Have a read of Molotov Remembers. It was basically made before he died in the mid 1980s... and he was still backing Stalin's line
Yes, the fella had been an orthodox communist till the end of his life. On the positive side, although he wasn't a "softie" (no one of Stalin's inner circle was), it seem to me he didn't strike me as one too eager to use violence to protect his power or political views. And remember, he was preaching communist views while stripped of decision-making power. If in power, he might evolve faster. But, all in all, he strikes me as 3rd-most-stalinist figure in Soviet leadership (behind Uncle Joe himself and Zhdanov), and this isn't good in my books.
Beria seems to have been a very strange fish indeed.
Head of the Secret Police and Militia and responsible for mass murders and appalling abuses he seems to have been secretly a liberal.
I think altamiro got it right. The guy was endlessly pragmatic and didn't have much of political ideas of his own. Under his watch, state security apparatus purged itself of idealistic commies, becoming effective and ruthless tool of the state (i.e. leadership). He didn't hesitate for a second to sign an execution order, but, IMHO, it was strictly a mean to the end. Memoirs of people who were part of Soviet nuke project (direct responsibility of Beria) are full of descriptions how people literally showed him middle finger if they thought his decision is wrong and offered a viable alternative. Guess what? He didn't mind it, if alternative approach worked (but, of course, if it didn't, ones who proposed it were in deep trouble).