Bette Whitlaw

> "*Here's the thing. If it's dance, me against them, I consider it a full-on war. But outside of the studio I show up.*"
> ― Bette to Matteo in *Catch and Release*
>
>

**Elizabeth "Bette" Whitlaw** is a character on Netflix's Tiny Pretty Things. She is portrayed by Casimere Jollette.

She is a ruthlessly perfect, supremely confident, ambitious “music box ballerina.” She’s rich but not entitled, works harder than anyone else – due in part to spending her life playing second fiddle to her older sister Delia.

## Early Life

Elizabeth Whitlaw is the second-born daughter of Katrina Whitlaw and her husband, and the younger sister of the up-and-coming ballet star, Delia Whitlaw. Bette grew up in a wealthy household with parents who expected perfection and excellence from their children. As the youngest Whitlaw, Bette was often overlooked as a child as most of the attention went to her older and, arguably, more talented sister. Bette strived to be a dancer but was constantly compared to Delia; from the way they looked to the way they danced, everything was compared. She yearned for her mother's attention but rarely received it, so she began lashing out at the people around her. Bette was thrilled to be enrolled in The Archer School of Ballet but found that her sister's former dance school still cast a large shadow.

Bette befriended her fellow dancers June Park and Oren Lennox, though she would eventually date Oren. She had a rivalry with ABS's star student Cassie Shore, and their rivalry turned into a shoving match the night Cassie was pushed off the roof of ASB. Bette was heavily intoxicated at the time and returned to the living room after the fight, where she promptly passed out. She awoke to the sound of Delia leaving the school through the fire escape and followed her sister though she injured her foot in the process. Once outside, Delia escorted Bette back inside under the pretenses they had been out partying all night. Bette made a pact with the rest of her ASB classmates to lie to the police that they were all in their rooms sleeping when Cassie was pushed.

## Throughout the Series

### Season 1

Bette's confident and sassy attitude is evident in the eyes of the newcomer Neveah Stroyer, especially when Bette refuses to allow Neveah to use her place at the bar. This attitude continues later in the pointe room when Bette blatantly scopes out the competition by examining Neveah's arches and questioning her dancing experience. She belittles Neveah for using Delia Whitlaw's rejected pointe shoes before stomping out of the room. She continues to mock Neveah by playing a video of her doing hip hop dance in front of the other girls. She openly tells Neveah that she doesn't have what it takes to make it at The Archer School of Ballet, as this isn't just some hobby for the rest of the students. Fed up with Bette's holier-than-thou ways, Neveah warns Bette that she does belong there and is coming for her.

In the meantime, Bette's annoyance with her family escalates when her older sister, the star principal dancer Delia Whitlaw, seems to decide on staying in town. The pressure Bette experiences from her mother to stay thin, be paired with her current boyfriend Oren Lennox for the showcase, and maintain a strong Whitlaw image proves difficult for Bette to manage. World-renowned choreographer Ramon Costa, who also happens to be Delia's boyfriend, is hired by ASB to choreograph this year's opening showcase, which he decides will be *Ripper* much to the disdain of many students and faculty. Bette's disdain is heightened when Ramon decides to pair her with Shane McRae instead of Oren. While showing their skills to Ramon, Shane drops Bette during a lift causing her to injure her toe. She fakes that everything is fine despite the clear injury. Later that week, she convinces Oren to help her and Shane learn the choreography, claiming that Shane doesn't know how to handle her.

Her decision to dance on her injured foot, which shows no obvious fractures in the x-rays done by Alan Renfrew, comes with a steep price. She begs her mother for pain medication and begins to drink to cover the pain. Her inability to dance the way she usually does leads Ramon to cut her from the fas list of dancer for the lead parts in *Ripper*. He instead gives the roles to June Park and Nabil Limyadi. Bette is shocked that June, who she believes to be a mediocre dancer despite them being friends, was picked over her. Desperate to regain her role and please her mother, Bette pays off Matteo Marchetti, a construction man who installed new security doors at ASB, for help. She has him jam the doors to the roof on June and Nabil so they'll miss the chance to dance *Ripper* in front of the board. Bette and Shane then swoop in and dance the parts for the board and win over Ramon. They are given the leads in the showcase.

