They made it seem like she would be a focus in the Series 9 trailer, and they did focus on her in the early episodes, but then like everything else, the Lucas storyline just overshadowed everything.

Beth's problem, as series 9 went on, is that the writers pushed her to the periphery as the Lucas/John story took center stage. RA, PF and NW have been playing their characters for a long time and know them well enough to stay in character even when they don't really have anything much to do in a scene. SM is new to the spooks experience (last minute scripts, shooting multiple eps simultaneously, non-sequential filming) and I'm sure there were moments towards the end of the series (when her character didn't get a lot of time or lines) where she just had no clue what was going on. She'll probably be better in the next series.

(18-11-2010 02:42 PM)lwhite53 Wrote:  Beth's problem, as series 9 went on, is that the writers pushed her to the periphery as the Lucas/John story took center stage. RA, PF and NW have been playing their characters for a long time and know them well enough to stay in character even when they don't really have anything much to do in a scene. SM is new to the spooks experience (last minute scripts, shooting multiple eps simultaneously, non-sequential filming) and I'm sure there were moments towards the end of the series (when her character didn't get a lot of time or lines) where she just had no clue what was going on. She'll probably be better in the next series.

Agreed. I also think the character was put there as a device to ultimately serve the Lucas plot and not her own arc. When that purpose was completed, her character development stopped. I don't think SM is a bad actress because Beth showed such promise in the first two episodes.

Just a thought: We, as an audience, also have much more "history" with SHB, Ruth and Lucas that we can fill in the blanks, as it were. Not so with Beth. We are still looking to her to fill in the blanks for us. Another one for the S10 Wish List, I guess.

(18-11-2010 04:15 PM)A Cousin Wrote:  Just a thought: We, as an audience, also have much more "history" with SHB, Ruth and Lucas that we can fill in the blanks, as it were. Not so with Beth. We are still looking to her to fill in the blanks for us. Another one for the S10 Wish List, I guess.

Same with Tariq, although he's been around for awhile. We only get whatever character development needs to happen for the particular story of the week.

I definitely hope Beth's character gets developed more in season 10, her back-story creates great potential to do so. I wonder if she's still flat-sharing with Ruth?

I really liked the way Beth was introduced She seems like she has a lot of character-potential, I'm really interested to see how she develops in S10. It's just a shame that she got very little attention in S9 :/ She seems very sharp and quick-witted, but I think she also has that very selfish side to her which could be interesting in the future. I definitely want to see how things turn out between her and the team, as others have said, it seems like she might have a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way... she seemed to annoy Lucas quite a lot!

(18-11-2010 06:33 PM)Byatil Wrote:  I really liked the way Beth was introduced She seems like she has a lot of character-potential, I'm really interested to see how she develops in S10. It's just a shame that she got very little attention in S9 :/ She seems very sharp and quick-witted, but I think she also has that very selfish side to her which could be interesting in the future. I definitely want to see how things turn out between her and the team, as others have said, it seems like she might have a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way... she seemed to annoy Lucas quite a lot!

Well if she has a selfish side and is sketchy then my guess is that she must have killed a look-alike, took their passport to escape, and then went to join MI5, she is really not Beth, she is a completely different person who is deranged. I mean really, if it happened with Lucas, then I can't see a bright future for Beth. She'll probably jump off a building too.

(18-11-2010 06:41 PM)BravoNine Wrote:  

(18-11-2010 06:33 PM)Byatil Wrote:  I really liked the way Beth was introduced She seems like she has a lot of character-potential, I'm really interested to see how she develops in S10. It's just a shame that she got very little attention in S9 :/ She seems very sharp and quick-witted, but I think she also has that very selfish side to her which could be interesting in the future. I definitely want to see how things turn out between her and the team, as others have said, it seems like she might have a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way... she seemed to annoy Lucas quite a lot!

Well if she has a selfish side and is sketchy then my guess is that she must have killed a look-alike, took their passport to escape, and then went to join MI5, she is really not Beth, she is a completely different person who is deranged. I mean really, if it happened with Lucas, then I can't see a bright future for Beth. She'll probably jump off a building too.

Well, at least that plot would make sense in her character-arc, seeing as she was working freelance before re-applying to MI5. If she wanted to betray them all she could, and the fact that she seems rather self-motivated would support that. Lucas was never someone who did his job for the money, that's why the plot didn't make sense in terms of his character xD

It'd be cool to see a story where Beth turns bad though. I can totally see her selling out Harry and Ruth to the Russians for her own benefit!

(18-11-2010 06:44 PM)Byatil Wrote:  Well, at least that plot would make sense in her character-arc, seeing as she was working freelance before re-applying to MI5. If she wanted to betray them all she could, and the fact that she seems rather self-motivated would support that. Lucas was never someone who did his job for the money, that's why the plot didn't make sense in terms of his character xD

It'd be cool to see a story where Beth turns bad though. I can totally see her selling out Harry and Ruth to the Russians for her own benefit!

That would be really interesting to see with Beth, but it'd feel a little repetitive to have another officer turn against them! Haha it would look bad for MI5 if they keep having all this trouble with agents!

Though, I would really enjoy a redemption arc also - perhaps if she's tempted to turn against them, but chooses not to. Because she really is looking for a change, and she did want to be with MI5 in the beginning.

I think she's one of those interesting characters who could go either way. Ah, the possibilities for season 10

(20-11-2010 01:41 AM)KitKat385 Wrote:  

(18-11-2010 06:44 PM)Byatil Wrote:  Well, at least that plot would make sense in her character-arc, seeing as she was working freelance before re-applying to MI5. If she wanted to betray them all she could, and the fact that she seems rather self-motivated would support that. Lucas was never someone who did his job for the money, that's why the plot didn't make sense in terms of his character xD

It'd be cool to see a story where Beth turns bad though. I can totally see her selling out Harry and Ruth to the Russians for her own benefit!

That would be really interesting to see with Beth, but it'd feel a little repetitive to have another officer turn against them! Haha it would look bad for MI5 if they keep having all this trouble with agents!

Though, I would really enjoy a redemption arc also - perhaps if she's tempted to turn against them, but chooses not to. Because she really is looking for a change, and she did want to be with MI5 in the beginning.

I think she's one of those interesting characters who could go either way. Ah, the possibilities for season 10

Well, it shouldn't be that surprising when their level of security checks. I mean, Lucas isn't the first agent to go rogue, and there was almost always a mole in every series.

I'm surprised that no one has asked Harry the question, "Why is there always a mole? Why don't you ever notice?"