#brio analysis

Did Rio want Beth to love him?

what a wonderful question to ponder after the edible has kicked in. kinda wish i was in the same boat now as i consider it myself!

it's a meaty question, and one for which my first instinct was to answer no?

i say that not because i think that he didn't want it, but because i think he wouldn't conceptualize his desire for what he wanted from beth or out of their relationship in such a neat or straightforward way.

more than he wanted her to love him, i think he wanted her fixation, her obsession. he wanted her to be invested in their cat and mouse game - to continue playing, to not bow out, and in the end, to offer him her loyalty - and while the business and personal is always intertwined with them, i think he cared more about her commitment to a shared vision of their partnership than to her romantic devotion. sure, he was rankled by dean, and he clearly become jealous and possessive when it came to nick because of his and nick's specific history, but clearly these weren't dealbreakers for him (and he pursued other sexual relationships regardless of what he felt about her, too).

basically, what beth and rio have is far outside of the realm of a typical relationship, and i think rio liked it that way. at the end of the day, i never envisioned that he wanted something traditional with her, but rather that he wanted something that was their own, something that other people couldn't breach.

and, perhaps more significantly, i don't think rio spent much time considering what he wanted as much as what he already knew to be true, and what he wanted her to acknowledge.

rio didn't seek validation of beth's feelings for him - what he wanted was beth to acknowledge those feelings to herself, whether that was when he was trying to get her into bed after 2.04, or whether it was by making her acknowledge her desire for and attraction to him in 4.06. and nearly every act of genuine affection or feelings for each other was laced with either secrets or manipulation on both sides, and frankly, i think this intrigued rio far more than it ever truly bothered him because he recognized that they were mirrors of each other.

really, the thing that makes me so crazy about rio's feelings for beth is that he likes her for exactly who she is. he has no illusions about her. he likes her coldness, her awkwardness, her distance, her delicate flowery facade contrasted with her capacity for cruelty. he cares far less about whether she loves him than whether she's in his orbit - but of course it helps that he always seems to be operating from a standpoint of seeing through her mask and knowing that she feels far more for him than she'd ever admit, show, or even act on.

Hi Anon! TY for the ask. Sorry for sitting on it a bit.

It’s such an interesting ask. Because I think that the outcome of season 4 could be interpreted in a lot of different ways. Although, okay… that sad moment with the bourbon and his glistening little eyes as he leaned on the bar, and then told his bartender to pour it out. Or the “you think you’d have her?” moment. It certainly implies that he’s pining pretty hard, and is almost mourning the loss of her before she’s even really gone. Season 4 really tried to play into our little shipper hearts. So okay. While it can be interpreted in many different ways, (including a lot of his sadness being attributed to Nick’s betrayal rather than the loss of Beth), I’m in a romantic mood so I’m choosing to believe that it was all about Beth.

I don’t think he was afraid to lose her in the first two seasons. He was even gonna let her go. Several times! She was the one who kept bringing him back. At least in his own warped mind. The search function doesn’t work for me anymore so I can’t find my old posts, but he was going to let her go after he tested her with the truck. She forced him back by getting him arrested. Then he was gonna let her go in 2.04. She forced him back by giving his money to her loser husband and falling back into the basic bitch lifestyle instead of making something of herself. I think he genuinely believed he would let her go both those times. And that him staying was justified by her disrespect.

Season 3 gets interesting because he holds on to her as a form of punishment for them both. For her for all her sins, and for himself for being unable to handle her appropriately despite them. I think this is when he really realizes how compulsive this entanglement has gotten for him. He doesn’t understand the reasons, but he hates it. And he hates himself. A man like him, who prides himself on discipline and personal ethics, not being able to adhere to his own personal code…. Shameful! It’s probably why he killed Lucy the way he did. He wanted to hurt Beth, to prove to himself he could be hard, prove to her he didn’t care. Except he did care and he didn’t feel better after. He felt worse. Her tears hurt. Her pain hurt. His own persistent caring about her despite hating her huuuurt. And he knew he was fucked. He could never let her go now.

So season 4 he leaned into it. He pursued her like an equal. Made her his banker. “He trusts you.” Showed her his humanity. Reminded her who they once were to each other, despite the denial. And still she betrayed him. “I just thought that things were different now.” “You just didn’t choose me.” Idk if he was afraid of losing her. I think it maybe was that he was afraid of never actually having her and never getting over her. Never getting over his weakness. Through the whole season he continues the push and pull. Pull her in, then fuck with her again. Be vulnerable with her, then shut down again. He’s never able to allow himself to just let her choose him. He’s constantly sabotaging it despite wanting her validation and attention so badly. Because he never believed he would actually have her. Not in a way that wasn’t against her will. Not in a way she would ever admit to herself.

