Yeah, I’m not sure about Beth’s comment to Dawn either, but I do think Dawn shot Beth as a reflex action — not deliberately. Dawn’s facial expression seemed to suggest that it wasn’t intentional.
I wasn’t impressed with this mid-season finale. Beth’s death seemed forced; like the writers knew they needed a character death and just kinda threw something together on a character that (let’s be honest), isn’t a fan favorite.
I think you’re right. I wasn’t that upset about losing Beth on the show. Just about every other long-time character’s demise made me sad that they were no longer on the show. But not Beth. In fact, the only reason I WOULD be sad that she left the show was that she had been a part of the cast a long time. There really was no other attachment.
It was on the loss level of someone like Bob, who wasn’t on the show as long and hadn’t gotten as much air time. Beth was a hysterical child who tried to commit suicide, got in the way, caused others to risk their lives for her, was basically just a babysitter, and was not missed much when she was gone, even by her sister.