Talk:Betty Applewhite/@comment-5119729-20120624222826/@comment-392210-20120624225905

Unfortunately, just like many other stories, Betty's arc was hurt by the poor writing and investment from the writers put into the second season. There was apparently a lot more pressure, a lot more conflicts of ideas, and a lot less input from Marc Cherry himself during season 2. Marc confessed recently that he had no idea what he was doing with Betty's story. :P Still, I think it's rather remarkable and should be commended for one thing: it's dark. Marc once called it 'gothic', and I agree. It's just really intense, arguably the darkest storyline this series has ever featured. The sole idea of a mother locking up her mentally challenged son in the basement, with chains... it's just creepy. And the Applewhite story, as poorly written as it might have been, was always eery and tense. And of course led out by the amazing Alfre Woodard, whose performance is so nuanced, layered. As for the details left out, the confirmations, Virgil... let's face it, DH doesn't have the best continuity, and, well, a lot of things were dropped in s2, including the story of Susan writing an adult book about her romances. And I think, all in all, the few twists to this story (Monroe dying in the basement, the man being Betty's son and not her husband, Matthew being the killer...) were more jaw-dropping than the twists to the mysteries in seasons 5-7, that's for sure. :P

As for the racism part, take into consideration that Betty wasn't necessarily going to be black. They could had cast a white woman instead, two other (unnamed) renowned white actresses were considered for the role.