Beth Young

"Beth didn't love people because they deserved it."

- Paul Young

Beth Young (née Tilman) is the daughter of Felicia Tilman and is Paul Young's second wife. A fragile and emotional 30-year-old, Beth comes to Wisteria Lane to join her prison-wed husband and to assist her mother in the execution of her vengeance plan. However, an unfortunate turn of events leads Beth to be abandoned and to suffer a similar fate to that of Paul's first wife.

Early Life
Beth is the daughter of Felicia Tilman and an unnamed father. Beth had a very difficult childhood; Beth's father left Felicia alone and never returned, when Beth was 8 years old. Since then, contrary to tradition on Thanksgiving, Felicia and Beth never shared a meal with anyone, let alone each other. The reason being that Felicia felt there was nothing to be thankful for, and refused to allow a male classmate of Beth's into the house. ("Sorry Grateful")

Later, it is learned that Beth met Paul while he was still in prison for the murder of her mother. She often wrote him letters, sometimes sexually explicit, professing her love for him. However, Beth never expected that Paul would be released. Apparently lost in fantasy, she married Paul while he was still incarcerated. Much to her dismay, Felicia was found to be alive and Paul was released. ("Sorry Grateful"/"You Must Meet My Wife")

Season 7
Beth begins walking down the street in an angry state of confusion. Bob, Lee, Bree and Karen approach her and offer their help. She informs them that she is looking for Paul Young, much to their surprise. Paul then emerges from his home and yells for Beth. He then introduces her to the others as his wife. This evening, Beth appears extremely detached, and uncomfortable with her new husband. An angry Paul begins growing impatient that Beth has yet to consummate their marriage. He warns her that his patience will only last for so long. ("You Must Meet My Wife")

Bree, Susan and Lynette invite Beth to their weekly poker game. Paul tells her to make up a story about what is going on between them. During the game, all of the housewives want to discover as much as possible about Paul, and Beth tells them that he is changed, but does not hide that they met each other during Paul's prison term. Beth is having doubts that they didn't tell her something about her husband, so she asks Karen, and she tells her that Paul is the number one suspect for the murder of Martha Huber. Later, Beth tells Paul about that, and he denies it. She tells him that no matter if he is innocent or not, she would still love him. ("Truly Content")

Karen is angry at Paul, after his offer for buy her house, and tells Beth about it. Beth, who agreed with Paul that there would not be anymore secrets between them, asks Paul if he talked to any of the neighbors and his answer is negative. Confused, Beth wonders what Paul is doing. ("The Thing That Counts is What's Inside")

Beth and Paul arrive home from a date. Paul leans in to kiss her, but Beth asks what he's doing. Paul tells her that he's not an "animal satisfying urges" and explains that he wants to connect with her. He kisses her but Beth slaps him. Angry, Paul tells Beth that he wants her to move out by the end of the week. Later, Beth is on the phone to her mother and explains that Paul wants her to leave. She says she will try to create a better relation with Paul. When Susan threatens Paul, Beth arrives on the stairs with a gun and tells Susan to get away from him. Susan tells Beth that she doesn't know what he's done or the person that Paul really is. But Beth replies: "I don't care. He's my husband. Now get out of our house!" When Susan has left, Beth asks Paul if he is all right and kisses him. ("Excited and Scared")

Paul and Beth have sex finally, after Beth's initial reluctance. And Beth begins to question Paul's motives for returning to Wisteria Lane when she finds out that he is letting his old cellmate move into his old house. He refuses to tell her why, so when she is sure that Paul is gone, she confronts his cellmate. Beth threatens to tell the police he attempted to rape her if he does not comply with her wishes (to tell her what Paul's up to). She confronts Paul later and he tries to defend himself, but finds there is no need, as she supports her husband in all his endeavors. He calls her the "perfect wife", but it is proved not to be so when it is revealed at the end that Beth's mother is Felicia Tilman. ("A Humiliating Business")

Beth tries to learn more about Paul's past misdeeds on instructions from her mother. However, Beth merely falls more in love with Paul, and is thinking that maybe her mother might be crazy after all. Felicia finds out that Beth is falling in love with Paul, causing her to scream at her through the Plexiglass, with the police attempting to calm her down. ("Sorry Grateful") The day of the riot, Paul and Beth greet the mayor. Paul offers to give a tour of the halfway house. After everyone is arrived for Mayor's speech, the mayor comments on the high turnout. Beth asks where the people have come from. Paul says he doesn't know, but says that things look like they'll get very interesting. When the riot begins, Paul asks Beth to come back at their house. ("Down the Block There's a Riot")

Paul, after being shot in front of his house, is rushed to the hospital and is alive. The police detectives discover that Paul has several enemies on the lane. At the hospital, Beth is suspected by the police. Later, Beth asks her mother if she was responsible for Paul's shooting. However, Felicia is genuinely surprised to hear the news. Felicia makes a secret call to the person she believes may have been behind the shooting: Mike Delfino, to which Mike denies his involvement. This leaves Felicia puzzled indeed. Meanwhile, the detectives talk to Paul alone where in Paul accidentally discovers that his mother-in-law, but covers it up to the cops by claiming that he knew it all along. ("Assassins")

A reluctant Bree is asked by Reverend Sikes to help out Beth. Bree invites Beth to a get together with the other housewives and Beth accepts the offer. The get together doesn't go well as Gabrielle, Renee, Lynette and Susan all hate Beth for standing by Paul despite everything he did to the neighbors. Bree calls the other housewives out of the room and manages to convince them not to hate Beth for the sins that Paul committed. When they arrive back in the room Beth finds a gun under her cushion, the same type of gun that somebody used to shoot Paul with. Beth wrongly accuses them all of attempting to frame her. Bree becomes insulted that she would accuse her of such a thing when she reached out to her when she was in need. Beth leaves after telling them she is calling the police. ("Where Do I Belong?")