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.

x scary to know people are reading my tags!!

but thank you so much for your question!! this is such an important discussion and i’m honored to be entrusted with this!

Dean’s living room spa

i think the dream for me would be beth with a sledgehammer but she seems weirdly okay with him having tub time with his fake friends in it?? so maybe it’s more of a rio with a crow bar situation

either way i want dean to be in the tub when it happens

Nick 💜

ideally this would be a teamwork situation involving gardening tools being wielded as weapons

however i will accept almost any scenario involving his destruction as long as beth and rio are present and nick cries

the g wagon (i refuse to spell it correctly bc its a dumb car and it doesn’t deserve it)

i want beth to take a fucking crow bar to it (sorry it’s ugly)

to be clear, i want them to fuck in it first THEN destroy it

maybe beth can take her brick on the gas technique from season 2 and drive it off a cliff

or into a river 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nick 😎

i don’t think either of them could throw him bc he’s a lil bit thicc- maybe if they worked together?? - might need to be more of catapult situation

however, i think it could also be fun to put him in a dunk tank and everyone takes turns hitting the button

a picnic table

maybe they fuck on it first or maybe it happens while they’re fucking on it

idk maybe they’re having a picnic

i have destroyed one before (don’t ask) and it was fun so i think they’d have fun and i want them to have fun

Nick 💕

i want rio to assume matilda-like powers and just humiliate him like trunchbull (omg matilda au???)

i want rio to egg him and his crisp white shirt with rotten eggs until he and the eggs become one being

i want to personally throw a shoe at him during a councilman speech a la the bush shoeing incident

Awn thank you anon. You are so sweet.

Did Beth have genuine feelings for Rio? A little yes and a big no. A simple question and yet a complicated answer. So let's unpack

Beth before Rio

I think before trying to understand if Beth had feelings for Rio or not, we need to recognize who Beth was before Rio. And I am going to base my answers here on something illuminating that Christina had said during one of her old interviews where she admitted that Beth has never felt like that for someone like Rio before. And with Beth discussion with Max about heartbreaks, we got to know that's because Beth married her first boyfriend. This means she's never left her comfort zone before Rio. Dean has always been her first love and also her protector in a lot of ways. She genuinely picked Dean, there was no competition and Dean was definitely the kind of guy that I believe a teenager like Beth would be drawn to. Athletic, popular and a senior, that's like the dream of a teenager who I read as always feeling invisible. And I read Beth as one. It's why I think she allowed Dean to take reign of almost everything in their lives down to credit cards. She's used to it. But Rio shattered all of that constructed beliefs she's got about herself. Saw the real her beneath that facade.

Duuuuuuuuude…… the most me. There are multiple scenarios playing in my mind but they’re not spelling out cute for Brio at all. Firstly, assuming that Rio has no clue that Boomer is alive (which I highly doubt), he’s not all that boss™. && the reason I say that he’s not in the dark about Boomer is because he’s been sending her body parts feigning that they’re Boomer’s, so he fkn well knows that the “body” he recovered is not Boomer’s, so whose is it??????? Did he even recover a body in the first place????

&& assuming that he does know, like why??? Why would he ask for an exorbitant amount of $$$ that leads the girls to drive the dealer to the ground?? For shits && giggles??? Or is it because like the great chess player && baller that he is in the game, he knew that Beth would clean out the dealer to wash the cash && that allows him to fill the dealer with his cars in order to flip his game && move pills???? Did he need the 200K to buy the merch && then push it around for ten-fold??? That whole spiel Beth gave him about numbers struck me because I’m sure he had no idea that Beth would go ham on him about numbers, which is hilarious because any parent hustling around more than one kid knows the power of accounting && making sure to get more bang for your buck. I’m convinced Beth is one of those parents that have extreme couponing binders. So, she knows the numbers Rio is counting on && I’m wondering if he just fooled them to flip his game. 

He did give her that Boss Bitches Lesson 101™ way back in season one when he said that he’s always flipping his game && while others are happy pushing dime bags, he’s out here pushing bitches to do his dirty work. Not just any bitches, but suburban bitches that opened a whole new wooooooorld for him (yes, Aladdin style… old Aladdin not the new live action one lol). He’s a businessman && I do think that he does find Beth attractive && amusing && he may be having “feelings” but he’s not soft!rio! at all.

