[Rumiel]

I've started to come up with possible reasons as to why on earth they'd keep a character so unimportant like Beth alive; she already had her 'moment of fame' when she nearly committed suicide and in all honesty there's not much she can provide to the series.

However, maybe she's in due to what happens in the comics. If you remember

Spoiler

one of the prison inmates (forgot his name) beheads Hershel's two youngest daughters and nearly kills Andrea yet she manages to escape. Since Hershel only has Maggie and Beth now and Maggie is an important character both in the comics and in the series, maybe Beth will be murdered to arouse suspicion among the other inmates and therefore cause conflict, just like what happened in the comics?

What do you guys think? If you haven't read the comics, feel free to post your own hypothesis as to why they've kept her in.

[Sweetsister]

I think she is arround only to meet her demise in season 3 and her death will affect Hershel and Maggie the most and could be used in storylines for both. Other characters will be brought in for season 3 with more powerful storylines than Beths so I think they will keep her arround until they want some heavy ordeal for Maggie and Hershel (as if what they are going through isnt heavy enough).

[WalkerBaitress]

One of the Walking Dead podcasts from Canada (can't remember which--maybe the Walking Dead'Cast or the Walking Dead Podcast?) had the same theory.

[Kat]

They're running out of red shirts and people will be pissed if T-Dogg dies whilst still without any meaningful character development or lines beyond, "Aw, hell no!"

Just a hypothesis, mind you.

[daenerys]

She's a back-ground character that tptb can use as zombie fodder when the situation arises.

[Ryan_Dead]

I like Beth. I hope they don't kill her off but I think they will. I'm not sure how though. Many fans are coming up with the idea that Beth will die in that particular way and surely the writers or someone must have seen that all these fans are predicting her death that way. So I think if they do kill her off maybe they should do it in a different way.

[Ryan_Dead]

And just to point out I hate the fact that they bring in characters such as Jimmy and Patricia and possibly Beth only with the intention of killing them. I don't like it when they do that. Jimmy's death didn't shock me that much and neither did Patricia's that much (But I sorta blame the Uk promo for that)

[Major Tom]

I am a wuss about killing off characters that have not annoyed me, and Beth has not.

If they are going to feed her to the Z's, I hope they have her whining and complaining in a few scenes.

[Daisy]

Beth is all right- background, does nothing without being annoying. So I'm not too fussed whether she's killed or not, the show has other dead weight characters that need to go first. However Beth dying will probably enrich Hershel and Maggie's story, so it would make sense. I love Hershel and I like Maggie, so any development for those two is welcome.

[Trillian]

It also occurs to me that Beth is still alive because the writers didn't want Hershel to lose that much family all at once.  I realize that Patricia wasn't technically family, but Hershel losing Jimmy, Beth and Patricia during the same incident might have been a bit much.

Beth's eventual demise can have more meaning if it occurs separately from Jimmy's death.

[Rumiel]

Ryan_Dead, on 09 June 2012 - 06:36 AM, said:

And just to point out I hate the fact that they bring in characters such as Jimmy and Patricia and possibly Beth only with the intention of killing them. I don't like it when they do that. Jimmy's death didn't shock me that much and neither did Patricia's that much (But I sorta blame the Uk promo for that)

In the long run, after both Jimmy and Patricia died you do think that the only reason they were casted was to have a few background characters that could be killed off, and that's probably true.

But you have to consider aspects as the money they're paid and the amount of attention other characters get; 5 minutes of Jimmy or Patricia could mean 5 minutes less of Shane and Rick, which is a friendship/hatred that more fans want to see. Of course, if they talk more then they'll have to be paid more; since in the series they're little more than 'primary extras'?

Yet I doubt it would have killed their budget to give them a few more lines so it feels like they're there. Sometimes it was as if they weren't in the farm and had gone off somewhere for an episode or two.

[gracie lou]

Rumiel, on 09 June 2012 - 01:23 AM, said:

I've started to come up with possible reasons as to why on earth they'd keep a character so unimportant like Beth alive; she already had her 'moment of fame' when she nearly committed suicide and in all honesty there's not much she can provide to the series.

However, maybe she's in due to what happens in the comics. If you remember

Spoiler

one of the prison inmates (forgot his name) beheads Hershel's two youngest daughters and nearly kills Andrea yet she manages to escape. Since Hershel only has Maggie and Beth now and Maggie is an important character both in the comics and in the series, maybe Beth will be murdered to arouse suspicion among the other inmates and therefore cause conflict, just like what happened in the comics?

What do you guys think? If you haven't read the comics, feel free to post your own hypothesis as to why they've kept her in.

I think that is the exact reason that she is still around.

WalkerBaitress, on 09 June 2012 - 01:41 AM, said:

One of the Walking Dead podcasts from Canada (can't remember which--maybe the Walking Dead'Cast or the Walking Dead Podcast?) had the same theory.

The Canadian one is called The Talking Dead (they have been around longer than the TV show with the same name, though).

[Gingerbeard]

They couldn't kill off ALL of their red shirts in the finale. So, they kept Beth around so they could kill her off in the next season. So, it looks like they killed a main character when in reality... nobody cares.

[Babs Bladdyblah]

Gingerbeard, on 09 June 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

They couldn't kill off ALL of their red shirts in the finale. So, they kept Beth around so they could kill her off in the next season. So, it looks like they killed a main character when in reality... nobody cares.

