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 stare-down with Marc when WIlli insists there are plenty of models “in their upper 30’s”.
• Amanda worried about how the beads frame her “Chest-icles”
• Wilhelmina’s quip about Angela Landsbury wanting to rat her out to the co-op board.
• Amanda: Level 5?  Is that where we touch each others’ junk and call it a massage? I want to do it!
• Bennett asking for Amanda’s beads back (Silvio Horta is almost trying to get sued by the Friends of Tom Cruise, I think!)
• Wilhelmina: You [the press] had me sleeping with everyone from Madonna to JFK…only one of which was true.

The drama: Marc’s look when Justin’s embarrassing moment happened was so perfect.  That whole storyline was compelling from end to end.  And Hilda’s storyline with Ignacio and their Homecoming past explained a lot, and was also fun to watch.  I like when Ignacio gets all heated in an argument.  But, of course, this episode was Justin’s

I’ll say this right now:  although many of us are tired of Betty’s romantic angst, and many of us have already chosen our ‘ship’, I really like what Bobby (Adam Rodriguez) brings to the show.  His scene where he he made the jaywalker apologize to Betty reminded me of Santos in his best moments. No, I don’t want him to end up with either Betty or Hilda, but there’s just something about him that brings something the show has needed for a while.  (Part of me wants to say ‘testosterone’  )

That being said, certainly his episode arc will end with him going to jail, right?

Speaking of, although I don’t like how Archie is being blown off, I can tell you, what’s happening with him  and Hilda is realistic.  Having spent my life as an Archie (and some as a Larry), I can tell you, girls, especially the “good ones” are going to go for the dangerous guys every time, and we “safe” guys always lose the comparison.  (The good news is, to any “nice guys” reading this, we end up running the world, so it evens out).  I sincerely hope Hilda stays with Archie.  But, I have to admit, this storyline is quite interesting.

It’s taken them most of 4 seasons, but I think they’ve finally hit the right tone on Betty and Hilda’s sibling rivalry.

Justin’s declaration at the end, when you think about it was realistic, too.  And Marc’s reply was brilliant.  And it leave us wondering where all of this is going to go.

Oh, and if you think you-know-who is really dead, I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you.    BUT, I’d love to know what the heck he’s up to, how he’s pulling it off.

Full recap after the jump.

The Suarezes are enjoying breakfast, when Betty walks in.  She had been out the night before (On a weeknight! to Ignacio’s worry), and shows them her new “tattoo”.  It was fake and partially worn off, though.  Betty says she’s trying to get back on the market.

Ignacio suggests, Larry, Archie’s nerdy bookkeeper.  Justin asks Betty if Marc has the cheerleader uniforms ready – Marc was having them hemmed as a favor  – Betty says he’ll bring them by before work.  Justin says it was Marc’s idea for him to hang out with the cheerleaders (mean girls!) to stay one step ahead of the bullies.

Justin says they need help decorating the gym for homecoming.  This causes Hilda’s demeanor to change.  It brings up a sore spot from the past – Hilda would have been Homecoming Queen but Ignacio would not let her go (She was 6 months pregnant).  She insists that Papi was ashamed of her; Ignacio says he was protecting her.  They both stop to assure Justin that they would never be ashamed of him, then continue fighting.

Betty and Hilda are walking to the school to help with Homecoming, when they see Bobby Talercio, Hilda’s old crush (and a dangerous guy!).  He recognizes her and walks over to them.  They small talk, and he calls Betty “Little Chipmunk”:  He is there because he is teaching driver’s ed, since his family had a car dealership.

After he leaves, Betty reveals that she had a crush on him in school, which is no surprise to Hilda.  Hilda insists that Bobby was too bad of a boy to go out with good girl Betty.

Marc helps Justin hand out the cheerleader uniforms, and a football player passes by and asks Justin where his skirt is.  Marc then gives Justin advice – go along with and stay ahead of the joke – then bullies will stop messing with him.  He then volunteers Justin to choreograph a new routine for the cheerleaders (to Justin’s chagrin).  Marc says he’ll help, he was head cheerleader in college.

At Mode, Daniel has installed Community of the Phoenix water coolers and is now wearing beads.  He is on a strict diet given to him by Natalie.  He says he feels better and leaves to go pee.  Claire walks by, worried about Daniel.  But, they still aren’t talking.

Matt interrupts them and gives Betty a mundane assignment.  He says that he had given the plum assignment, an article on being “fearless” to Megan.  Betty says she can be fearless, but Matt just scoffs because he thinks she’s cautious.  But, he says she can make a pitch to him and he’ll listen.

Wilhelmina yells on the phone at her blackmailer and tells him he’ll have the money when she gets the money.  She then tells Marc to put out the word that she’s willing to cover model again (for the money).  Marc tries to stop her, but she insists.

Daniel advises Betty to “do the thing you never do” to be seen as fearless.

Later, she approaches Bobby, and seductively asks him out.  This was a fantasy, and in reality, she hems and haws till she finally asks him to teach her to drive.  She then has another fantasy in which she rips off his shirt. 

Justin and Marc show the Suarezes the new moves they gave the cheerleaders.  This got Justin invited to Homecoming.  Hilda and Papi leave the room arguing about that fateful past homecoming, and Marc reassures Justin that he’s a great kid.

Hilda complains about her (boring) duties as companion to a politician.  But first, Bobby pulls up in a Camaro, and Betty comes out for her driving lesson, to the Suarezes chagrin.  Archie also arrives, looking plain (and boring) in comparison.

Wilhelmina gets a cover – but it turns out to be Hot Flash.  Claire teases her, then offers her $500 and a liter of diet ginger ale.  Wilhelmina says he won’t do it, but Claire says “It’s the best you can do, Willi”.

Betty is really bad driving a stick shift.  Bobby says he still thinks of her in footie pajamas.  Betty says she’s traveled, had her own apartment, and boyfriends (making sure to add that she’s available right now).  Bobby places his hand over hers showing her how to shift.  Betty gets so distracted he almost hits a pedestrian, who yells at her.  Bobby gets out, grabs the pedestrian, and makes him apologize.

Amanda asks Daniel if he sees her and Matt as a couple.  He says you can’t force feelings, and brings up their own relationship, adding that he had used her.  Daniel asks Amanda to come to the CoP retreat they are having at Mode – she agrees because she thinks it will make Matt think she’s “super-complicated”.

Betty’s car lesson ends, and Bobby invites her to Mad Dog’s to shoot pool.  She runs in to tell the family, only to find out she’s been set up on a double date with Hilda/Archie and Archie’s nerdy bookkeeper, Larry. (who has this weird breath-snort nervous tic)

At their dinner, Larry turns out to be as weird and boring as they thought he would be.  Betty says she’s tired and sleepy and excuses herself to go to bed .  BUT, as she leaves, she sneaks out of the house.

At the CoP retreat, Amanda tells Natalie that Daniel has invited her for the weekend.  Natalie and Bennett seem put off by this; Natalie later tells Bennett that she’s “got to get Daniel to Level 5”.

Nico pressures Wilhelmina to get the money – WIlli then tells her about  Connor and the money he stole and his offer.  Wilhelmina says if she decides to go that route, Connor will find her.  Nico says that because Willi still loves Connor, she HAS to do it.

Betty sneaks into the house and Hilda is waiting for her.  Bobby sticks his head in to check on Betty and says Hi to Hilda.  After he leaves, Hilda yells at Betty for bailing.  She says Larry heard her leave.  Betty feels badly about this, and agrees to come to Homecoming with Larry.

Wilhelmina brings Claire to Mode on Sunday to announce she’s resigning.

Betty pulls up from her driving lesson and sees Hilda, Archie and Larry waiting there.  Bobby suggests Betty blow them off and go with him to get a Freeze-ata.  Surprisingly, she does, emphatically spinning her wheels.  She tells Larry she’s sorry as she drives away.

During a break at the retreat, Amanda complains about it.  Natalie tries to get her to go home.  She says she and Daniel have to get to level 5.  She argues with Amanda and storms away.  Daniel tells her they take it seriously, and Amanda says it scares her.  She says the program is giving him bad judgment.  He tells her to go home.

Betty and Bobby have their Freeze-atas while Betty complains about everyone putting her in a “good girl box”.  Bobby tells Betty she can date anyone she wants.  The school head cheerleader sees them and makes a face at Betty to say, “Wow, nice catch!” 

Betty has another fantasy in which she seductively tells Bobby that they “get” each other and should make it work.  In real life, she’s given herself a brain freeze, though.  Bobby then reveals that he’s still interested in Hilda.

Bennett tells Daniel it’s time to go to Level 5, where he will physically be reunited with Molly.

At the Homecoming ceremonies in the gym, the cheerleaders do Justin’s routine.  Betty arrives, and Papi says that Larry left (Archie drove him home).  Papi has been arguing with Hilda again about “her” homecoming. 

