Let's imagine that my college experience is a TV show. We are nearing the end of season four, which is supposed to be the series finale (for now at least... producers are supposed to pick it up again in a few years). Season Four Beth is the best version of the character so far. Things really fell into a groove and the character developed really nicely. And I'd like to honor that development with a series recap.
SEASON ONE
Season One starts out with the character Beth in a rough place. A few months before the series began, her paternal grandfather died unexpectedly, which set up a few things later. Then, just days before the first episode, she got cut from the marching band at her college. This is the first Major Plot Point.
Look at that picture, at that character.She's so young. So naive. Look at her taking a selfie with the White House (she doesn't know what Season Four is set to bring). Her hair is long and she's wearing contacts. Things are not great, but they're okay.
This picture was taken days before the second Major Plot Point of the series: the death of her maternal grandmother. It would influence the events and characterization of both seasons one and two. In fact, the entire second half of season one is just the aftermath of this plot point, for Beth and all her family.
However, it is in season one that we introduce a couple new characters. Because Right As Things Look Terrible, Beth decides to join a club. Here we are introduced to Miranda, Ashley, and eventually Kalindi. These are very important characters that will prove invaluable in later seasons.
SEASON TWO
Season Two also starts off really rough. Despite a cool little subplot in Honduras, season two starts off with a break-up and it's a bad one. First fifteen minutes of an hour long car ride. The writer's reaaaallly wanted some good drama there. The character of Beth in the above picture looks happy but was actually very sad. Her hair is long and straight (which may or may not have been an unconscious theme as the character explored herself deeper post break-up?)
However, they started to pull the other characters that we met in season one into the story. They had started to become more important as the first season went on, but they really became crucial in season two.
The girls and Beth really start to develop those deep friendships most shows can only dream of showing. They spend a lot of time together (almost every episode) cooking, laughing, goofing off. There was a sleepover episode, a musical episode, and so many more. As the post-break-up drama unfolded in season two, these characters really made it worth watching.
Also, it's just about the second half of season two where the writers started to really get the character of Beth. So far, she had been a goody two-shoes nerd type, taking a lot of chemistry and watching a lot of Doctor Who. It fit well for a while, but it was around this time that the character kept going to events or meeting characters who changed her interest more into social justice and public policy. And that's where it gets interesting.
SEASON THREE
Season three would be unremarkable if it wasn't for the introduction of a new love interest for the character Beth. I mean sure, she started enjoying her classes, moved in with a couple of the characters, and got a cool new job selling drugs, but otherwise it was pretty normal. What made it really interesting was this subplot of Beth joining a college humor magazine. One thing's for sure though: the show got a lot funnier from then on.
Perhaps the most important introduction in this season was the character Allan. He started off as a side character that Beth was growing friendly with due to their shared interest in musicals. But after a two-part episode first featuring the musical Billy Elliot followed by an awkward third-wheel situation in a cornmaze, the writer's started to flesh out their relationship more and it worked really well.
I do think his dialogue could have a little less in the way of puns, but his character has this cool theme/phrase thing where he lists "Things In This World I'm Perfectly Alright With". It's really cool and becomes really important in some plots in season four.
SEASON FOUR
WOW. Season four has been a whirlwind from start to finish. From the get go, Beth was out and about doing really awesome things. First there was this multi-episode plot arc in New York City (with guest appearances by Seth Meyers and Lin-Manuel Miranda, among others) followed by an episode where Beth learns she wants to run for office?
Then it picked up with Beth having to finish all her classes at once in order to get to do an internship special in the second half of the season. This made for good TV as there was never a dull moment. From the pharmacy drama and the classes to the subplot in which Beth was a semifinalist for a major award (I am still bitter that subplot didn't pan out better).
And Beth gets a tattoo and chops off her hair and then starts the internship plot arc after the show picks up in January. And BAM, suddenly the character of Beth is a professional adult. She starts working for a non-profit, planning all these programs. She's in a play, she starts a novel, she gets more tattoos, she writes a song. Everything comes together for the character of Beth. She's finally the character that she was meant to be all along, from her interests to her hair, to the tattoo inside her right wrist: She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.
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