(S02E15) You can add "glamourtunity" and "preg-nasty" to the Ugly Betty lexicon. While this episode gave us some cute moments and clever dialogue, I felt like it was light on plot. Yes, we got Renee's storyline out of the way, but the rest of it was build-up to the season's bigger issues. I'm ready for things to start happening.
I'm a bit let down by the Renee character. At first she seemed like a bigger threat to Wilhelmina, but Wili took her down with very little effort. I also hoped that Daniel would get more of a serious love interest this season. Sofia broke his heart in season one; did Daniel need another bad relationship? More could have been done with Christina and Betty's raid on Wili's files, too. I expected them to find a file that would introduce a new mystery or storyline. Instead, we got a neat-and-tidy explanation of Renee's personal history. Still, Gabrielle Union deserves credit for taking the character as far as she could.
Christian Siriano provided most of the comic relief in this episode. He fit into the Mode world as well as some of the fictional characters. Becki Newton took advantage of limited screen time (what's up with that, by the way?) to ham it up around Siriano's models. I wish they had given Christian a bigger cameo and taken some time away from Renee's inevitable breakdown. Perhaps he can come back for a short story arc. Wouldn't it have been great to see him and Marc in the same room? Mode hasn't been nearly as funny during Wili's absence. Not only did we lose Wili and Marc, we lost Christina. I was relieved when I heard that Christina will be released from baby jail once the baby is "safely on the way."
I'm glad that the writers let us in on Henry's side of the Charlie problem. He's been going about things with Betty all wrong, and he finally figured it out during his heart-to-heart with Gio. Betty and Henry should make the most of their limited time together; with or without Gio, their relationship is going to change. To be fair, I don't think that Betty developed feelings for Gio because Henry was less available. Gio appeals to her in a way that Henry doesn't, plain and simple. It's interesting that Gio and Betty seem to talk more often than Henry and Betty do. Gio told Betty about Henry's visit even before Henry did.
The reunion between Hilda and her frenemy, Gina Gambarro, felt tacked on at first. I understood its purpose once Hilda admitted that she wanted the kind of love that Gina and her chiropractor husband shared. It's time for Hilda to get back out in the dating world. Until Mode gets back to normal (Wili and Marc's return, in other words), Queens needs to pick up the slack in the plot department.
If you're the kind of fan who wants Betty and Daniel to get together, this was the episode for you. It was sweet that, even after Renee's meltdown, Daniel still believed that Betty had feelings for him. Didn't he understand that it was all a misunderstanding? The episode ended on a sad note for Daniel. He sat alone in his office watching Henry and Betty kiss. I wish that something good would happen to Daniel before the season is over. His father is dead, his sister is his boss, and his latest girlfriend tried to kill his assistant. This guy needs a break!
My favorite lines of the night:
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"Give Betty enough food and it's just a matter of time before she falls in love." --Amanda
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"The House of Siriano has arrived. Worship me, bitches." --Christian Siriano
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Christina's thoughts on Wili's Ryan Seacrest file: "I don't know why she's sitting on that. Someone needs to take him down." Truer words were never spoken.
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"This is Prada. This is nada." --Hilda
Next week--Wili and Marc take Mode by storm, and Betty throws Charlie a baby shower.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-02-2008 @ 9:20AM
Sarah said...
i can't believe you missed the one liner when Wili said Marc shouldn't pout!
Reply
5-02-2008 @ 12:12PM
Erin Martell said...
That was a good line too, Sarah!
5-02-2008 @ 9:34AM
Kim said...
Sorry, I've got to disagree with you. I thought Christian Siriano contributed little if anything to the show. He was completely upstaged by his own entourage.
Reply
5-02-2008 @ 10:24AM
chrisb said...
You're crazy. He was awesome.
"Worship me, bitches!" and "Hot tranny mess... minus the mess" are easily going to be the most quoted lines in gay bars across the nation for the next 6 months.
5-02-2008 @ 11:03AM
Ryan said...
As if they weren't already, chrisb.
5-02-2008 @ 1:11PM
Jennifer said...
Can I ask a stupid question, as one who did not watch his season of PR? Does Christian Siriano say anything OTHER than "hot tranny mess" and "fierce?" Ever? Because man, did he ever just walk on (with bad hair), recite his trademark lines, and that was it.
Also, I find it hard to imagine that Alexis wouldn't get pissed at being called a mess, even if she's a hot tranny.
5-02-2008 @ 1:32PM
chrisb said...
No, that's pretty much all he says! He did cry in the season finale of PR, which showed a bit of vulnerability and made him seem more lifelike.
5-02-2008 @ 2:15PM
Shane said...
I love this episode! It made me laugh and the ending made me a little upset. Renee was a good character, I surprisingly felt a lot of emotion when Wili got away with ruining her sisters life. I would've liked to see Daniel and Renee work out. Hilda & Amanda need more screen time! They're hilarious. I think Christina could use more screen time too. Amanda and her little monologue with Daniel? Hilarious. And her posing with the models made me laugh my ass off!