At a press conference, Wilhelmina announces that the shoot in the Bahamas will be her last.  She tells the press to quote her exactly: she’s leaving to pursue other options.  While she does this, Nico texts Jonathan telling him “we’re gonna be rich”.

Bobby stops Betty in the school hallway and tells her that the cheerleaders had told him he was dating Betty.    He jokes about this.  Betty says that they shouldn’t have lessons anymore, and reveals her feelings to him, which he says he knew about.  She says she always dreamed of kissing him in the school halls.  Bobby says “We’re in the hallway”. 

Betty starts to go to Homecoming, but turns around, stops Bobby and kisses him.  He tells her it was sweet, and not to let anyone put her in a box.  He walks away, and Betty turns around to see an upset Hilda.

Bennett gives Daniel and Natalie a special tea that will allow them to get to Level 5.

Hilda and Betty argue about Bobby.  Betty lets Hilda know that Bobby is more interested in Hilda.  Marc arrives, and they are interrupted by the head cheerleader Ava.  She tells them she “feels bad about Justin” and “it wasn’t my idea”.

Betty and Marc go in and grab Justin, Hilda and Papi and tell them they have to leave NOW.  But they are too late.  From the stage they announce the homecoming king and queen, which Justin has been named the latter.

Hilda wants them to leave, but Justin instead walks to the podium and “accepts’” the honor.  He gives a speech, using humor to diffuse the situation.  He then says someone else deserves the honor more than him: his mom.  He says she should have gotten the crown 15 years ago, but “that was kind of my fault”.  He thanks Hilda and places the crown on her head.

When they get home (Marc tags along), Hilda reminds Justin that she loves him no matter who he is.  Justin tells her that it was a joke that he was going along with…and that he’s not gay.  He walks away; Hilda looks at Marc who says, “Then, he’s not.”

Later, Betty is lying in bed, and Hilda comes in, saying she can’t sleep.  They lay and talk, mostly about Bobby.  Betty says, though, that she’s going to pitch Hilda’s story for the Fearless issue.  Hilda frets that she’s become boring, and is obviously conflicted about Archie.

At Mode, Claire is talking to an investigator, who says that it will now be hard to track the stolen money.  Claire then informs Wilhelmina that Connor is dead: they found his body washed up on a beach in Panama.

Wilhelmina goes to her office and weeps.

Image:SplashNewsOnline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

• 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” coming, but not this one.  Great job, writers!
• Jamie Lynn Sigler says that Natalie isn’t going to be a villain, but she sure is acting like one right now.
• I love when the writers give us a little inside joke.  Justin’s quip about Hilda “putting on a little weight last spring” (Ana Ortiz was pregnant) was hilarious.
• The story line with Claire’s son who was placed for adoption will be a very interesting one, as long as they don’t get too silly with it (like making him a character we already know)
• The ending was great, as usual.  Betty’s dance was a combination of the dance from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and an 80’s new wave pogo.  If Betty had placed an hand on the other arm and waved her fist (ala Idol) it would have been perfect (although probably too over the top). 

The  ratings for this one remained the same (up just a tiny bit in the demo), which is only good news in that the news didn’t get worse.  Hopefully the word can continue spreading about how good Betty is this season.  Ratings-wise, things are not looking too good right now.

Anyway, next week looks to be a crazy one.  I can’t wait.

Full recap after the jump.

Betty is working late and missing dinner.  Betty looks at her reflection, and is startled by Matt’s appearance beside her.  They are quite nice to each other, and it looks like Matt will kiss her, but he just rearranges her hair. 

Marc wants to do something with Amanda after work, but she’s too tired.  however, when Matt asks her to stay late, she gets a burst of energy and pushes Marc out of the way.

On the way to the elevator, Betty runs into Daniel.  He asks about Matt, and Betty says there is nothing going on between them, but she might have news tomorrow when she meets Daniel for lunch (as friends).  Daniel also says that The Group is helping him cope with the loss of Molly.

Wilhelmina comes off the elevator, and Daniel thanks her for working with Tibetan orphans.  He hugs Wilhelmina, who is surprised.  Later Marc informs Willi that he “volunteered” her to host the annual Style Cares charity event.  Willi is angry, but decides to go along to help her image.

Betty is excited – she got an invitation to the event. She muses inviting Matt, which makes Hilda angry.

Daniel and Natalie leave a meeting of The Group, and Daniel is excited.  He worries about the stress he’ll face back at work.  Natalie volunteers to be his new assistant.

Betty goes to Matt’s office and puts “Will you be my plus one” on the charity invitation.  Matt comes in and sets some papers on top of it without looking.  He asks her if it’s OK if he brought a date.  Betty pretends that it’s OK, while sneaking the invite off his desk.

Betty walks up to Daniel, only to find that he has hired Natalie as his new assistant.  Daniel asks Betty to help Natalie “learn the ropes”. 

Matt invites Amanda to the charity party.  She is beside herself with happiness.  He says he’ll be late, but she can come anytime she wants.  Later, she tells Marc that she feels guilty about taking “Betty’s Matt”.  Marc talks her into finding some way to cushion the blow.

Marc helps the speechwriter write Wilhelmina’s speech for the party (filled with falsehoods).  Nico calls and interrupts, causing Willi to abruptly leave.

As Betty shows Natalie how to do things, Natalie wipes out any trace (voice mail, email, name plate) that Betty was ever there.

The private investigator shows Wilhelmina a photograph of the bloody fingerprint from the boat.  He then tries to blackmail her and Nico.  Willi kicks him out.  Nico is upset about this.

Amanda finds out that Betty is going to the party, and that she didn’t have a date yet.  She says she knows some guys she can set him up with.

Hartley wants to cut the Wit and Whimsy column from the magazine for ad space, but Daniel argues against it.  Claire seems to be taking Ca’l’s side, but she suggests everyone think it over for a bit.

Daniel arrives for the lunch with Betty, but he brought Natalie along.  During the meal, Betty feels left out because Daniel and Natalie keep talking about The Group.  Betty then asks Daniel to be her plus one for the party, but he has already asked Natalie.

Wilhelmina tells Marc to dig up dirt on the private investigator (Oscar Castelar).  He finally stands up to her and says he won’t do that sort of thing anymore.  She then comes clean with him about Nico, and he changes his mind.

Betty tells Amanda she’s taking her up on her offer to set Betty up with one of her friends.  Amanda is worried about this.

Megan shows Daniel “The Book” for February’s issue, and he notices the Wit and Whimsy column isn’t there.  She says Claire decided to cut it.  Daniel storms into Hartley’s office, only to find Claire in there kissing Cal.  Claire wants to talk about it, even mentions their long-ago affair, but Daniel storms away.  Cal tells her that maybe it was better that things didn’t work out with their baby.  This upsets Claire.

Betty arrives at Amanda’s – there are about 12 or 13 guys there, none of whom Betty is interested in.  It turns out that Amanda had placed an ad in Craigslist, advertising a “plus size chica”.  Of course, this makes Betty furious when she finds out.

Natalie tells Daniel he ahs to start ignoring people who cause unnecessary drama in his life, including Betty.

Claire calls Betty asking a favor.  Betty later approaches Daniel asking him to talk to his mother, but he rebukes her, with Natalie’s encouragement.

Marc leads Willi to a bordello where apparently Castelar is supposedly meeting with a dominatrix.  They find him tied up face down, and Marc sneaks a picture of him, but it turns out to be someone else.  Wilhelmina figured that the investigator stole this real person’s identity to prevent her from digging up dirt on him.

We then see Castelar approaching Nico on the street, and her demeanor changes,  She kisses him and calls him Jonathan.  Apparently, the two have been executing an elaborate scheme to get money out of Wilhelmina.

Betty tells Amanda on the phone that she’s decided not to go.  Hilda overhears this and talks her out of it.  Betty decides to go alone, and Justin will make her dress out of one that Hilda wore “when she gained weight last spring” (heh).

Betty arrives at the party, looking fabulous in an animal print dress.

Wilhelmina paces in her bedroom, and Marc comes in wondering why she’s not outside hosting.  Willi tells him she can’t handle the stress of everything going on.  Nico barges in and tells her she’s going to turn herself in.  They are all arguing about this when a lady comes in and tells Wilhelmina it’s time to give her speech.

Amanda runs into Betty and is upset about it.  She starts to tell Betty about her and Matt, but then Matt walks in with another woman on his arm.  Both women seem devastated. 

Cal and Claire have a conversation that reminds us that he doesn’t know that Claire had their baby and placed him for adoption.

Wilhelmina gives her speech, making it clear that she’s going to do whatever it takes to makes sure all children, especially her child, are going to be OK.

Betty is “big” and makes up with Natalie and Daniel.  Natalie gets a call, and tells whoever it is that she’ll do what she can to get Daniel back to The Group.

Matt runs into Amanda and says he glad she made it.  He had six plus ones, mostly support staff to reward them for all they do.

Claire leaves and calls the adoption agency, asking them how she can find her and Cal’s son.

