coincidental that Rio showed up inside her house (for the first time! all season!) right after the scheduled hit, only to drag Beth away for a private (for the first time since 3.04!) conversation where he confronted her about where she’s spending her money. I also think it’s suspicious that Fitzpatrick cancelled the hit for an ex-lovers breach that we didn’t see Beth deliberately lie about (they love showing Beth lie! it would’ve been such an interesting lie to see!)—that makes me think that particular clause was not explained to her. On top of that, I find it suspicious that Fitzpatrick then organized a fake hit as a “test” before ghosting entirely. Plus, he knew that someone, but not who, slept with Rio. To me, this indicates he didn’t find out via the gynecologist or Dean, and therefore I’d rule out Tobin and PJ (the baby hitmen) as well. That leaves Annie, Ruby, and Rio’s boys who have definitive reasons to believe that they were sleeping together—but we know it was Annie and Ruby. Therefore, if it’s not Rio himself, it’s Rio’s boys, in which case I’d still assume Rio figured it out after the fact.

I also draw a parallel between Beth stalking Rio in 2.11 and getting caught and stalking Fitzpatrick in 3.10 and getting caught. It’s the same episode that we learn that Fitzpatrick is stalking Rio—closely, at multiple locations for multiple days. 

It’s possible that Rio just suspects Beth is up to something, but to me, it all seems too deliberate to be a coincidence. It’s possible that Rio merely suspects Beth is up to something, but doesn’t know what, but even Rio bemusedly suggesting that next time Beth (rather than anyone else) empty the clip could be an interpretation that he’s figured it out and is reminding her that this isn’t how it works.

My theory—that I fully expect to be wrong, but which I enjoy—is that Rio discovered the hit and paid Fitzpatrick more money than Beth did to cancel the hit. Fitzpatrick has already been established as being greedy and money-driven and pedantic down to the last dime, so it’s something I’d believe too. 

Thank you so much! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my analyses!

I think the only double meaning I can think of is that while Rio says they’re consolidating, meaning “combine (a number of things) into a single more effective or coherent whole”), what he actually means is that he’s taking over again. Consolidate and synergy are words that sound cohesive and like they’d be working together, but Rio’s really just dumping more work on Beth’s shoulders and reaping the benefits. If there’s another double meaning, it went over my head! 😬

And I think the “wanna join me?” line was... mmm, not insincere, but playful teasing/flirting? I think he knew Beth would say no, so it was more about riling her up and feeling good enough with her in that moment—where she’d delivered and impressed him—to briefly slip into their old dynamic. I don’t think he’d forgiven her at that point, but I do think that scene did a lot of work to show us how much potential there is between them.

I believe that once it’s finally addressed, once they both get to say their piece, Rio will—maybe not forgive—but be able to move forward with Beth. I think they can get back to a good working relationship again, share good moments, and, I think, share a lot more. While I don’t think the show is ever going to show them in an established relationship, even a non-traditional one, I do think their relationship will keep ebbing and flowing from good to strained to good again, and they’ll sleep with each other again someday, and eventually, the shooting will be something that’s more in their past than it is in their present, even if they never let it fade into the background completely.

I think we can! I talk about how I think the show wants us to believe that Rio loves Beth throughout season 3 here, and I stand by that.

I don’t think that love is healthy, I don’t think he wants to love her, I don’t think he would acknowledge it to himself (and he certainly wouldn’t do so to her), but I think she’s betrayed him deeply and repeatedly enough that if he didn’t have those feelings for her, he would’ve handled her a long time ago. There are business benefits to keeping her alive, of course, but I think in the back of his mind he knows that he could figure out another way to print the money without 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). 

It does not sit well with me, either, and I was worried that’s the angle they were going to play.

I do think they’re trying to suggest that Dean didn’t blackmail his employees and punish them for not engaging in an affair, but that does not excuse that Dean abused his power and definitely rewarded employees for engaging in affairs with him (i.e. giving Amber acting jobs when he knew she wanted to be an actress). Amber was young and incredibly naive and had zero reference point for a healthy relationship (I mean, she said, “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me” about Beth telling her she merely deserved more) and Dean was, like, twice her age—the inherent power imbalances in their relationship makes Dean really, really gross. 

That does not seem to be something that they’re engaging with in the Dean/Gayle storyline, and I really, really think that storyline is getting muddied, because first Gayle was neutral, then an antagonist, and then humanized, and now she’s getting punished? The kiss that happened between Gayle and Dean was less about Gayle manipulating Dean or using her power against him, and more about Dean seeing Gayle’s loneliness and identifying with it. 

It feels really strange that he’s going to come swinging back into Gayle’s life now—wife in tow—and try to run her into the ground. The timing feels weird and jumbled because of how Gayle (seemed) to grow after recognizing Dean’s hard work and talent, and how she seemed to acknowledge that she had done something wrong both in blackballing him for not engaging in an affair (or at least that’s what I took from her telling Dean to invite Beth to the event with her ticket). 

Meanwhile, Beth is going to bat for Dean against Gayle, while she hasn’t really held Dean accountable herself for his affairs (amongst other things). 

Hm, I don’t remember that interview but maybe I missed it?

I do think the writers were planning on having them split by the end of the season. 

I think this whole season has reiterated over and over again that Beth and Dean’s marriage—at it’s best—is not something that fulfills either of them. Beth doesn’t confide in Dean or rely on him for comfort; Dean can’t count on Beth to remember basic details of his life or to put him first and show up for him. They don’t defend each other to outsiders (Dean ignores the way Judith treats Beth; Beth refers to Dean as an “idiot” to Rio). They don’t connect sexually, and Dean is wracked with jealousy while Beth is weighed down with quiet resignation. 

I know some people think Beth and Dean are intended for endgame and that the writers are trying to make us forgive Dean, but honestly? If they were, I think Dean’s cheating admission would’ve been a much more impactful scene. Beth and Dean would’ve—in their empty house, at their lowest point—opened up to each other about why they keep looping through this cycle. Why does Dean keep cheating? Why can’t Beth give Rio up? They could unite over these problems and find a way to tackle them together if they were really invested in bettering their marriage. But Dean doesn’t have the confidence or the ego to handle the truth, and Beth doesn’t have the energy to dig into it. It’s easier and less painful for both of them to just keep on keeping on, ignoring the voices in their head that this isn’t working.  

But I don’t think that can continue indefinitely. Already, Rio has stepped over their careful boundaries by robbing them of everything they own. They can’t walk into their house without remembering his presence over and in their lives. Now Beth has secretly invited Rio into what she has planned Dean’s business, Rio has dug his claws in even deeper than Beth intended, and the sneak peek showed us that Beth knows that Dean needs to think the business is “his.” Dean was so uncomfortable and emasculated at the idea of using Rio’s money in 2.04 to jump-start Boland Motors—even when he’d nearly blown it up again—that I can’t imagine he’ll take kindly to the idea of Rio being involved in this venture in any capacity. Combined with the season-long pressure of Dean’s insidious jealousy, I think that was being set up for an intense blow-up conflict either between Beth and Dean alone, or Beth, Dean, and Rio. 

At the end of it, I think Dean will walk away. For all the ways he expects Beth to forgive him for his affairs, I don’t think Dean will ever be able to forgive her for “hers” (I put that in quotation marks because I don’t think it counts as an affair while you’re estranged).