Beth Smith

Bethany "Beth" Smith (née Sanchez) is one of the main characters of the American animated television series "Rick and Morty". Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, Beth is a veterinarian who specializes in horse surgery, who is struck with a deep sense of dissatisfaction with her life, stemming from her belief that she has "settled" in her marriage, family, and job, leading her to accept her father into her household after he abandoned her as a teenager. Known for her selfish and humorous personality and for her infrequent alcoholism, the character has been well-received. She is the level-headed and assertive daughter of mad scientist Rick Sanchez, mother of Morty and Summer Smith, and wife of Jerry Smith.
Following the events of "The ABCs of Beth", in which Beth confronts sharing her father's sociopathy, Rick creates a clone of Beth and sends one of the pair to space; it is left ambiguous as to whether the newly dubbed Space Beth is the clone or the original following the official introduction of the character in "Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri". The character description for Space Beth in the "Pocket Mortys" update that accompanied the Adult Swim release of the episode initially identifies her as Clone Beth, despite the episode itself not confirming whether or not she or Beth is the clone. The character is voiced by Sarah Chalke in the television series and portrayed by Whitney Avalon in a promotional music video for the third season.
Biography.
Beth is 34 years old and is an equine veterinarian ("horse doctor") at St. Equis Hospital. Several episodes have dealt with Beth's dissatisfaction with her life, having wanted to become a "real" surgeon before became pregnant with her daughter Summer at 17. Beth is depicted as being unperturbed by her father Rick's destructive and dangerous tendencies around her son Morty. She, from childhood, views Rick more favorably than her mother due to their parental separation despite Rick having abandoned her when she was 15. As a child, Beth is depicted as having had sociopathic personality traits; following the character's cloning, her space-faring adventurer "Space Beth" self in the fourth season finale is depicted as having taken up her father's former position as the leader of resistance movement "The Defiance" against the government of the Galactic Federation.
Development.
Series creator Justin Roiland has observed that Beth was developed as a character whose behavior would realistically enable Rick to be able to take Morty on their adventures despite her own misgivings, describing them as one who "fetishizes exceptionality. She believes that Rick, as crazy as he is, is the better of her two parents even though she was raised by her mother and she blames her mother's unremarkability on her father's departure and will do anything to keep her father back in her life." Addressing Beth's continuous "unhealthy" search for approval from her father in an interview with "HitFix", Dan Harmon stated that:
"Kids can sometimes idolize their worst parent and blame their supportive parent for chasing off the dad with the guts to leave. ...She believes that Rick, as crazy as he is, is the better of her two parents even though she was raised by her mother and she blames her mother's unremarkability on her father's departure and will do anything to keep her father back in her life."
Addressing the introduction of Space Beth in the fourth season compared to the original Beth, Sarah Chalke praised the "really interesting dynamic" between the characters, expressing interest in future seasons of the series depicting "all of the things she used to do [as a child], like force Rick to make her mind control hair clips so people would like her. Just seeing her behave so much like Rick at such a young age would be really fun."
Reception.
The character has received positive reception. "Inverse" complimented Beth's characterization in "The ABCs of Beth" compared to "Pickle Rick", and "the obvious realization that Beth finally vocalizes: She spent years worshipping her father while trying to always do the right thing. But she realizes that he’s a terrible person, and she’s exactly like him." "Screen Rant" similarly described "the father-daughter relationship between Beth Smith and Rick Sanchez [as] genuinely one of the deeper and more complicated relationships explored in the show, with the history between these two family members stretching for quite some time." in addition to praising their relationship with Space Beth in the fourth season, ranking Beth as having the second-best character arc in the series behind Rick.
VerbStomp described Beth as "both insecure and controlling, intelligent and doubtful, family-oriented and cold. She’s somehow the polar opposite of every emotion at the exact same time", before "ping[ing Beth] as the [most] troubled character of the show", while "411mania" praised how "Beth [may] seem cliché on the surface but [her] wants and needs are so fleshed out that we quickly learn what makes these three tick and why they’re anything but ordinary."