When it comes to the shows that have meant the most to me over the years, The Walking Dead has been a pretty big part of that. I still remember when I first began watching it all those years ago, when it really was just a series about monsters, survivors, and the people they became when the world fell apart. And now, it’s just a massive global franchise. Good times.
But back when The Walking Dead was simply the biggest television show and not overwhelmed with spinoff after spinoff, one of my favorite characters happened to be Beth Greene (played by Emily Kinney). She grew on me slowly over time, and now with her epic return to The Walking Dead world, I thought I’d share the four moments from her time on the show that I think are the best ways to remember her.
Singing “The Parting Glass”
While it felt that some people weren’t the biggest fans of Beth Greene singing during the literal apocalypse, there were some moments throughout the show where I truly felt her singing was poignant and needed. One of those was in season 3 episode 1, “The Seed.” It’s right when the group has found the prison, and they’re camping outside the night before retaking it from walkers (zombies).
Beth begins to sing the song before her sister, Maggie (Lauren Cohan), joins in with her. The lyrics are from a traditional Scottish/Irish farewell song. In that moment where they are moving into a new area after months on the road and also further singing goodbye to their old life, it’s a mournful song that really captured the aura of the group at that time.
Firing the gun in the air
I feel like a lot of people forget about this moment because in the grand scheme of The Walking Dead, it’s probably small. But in season 3, episode 13, “Arrow on the Doorpost,” this is an important moment that shows Beth isn’t messing around and has started to grow into her shell a little more.
When Merle and Glenn get into an intense fight, Beth puts down baby Judith and then fires a nearby revolver into the air to break up the fight when Merle pulls a knife on Glenn. Beth had pretty much been a background character at that point, but this was a moment that put her front and center for just a bit, before she really began to shine the next season.
Burning the moonshine shack
One of my favorite moments in The Walking Dead is in season 4, episode 12, “Still,” when Daryl and Beth burn down the moonshine shack. After surviving the fall of the prison, making it to someplace safe while looking for everyone, and exchanging a heartbreaking fight/conversation about Daryl’s past (where Beth comforted him), they decide to burn down the cabin they held up in.
It was an accurate representation of Daryl’s past, and Beth’s idea of burning it down – henceforth burning that part of Daryl’s past and leaving it behind him – is a memorable one from the series. And the finger flip-off always gets me every time.
Watching Noah escape
Did this inevitably lead to the soul-crushing heartbreak that was Beth’s death? Yes, it did. And for that, I don’t think I’ll ever quite forgive The Walking Dead for doing that. But I will not put her death scene as her best moment because it most certainly wasn’t.
What I will put is her attempted escape with Noah (Tyler James Williams) in season 5 episode 4, “Slabtown”. We had only really met Noah that episode, but we could clearly see from the way he was treated that the hospital was not where Beth wanted to be. The fact that she concocted this whole escape with Noah, even if she didn’t get out, is impressive. And honestly, watching her smile as Noah escapes is bittersweet – because she never did get out of the hospital, but at least he did. Ugh, gut-punch.
You can stream all eleven seasons of The Walking Dead to check out Beth’s moments on Netflix before her return in Dead City. Or just for fun, because I think it might be time to binge! Time to return to the TWD Universe.
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