Original Beth circa 1983 to 1986 was written as this shy and almost insipid character, but Judi Evans had such an intensity in how she delivered the lines that she gave Beth more of an edge then what was written in the script. The relationships she had with both Phillip and Lujack in her first stint were both very believable and very popular.
When Beth left in 1986, it was after the creator of the character Pam Long had left the show so when she 'died'.. there was a lot of loose ends over Alan and how he handled, Reva finding something on the boat that pointed to Beth possibly being alive.. but it seemed to have been dropped.
When Long came back and Blake/Phillip were established as a couple.. there was a huge red herring about whether Beth was dead or not and I think there was mention of some of the events from 1986 coming to light. There was a month or two arc where it seemed to point to Beth being alive due to paintings that looked as though they were painted by Beth. The cool thing was that it looked as though it was revealed to have been a hoax and a depressed Phillip having to grieve for Beth again.. and then at the episode, it's revealed Beth is actually alive.
The problem with Beth circa 1989 to 1991 was that she existed purely as an extension of Phillip without much agency or individual POV... which was the complete opposite of how Beth was written/presented in her first stint. I heard a rumor that had GA opted not to quit at the start of 1991 that the show was going to have killed off Beth again because the recast wasn't as accepted.
However, after Beth coming back in late 1997... it made her 1989 to 1991 seem like a masterclass of a consistent character vs what came after that.
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Soaplovers ·
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