I liked her in this episode, in fact, the only scene where I felt her acting let her down a little was in that "gun in the face" scene A Cousin. She seemed to miss her timing a little. That's just my opinion though. I liked the scenes with Harry in his office at the end, and when Lucas told her to stay in the car.

I think she is supposed to be 30 yrs old but sometimes she comes across as being about 10 years younger. She certainly thinks she can catch the eye of any man though, although I would guess that she probably has not had many steady relationships due to her line of work. Maybe her and Ruth should start up a book club or something...

I'm really liking Beth -- seems to me she's hard as nails and clearly underhanded but also has a great sense of humor and accepts her fate (being fired by Harry) without whining. And she did save Harry, after all. I've bought into her motive of "wanting to get clean"

Beth did nothing for me sadly, didn't mind Dimitri though

I think that Beth is a fabulous new character in her own right. I like her because:-

She's quite short and a bit chunky. This is a welcome change from the World of Willowly we have had with the woman of the grid until now. I expect PF and NW are relieved not to be looking up the nose of another tall actor for a change.

I like her clothes and I don't think she looked frumpy at all in Ep2. Lucas and Ros were begining to look like catalogue models running around in their Belstaff and Man for all Kind jackets and jeans. I think the blatant product placement detracts from the plot sometimes.

So far she seems ballsy without being cliched. I am hoping that she gets some good material unlike Jo who was underused compared to Ros.

(28-09-2010 08:04 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  I liked her in this episode, in fact, the only scene where I felt her acting let her down a little was in that "gun in the face" scene A Cousin. She seemed to miss her timing a little.

She does jump a cue but that is why I liked it - it felt nearly improvised to me. At the risk of sounding like Stanislavsky - it felt very organic to me. Clearly they have lines but I wonder how rehearsed it was? I thought it very brave of SM to allow herself go to a very freaked out place.

If you haven't read this already, this is what the BBC Spooks website says about the character of Beth:

"Beth is illiberal but principled and not at all establishment. She's opinionated and a provocateur who never plays by the rules. She joined M.I.5 when she was young and was trained by them, but was kicked out due to her inability to follow orders. Harry was the officer who made that decision. He saw how volatile she could be and that she wasn't mature enough to be a spy. Her reputation in the field is what attract M.I.5 to Beth. She wants to go back and agrees to because of her own agenda."

I am not sure I realised it was Harry who decided to kick her out. Maybe that was why he didn't instantly give her another chance when she saved his life, because she'd had her second chance already with Harry.

(01-10-2010 03:42 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  I am not sure I realised it was Harry who decided to kick her out. Maybe that was why he didn't instantly give her another chance when she saved his life, because she'd had her second chance already with Harry.

I know I didn't realize that! He said "The Committee" - no 'bout a doubt it! Makes sense now though. I wonder if it is going to come out that Harry was the one who made the decision?

(21-09-2010 01:06 PM)praxis Wrote:  Yes, that top was not exactly conventional interview-wear, was it??

I am not sure about a spook who works in the private sector- who would be employing her? She said she was a surveillance expert, but I wonder where she got her expertise, and who's been paying her? In the real world, people employ investigators and even industrial intelligence specialists - but the job spec is rather different from spookdom. And if she was in industrial intelligence, she'd probably have been doing illegal stuff, so maybe Lucas has a right to be suspicious of her.

Companies like Sandline and PMC's /Mercenaries might employ female operatives and there are women who do bodyguarding.

a quick Google produces what appears to be a job advert

http://www.closeprotectionworld.co.uk/cu...istan.html

I was a bit disappointed with Beth in 9.3, can't understand why she left such an important witness in Meg with an FSB officer? Redeemed herself slightly at the end I felt.

Well, to be fair she didn't at that stage know that the Russians wanted the nerve agent for themselves, and the operational priority was to capture the terrorist. She didn't blink before shooting Viktor at the end, so I'm guessing he's not the first person she's ever killed by a long shot.