Agreed. They have to get in a fresh batch of Season 3 red shirts before they can kill off all the old red shirts.

[gracie lou]

Gingerbeard, on 09 June 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

They couldn't kill off ALL of their red shirts in the finale. So, they kept Beth around so they could kill her off in the next season. So, it looks like they killed a main character when in reality... nobody cares.

Are you calling Ryan_Dead a nobody?

Did Beth even inquire about poor Jimmy's whereabouts? I can't remember.

[Sweetsister]

gracie lou, on 09 June 2012 - 06:15 PM, said:

Are you calling Ryan_Dead a nobody?

Did Beth even inquire about poor Jimmy's whereabouts? I can't remember.

I think she did, after everyone met up again, and Rick told her he got swarmed in the RV.

[Gingerbeard]

gracie lou, on 09 June 2012 - 06:15 PM, said:

Are you calling Ryan_Dead a nobody?

Did Beth even inquire about poor Jimmy's whereabouts? I can't remember.

She never seemed too fond of Jimmy. I bet their sex life was awful.

[Major Tom]

The problem I have with getting rid of Beth has to do with her decision not to commit suicide.

I have never had to deal with suicide of a relative but I absolutely detest the idea of suicide as a solution to  any problem except for terminal illness when there is a lot of pain involved. As a solution for personal angst, I believe it is a completely selfish and cowardly act.

Having made the decision to live, I have a need to see her courage rewarded. Unfortunately situations like this provide pathos that writers love. She has no chance of surviving S3 in my opinion. Hell, I'm over it already.

[Ryan_Dead]

Gingerbeard, on 09 June 2012 - 06:21 PM, said:

She never seemed too fond of Jimmy. I bet their sex life was awful.

Beth and Jimmy were and odd couple. I imagine the relationship went bad because of the zombie apocoplypse. I remember Beth even making a sarcastic comment to Maggie like "We went out for 3 months and now I'm married to him?". I don't think their relationship would have lasted if Jimmy was still alive.

[backwoodsroamer]

Major Tom, on 09 June 2012 - 06:46 PM, said:

The problem I have with getting rid of Beth has to do with her decision not to commit suicide.

I have never had to deal with suicide of a relative but I absolutely detest the idea of suicide as a solution to  any problem except for terminal illness when there is a lot of pain involved. As a solution for personal angst, I believe it is a completely selfish and cowardly act.

Having made the decision to live, I have a need to see her courage rewarded. Unfortunately situations like this provide pathos that writers love. She has no chance of surviving S3 in my opinion. Hell, I'm over it already.

I have a problem with the suicide issue too. I got snarky at Babs when she supported Andrea in that episode. Sadly, I have to agree Beth is living on borrowed time.

It also irritated me when people said Jimmy was stupid. He got swarmed while sacrificing his life for Rick and Carl. I have a feeling in a real apocalypse I'd have to to do some "weeding out" of those who can't figure out the meaning of teamwork.

Edited by backwoodsroamer, 09 June 2012 - 07:52 PM.

[Babs Bladdyblah]

backwoodsroamer, on 09 June 2012 - 07:48 PM, said:

I have a problem with the suicide issue too. I got snarky at Babs when she supported Andrea in that episode. Sadly, I have to agree Beth is living on borrowed time.

It also irritated me when people said Jimmy was stupid. He got swarmed while sacrificing his life for Rick and Carl. I have a feeling in a real apocalypse I'd have to to do some "weeding out" of those who can't figure out the meaning of teamwork.

I clarified that. It wasn't Andrea's place in that situation with Beth.

Edited by Babs Bladdyblah, 09 June 2012 - 08:02 PM.

[Rumiel]

Major Tom, on 09 June 2012 - 06:46 PM, said:

The problem I have with getting rid of Beth has to do with her decision not to commit suicide.

I have never had to deal with suicide of a relative but I absolutely detest the idea of suicide as a solution to  any problem except for terminal illness when there is a lot of pain involved. As a solution for personal angst, I believe it is a completely selfish and cowardly act.

Having made the decision to live, I have a need to see her courage rewarded. Unfortunately situations like this provide pathos that writers love. She has no chance of surviving S3 in my opinion. Hell, I'm over it already.

It'd be great if they showed Beth being strong after deciding to stay alive; but hell, the chances of that happening are so slim.. as people have been saying, they'll kill her off so that they can show the bond between Maggie and Hershel become stronger.

Imagine if Beth became a protagonist though? Wow.




In a parallel universe this could happen

[backwoodsroamer]

Babs Bladdyblah, on 09 June 2012 - 08:02 PM, said:

I clarified that. It wasn't Andrea's place in that situation with Beth.

Well Babs, I'm not trying to run you down here. I could have worded that better. If I offended you I'm very sorry.  I don't want to accidentally insult you because it will cheapen it for me on the times when I really do insult you.

[Babs Bladdyblah]

backwoodsroamer, on 09 June 2012 - 08:26 PM, said:

Well Babs, I'm not trying to run you down here. I could have worded that better. If I offended you I'm very sorry.  I don't want to accidentally insult you because it will cheapen it for me on the times when I really do insult you.

[farswell7]

Unfortunately I think Beth will be the first casualty among the current cast in Season Three. I agree with everyone's speculation about her taking the place of Hershel's daughters in the comics.

I do however wish they would expand upon her character a bit more. She has had one storyline so far and it was resolved in one episode. Hopefully there will be a little bit more depth to her character before she bites the dust.