Paul becomes emotional after Beth's betrayal and believes that she was the one who shot him. He decides to get revenge and kill her on a trip to a cabin. Before they leave however detectives arrive and show the gun to Paul, who becomes alarmed. The detectives believe the gun did belong to Beth but Paul reassures them otherwise. He then tells Beth that the trip's off and that she "dodged the bullet", which confuses her. ("I'm Still Here")

When Paul arrives home, Beth admits that she is relieved that Zach has been checked in. Paul produces her gun, claiming that he took it for protection. He asks why she felt she had to bring a gun into her home. Beth is really upset. That night, Paul sits on his bed with a suitcase and Beth is surprised when she comes out of the shower, asking if he is going somewhere. Paul tells her that she is leaving and pulls her down the stairs. He yells that he knows that she is Felicia's daughter. Beth tries to explain, admitting that she lied at first but insisting that she loves Paul now. However, Paul tells her that no-one could ever love him and pushes her outside. He hands her her gun and shuts the door. The episode ends with Beth walking down the street in a nightdress, with nowhere to go. ("Farewell Letter")

Now living in a motel, Beth pays Paul a sudden visit to profess her love to him. Paul tells her to leave immediately, he subtly tells Beth that he did kill Martha, shocking her. She quickly heads to visit Felicia in prison to tell her about Paul's confession. However, her mother berates her for being so stupid as to not get the confession on tape. Later, Bree comes to Beth's motel to reveal they're both a match to be a kidney donor for Susan but Bree wants to do it in order to feel needed. With nothing else left in her life, Beth ignores Bree's decision and goes to the hospital. Beth makes sure the nurse in the waiting room files the paperwork ensuring her kidney will go to Susan. As she thanks the nurse, a smiling Beth then pulls a gun out of her purse and shoots herself in the head. ("Searching")

Beth shot herself in the head and is on life support. Her last wish was to donate a kidney to her dear friend Susan. Beth and Susan weren't really friends. That's why a grieving Paul tells Susan that there's no way she's going to strip his wife for spare parts. Mike wants to fight this thing. But that doesn't matter to Susan. She barely acknowledged Beth in life, so why should she deserve anything from her in death? Paul swings by the prison where Felicia tells him they need to stop hurling hatred at each other. She wants Beth taken off life support so she can rest. Later, Paul lets Susan know that he's alerted the transplant office to move forward with Beth's wishes. Later, Paul is seeing next to Beth, before she's taken off life support. ("Everything's Different, Nothing's Changed")

Season 7
Paul is shocked to discover that the door of one of his houses is open. He heads over and discovers Felicia, who is free and has inherited the house from Beth as Paul bought it in her name. Paul is even more annoyed when he discovers that Felicia has taken Beth's ashes. Later, Felicia goes to Paul's house and says that she wants them to scatter Beth's ashes together at a lake Beth used to like. The next day, the pair begin the drive to the lake and Felicia suggests that Beth would be glad. The pair arrive at the lake and Paul scatters Beth's ashes. When Felicia arrives home it emerges that Paul has not scattered ashes from the fire. Felicia sifts Beth's real ashes back into the urn. She tells Beth's ashes that shooting Paul would be too quick and death is the easy way out. ("Moments in the Woods")

Karen goes over to see Felicia, who explains that she got out of prison because her daughter died. Karen is shocked to hear that Felicia's daughter was Beth. Felicia claims that Paul wrote to Beth begging her to come and see him and made Beth fall in love with him. She alleges that when Paul was released he told Beth she didn't deserve to live and that he never loved her, so she killed herself. ("The Lies Ill-Concealed")

Susan continues to bring Paul food but is shocked when she discovers that Felicia is also in the house. Felicia drops the bombshell that she was Beth's mother and has moved into Wisteria Lane. Later, Susan is going to continue caring for Paul because she was given a second chance with Beth's kidney and wants to do the same for him. Later, Felicia arrives at Susan's house and claims that she is missing Beth, but remembered that part of her is still alive in Susan. Susan reluctantly agrees to let her in and reveals that she is cooking dinner for Paul. ("I'll Swallow Poison on Sunday")

When Paul is taken hostage by Felicia, she says the three could be talk. Paul asks who is the third and Felicia replies "Why, Beth, of course", then revealing the urn containing her daughter's ashes right in front of Paul. She says she just knows Beth would love to be a part of that moment. Later, after Paul attempts to strangle her, Felicia runs away yet again, grabbing the urn containing Beth's ashes. Later, Felicia is seen driving away during the daytime. On the seat next to her she's got the urn, leaning up against a piece of paper. Felicia pulls the paper, and the urn falls from the seat and spills the ashes. Felicia loses control of the car as she gets her eyes off the road. She heads into the other lane and a truck comes up towards her. Felicia is panicked as the two vehicles crash. Felicia is presumed to be dead. ("And Lots of Security...")

Season 8
When Susan Delfino decides to leave Wisteria Lane with her children, MJ Delfino and Julie Mayer, and granddaughter, Beth's ghost appeared alongside Rex Van de Kamp, Chuck Vance and Lillian Simms, in front of 4354 Wisteria Lane, and they watched the family as they drove away from the lane and began their new lives together. ("Finishing the Hat") and Karen's son

Personality
Due to her tough childhood at the hands of her strict mother, Beth is shy and unsure of herself, and is socially awkward.

Trivia

 * 3 different takes were shot of Beth's suicide - not even Emily Bergl knew what scene was going to be used when the episode finally aired.
 * Both women Paul married wound up shooting themselves.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.