Ramon takes Bette under his wing to show her select moves for the choreography. The pain of dancing on her foot causes Oren to warn her that if she doesn't tell exit the role then he will tell Madame about her injury. If she doesn't take care of her foot then her career could be over. Bette decides to take Oren's advice and exits the lead role, much to Ramon's sour disappointment. He verbally negates her in front of the class, but that compares little to the harshness her mother delivers. With the pressure mounting, Bette's intoxication causes a scene at a fundraising gala that is celebrating Delia's successful performance. The scene shines a foul light on Bette, causing Oren to help her leave the party with some dignity. She also lends a hand in helping her childhood friend and fellow ASB student June Park become emancipated, by convincing her father's law firm to represent June.

Bette still experiences pain in her foot and refuses to tell Alan the extent of her injury, and asks her mother for more pain medicine. Because of her outburst at the fundraiser, Katrina cuts Bette off from the pain medication and tells her to take Tylenol. When Ramon's showcase with Delia is showered with poor reviews, the students at the Archer feel the brunt of his anger. The girls voice their concerns amongst themselves over the blatant sexism in *Ripper* and the costumes they are being subjected to. While Bette is fine complaining in private and going along with what Ramon wants in public, Neveah isn't so easy-going and speaks out against him. Their argument leads to Ramon throwing a stress ball into a mirror. Bette blames Neveah for stirring up trouble with Ramon instead of being grateful that they are being taught by him.

She reaches out to Matteo Marchetti once more, this time attending his singing performance at a little cafe. She flirts with him and attempts to buy drugs off him, though he instead gives her breath mints as he isn't a dealer and is hurt by her assumption. She begins to experience withdrawal just as she finds a photograph of Ramon holding a student, though the student isn't visible in the photograph. She believes that if she can get rid of Ramon she'll be able to dance the lead again. She confronts Neveah with the photo and is surprised when Neveah has the other half, which reveals that Ramon and Cassie Shore had an affair over the Summer. They take their findings to Delia but she has little care for the revelation. Armed with the evidence and disgusted by Ramon dating an underage girl, Bette agrees to help June and Neveah turn the rest of the ASB dancers against Ramon.

While driving back to ASB with June and Neveah, Bette's intoxication causes an accident, and Officer Cruz is called to the scene. She forces Bette to go to the hospital for her injuries, and Bette learns that she has a fractured metatarsal. Neveah also tells her that Shane has been acting strangely since he ended an affair with his boyfriend, and Bette begins to question Oren's sudden distance from Shane. While watching a night game of basketball between the boys of ASB, Bette sees the hostility between Oren and Shane. She begins to realize that Oren was Shane's affair. The next day in class, the girls of ASB take their metaphorical stand against Ramon by refusing to dance for him or acknowledge his leadership. They are pleased when Ramon leaves the studio angrily. That night, Bette apologizes to Matteo for the way she acted and explains her injury. He can relate as he had the same injury a few years ago and gives her pain medicine that is leftover from his brother's surgery.

The next morning, Ramon announces a new play without any main characters. Instead, they will all be Jack. For costumes, they will wear a gray hoodie with a red zipper; the same design that Cassie's assailant wore. The students reel from the costume changes and agree that Ramon's vision is dangerous. One night, Caleb Wick begins to act erratic and scales the walls of the ASB while dancing manically before having a seizure. June tries to call an ambulance, but Bette stops her as they can't risk any additional attention. She decides to take him to Torri, who unsurprisingly, takes him to the hospital. They learn that Caleb is under the effects of Rohypnol - roofies. He tells Oren and Nabil that he took what he thought was Advil from June's stash. Bette and Esmé Halterlein break into June's room. They clasp their hands over June's mouth and harass her as Bette tears through June's drawers. She finds the bottle of Advil and dumps the contents into her hand and finds the roofies. June tries to act as if the drugs aren't hers but Bette knows differently and warns her to watch her back as the girls storm out. They tell Madame Dubois about their discovery, now believing that June drugging Cassie is what caused her to fall that night.