Betty and Matt talk for a minute.   She tells Matt she came alone, but that she’s fine.  She says she glad they’re still friends.  Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself” comes on, and Betty goes on the floor and dances.  Matt watches her and smiles.

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: Ugly Betty News

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 was better because it kept moving.  As usual, you guys were right.

It’s funny how Daniel made things better by telling the truth, and Betty made things better by lying.

The Amanda kissing scene was even funnier the second time.

Oh, and “the boob” may have referred to Lexie’s, but it could have also referred to Hilda’s impression of Meghan McCain.

This was a great episode!

That being said, the ratings did not improve.  Sigh.

Full recap after the jump.

We see a hapless bunch of people lined up.  Betty and Daniel talk about this, and it turns out that they are the candidates HR sent for Daniel’s new assistant.  Betty reminisces and talks it over with Daniel, and prefers Gavin (a REALLY dorky guy).  Daniel is totally uninterested.  Betty hides his chocolate covered pretzels he’s nervously eating, making Daniel realize why he misses Betty.

Betty then gets slowly swallowed under with editorial tasks for work.  She walks by Marc and Amanda, who insult her, but she throws an insult right back at Marc.  Betty runs into Matt, dropping her work.  As Matt helps her pick it up, Amanda eyes Matt slyly. 

Matt asks Betty for a feature idea for the New York issue.  Betty tells him about an idea she had about New York’s toughest jobs,  He likes it.  Matt then tries to get his messages from Amanda, but she is too busy flirting with him (even pulling his hair!)  Marc notices this and mentions it to Amanda after Matt leaves; she denies and says that Matt is tainted – kissing him would be like kissing Betty.

Claire tells Betty that Daniel has picked a new assistant – Betty goes to meet her, and it turns out to be super-beautiful Lexie (Brooklyn Decker).  Betty offers to help, but Lexie rudely rudely rebuffs her.  Betty next tells Daniel that she doesn’t approve.  Daniel says Lexie won him over when she got down his chocolate pretzels from Betty’s hiding place. 

Nico comes back from an errand.  This freaks Wilhelmina out, so she decides to keep Nico in her site at all times.

At the Suarez house, Justin teaches Ignacio how to check his email.  Hilda is cranky because Archie is so busy campaigning, they never see each other anymore. Betty is burning the midnight oil with all the work she has.  Justin suggest she ask for an assistant.

Marc tells Wilhelmina that Hartley and Claire were having dinner with Isabelle Bissette (her possible replacement) the night before.  Wilhelmina surprises Marc by saying that she’ll just have to become a “team player” as “kiss Claire’s bony ass”.  Marc then goes to talk to Nico, which scares WIlli (afraid Nico might blab about the murder).  Betty then approaches and asks for an assistant.  Wilhelmina, seeing an opening on two fronts, appoints Marc as Betty’s temporary assistant.

Neither Marc nor Betty wants this, but Wilhelmina insists.  Marc then lays down the law: he will not get her coffee.  He reminds her that Dante Nelli, Jr himself offered him the job.  Betty asks him to trim a hundred words from the Tends column, which he says he could do in his sleep.

Daniel tries to talk to Lexie while on his way to have lunch with Natalie, but Lexie rudely ignores him, then tells him to go away. 

Nico has actually gotten Wilhelmina to eat in the cafeteria.  Claire and Hartley walk up and Cal tells WIlli about his idea to put a vampire on the cover of the New York issue (ala Twilight).  Claire actually goes along with it, though she thinks the idea is horrible.

Natalie tells Daniel about this inspirational speaker she’s been going to see, who helps people get over all kinds of traumas.  She invites him to come to a “Community of the Phoenix” meeting that afternoon to check the guy out.

Hilda calls Betty and tells her about her idea to spice up her relationship with Archie by sending him a sexy Halloween text.  (Ana Ortiz really shows her her “new mom” boobs in this scene)..

Marc finishes the Trends column, then reminds Betty that he thinks she got the job because she and Daniel were lovers.  Betty, indignant, suggests they both go ask Daniel which they do.  Daniel hems and haws, then Wilhelmina comes in and tells them the truth: they had flipped a coin, and Betty won because she was “tails”.

Later, Daniel tells Betty that she WAS the most qualified in his opinion, but the coin toss was the only way to break the impasse.  Marc teases her by calling her “tails”.  Matt asks about Betty’s “toughest jobs” article – Marc suggests Betty also get into the uniforms and they take pictures (to humiliate Betty).  Matt likes the idea.

Hilda calls Archie – he is beside himself.  Hilda had sent her picture by doing a “reply all” on one of Archie’s campaign emails.  Now the whole district had Hilda’s sexy pic.  After hanging up, Hilda notices that Ignacio is checking his email (which would include the infamous text).  Hilda rushes (in slo-mo) to stop him.

Daniel tells Betty that  things aren’t working out so well with Lexie.  Betty reminds Daniel that his father had picked Betty, to stop Daniel from hiring an assistant he wanted to sleep with.  Lexie overhears this and is angry.  Daniel goes to apologize to her, attempt to put his hand on her shoulder, but his hand slips and he accidentally brushes her one of her boobs.  She yells at him and calls him a dirty old man.  (heh)

Betty and Marc go to work on her “worst jobs” feature.  She pedals a rickshaw, separates garbage, and waxes a man’s back (with Marc taking pictures.  They then approach The Taj Ma-hotdog (a meat substitute hot dog stand), because Betty will be the hot dog hostess there.  It turns out, Betty will be in a hot dog outfit, and they also need a bun, which Betty volunteers Marc for.

The owner then teaches the two (dressed outrageously as a hot dog and bun), the Bollywood-style song and dance that go with the suits.  Betty falls down into some garbage, and Marc doesn’t catch her.  They then argue about the job they both felt they deserve.  Marc tells Betty she’s the luckiest person he knows.  He says that he can’t catch a break.

He mentions that he had turned down a job from Dante Nelli, Jr (who happens to be right there). 

Wilhelmina watches the “vampire” photo shoot, hating it.  She tells Nico, and Claire overhears her.  Wilhelmina tells her the truth.  She also tells her she knows about Isabelle Bissette.  Claire says when they asked her about it, they expected her honest opinion – but agreed to ask Cal to cancel the vampire shoot.  She also tells WIlli to cut 10 pages of content, and to just do her job, while she still has it.

Claire tells Daniel that he can’t fire Lexie because he had “grabbed her boob”. 

Archie and Hilda argue over Hilda’s sexy pic spam.

Nelli, Jr says he remembers Marc.  Betty tells Nelli that Marc is an editor and she is her assistant.  Nelli is impressed and asks Marc to have lunch sometime.  They then get a text about an emergency editors meeting in 7 minutes.  Betty, mad at Marc because he had thrown away her real clothes, struggles to get in a cab.

Daniel and Natalie go to see the speaker.  Daniel scoffs at his “be honest and reject ‘acceptance’” spiel.  The speaker challenges Daniel to try being totally honest in a situation he doesn’t want to be, and see if it doesn’t change his life.

Matt approaches Amanda, and says he has to tell her something.  He draws her in close to her, then kisses her.  Suddenly, the kisser turns to Betty, and Amanda screams.  Then we see that Betty is actually (in real life) standing before her in the the hot dog suit, and Amanda screams again.  Matt pokes his head from behind Betty, and Amanda screams again.  Matt tells Betty that Wilhelmina is cutting ten pages from the issue, and everyone is having to fight to keep their work in.  They have to go immediately to the meeting.

Daniel asks Lexie to get The Book from the art dept, and Lexie tells him to get it himself.  Daniel calls her back in, and tells her that he only hired her because she was beautiful.  He tells her to “sue him”, causing Claire to panic.  He tells her she should be a model, not an assistant.  She likes the idea.

Wilhelmina starts to cut Betty’s article, but Marc asks her to reconsider.  They then perform the hot dog song from the stand.  (Hilarious!)  They then make a great pitch to use the uniform/fashion angle , and to reshoot the pics with supermodels instead of Betty.  Wilhelmina decides to keep the article.

Later, Daniel and Betty look over the new pictures for the article, featuring Lexie and some buff male models. (HA!  They didn’t put HER in the hot dog suit!).  Daniel reminds her that she, like him, may have gotten a break in getting her job, but she had to earn it, and she had.

Archie interrupts Hilda in her beauty salon, and asks her to watch his news conference on TV.  In it, Archie says he won’t apologize to anyone, because his girlfriend is beautiful.  He apologizes instead to Hilda.  AND, his polls are going up – he’s in the lead.

Wilhelmina tells Nico that she has found out that Isabelle Bissette turned down the Mode job.  Nico reveals that SHE called Bissette pretending to be an editor at French Mode, telling her how awful it was to work for Cal and Claire.  Wilhelmina tells Nico she thinks everything is going to be all right, but we then see someone discovering the drop of blood left behind on the boat.

Marc gets Betty coffee, and Betty shows him the final edit of the worst jobs article:  she has shared her byline with Marc.  They “side hug”.