Either way, what a dick. I’m livid now lol. It just makes zero sense that he’d ask for money && then either admit that he ain’t shit or that he IS shit. lol. Do you get what I’m trying to say???? That’s kind of why I’m annoyed with these “twists” && “grand gestures” because every time they do one, I don’t know if the writers realize that they leave loose ends && this hellbent need to romanticize the ship is unhealthy. Why is Rio sending her body parts? We all assumed that he opened the bag && started cutting up Boomer && now we know that Boomer is living in his Nana’s attic. So, why do it? 

yeah, she does, for a lot of reasons, which I think the show demonstrated consistently and complexly as it aligned with beth’s characterization and the conflicts in the plot. I think it’s pretty obvious and safe to say how that’s displayed in the beginning of the show, but even at the break-off point where some people doubted her feelings, they were shown when:

she defends him to her husband and calls him for help, thinking he’s someone she can rely on in times of distress (2.07, 2.12, 2.13)

she had to drink to cope with ending their relationship and couldn’t go through with it without an intimate goodbye (2.09)

she had to block his number to stop herself reaching out or responding to reach outs because she needed an extra barrier otherwise she couldn’t help herself (2.10)

she was hungry to learn everything she could about him, even meaningless things like how soft his shirts are (2.11)

she considered them more than work and felt insulted and betrayed by him diminishing it (2.12)

she’s betrayed at the deepest level possible when she believes that their entire relationship was a ruse to use her as a fall guy (2.13)

she grieves his death and tries to take care of his son, whom she knows is the most important person in the world to him (3.01)

she looks up to and wants to emulate him even at their lowest (3.02, 4.05)

she puts herself at-risk and entrusts him not to harm her even when it’s illogical (3.04, 3.10)

she eventually moves past him killing lucy to punish her (3.05)

she’s comfortable being vulnerable and hurt by him in front of him, which is rare for her (3.06)

she’s still turned on by their dynamic even when they’re at their lowest (3.07)

he makes her feel sexy just by being herself; she doesn’t have to perform for him like she does for dean and fitzpatrick (3.08, 3.09)

despite the ways she’s pushed for the hitman plot (even putting herself in danger by being present when she has max meet rio), when she has a gun in her hand and is dared to, she can’t do it (3.09)

she acknowledged to annie and ruby that what they had was more than an insignificant hookup (3.10)

she can’t help but linger on their good memories even when she’s supposed to feel relieved he’s out of her life for good (3.10)

she genuinely cares what he thinks and is flattered by his positive opinions of her (3.11)

she can lie to everybody but not to him (4.04)

she’s anxious and troubled about betraying him until she literally starts feeling haunted about it (4.04, 4.05, 4.06)

her commitment in betraying him is minimal effort at best, even when everything is on the line, and she even drops hints to him (4.05, 4.06, 4.07)

she’s protective over his special name for her (4.06)

she still thinks of them as partners despite a lack of evidence to support it and will declare this to his nearest and dearest (4.06)

the show went to great lengths to show how she’ll hold a line and refuse to get intimate with people she doesn’t want to, even when it offers her protection or freedom (fitzpatrick, troy, nick) but she is intimate with rio which shows a part of her still genuinely feels something for him (4.06)

she flirts with him and is genuinely flattered by his attention (4.07)

she’s thrilled when she thinks she finds a fall guy in exchange for rio and literally only turns on him when it becomes a clear choice between him and the girls; afterward she’s guilty and it weighs heavily on her and she even takes some accountability (4.08)

she denies nick’s offer for a drink because she hasn’t “earned” it showing she likes her dynamic with rio where she feels he makes her earn everything (4.13)

once rio changed his behavior toward her, a flip switched and she reciprocated (4.14)

she’s shocked and overwhelmed by rio returning the money and the furniture—but also deeply touched (4.14)

she protects him against the secret service even when she has good reason to think he may have sent mick to hurt her (4.16)

she chooses to work with him despite their history of betrayal instead of starting fresh in nevada or getting him out of her way; she declares that she trusts him to annie and ruby (4.16)

she was always extremely (and imo logically) guarded and mistrusting of his feelings and intentions, but there was always something there that she tried and failed to compartmentalize or kill that she couldn’t. the end of s4 proved that all she really needed was some sort of proof that it was all real and then she was able to commit to him fully and freely in a way she had been doing despite herself in half-measures (with plenty of backtracking and contradictions and betrayal mixed in).

but he was always important to her, and she was always intensely affected by him.

if you think about the things she was capable of moving forward from with rio versus the things she wasn’t truly capable of moving forward from with her husband of twenty years, I think it’s clear to see she’s deeply committed to entwining her life with rio, and that her feelings for him are absolutely a part of that equation. after all, the only reason she truly guarded them in the first place was because she felt the intensity of her feelings and her loyalty were unreciprocated and betrayed (2.06, 2.13). and while she went through many (many, many, many) motions to extricate him from her life, she continuously displayed gut-instinct trust him in him as well as an inability to quash her fond memories of him.

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.