Kate Andrews/Betty McRae
This article or section needs expansion. |
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Kate Andrews/Betty McRae |
| Alternative name(s): | McAndrews |
| Gender category: | F/F, femslash |
| Fandom: | Bomb Girls |
| Canonical?: | One-sided and unrequited |
| Prevalence: | Popular |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Betty McRae/Kate Andrews is a femslash pairing in the Bomb Girls fandom. Their canon relationship is one of friendship with one-sided, unrequited love from Betty towards Kate, which is typically explored in fandom as being requited.
Canon
Kate is a new worker starting at the munitions factory where Betty works. After a bumpy start, they become friends, with the canon making it clear early on and through multiple scenes that Betty is developing feelings for Kate over and above being a protective friend.
In-fitting with the attitudes of the time, Betty keeps her sexuality a closely-guarded secret, but eventually Kate learns of her feelings when Betty kisses her. Kate rejects Betty, which causes a rift between the pair for some time. They eventually reconcile as friends. At the end of the second season, Betty takes the fall for the accidental death of Kate’s father (which happened at the end of season one) so that Kate doesn’t go to jail.
In the TV film, Betty has been released from jail and is making a living as a boxer. She later returns to the factory and the friendship between her and Kate begins to improve. At the end of the film, Betty and Kate move in together, though there is no canonical suggestion there is anything more than a platonic relationship between the pair.
Fandom
Fans quickly picked up that Betty was being written as a closeted lesbian and that she was developing feelings for Kate. There were discussions and optimism that the feelings may be reciprocated, even after Kate's initial rejection. Kate was fleeing an abusive and controlling religious father, so there were some theories that Kate's reaction may have been influenced by internalised homophobia or biphobia.
Fans were conflicted in how they felt about the final arc of Betty and Kate's relationship, with the pair moving in together as friends. While some fans felt it left the door open for theorising about a potential future relationship or were satisfied as it meant Betty knew she was accepted for who she was by someone who meant a lot to her, others felt that Betty had got an unsatisfactory storyline arc and that living with a woman she was in love with who didn't return her affections was not a happy ending for the character.
[Guest]
I'm also pissed that they ended Betty's story with her still pining after Kate. The house is not enough IMO. They would have been better off just bringing back her army girlfriend thann having her pining for Kate for probably the rest of her life while she sleeps in the next room over.
Some fans went onto create fanworks about a relationship developing post-canon, while others ignored the film entirely and continued from the season two finale.
The fandom is fairly small today, and many fanworks did not get cross-posted to AO3.
When A League of Their Own – with its shared time period and connection through cast members – aired in 2022 and Family & Friends Christmas – which Ali Liebert, who played Betty, starred in as co-lead – came out in 2023, there was a small resurgence in discussions of Bomb Girls more generally and the McAndrews pairing.
Fan Commentary
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
I will literally never get over Bomb Girls and the McAndrews relationship. They deserved more seasonsgooseygirl92[1]
Common Tropes and Fanon
Controversies
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfic
Fanart
Fanvids
Other Fanworks
- Cosplay, Representing Bomb Girls/McAndrews at MCM Comic Con London by hiseyesarebeady., Archived version
Meta
Archives, Communities and Resources
- Kate Andrews/Betty McRae tag at AO3
- McAndrews tag on Tumblr
- Betty x Kate appreciation thread #6 at Fan Forum (with links to previous 5 threads)
- Bomb Girls livejournal blog
- Bomb Girls Fanfiction Tumblr blog
References
- ^ "gooseygirl92 tweet, December 2020, Twitter". Archived from the original on 2024-02-14.