In NBC’s Good Girls, Beth Boland (Christina Hendricks) and Rio [last name nameless] (Manny Montana) are canonicaly over as a couple, but that hasn't stopped the Good Girls fandom, and specifically the Brio fandom (Beth+Rio), from obsessing over their best moments. Beth and Rio’s UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension) and occasional display of a deep and genuine connection hooked fans into deciphering their body language and studying their conversation subtexts (@fogmagpie is prolific with her meta posts. Some other knock-out Brio content creators are autumnxleaves, @amassiempre, and @riosnecktattoo.)
Beth and Rio are strong-willed people who share a passion for crime - an attraction to high stake operations that push boundaries and require committed levels of creative thinking. There is a current of something else between them as well, sometimes a gentleness, or perhaps a soft humanity. Here are the best moments between Beth and Rio that explored their connection and pulled on viewers' heartstrings.
When Beth Needs Him, Rio Is There
After Beth gets hustled by a few local rookie criminals - because her husband, Dean Boland (Matthew Lillard), dimwittingly leads them to her money - Rio comes over to her house and they sit in her backyard. He tells her that he will get her money back, a sweet sample of him showing up for her. The scene is unique for its lack of tension; they are like adolescent friends teasing each other, their attraction dotting the frame. Their comfort is highlighted by Beth’s bare feet, one tucked casually beneath her.
“Be a boss, bitch.”
Potentially my favorite Rio line (that’s a hard call) because it sums up so much. First, this is Rio - honest, straightforward, and wanting Beth’s success, in this case, urging her to deal with someone causing them problems. Rio knows his business - to be a successful criminal, you have to own it. He is happy to be Beth’s guide in her process of bad bitching up, hands-off knowing that that journey is hers. Beth loves this about Rio, even if she can’t admit it in canon, even if her actions and facial expressions more often convey the opposite. What is meaningful to Beth is being seen for who she is, a fierce woman capable of taking care of herself and dominating as a criminal. Rio sees right into her ready to take-off power from the moment that he meets her.
“I’m out of bread anyway.”
Coined “the love scene” between Beth and Rio by Brio fans, this is the only time they kiss and, according to Beth, the last time they will be together. It is soft, romantic, and silent - Beth’s self-consciousness just about breaks your heart - and starts with them staring and the softest kiss, a few more kisses, hectic arousal, then... well...
The Bathroom Scene
I would be roasted by Brio fans if I didn’t prop up this phenomenal scene. It is their first time having sex, yes, but the scene’s detail takes it over the top. Beth instigates the sex and Rio responds, willingly, understanding what Beth wants and how she wants it. The consent is not spoken but one hundred percent communicated on both sides - their nonverbal exchange of consent is given time to present itself, and the direction highlights their mutual pleasures. Beth has the best orgasm of her life (I’d bet on it), and Rio is plenty turned on by taking control and the hotness of being with Beth.
Beth Beckons Rio with Pearls
After Beth and her sister, Annie Marks (Mae Whitman) and best friend, Ruby Hill (Retta) realize how big a deal Rio and his criminal enterprise is, aka the wealth he has and manages, Beth goes back to his warehouse and leaves a strand of pearls. Rio shows up at her house. The dialogue is so good - “You know the tradition is Jordans over a phone line, right?” “I only had pumps” “Fair enough...so, what you want to talk to me about?”. Hendricks and Montana make every breath, innuendo, and eye connect count. As becomes their trademark (pre-season two finale, this article is not about that), intrigue and lust spill out, heavy, heady, and obvious.
Rio and Beth at the Bar, Before “The Love Scene”
Rio is naked, in love so deeply, openly, here. He listens to Beth say that Dean is bringing back their kids and that she has his cut, responding, “That’s good... Even better,” softly smirking before going full emotional window with his face. Beth, an expert at keeping her emotional porousness under wraps, lets something of herself through. She stares back, feeling him: “I don’t have it [the money] here,” code for, “Please come home with me”.
“‘Cuz you delivered.”
Season one Brio was magic because their attraction was mounting, but they hadn’t touched. Beth, Annie and Ruby begin washing Rio’s money (turning fake cash into real cash). Beth wants to wash more so the women can take a larger cut, plus the work excites her, and when they get it done, Rio is impressed, asking if she wants to up the drop. This is music to Beth’s ears, opening one of her most genuine smiles. She is acknowledged for something other than being a housewife and mother; she has discovered that criminal activity is her high. And Rio, head spun with Beth, sees her - scrambling up the game, and him.