Image: Bauer Griffin

Post from: Ugly Betty News

• 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 episodes??  Please???
• The scene where Mark is “negotiating” between Amanda and Matt was hilarious.  You could just see the wheels spinning in his head.
• It looks like the writers listened to many of us and didn’t follow the usual plot pattern of Betty saving the day at the end.  This one was different, yet they found a way to still give the episode a profound ending.
• The restaurant scenes were very well done.  Hilda’s interfering, Matt and Betty trying to make each other jealous – it was all good.
• Amanda was the dupe and used throughout the episode, yet, when she told Betty it was time to move on from Matt, didn’t it seem like she had her own reasons for saying that?  Is Amanda going to start scheming now?  I guess that’s where the hinted-at love triangle is going to come from.

As good as I felt about this episode, the ratings were awful – just awful.  There’s no way to spin it.  A 1.2 in the “demo” and 4.55 million viewers overall is very bad.  Not Dollhouse bad, but Betty’s got to find a way to get back to a 2.0 demo and it absolutely HAS to beat Dateline, I think.

Betty fans, tell all your friends to watch – and tell them the show has been creatively improving since the middle of season 3.

Full recap after the jump.

Betty helps Hilda out at her salon in the morning before work, shampooing family friend Sammy’s (Adam Ferrara) hair.  He tells the family that he has a big scoop about hot designer Evan Grant moving from “The Dolce” to “The Gucci” (he is remodeling Grant’s condo).  Betty, who is desperate for a story, asks Sammy to look into a meeting.

Because of a cancelation of a shoot at The Cotton Club, Matt is desperately scrambling to find a replacement story.  He calls an emergency meeting to get idea pitches, also using the time to torture Betty a little more by making her sit on a beanbag chair.  When Betty finds out there is an article opening, she texts Sammy.

As the editors walk away, (Betty and Matt arguing) Marc and Amanda both obsess about Betty, Marc (it’s his birthday, but he doesn’t want anyone to know) for career jealousy, Amanda because Betty is in love.  Wilhelmina sneaks up and tells Marc to take “his dream” back.

Betty insists that Daniel go to a bereavement support group.  He reluctantly agrees.

Marc listens in on a phone conversation between Betty and Hilda, in which Hilda tells her that Sammy came through – the meeting will be at 4.

Ignacio needs someone to cover a busboy shift at the restaurant – Hilda asks if she can do it (for the extra money).

Wilhelmina rejects all of Matt’s ideas for the replacement article, and lets him know she thinks he’s incompetent.  Right afterward, the bounty hunter calls, and tells Willi that he found Connor in Bermuda.  Willi decides to leave right away to face him down.

Betty, much to Marc’s chagrin, gets Marc a birthday cake.  As he’s blowing out the candles, he imagines Betty’s hair on fire.

Betty calls Daniel, who is at the school where the support group meeting will be held.  To prove it to him, he asks a woman to describe where they are (she does, and says his phone smells like cheese).  Then, Daniel tries to sneak away, but the woman (Natalie) stops him and tells him not to make a liar out of her. They both go back in.

Betty is surprised that’ she’s meeting Grant at his condo.  Sammy had lied to him and told him he needed to come and pick out shower tile.  As Grant enters, Betty tries to hide, but eventually has to tell him what she’s there for.  Betty gets him to agree to meet her for dinner, mostly because she suggested he pick all of the tiles (blue on blue), which was his style anyway.

Daniel sneaks out of the meeting, and discovers Natalie has also.  They strike up a conversation and decide to go for donuts,

Marc tries to break into Betty’s computer to find out about her meeting, but she walks up and surprises him.  He uses the occasion to fake an apology, and find out from her that she’s meeting the designer at her dad’s restaurant (Frankie’s) that evening.

Wilhelmina calls Marc, letting him know about finding Connor’s hotel.    Marc complains about Betty, Willi reminds him that Betty’s Achilles heel is obvious (we then see her trying to avoid Matt).  Marc gets a revelation.

He then has an ingenious set of scenes where he convinces (separately), Amanda and Matt to go out to dinner together (for Amanda to fill Matt in on all things fashion, since he’s been so lost and she wants to prove her worth).  Marc, of course, makes the reservation at Frankie’s.

Betty and Grant are at dinner (Hilda and Ignacio doting over them).  Betty starts he pitch, then sees Matt and Amanda walk in arm-in-arm.  Matt also sees Betty there with another man.

There then follows a scene where Betty comes very close to convincing Grant to let her do a feature on him.  However, Hilda interferes and lies to Matt, telling him that Betty is there on a date (who in turn, lies to Hilda, telling her that he is on a date with Amanda).  The whole thing spirals out of control, with each trying more and more conspicuous things to make the other jealous.  Grant finally catches on, and leaves the meeting.

Betty angrily tells off Matt and Amanda (who is in turn angry because Matt used her to make Betty jealous).  Amanda then storms out, and Betty and Matt take their argument to the kitchen.

There, Matt confesses to Betty that he’s been behaving the way he has because he’s a spoiled rich kid who can’t handle not getting his way.  He also blurts out that he had hopes of fixing their relationship.  He then leaves.

Wilhelmina calls Marc and tells her that the bounty hunter failed – Connor had checked out that morning.  As she hangs up, Connor is standing right there.

He tells her he’s onto her, but that he still has feelings for her.  She angrily reminds him he stole from her.  He said he did it all for her.  He once again asks her to run off with him.  Before he leaves, he kisses her deeply one more time.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Natalie talk about grief and how they are having trouble coping.  Natalie says one piece of advice stuck with her – to do one thing daily that make you feel alive.  Daniel then remembers he and his brother in the Hamptons, sneaking into other people’s swimming pools.  Natalie tells him she hasn’t done “her thing” today.

They sneak up to a rooftop pool.  As they strip down to their underwear, Daniel tells Natalie that he’s not ready for sex.  Natalie reminds him that her own boyfriend had OD’d two months ago, and besides, she  didn’t have time to shower today, so he’d be safe .  They then jump in the pool.

Later, Matt knocks on Amanda’s door and apologizes (bringing her a big cookie).  He says she has a lot to offer and that he was wrong to not listen to her.

At the pool, Natalie gets Daniel to speak directly to Molly under the stars.  At first he doesn’t want to, but her finally does, and finally decides to let go of his anger in the process.

Betty then comes to Amanda’s apartment and apologizes.  As they talk, Amanda blurts out that Marc had been the one who set it all up.  At that moment, they both discover that the whole night had been part of Marc’s scheme.  They continue to talk, and Amanda tells Betty that she needs to move on from Matt.

The next day, Marc comes to work, and Betty lets him know that her night was a disaster, Elle got the story, and that she knew what Marc had done.  Marc then turns the corner, and Amanda slaps him.  Amanda tells him that he shouldn’t use her for his little schemes, they use people together.    She then walks away.

Betty visits Daniel, who is actually smiling.  As she is walking back to her office, she sees that Matt is replacing the beanbag he made her sit on with a real chair. 

They share a smile.

Image: Bauer Griffin

Post from: Ugly Betty News

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:

1. It was a Friday night.
2. A good number of people tuned in last week, not seeing the show which had been rescheduled at the last minute.
3. It was up against the New York Yankees in the baseball playoffs, and two shows in its target demographic (Ghost Whisperer, Medium) whose seasons had already been established.

Interestingly, if you look at the 30-minute numbers, it’s obvious there were a lot of people who said as the night went on, “Crap! Ugly Betty’s on!”  The total viewers (and “demo”) went up as the night progressed, not down.  This means the show was strong enough creatively to keep the audience it had.

SO, I predict (all things being equal) Betty’s ratings will actually improve next week – depending on baseball, of course).  Yeah, I’m the ultimate homer, I guess.  We diehards need to hold the fort till our friends get the word and start watching again!

Anyway, I LOVE the way this double episode set up the season, and can’t wait to see how it plays out.

Recap after the jump

The episode begins with a fabulous 2001 – A Space Odyssey sequence of Betty getting her braces out, and being unhappy with the results.  Of course, it is a dream.  Betty tells Hilda about it, and about the fact that the orthodontist has her scheduled “a few months from now” to get her braces out for real. 

Justin comes in dressed super-stylishly for his first day at school in Gucci.  Hilda the gives Betty a gift from Christina, a new pantsuit.  Betty says “it’s not really me” about it.

Hilda takes Betty and Justin’s picture to commemorate their “first days”, and then things fall apart for both of them.

We see an extended montage of Justin being sneered at, openly laughed at, then finally full-out bullied as someone purposefully turns Justin’s lunch tray over, spilling his lunch on his new shirt.  (Mark Indelicato is outstanding in these scenes)

At the same time, Betty hits opposition everywhere she turns.  She start out well, getting a company credit card and learning about available town cars and the gym.  She then goes into her new office and finds she’s sharing it with Megan (pronounced “mee-gan”) who is highly resentful of Betty, mostly because she had to give up her own office to Matt.  Betty also goes to a staff meeting where Matt treats her horribly. 

