Reception
As soon as Woodard accepted the role of Betty Applewhite, she reported experiencing heavy media attention. Woodard's portrayal of Betty was praised and resulted in a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. However, her mystery as a whole had mixed reviews. In a review of the second season premiere, Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly thought that the Applewhite mystery would help reduce the show's chances of falling into a sophomore slump. He praised Woodward's acting as well as her character's storyline, opining, "there's something so inherently warm and maternal in Woodard's performance, such apple-pie wholesomeness, that it makes her touches of menace all the more chilling." However, as the season progressed, there were many complains about Betty's lack of interaction with the other housewives. While reviewing the Extra Juicy Edition of the DVD of the second season, Kristopowitz noted that many of the bad reviews received by the second season were because of Betty.
Even several seasons after Betty's departure, her mystery was target of negative reviews and comparisons. While reviewing the third episode of the fifth season, Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly hoped that, after finding the truth behind the mystery of Dave Williams (Neal McDonough), the audience would not feel "Applewhited", commenting that "After episodes of buildup and rattling chains coming from her basement, the story line was such a disappointment." Four episodes into the sixth season, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly declared that the mystery storyline of Angie Bolen (Drea de Matteo) was suffering from the lack of interaction between the character and the other leading women, similar to Betty's storyline in season two. When Vanessa Williams was cast as Renee Perry, who became the second African-American housewife to be a major character on the series, she admitted to having been a fan of the series during its first year, but stopped watching because of the racially insensitive Applewhite mystery storyline. Williams explained to Entertainment Weekly, " had her son in chains in the basement. It was like, 'Really? Do we have to go there with our first Black character?' I honestly fell off the show after that. I think it was just so implausible and just an image that Black folks don't want to see: their child chained and shackled in the basement."
Read more about this topic: Betty Applewhite
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
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