Here are a few random thoughts on The Walking Dead episode 508, “Coda“.
[Spoilers ahead.]
Kirkman, you Bastard!
You killed Beth, you Bastards! Of course you pulled all the right strings and killed her moments before she was reunited with the group. It was absolutely heart-wrenching. Tears were shed. Isn’t it too bad that it was just kind of silly?
Before digging in, understand that I’ve had trouble with Beth, as a character, from the start. She always felt like something of an “extra” person; a blank slate to apply whatever characteristics needed at the time. She went from overly sentimental and blindly hopeful to overly callous and pessimistic, then back again, in a roller coaster that all seemed more schizophrenic than evolutionary. Before she cribbed those scissors (and it was obvious that she was going to die) I was really hoping that this whole experience would be a new start for the character; give her a firmer foundation.
Looks like that’s not going to happen, huh?
Still, there was just no reason for this and the lengths the show had to go to set up the opportunity, as usual, made our heroes look like idiots. Here’s are just a few things:
- Why in dog’s name would they have the transfer in the hospital, right there on the community floor?! Why not right where they made the initial contact or really ANY neutral ground at all? It made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
- Why did they all go in? Specifically why did (or better yet, why would) Noah go back in the building at all? He’s a recent escapee and knew Dawn well enough to know that she was a spiteful bitch. Why flaunt his presence?
- I know that we’re all supposed to consider Beth’s, let’s face it, suicide as a selfless act for Noah (and possibly the rest of the community), but it was just plain short-sighted and meaningless. There was no reason to leave Noah and it was unlikely that Dawn would have opened fire when she was sitting directly in the crossfire.
Heart-wrenching as it was to see Daryl and Maggie’s responses to Beth’s death, the entire circumstances of her death were a complete disservice to her and our heroes.