Matt asks for ideas for the Global fashion issue, and Betty suggests something about malaria.  As Matt is rejecting this, Megan suggests a story on insect jewelry, and Matt agrees and gives the story to Megan.  Later, Betty approaches Marc, who ignores her by speaking into a stapler as a pretend phone.

Betty then finds Amanda stealing clothes from The Closet – who proceeds to congratulate her on being the first Latina Supreme Court Justice   Marc arrives (changing Amanda’s demeanor to mean), and takes a cell phone picture of Betty.

Meanwhile, Suzuki St Pierre recaps the Claire/Cal/Wilhelmina situation for us, mostly that Wilhelmina is on her way out. (He also tells that Daniel is in Tibet spreading Molly’s ashes)

Wilhelmina watches this, and is startled by someone (she speaks directly to the camera).  The doorbell rings, and she tells that someone to hide.  It is Marc, obviously suspicious.  She rushes him out.

Betty goes into the steam room after her awful day, and has a heart-to-heart with Wilhelmina, who tells her she’s going to have to change and become tougher to survive.

The next day, Betty bakes no-fat-no-carb muffins to win over her coworkers.  When talking to the family about this she reveals that she kinda-sorta wants to eventually get back together with Matt. 

Justin walks in wearing a school sweatshirt – the family thinks it’s school spirit, but Justin walks through the house and goes to his room as quickly as he can.

Wilhelmina meets with Claire and Cal, expecting be hired, but they end up keeping her (no one else is as good at what she does).

As Betty gives out her muffins, Justin comes to Mode to speak to Marc about surviving in public high school.  Betty’s muffins do not win anyone over, in fact they contained walnuts and send Marc into anaphylactic shock.  Betty calls Hilda, letting him know that Justin was at Mode talking to Marc.

Claire gives Betty advice, telling her that Matt still has feelings for her and she just needs to bring them out.  Later, as Matt is jogging, Betty stops him, talks to him, and kisses him, but Matt rejects her.

Hilda confronts Justin about his visit to Mode; he lies and tells her he was there just to get a replacement shirt after spilling low-fat dressing on his.

As Marc spritzes Wilhelmina, someone calls Willi’s cell, and Marc answers it.   Wilhelmina rips the phone out of his hand, saying she needs her privacy.  Marc later tells Amanda he suspects it’s Connor that Willi is hiding.

Daniel calls Betty – he’s back at the airport, but in trouble.  Betty picks him up, and they talk about Daniel’s troubles with Molly’s leftover ashes, and Betty’s troubles at her new position.  In the course of taking about this, Daniel reveals that there is a blog (started her first year at Mode) devoted to daily posting Betty’s fashion disasters and mocking them. (Daniel thought she already knew about it).

Daniel also points Betty to a jewelry designer named Olivia who specializes in insect jewelry, to help her with Megan’s assignment.

Marc sneaks into Wilhelmina’s apartment, and discovers the person hiding there is Nico (WIlli’s daughter).  Wilhelmina later comes in to find the two having a nice chat.  Willi later tells Marc about how she’s looking or Connor.  After Marc leaves, she tells Nico that they have to act like everything is normal.  We then see a flashback to when Willi first saw Nico, whose dress was covered in blood.

Betty goes to visit Olivia, who rushes her into her living room to watch the birth of new butterflies.  Olivia then notices the butterflies are attracted to Betty’s outfit.  She uses this to lure the butterflies to the butterfly room.  Betty enjoys this greatly.  She also gets some classic jewelry from Olivia to use in Megan’s story.  Megan is suspicious, but is grateful for the help.

Hilda comes to Mode to thank Marc for giving Justin a new shirt, then fins out about the bullying and gets very angry at Justin and Marc for keeping it secret.  She tells Marc not to talk to Justin anymore.  Later, when Justin comes to Mode, Marc says they can’t talk anymore.

Megan softens to Betty, then Daniel calls an emergency staff meeting.  He chastises everyone, especially Matt, for treating Betty so badly.  He makes them give the story back to Betty.

Next comes an incredible dream sequence (set to music from the Lion King) where everyone in the office is chasing Betty with crossbows.  (Her glasses get broken in the dream, just as they do in real life).

Amanda is talking to Marc when Daniel’s new temp assistant arrives.  She is an older version of Amanda, and they hit it off right away.

Daniel sends Betty to the staff meeting to pitch her story idea to Wilhelmina.  Willi doesn’t like the insect jewelry idea.  As Betty is struggling to think of a new idea, she comes up with a cross-promotion with the UN’s Nothing But Nets program.  She says they can shoot at the UN and get a designer to make dresses out of mosquito netting.  Willi likes the idea.

A private investigator approaches Wilhelmina about Nico’s boyfriend’s whereabouts (he is missing, but the police think he went back to Spain).  Willi denies knowing anything.

Hilda and Justin argue about the fact that Hilda told Marc not to talk to him.  Justin tells her that she doesn’t understand him at all.

Betty books the UN, but it’s only available the next day (at the last minute).  Betty tells Matt she’s going to need the help of the entire department.  They all do this begrudgingly.  As she’s handing out assignments, Meade security calls her because Daniel is going berserk beating up a sign (it reminded him of Molly).

At Molly’s apartment, Betty tells Daniel he needs help.  Daniel is in the “anger” grief phase.  Betty decides to stay with Daniel to make sure he’s OK.  At the same time, the features staff is working on her project, growing more resentful by the minute,  She ends up falling asleep on his couch next to him.

Amanda has a conversation with the temp, and sees her own future:  one day she will be put out to pasture, when her looks are gone. 

Hilda creates a fake online profile to friend Justin, but Ignacio tells her the idea is ridiculous.  He tells her that what she is going through is normal (using Hilda’s teen years an an example).

Later, Hilda comes to Mode and tells him it’s OK if Justin comes to talk to him about his school troubles.  Hilda later tells Justin as well.

We see another flashback of Nico, this time telling her mother about defending herself against an attack from her boyfriend Jonathan the night she showed up with a bloody dress.  Willi vows to help her cover it all up.  Later they lie to the investigator, who falls for it.  As they tell the lie, we see what actually happened (the two cleaning up all the blood)

Betty wakes in Daniel’s apartment and rushes to her photo shoot at the UN.  Everything is going to hell.  The designer is passive-aggressively upset, the models are fighting with each other in Russian (with no interpreters), and Matt has brought this ridiculous smiling mosquito statue to the shoot.  As Betty and Matt argue about this, he insinuates that she and Daniel are sleeping with one another,  Out of the blue, Daniel hears this and punches Matt.

As things continue to fall apart, Wilhelmina calls the room to order by beating on the podium with her show (ala Kruschev)  She kicks Daniel and Betty out.  At first Daniel says no (and tells everyone that if they mess with Betty, they mess with him), but Betty convinces him to leave.

Betty and Daniel talk about their relationship and how it has changed.  They are no longer boss and assistant, they are friends.  They decide to start acting like it.

Later, Betty is looking at “her” fashion disaster blog, and Hilda asks her if she wants her to cut her bangs.  Betty decides instead to do something different.  She parts her hair to the side, gets some new, stylish glasses, and wears Christina’s gift pantsuit to work.  She looks a whole lot better, and heads into work.

Marc starts to take a picture of her,and notices that her outfit “isn’t that funny”.  The temp gathers “her” stuff – she has been fired – as she leaves, Amanda looks at her contemplatively.

Betty apologizes to Matt (for everything).  She tells him that Daniel will no longer be fighting on her behalf – she can fight her own battles. 

Wilhelmina tells Nico that the investigator bought their story.  As she does this, we see that they left a spot of blood on the boat where Nico killed Jonathan.

Betty has her famous poncho framed and put on the wall her in office.  After a long day, Betty gets into a town car, feeling proud of herself.

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

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 Sigler), a sexy girl who takes him out for an interesting night on the town, and Wilhelmina flies to Bermuda when she learns Connor may be there.

It looks like there is going to be a cat and mouse type conflict with Betty and Marc for a while early in season 4.  I’ll bet it will be fun to watch, because the whole devious saboteur persona is right up Marc’s alley, and it’s hard to blame him because we know he gave up a good offer at Vogue to stay with Mode, then didn’t get the job he was expecting.  How Betty overcomes the obstacles Marc sets will be quite interesting to see.

It’s interesting that Amanda and Matt are clueless in Marc’s plot, (or is it just Amanda?).  Usually Amanda loves getting in on the Betty torture, and Matt will most likely still be making life hard on Betty at this point.

This is the episode where we’ll meet Natalie, who, like Megan, will hold some secret that might pit her against Betty.

The introduction of Sammy is also interesting.  I think some of his “connections” might be a little unsavory, if his character is the “mobbed up contractor” we’ve heard about.

