“funny vicar” instantly became my favorite hashtag for this page
**left column is s01e05, right is s02e08. i had to finagle the lines a little bit to meet the image limits.
watch these parallel speeches between Beth/Paul and Miller/Hardy (Miller is reacting to the ‘not guilty’ verdict). both Beth and Hardy make reference to anger as a sustaining force, yet they use it differently: Hardy is using fury to motivate his work, while Beth is using fury to survive - and just barely. a Hardy model of never-ending rage isn’t exactly sustainable, but used sparingly & intentionally it gives the detectives increased determination to catch the next killer. meanwhile, Beth clings to her rage because she doesn’t know how to move on. for Hardy and Miller, anger is propellant; for Beth, it’s stalling her in grief.
key to these approaches is that Hardy has accepted he can’t change the verdict or the murder committed, while Beth is still furious at her powerlessness. they’re facing totally different directions, with Beth railing against her past and Hardy resolutely pushing forwards (though with no thought of the emotional toil on the body). so it makes sense that Paul, whose primary focus is spiritual wellbeing, is trying to coax Beth down from her anger; while Hardy, whose primary focus is justice, wants Miller to "stoke” her anger even higher.
tl;dr: beth should probably see a bereavement counselor; hardy should probably take a spa day