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5-02-2008 @ 2:25PM
LoriA said...
Does anyone know the song they were playing when Christian Soriano made his entrance? It's kind of a Latin carnivale thing with whistles and some woman singing, not in English. It's stuck in my head and driving me insane!
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5-02-2008 @ 3:53PM
Peterjon Smith said...
the song is called calabria 2007 by Enur and its on itunes
5-02-2008 @ 3:55PM
Peterjon Smith said...
I think willi definitely crossed the line on this one. To do this to your own sister WOW.
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5-02-2008 @ 6:10PM
Europa said...
"Christina's thoughts on Wili's Ryan Seacrest file: 'I don't know why she's sitting on that. Someone needs to take him down.' Truer words were never spoken."
Amen, Sista!!
Reply
5-03-2008 @ 3:24AM
Laura said...
[b]Bashing chiropractors?[/b]
This is my burning question: How much did the producers of Ugly Betty get paid by the pharmaceuticals to bash chiropractors on the last show? It was so out of the blue. "Chiropractors aren't *real* doctors!"
Slandering a medical profession? Let's look at some facts.
"The Parker College study reported that on average, chiropractic college involves 372 more classroom hours than medical school. Chiropractic students also have more hours of training in anatomy, physiology, diagnosis, and orthopedics (the musculoskeletal system). "
In an average of 18 chiropractic schools and 22 medical schools, chiropractors had 456 hours of anatomy compared to MD's 215, more physiology, chemistry, diagnosis (408 hours versus 113 hours!), x-ray (271 hours versus 13 hours!) and orthopedics (168 hours versus 2 hours). In fact, the total number of hours for a chiropractic college was 2,419 while a medical school was 2,047. (I found these facts on http://www.drgrisanti.com/mddc.htm if you want to read them for yourself.)
But of course, since chiropractors are more versed in diagnosis and orthopedics, they are more able to help the patient with musculoskeletal injuries (say, a random pain in your foot, or neck or low back). These account for 20% of patient visits.
And we know how much the pharmaceuticals love to supply Americans with drugs.
So why wouldn't they want to bash chiropractors on Ugly Betty? Why would pharmaceuticals want to lose 20% of the patient population to chiropractic? Chiropractors don't believe in unnecessary drugs or surgery, a philosophy which is very threatening to our current healthcare system.
I was so disenchanted and disappointed and infuriated with this part of the show (and I normally love Ugly Betty!) that I am thinking of boycotting it. At the very least, I want the contact information for the producers to let them know that they have alienated some portion of their audience. And they will get sued. Slandering a medical profession like that is not something that slips through the cracks. It is illegal.
Reply
5-03-2008 @ 5:02PM
Caroline said...
Relax.
5-03-2008 @ 10:45PM
marisolace said...
Erm, I don't think we were supposed to take it that seriously. Just because a -character- doesn't believe it's a real profession doesn't reflect the writer's opinion. Calm down.
5-03-2008 @ 10:10PM
Tee said...
The show just has not been the same since the strike. I am left with so many questions. For instance:
- Why was Wilihemina so against the idea of Renee getting with Daniel? Sure, Wili and her sister were never friends, but wouldn't Renee be more of an asset to her as a blackmailed mole on the Meades instead of in the loony bin?
- Why hasn't Christina mentioned of Stuart? Isn't he, after all, the reason why she is agreeing to be Wili's surrogate? And did Stuart take the money and run or is he really dying?
- What happened to Betty's writing class? Does she still want to be a writer?
- Why hasn't Gio called Betty on Henry's continued lameness? What distingushes Gio from Henry for me is in that he challenged Betty. Shouldn't he be the one to point out that Henry's "drama" is created by his refusal to set boundaries?
- Why hasn't Betty's family called out Henry's continued lameness? Yes, the plan is for Betty to have this fairytale time before Henry goes bye-bye, but the longer Betty pretends, the more she is going to get hurt. I long for a scene where Papa suarez sits Betty down and tells her that at some point, peopple have to make a decision aand he could remind her that her mother chose to leave her husband for him. But, they could have never had a family if Betty's mother would not have made a choice. And when Hilda saw that gina had a real realtionship, wouldn't it have prmptd her to want the same not only fo herself, but for Betty?
- Wasn't Daniel a drug and sex addict at the beginning of the season? How did he overcome that again?
- How are we supposed to believe that Renee was one of Daniel's loves when we onyl saw them together for two episodes?
I could go on, but I won't. :) I want some resolution and i want a season finale that will pull at me the way last season did.
Reply
5-03-2008 @ 10:45PM
marisolace said...
If I recall correctly -- A couple of interviews have let out that the next few episodes will be almost completely plot driven and answer a lot of previously unanswered questions.
Yay?
http://www.buddytv.com/articles/ugly-betty/ugly-betty-more-updates-on-sea-19003.aspx