In the meantime, Delia extends an olive branch to Bette by inviting her over for dinner at her and Ramon's apartment. Bette plans to bring Oren but uses the event to get under Ramon's skin. She wants revenge for him calling her a child so she turns the dinner party into a rager with every ASB student and Neaveah's brother. Bette's plan to aggravate Ramon succeeds. When one of the partygoers is too drunk to go home, Delia escorts her home. With Delia gone, Bette tries to seduce Ramon in the hopes he'll see that she isn't a child and is the only dancer for the solo in *Ripper* - which she wants back. She tries to spark a threesome between her, Oren, and Ramon, but Oren is upset by the rouse and leaves. Bette tries to continue the seduction alone. She and Ramon make out before he tells her to leave. When Bette returns to ASB she confronts Oren about his relationship with Shane and they have a heated argument which ends in Bette leaving.

With her personal life in shambles, Bette's drive to land a starring role in Sienna Milken's music video is heightened. She ultimately books the role alongside Neveah Stroyer and Nabil Limyadi. The social media attention that the music video receives pushes Officer Cruz to continue her investigation into what really happened the night Cassie was pushed. She interviews Shane McRae, who claims that he was with Oren the night of the incident having sex and they lied to hide his insecurities. When Officer Cruz turns to Oren for confirmation, he claims that he was with Bette that night and not Shane. Bette is upset that everyone is turning their backs on the story they agreed to tell, and Oren presses her for answers on where she was that night as she wasn't with him. He reminds her that everyone saw her get into a fight with Cassie that night. Bette points out his hypocrisy in wanting the truth and breaks up with him. That evening, she goes into the girls' bathroom and crushes up pain medication and snorts it.

## Physical Appearance

Bette is a pretty young woman with wavy blonde hair and green eyes. She is of smaller stature, standing at 5'4" and weighs 100lb and is considered a "music box ballerina". She wears stylish and colorful clothing when she isn't dancing.

## Personality

Bette is described having a confident aura and strong opinions that she never shy's away from sharing. She is a talented dancer and the sister of principal dancer Delia Whitlaw, which earns her a certain amount of respect from her peers. But with this respect comes a shadow that she is desperate to break out from. Bette's desire to please her mother and shine makes her unsuspectedly dangerous. She doesn't care if she hurts her friends to claw her way to the top, even going as far as sabotaging June's last chance to stay in the school. Bette is manipulative and uses sex to convince her ex-boyfriend, Oren Lennox, to help her learn the dances in class. She also uses her manipulative nature to turn people against Neveah Stroyer, as Bette fears that Neveah's talent will outshine hers.

## Appearances

### Season 1

* Corps
* Range of Motion
* Class Act
* Dance Dance Revolution
* Split Sole
* Joie de Vivre
* Catch and Release
* Relevé
* It's Not the Walking, It's the Rising
* Push Comes to Shove

## Trivia

* Bette gives herself cortisone injections in her feet.
* She injured herself when she missed a landing in *Corps*. This resulted in a stress fracture on her foot, which she covered up using pain medication.
* She was paired with Shane McRae for the *Ripper* showcase, dancing the lead role of Mary-Jane Kelly.
* Bette is jealous of Neveah.
* She was charged with Attempted Murder by the Chicago Police Department.
* She and June have been best friend since they were 13 year old.
* She and Cassie have known each other since they were 10 year old.
* In the books Bette's last name is Abney, her parents are divorced, and her older sister's name is Adele.
* in the books Bette is best friends with Liz and Elenore.
* In the books Bette's allergic to fish and she suffers from an old knee injury that often flairs up.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "*Push Comes to Shove*"
2. ↑ "*Range of Motion*"