Beth

[TERRY308]

I got the new DVD the other day.  It's the one where Olivia Corey (Amanda Harris) is trying to get Quentin to love her...again.

I just can't forget about Beth.  She loved him.  She worshipped the ground he walked on, and I think he loved her too in a round about way.  

She loved him, she loved his children,and there for awhile he said they should run away together and she happily said "yes".

I just believe that even Quentin would think of her and love her.

I think that when he got married, probably Maggie, and if they had a little girl, he would call her Beth.

Beth deserved alot more that she was given.

[Patti Feinberg]

probably Maggie, and if they had a little girl, he would call her Beth.

Qu'elle cheezee!

But Terry308, I agree, in a round about way, Quentin loved Beth.

I just think that he was used to so much rancor & stress, that a 'simple' love wouldn't have held his interest...too 'easy' if you will.

[Barnabas'sBride]

Out of all the romantic interests for Quentin, Beth is my favorite. They're one of my favorite couple on the show in any time period. Beth loved him, tried to help him. I think he loved her in his own way.

I hated what happened to her.

[LdyAnne]

Beth really did get the short end of the stick. But on the other hand she knew what a rouge he was.  Girls that go after Bad Boys should be wary.

[spoiler]She saw what his taking off with Laura did to poor Jenny.[/spoiler]

[Patti Feinberg]

I don't really think the understood the 'Jenny' aspect until she was already...um...knee deep with Quentin

Patti

[The Ghost of Sarah Collins]

There were times I believe that Quentin gave affection to just Beth because he knew that having an affair with one of the hired help was something that would indeed hit Edward and Judith exactly where they live in the family pride... Beth a mere servant was clearly below their station and Quentin knew how much a pantry love affair would bring scandal to the mighty Collins'... Quentin was always one to shock and dismay the family.

Poor Beth paid the price for loving Quentin Collins. 

[Josette]

Poor Beth paid the price for loving Quentin Collins.

That's true, but I think he genuinely cared for her.  He was always attracted to other women, and probably would never be faithful to anyone.  At one point I think he was engaged to 3 women at once:  Angelique (not by choice), Beth and Amanda.  Of course, Amanda then turned into his "true love" supposedly, but I think he did have real feelings for Beth.

[DSFan008]

I always thought Quinten loved Beth, i mean their ghosts where together in 1968. And the few scenes in 1897 showed true compassion and sencerity. plus when Beth dies Quinten blames himself and shows real remorse and despair over it.

[Barnabas'sBride]

I always thought it would've made sense if, at the end of the 1897 storyline, that Quentin realized his love for Beth and planned to go away with her (or find her, as they could've said she left, like Amanda did). Quentin's love for Amanda comes out of nowhere, and isn't plausible, no matter how pretty she is (though personally, I think Beth is prettier). I could see the Quentin that we're first introduced to in 1897 falling for Amanda on sight and completely abandoning Beth, but not the Quentin in late 1897, after his character goes through so much. I didn't think that was realistic for the character.

And if Beth had to be put out of the picture, I would've rather seen Quentin with Angelique over Amanda.

[Amy Jennings Fan]

Beth's spirit was sort of like a banshee. In Irish folklore, a banshee is a spirit in the form of a woman whose crying or wailing predicted the death of a loved one. Whenever Chris got hurt, she would appear crying to Amy or Dr. Hofffman.

[Pansity]

I always thought it would've made sense if, at the end of the 1897 storyline, that Quentin realized his love for Beth and planned to go away with her (or find her, as they could've said she left, like Amanda did). Quentin's love for Amanda comes out of nowhere, and isn't plausible, no matter how pretty she is (though personally, I think Beth is prettier). I could see the Quentin that we're first introduced to in 1897 falling for Amanda on sight and completely abandoning Beth, but not the Quentin in late 1897, after his character goes through so much. I didn't think that was realistic for the character.

And if Beth had to be put out of the picture, I would've rather seen Quentin with Angelique over Amanda.

Hi  Another topic I wish I had been here for when it was going on.  GMTA -- I would have to agree wtih just about all your points.  Quentin at the end of the storyline had grown up a lot.  Thats another reason the out of nowhere Amanda scenario doesnt work DRAMATICALLY.  No REASON  -- except maybe rebound?  Beth's death is also badly DONE -- so many characters have to be suddenly out of character, stupid and or both for it to work.  I mean, even given the shock of getting his body back, WHO do you know who would walk TOWARDS someone standing on the edge of a cliff?  Though its an interesting point that he mourns her and is one of the few male characters you see crying for someone.  And that was such a no-no for Victorian men that it tells you he felt a great deal for Beth, even if he only realized it too late.