I love the fact that they are incorporating Ignacio’s job at the restaurant.  That storyline just went away last season, after he got the job at Frankie Burrata’s restaurant.

And, I suppose Wilhelmina’s travel to Bermuda to find Connor will be the pre-cursor to the episode when (almost) the whole Mode crew goes there.  I wonder if she will find Connor there?

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

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 the competition for Penny’s job, but in the end, it was nice to see Betty in her new office, pigeons and all.

It’s odd, on second watching, Daniel’s speech was even more tear-inducing.  It was absolutely beautiful, and I’m glad that Molly died off screen, but said goodbye in Daniel’s moment of glory.  That was damn good writing. 

I will miss Sarah Lafleur, but the story had run its course.  This (combined with Curveball), was by far her best episode.

I thought the quick scene of Amanda consoling Marc at the end was sweet.

Of course, the last 5 minutes were the stuff season finales are made of.  They gave us Wilhelmina’s story for next season (the search for Connor), two cliffhangers (who did Wilhelmina see? – and – “if Claire really did have a son, who and where is he?”), and a tear-jerker.

I looked – there’s no revealing information in the certificate of adoption (it just says “Boy child” and “Father unknown”.  Oddly, the dates are left blank.

It was funny, seeing Matt’s demeanor change at the end to something resembling his father.

The Cindy Lauper song was a perfect choice for the ending montage.  Betty and Daniel are wonderful together, if only as “brother and sister”.

Full recap after the jump.

Betty tells Hilda about her dream, where Antonio Sabato Jr takes her hot dog and kisses her, causing Matt to yell at her about betraying him.  (Sabato Jr is quite funny in the reenactment).  Betty says she thinks the dream means she has to tell Matt she kissed Henry.  Hilda tells her not to.

Justin comes in to watch the nominations for the MAMAs (a magazine media awards show).  Hilda mentions that Justin is trying to get into a performing arts school.  On TV, Rachel Maddow announces the nominees, including one for Mode for The Wedding Issue.

As this is going on, Marc brings Wilhelmina breakfast.  Wilhelmina mourns that the has to share the nomination with Daniel.  Speaking of, Molly wakes him up and congratulates him.  He mentions that she had a fever the night before and needs to go back to sleep, but Molly’s too excited about the nomination.

Wilhelmina arrives to Claire giving a press conference, which she interrupts by asking her about a “Trip to Madison, South Dakota, to discover her ‘inner child’, recently, or maybe in the early 80’s”.  This unnerves Claire, who leaves the press conference to Wilhelmina.

Daniel asks Betty if Penny Meadows has turned in her Yves Saint Laurent piece yet.  He sends her up to find out, although Betty doesn’t like her because she’s mean and kind of smells. 

Penny yells at Betty when she shows up, and tells her the piece is not ready.  She has Betty help her open the window so she can shoo away pigeons.  She’s quite a crazy presence. Matt texts  Betty and tells her he’s outside.

He shows her a painting of a man and woman in gas masks.  Betty tells Matt there’s something she needs to tell him, but before she can tell him about Henry, Penny falls to her death right in front of them.

Suzuki reports this, giving it a 3 on his “Sexy death meter”.

Betty arranges to have a memorial service for Penny, although she didn’t have any friends at Mode.  While talking to Daniel about it, the two of them decide that Betty would be the perfect match to fill Penny’s job.

The Suarezes celebrate, but decide to go to church and light a candle for Penny (and for the patron saint of actors, to help Justin get into the performing arts school).  Hilda once again tells Betty NOT to tell Matt about kissing Henry.

Amanda gives Marc’s replacement, Ryan, all kinds of bad advice to sabotage him.  Marc comes along to stop this.  As Wilhelmina approaches, Ryan falls flat on his back.  Claire stops Wilhelmina and tells her they need to talk.

Claire tells Wilhelmina that she did indeed get pregnant by Cal many years ago, and traveled to South Dakota, where she terminated the pregnancy (Bradford and Cal never knew).  The whole event caused her to have a nervous breakdown – it took her a year to recover. 

Wilhelmina threatens to reveal all of this to Cal if Claire doesn’t resign, and for extra flair she must resign at the MAMA awards.

Marc walks in, and they celebrate vanquishing Claire.  They reminisce about all their past evil deeds, resulting in Wilhelmina actually saying she’ll miss Marc, and giving him a hug.  As Marc leaves to go to the memorial service for Penny, Wilhelmina says she wants to talk to Marc about something.

Matt calls Betty to give her a chance to confess to him, but she doesn’t, distracted with the memorial.

Penny’s twin sister Mindy, arrives at the memorial, where few are paying attention.  Betty says a few kind words, then Marc gets up to speak.  He says he will continue Penny’s work – as the new feature editor of Mode.  Betty is flabbergasted, she yells that she asked for the job almost as soon as Penny died.  Apparently, Wilhelmina and Daniel both had decided to give the job away.

They have a conference about it, and decide that the only solution is to let the two of them separately finish the Yves Saint Laurent story, and the best one will get the job. 

Justin’s letter comes from the school.  He discovers that they have turned him down.  This devastates Justin.  No one can console him. even Archie.

Betty looks over the content of Penny’s hard drive, but there is nothing there but pictures of birds (which Amanda thinks are pictures of her family).  Apparently, Penny mostly worked from home.

Matt stops by, and once again tries to coax Betty into confessing, but she passes.  He then tells her that he saw them kiss, and he’s very angry that she wouldn’t tell him.  They fight, and Matt storms away.

Daniel comes home for lunch, to find that Molly has made a romantic lunch for him, and dressed in the dress she will wear to the MAMAs.  They kiss and head to the bedroom.

Marc is already at Penny’s apartment when Betty gets there, gagging at the smell (it’s a mess).  As they are looking around, Mindy shows up and yells at them.  She does, however, throw the the notes from Penny’s Saint Laurents story out the window.

Their story in ruins, Betty and Marc (and Amanda) drink Margaritas in Betty’s old apartment.  Amanda gets very drunk.  But she tells them they need to work together.

They then present their resignations to Daniel and Wilhelmina.  This, of course, is a bluff.  They want to force Daniel and Wilhelmina to decide.

Betty goes to find Matt, and apologizes to him, asking him for forgiveness.  She gives him a ticket to the MAMA awards, hoping he’ll come.

As Daniel prepares for the awards, Molly gives him his note cards (he is terrified of not being able to make a speech).  As she does so, he notices she is burning with fever.  She tells him she’ll be fine, and tells him to go to the awards himself.  She tells him she’ll take a nap and get there in time for his category.

Betty arrives at the MAMAs, and sees Antonio Sabato Jr.  This reminds Justin that he won’t get into the performing arts school.  Marc whisks Justin to the swag room.  Justin tells Marc all about his problem, and Marc tries to assure him that he’ll be OK going to public school, even being “different”.  He tells him his own story. This makes Justin feel better.

Matt shows up, and talks to his father, who only talks him into hardening his heart toward Betty, because Henry was Betty’s first love, and he’ll always have to compete with that.  He then tells him he “could” have a job…

Marc shows Wilhelmina that he has stolen Daniel’s notes, so he’ll be tongue-tied and Wilhelmina can get all the attention.  Daniel walks in, and they decide to choose who will get Penny’s job by flipping a coin. Daniel comes to Betty’s table and tells her he needs to talk to her.  He gives the features editor job to her.  She looks over and sees a sad Marc.

They announce the Fashion Magazine category, and Mode wins.  Daniel starts to make his speech, but his notes are gone.  As he starts to panic, he looks and sees Molly standing next to Betty.  He calms down and makes a beautiful speech, telling Molly he loves her.  As everyone applauds, he looks and sees that Molly is no longer there.  He goes down to ask Betty where Molly is, but Betty says she hasn’t seen her.  Daniel rushes home.

At the bar, Claire tells Wilhelmina she’s not going to step down – she told Cal everything.  They also decided to reevaluate Wilhelmina’s role in the company.

Betty stops by her new office before she comes home, and talks to her family, who congratulate her on getting the job.  Matt arrives, and tells her that they are over.  However, he tells her that he’ll still be around, because Cal made him her new boss.

Wilhelmina hires a private detective to find Connor and get the money he stole back so Mode no longer needs Cal Hartley.  After he leaves, Wilhelmina turns the corner, drops her champagne glass, and yells, “What are YOU doing here???”

Daniel comes home, to Molly’s body being carted away. 

Claire looks at a certificate of adoption, then burns it.

Amanda consoles Marc.

Betty gets a text message from Daniel:  “I need you”

She arrives at his doorstep – and holds him as he cries.

Image: Splashnewsonline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

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 year.  Their knowing glances were romantic and sad at the same time.  It was very good to see Chris Gorham on the show again – I love to watch his reactions to Michael Urie and Becki Newton.

The Molly/Daniel storyline made me cringe.  Not that it’s not believable; it’s just the idea of a dying person joking about their spouse’s love life after they are gone.  Daniel’s surprise for her at the end was nice, though.

