Here is the full recap for Ugly Betty episode 4.06,  Backseat Betty.  Quick thoughts:
What a great episode!  The show seems to be getting more realistic (more on that in a bit), but isn’t losing any of its appeal – in fact it’s getting better.
Of course it was a dramatic episode, but there were some quick comedic gems –

Ignacio:  “I think he’s the one who stole our Baby Jesus.”
Amanda: “At least I’ll always have that cold sore”.
Claire (after Matt fumbled with calling her a “girl”):  Good.  Now I know I won’t spend my time texting and worrying about boys.
The eye-narrowing …read more

Here is the full recap for Ugly Betty episode 4.05, Plus None.  Quick thoughts first:

This episode belonged to Amanda (and Becki Newton).  Becki was spectacular – she was hilarious and poignant at the same time.  I’m so glad they finally were able to give her something of a story line.
Michael Urie was great again.  When Marc finally stood up  to Wilhelmina, it was SO disappointing that it was so short-lived.  That was a great scene.
The thing with Nico had me TOTALLY fooled.  Kudos to the writers.  Having seen every episode multiple times, I can usually see the “surprises” …read more

Here is the full recap of Ugly Betty episode 4.04, The Wiener, The Bun, and the Boob.  Based on the comments in my Quick Thoughts post, you guys REALLY liked this episode.
Even though I initially thought too much was going on, it looks like that’s when the show works well – and now that I think of it, what happens on a quick-paced episode is that there isn’t time for the story to get bogged down.  The show has gotten in trouble in the past when the situation was set up, then we had 20 minutes of navel-gazing. 4.04 …read more

Here is the full recap for Ugly Betty episode 4.03, Blue on Blue.  Quick thoughts:

All in all, I thought this was a great episode.  Instead of alternating between comedy and drama, this one had both within the same scenes.
I like both of the new characters.  Sammy is altogether likeable (he has a touch of Gio in him).  Natalie is also quite a compelling character.  Even dressed so strangely, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
The writers aren’t going to be able to resist hooking up Daniel and Natalie.  I’m convinced of it.  Maybe they could wait just a few …read more

Here is the full recap of Ugly Betty episodes 4.01 and 4.02 “The Butterfly Effect”.  Since this was a two-hour episode, it pretty darned long (although sometimes I can’t help myself).
Two contradicting things stand out to me:  this was one of the better episodes of the show, putting this season on a great track, and unfortunately, the ratings weren’t that good.  This is not unexpected – I’m actually amazed that they only lost less than a million total viewers from last season’s finale considering:

It was a Friday night.
A good number of people tuned in last week, not seeing …read more

As has been discussed here in the comments, ABC has released the title and synopsis of Ugly Betty Episode 4.03 (thanks to SirLizard for posting the synopsis):
The title is Blue on Blue.  The synopsis:
Betty fires on all cylinders to get a big scoop with Gucci’s new designer, Evan York (Hamish Linklater), with the help of Hilda’s connected customer, Sammy (Adam Ferrara). But Marc plots to sabotage her, enlisting a clueless Amanda and Matt in his efforts, culminating in a showdown at the restaurant where Ignacio works. Meanwhile Daniel begins to attend a bereavement group, where he meets Natalie (Jamie-Lynn …read more

Here is the full recap for Ugly Betty episode 3.24, The Fall Issue.   It was my favorite episode of season 3.  OK, maybe it was tied with 3.15, There’s No Place Like Mode.
Of course, I’ve already told you I loved the episode.  I loved the silliness of the Antonio Sabato scenes.   I loved Penny Meadows (she was kind of like an in-house Heinrich).  I even loved Matt in this episode.  He was rightfully hurt, and I like how he gave Betty every chance to come clean.  I loved drunk Amanda.
I still wish they had found another way to resolve …read more

Although Ugly Betty’s season finale was two episodes aired back-to-back, I decided not to post the recaps for them as one unit; it would have been far too long.  So here is the recap for episode 3.23, “Curveball”.
I mentioned in my “quick notes” that I liked “The Fall Issue” more than this part of the finale, but I should have mentioned that I really liked this episode as well.  I thought it was very good, almost great.
First and foremost, the Henry storyline was well done.  You could almost see how much the two of them had matured in a …read more

Attention Silvio Horta: I now officially forgive you for Jump. 
For the uninitiated, Jump was Ugly Betty’s season finale for season 2, and it left the show in a mess.  Gio fans were mad.  Henry fans were mad.  Fans of Betty and all the other characters wondered, “What the heck is this all about?”  (Not to mention ABC hyped a 30 second Lindsay Lohan appearance, that foreshadowed her disastrous stint on the show in season 3). Like I said, it was a mess. And Silvio Horta,the show’s creator and executive producer, was solely responsible for the script.
As he …read more

Here is the full recap for Ugly Betty episode 3.22, In The Stars.  My quick thoughts:

Excellent, excellent episode!  When you can pack that much action into one episode, make it coherent, and make it fly by, it’s well done all around.
This was one of Michael Urie’s best.  He spent most of the time panicking over the YETI project, the rest looking puzzled at Jodi’s advances.
Speaking of Jodi, the whole storyline between her and Marc would not have worked, had it not involved Urie and the wonderful Bernadette Peters.  She is larger than life.
I don’t know how Becki Newton feels …read more