I find it amusing that they apparently alternated writers during that period -- one day he is mourning over Beth, next day he is desperate to get to his "once in a lifetime love", the third day we are back to he is distraught when he sees Beth's ghost.

As for who he should have ended up with. Angelique? Maybe, but then he still must have had some serious baggage about Angelique being the trigger for Beth to have tried to shoot him then end up working for Petofi, which ultimately led to her death.

This may sound seriously strange, but I could see him with Pansy -- Carl not withstanding.  He had a great relationship near the end with the Pansy/Charity combo -- at least once she stopped trying to poison Beth.  I am particularly thinking of that last night, with them in the drawing room, wishing they were ordinary people who could go off get married and have kids like ordinary people.  It was so sweet, sad and poignant.  And she cared a lot for him to risk Petofi, whom she was terrified of, to save Quentin.

[Pansity]

ACK! I KNEW I forgot something! 

I've been doing a lot of character dissection lately on Quentin, Beth and Jenny for one story, which when blocked, then turned into another one to explore the character aspects blocking me on story #1 (redo of the Orpheus storyline but in 1897 w/Beth).

Beth gets dissed a lot for being all crying and helpless, yet she starts out as very very strong, willing to stand right up to Quentin and take the gun away when he wants to kill Jenny.

She fits his description to Angelique of what he finds attractive in a woman:  ..."Beautiful, smart, dangerous" I believe the quote was (dont have the dvd handy to check).  Aside from bad writing, its hard to explain the turnaround.  When trying to figure something out for the story, a possible explanation occurred to me.

Let me throw this out for consideration and discussion:  Beth is the one knew about Jenny, knew about the babies.  She told no one the babies were at Mrs Fillmore's -- not even Quentin. Or Magda.  When Madga curses Q in the manner she does, she does so because she didn;t KNOW.

How much of Beth's later wussy, crying behaviour  -- even the suicide attempt -- comes from GUILT because she believes SHE is responsible for a lot of what happened.  Especially when the boy dies.....

Just sumitted for your consideration, as Rod Serling used to say.

[Barnabas'sBride]

Pansity - I just adore the scene you mentioned with Quentin and Pansy at the end of the storyline. I found it to be one of the most genuine, heartfelt scenes on the show. It just clicked with me. Such a great moment between those characters.

As far as Quentin and Angelique....I just think that if Beth was out of the picture, the two of them would've been more fun than Quentin & Amanda. I don't know, I just think they had that something. It was also refreshing to see Angelique interested in someone other than Barnabas. I'm a Quentin/Beth fan first, but I think Quentin and Angelique together would've been interesting.

[Misa]

The Quentin and Angelique storyline was fraught with possibilities. It would have been interesting if the writers had actually had Angelique realize that she really didn't love Barnabas, had only wanted him because he was supposed to be Josette's, that she truly loved Quentin. Then show her actually be more self-sacrificing for him (let him go with Beth when she found out that he loved her). It was also weird that when they have Angie show up in the present she's back to loving Barnabas not Quentin. (As you can see I also don't like the Amanda/Quentin love story. It seems so "What?"')

I always thought that they never explained why Angelique turned to Quentin. She had been pursuing Barnabas, and then when he was about to be exposed she doesn't do anything to prevent it; she just decides to go after Quentin instead. I mean, what was the reason? I also couldn't figure out why Quentin didn't take her up on this, why was he not interested? He had been interested in her when she first showed up.

The other thing that I didn't like was the way Carl dies; Quentin has grown a lot as a person by this time, why would he just lock poor Carl up with Barnabas to be killed? (This murder really made my younger brother so angry at Barnabas and Quentin, Carl was his favorite character on the show; he even named his teddy bear after him). If they wanted to expose Barnabas, and needed to write Carl out, they could have done it in a better way. How did Barnabas know that Carl's death wouldn't change history? I'd have preferred that they have Trask kill Carl if they wanted to kill him, everyone hated Trask anyway, or have him leave town.

If they had Carl either leave town or be killed by Trask it would have been easier to understand Charity/Pansy liking Quentin. It is hard to have her love Quentin when she pretty much knows that he killed Carl.

This has gotten to be rather long and rambling, so I'll stop here.

Misa

[PennyDreadful]

she just decides to go after Quentin instead. I mean, what was the reason?

[spoiler]
 IIRC, she had made a deal with her Master in which she had to get a man to fall in love with her, or be returned to Hell.  Since Barnabas was a lost cause, she went after Quentin.
[/spoiler]