The YETI interviews storyline was a little intriguing; I love the thought of Betty working at The New York Review.  But Betty is like a modern-day George Bailey, stuck in her Bedford Falls of Mode Magazine.  Jodi stealing her job was quite believable (especially in this economy).

Vanessa Williams and Christine Baranski are very good together (both in acting and in song).  Maybe we can see more of that in season 4.

America Ferrera was quite good in this one.  Her voice-overs were nice comedic distractions from all the drama.

Look for a recap for 3.24, The Fall Issue, soon.

Suzuki St Pierre reports on Fashion TV that New York has gone ga-ga over Daniel, because he has turned into such a devoted husband.  Molly is released from the hospital some time after her wedding night collapse.  Daniel is so popular, he gets invited onto The View.  he thinks it’s to talk about the Wedding Issue, but all Behar and Hasselbeck want to talk about it his devotion to Molly.

As Daniel is working out, Cal approaches and tells him he wants to capitalize on Daniel and Molly’s popularity, for he’s arranged for Molly to throw out the first pitch at a Mets game.  Daniel isn’t comfortable with that, so they agree that Daniel will do it instead.  Cal also gives tickets to Betty.

Wilhelmina exclaims, “Why does God hate me?”  She then recaps how Claire talked Cal into placing her in power over Wilhelmina.  Claire comes in and tells her she needs to make a change to the cover of the Wedding Issue.  Wilhelmina vows to find a way to get Cal to turn against Claire.

Matt shows Betty his first painting – an almost-nude portrait of Betty (glasses and all).  He uses this as a segue into asking Betty to move in with him.  She tells him it’s a biog step, and she’ll think about it.  Amanda comes in, sees the painting, and runs away screaming “My eyes!  My eyes!”

As Claire and Wilhelmina discuss the changes to the Wedding Issue cover, Victoria walks in, and shares a terse hello.  Claire is obviously uncomfortable, and Wilhelmina notices this.  She tells Marc that she will find out what’s going on between the two.

Jodi comes to Mode and advises her before her YETI interviews.  They have a nice mentor/student moment.  Jodi asks about Marc, and Betty says he hasn’t mentioned Jodi.

Betty tells her family about Matt’s proposal, and surprisingly, Ignacio agrees. (With a little fatherly muttering thrown in).

On the phone the next day, Betty tells Matt she will move in with him.  At this moment, at the end of a rainbow, she sees Henry getting into a cab.

Marc tells Wilhelmina he’s looked into Victoria’s background (including a “lesbian rumor” …hmmmm), and that he’s signed Wilhelmina up for Victoria’s tennis club.

As Betty looks over he YETI interview guide, she also checks Henry’s Facebook status, which he is updating quite often.  Marc sees this, and reminds her that it’s time for their interviews.  As they are leaving she notices Henry’s at a restaurant around the block.

Betty then goes through a series of interviews, including with the New York Review.  As the interviewer is leaving, Betty gives her an impassioned speech about how much the Review means to her.

Jodi tells Betty the interviewers loved her.  She had less kind words for Marc, but mostly because he hadn’t been calling her.  Later, Betty asks Marc what happened between them, and he say “there were kisses, and boobs, and beer, and…I don’t want to talk about it anymore!”.  Amanda approaches, and they all end up in front of the restaurant Henry said he was at.  As Betty struggles with whether she should go see him, Henry shows up, with his girlfriend Chloe.

Henry explains that they are in New York for Chloe’s aerobic convention.  She’s proud of her work, including what she’s done with Henry.  Betty turns down Chloe’s dinner invitation because she’s going to the Mets game.  Marc and Amanda “helpfully” give their tickets to Henry and Chloe.  Later, Matt says it’s fine if they all go together.

Jodi calls and tells Betty she’s been offered an editor position at the New York Review (although it’s not official yet).  She tells Daniel, and they have a tearful pre-goodbye.

Victoria beats Billie Jean King at tennis, and then Wilhelmina walks up. Victoria and Wilhelmina decide to play a game.  Then, they decide to have a drink together.

Molly jokes about the women who are fawning over Daniel, joking about how much “tail” he’ll get when she’s gone.  This makes Daniel very uncomfortable.

At the Mets game, Daniel throws out the first pitch.  In the stands, Matt gives Betty the key to their apartment, as Henry and Chloe arrive.  Henry tells about being an accountant, and Matt talks himself down.  Betty tells about his art and almost-law degree, but her conscience scolds her for “trying to sell Matt”.  Chloe tries to show off Henry’s abs, and Matt uses the occasion to make his own belly button “talk”. 

Betty looks at the scoreboard, and it has changed to Henry vs Matt, and Henry is winning 1-0.  As the evening progresses, the score goes back and forth as each man does something that impresses Betty.

At the same time, Molly runs into a friend from the school she teaches at, and says she’s always wanted to introduce them.  Daniel takes this the wrong way, and tells the woman he can’t “go out with her”.  Unfortunately, she’s married and very freaked out.  So is Molly.

Henry tells them about his new apartment, and Matt prods Betty to tell their “really big news”.  She tells Henry about her job offer, which upsets Matt, who thought she’d mention their moving in together.  Matt later asks her if she did this because she was leaving the door open for Henry.  Betty apologizes.

Wilhelmina and Victoria sing “The Man That Got Away”, having been drinking heavily.  Claire (supposedly) calls Wilhelmina, and Victoria uses the occasion to tell Wilhelmina about an affair that Claire had with Cal long ago – and that a baby was the result.

Hilda tells Betty to forget about Henry, even though Betty still has feelings for him.

Daniel apologizes to Molly, who makes a joke about him dating her friend.  Daniel tells her to stop this, and she tells him in tears that she’s most fearful of dying and everyone forgetting that she was ever here.

Betty almost “unfriends” Henry on Facebook.  Marc tells Betty that he hasn’t had a single call.  Betty tells him he should call Vogue (the one he really wanted) and tell them just who Marc St James really is.  He agrees.

Betty calls The New York Review, and discovers that Jodi has stolen her job.  She rushes to confront Jodi, who tells her that she couldn’t sit by and let some cheery 20 something take what she’d dreamed of her whole career.  Betty storms off.

During her acupuncture, as Wilhelmina tells Marc about what she found out about Claire, Marc tells her he got a job offer from Vogue.

Betty leaves Matt a tearful voice message, and discovers that Henry is only a block away (according to his Facebook status).

Daniel comes to see Molly in the bed, and shows her the cover if The Wedding Issue; Molly in her wedding dress is the cover.  He says, “Now everyone will know you were here”.

Betty meets Henry to tell her his problems.  They decide that although they have feelings for each other, they need to move on with their lives.  As they share a small goodbye kiss, it turns into a passionate kiss.  As they walk away from each other, we see Matt holding flowers, who has seen the whole thing.

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

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 was for the final hour of last night’s season finale, entitled, “The Fall Issue”. 

Incredible.  Bravo.  I wish I had an “11″ paddle.

The first hour, entitled “Curveball”, was OK.  It was a good setup, with a properly sad and cliff-hanger-ey ending.  But, there was a noticeable change in the writing (and even the acting), once the second hour. It was much crisper, with the smart-alec banter we all love (which was almost entirely missing from “Curveball”). 

For some strange reason, Amanda totally changed personality once the episodes changed.  In “Curveball”, she reverted to downright mean.  Then, she came back to wacky Amanda in hour two.  This is the problem with back-to-back episodes, written by different people.

I’ll save the spoilers for the recap (boy, two hours is a real haul!), but I can tell you that there were more OMG moments last night (especially in the second hour) than in the entire season.  The last 5 minutes, all I could do was stammer in the live blog.  Some of the moments we knew were coming, but the way they were executed still was shocking.

In case you haven’t figured it out, the writers of the show like to make Betty’s suitors less likeable before a breakup.  They really did that with Matt last night.  Although, to be honest, I don’t blame him for being mad at Betty.

You could tell, the whole Henry storyline was the producers’ way of saying “I’m sorry we didn’t give you Benry fans your proper closure…we’re making up for it tonight”. And it was good closure for the story line, better, I think, than Gio’s – which would have been great had he and Betty remained on-screen friends.

Horta really knows how to write the Marc/Justin scenes.  You can tell, they are really coming from his heart.  Michael Urie and Mark Indelicato are on the same page as Horta – last night’s scene was one of the best the show has ever had.

I want to watch the episode again before I say anything about America Ferrera’s performance. Betty was bounced around like a pinball in the finale, so Ferrera’s job was mostly to react.  Although her kiss with Chris Gorham was hot. 

Eric Mabius proved he could bring the drama last night.  I didn’t really care for the “Molly joking about being dead” story line, but it was carried out beautifully.  When Daniel finished his speech, and Molly wasn’t there next to Betty anymore…we knew.  Then the music started and the tissues came out.  So well executed.

(For those who complain about this – does anyone remember East Side Story?  This was one of the best ever UB episodes.  Remember Hilda and Betty falling to the floor sobbing?  It’s part of Ugly Betty, especially season finales).

The Claire/Wilhelmina story line gave us the two things we’ll wonder about all summer.  Who and where is the adopted child, and who did Wilhelmina see at the end? (OK, I’m slightly giving away spoilers).  It all happened so fast.

The Detty moment at the end just felt right.  The whole Marc/Betty rivalry did not. 

Next season will be interesting.  If it didn’t separate Marc and Amanda, I’d love to see Marc go work for Vogue.

I’m working on the monster recap.  Had “The Fall Issue” been at the level of “Curveball”, I’d really be complaining right now.  But hour two of the finale was so good, I think it made what was a lackluster season a success.

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

• 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 about it, but I loved how Amanda was used in this episode.  She wasn’t part of any story line; her job was to interject wackiness at appropriate times.  The scene where Marc and Betty were ignoring her on the phone was classic.
• The gay marriage reference was done with the usual Ugly Betty sense of humor and flair.  I prefer the subtlety of Betty over the preachiness you might get from other shows.
• Much more controversial, believe it or not, was the scene in the conference room with the over-the top product placement for Cherry 7-UP.  I’ve seen a lot of complaint about this, but I think the complaints miss the point.  Product placement is a fact of life in TV and movies.  I like the fact that the writers decided that, since they were going to do it anyway, instead of insulting the audience, they’d let them in on the joke.  I’ll do a longer full post about this subject soon – I thought it was one of the funniest scenes in the episode.
• Once complaint – they’ve made Matt into such a head case, it’s hard to like him.
• I like having the old Wilhelmina back.  She’s funniest when she’s annoyed and frustrated.
• The musical scene with Adele was the best the show has ever had (excluding Amanda’s My Milkshake scene).  I wish they could have made it longer.

Full recap after the jump.

The episode begins with Suzuki St Pierre recapping all the dealings at Mode from the previous few episodes, focusing on the Cal Hartley bailout of Meade.  At home, Betty tells her family that today is performance review day, and that she’s going to ask to be promoted to editor.  As everyone goes to start their day, Hilda knocks over Elena’s purse, revealing a letter from a Nursing school in California.

Betty and Marc simultaneously go in for their annual performance reviews.  Both are glowing (Wilhelmina calls Marc “adequate”, which is about the highest praise she’ll give), yet they are also both informed that there is a hiring freeze (part of the bailout), and neither will become editor this year.  Daniel does tell Betty that if YETI brings her an opportunity, he’ll give her a great reference.

Hilda confronts Elena about the letter from California.  Elena insists she hasn’t decided if she’s going to take the position.  She really wants the job, though, so she is torn.  Hilda insists she tell Papi.

Cal butts into a staff meeting where Wilhelmina is going over the final layout for Mode’s wedding issue.  It highlights the “Little Black Wedding Dress”.  Cal hates the idea.  He starts to make suggestions, and with each new one, Wilhelmina looks more and more perturbed.

During this scene, there is HEAVY, over the top product placement for Cherry 7-up antioxidant.  It’s in Cal’s hand, on the table, in the layout, and mentioned on-air twice.  It’s so in your face, it’s obvious the writers decided to have a little fun with the task they were given, and the results are hilarious.

Claire walks in to get the conference room for a Hot Flash meeting, and Cal asks her opinion of the layout.  Claire suggests instead of highlighting black, they highlight colorful wedding dresses, like in Europe.  Cal asks her to work with Wilhelmina revamping the issue.  Willi is about ready to explode.

Molly sees a giant ring and proposal on a desk, she thinks it’s for her from Daniel and says yes.  Unfortunately, it was part of the layout instead.  But now Daniel knows what her answer will be, so he knows her can propose in earnest without worry.

At YETI, Jodi is making the final assignment of the year, based on seating at the table.  She announces that because of the economic downturn, only the members of the winning team will get interviews with publishing companies.  Marc, Betty and a non-present Matt are teamed up, and they are assigned (randomly) to create a magazine layout involving music and physical sciences.  During this scene, Jodi flirts with Marc (her boyfriend dumped her the night before).

Marc and Betty dive into their assignment; Betty will write the article, Marc will book a great musician to photograph.  Matt, assigned to securing the venue (the planetarium) is distracted watching silly YouTube videos with Amanda.  Marc tells Betty they can’t count of Matt, but Betty defends him and says he’ll be fine.  Marc says that if Matt doesn’t come around, they’ll have to kick him out of the group.

Daniel tells Claire he can’t decide on a ring; Claire, somewhat reluctantly, pulls her engagement ring off her finger and tells Daniel to go propose.  He does, with Betty and Claire watching, getting on one knee quite romantically.  Claire is wonderful in this scene.

At the Suarez house, Hilda and family use the news of Daniel’s engagement to convince Ignacio to propose to Elena, so she’ll stay in New York with him.

Marc announces to Betty and Matt that he’s gotten Grammy winner Adele to do their photo shoot.  (He tells a wonderful 6-degrees to her story, of course involving Kevin Bacon).  Matt then tells them the Planetarium fell through.  This makes Marc so mad, he says loudly that Matt should be kicked off the team.  Betty begs Matt to get with the program, but he agrees with Marc, and leaves, sadly.  Betty chases after him, and in the hall Matt tells her he’s lost his passion for publishing; he’s now into art.  Betty is freaked out, but tells him she supports him.

Marc’s choice of venue falls through, and Betty, exasperated, says, “We can’t just paint stars in your apartment and call it the planetarium – this is Adele, not Amy Winehouse”.  Betty then gets a call and finds out they did indeed get the planetarium after all.  Betty goes to sign the contract.

Wilhelmina argues with Claire over a colorful (but rather hideous) dress, the model between them.  Claire brings up Connor, and Wilhelmina says the model looks like a baboon’s ass.  As the argument escalates, Marc “evacuates” the staff for their own safety, and they all get out except the poor model, who has her dress torn by Wilhelmina.

Daniel and Molly get a wedding planner; Molly wants the beach, a band, and tacos.  The planner freaks out when Daniel says they need to do it within the month (Molly doesn’t have a lot of time), but Daniel insists that they find a way to get it done.

At the planetarium, Victoria surprisingly shows up, and asks Betty to do what she can to keep Matt on track.  Apparently, he’s spent a lifetime starting things and not finishing them; she even has a slideshow for effect.  Betty doesn’t want to to this, but agrees because Victoria got the planetarium for them (plus, she would also like to see Matt finish YETI).

Meanwhile, Ignacio very nervously proposes to Elena, and she says yes.  He doesn’t have a ring but promises to get one as soon as he can.

At lunch, Betty talks Matt into finishing YETI.  Matt says she’s sounds like his mother, but he does agree to come back.

At the planetarium, Matt really embraces the project, and Betty is impressed.  Betty meets Adele’s manager, who really doesn’t want to be there.  Victoria comes in to see if Matt is really there, and on her way out whispers thank you to Betty.  This infuriates Matt, and they argue very loudly in front of everyone, causing Adele’s manager to call them amateurs and leave with the star before the shoot.  Things are falling apart, so Marc leaves to play his last card, Jodi’s attraction to him.

As one of the planners goes through a wedding gift guide (the planner fretting that he can’t get married), Molly realizes just how little time she has left, and tries to call off the wedding. 

At the Suarez house, Papi answers a call from the nursing school.   He is visibly upset.

Wilhelmina barges into Cal’s office and says she can’t work with Claire anymore.  Claire, for the good of the magazine agrees to step down.  After Wilhelmina leaves, Cal asks to speak with Claire alone.

As Betty is fretting about everything falling apart, Daniel tells her that Molly cancelled the wedding.  Betty, trying to make the best of two bad situations, convinces Daniel to go grab Molly and have the wedding right there at the planetarium.

Daniel and Molly have a wedding that is at once beautiful and strange, married by and actress/model dressed as an alien, who was an ordained minister before switching professions .  The bride and groom are beautiful and dashing. 

Later, Claire walks up to Wilhelmina and informs her that Cal made her (Claire) Senior Vice President of Meade.  She will report only to Cal, and Wilhelmina now reports to her.  This makes Wilhelmina so angry, she stalks off behind the set and destroys some planets.

Matt returns, and apologizes to Betty.  He also brings back Adele, who Betty gushes over before she performs for the wedding (and photo shoot).

Ignacio walks up to Elena and tells her he’s got something for her.  Instead of a ring, he hands her plane tickets, though.  He says it’s not the right time for marriage, and she needs to go follow her dream.

At YETI, Jodi loves the submission by Team Betty, and declares them the winner (adding that it has nothing to do with whatever Marc happened to do with her the night before).  She declares them the YETI winners (meaning they will get industry interviews). 

As Daniel and Molly are preparing for their honeymoon in Bora Bora, Molly collapses in the bathroom, and the episode ends with Daniel discovering her lifeless body.

Image: Bauer Griffin

Post from: Ugly Betty News