'Ugly Betty' gets wicked with Henry
Forget about Wicked. The Tony-award winning play took a back seat to Ugly Betty's drama this week, which involved several people facing hard truths about themselves and, more importantly, the advancement of Betty and Henry's star-crossed illicit relationship.
Spoilers on my birthday today. Yes, I'm shameless.
Betty, the fine, upstanding citizen she is, has a very hard time lying. So hard, in fact, that she spills the secret that she's dating Henry deliberately to three people and accidentally in front of a crowd of theatergoers. Christina is in Betty's corner of course, wanting love to triumph. Unfortunately, Daniel is Anti-Henry since he's worried about her tender heart, so Betty's forced to lie when he overhears her trying to score Wicked tickets to advance her office romance.
Betty instead tells Daniel that she's dating sandwich guy Gio (yup, he's back!). Lots of wackiness ensues, which ends up with Gio paired with Betty at the theater as a cover when Daniel shows up and Henry paired with Gio's little sister Antonella, who appears to aspire to be as annoying as Gio. Okay, I get that Gio and Betty are supposed to have this crazy chemistry, but I'll be happy when he at least stops needling her every moment.
In the end, Daniel tells Betty that she's stupid for dating a guy who got another girl pregnant. Betty's seriously hurt, but after talking to Hilda, decides that she wants to pursue love anyway and goes to Henry's apartment to seal the deal. Finally -- even Justin was getting more action than her for a while there.
Meanwhile, Daniel tries to win back advertisers by man-whoring himself out to a potential client (Marlo Thomas), but comes to his senses that even he's not that low. Also revealed is that Wilhelmina's daughter, who was supposed to be the maid of honor, backed out with some trumped up excuse, leaving Willy sad and alone -- an observation Marc unfortunately makes within Wil's hearing.
Not that Marc is the smartest guy when it comes to relationships. He's having a fine old time with schlubby boyfriend Cliff, but is ashamed to acknowledge their relationship publicly. Cliff eventually figures this out, and dumps Marc, leaving our boy to reconsider his superficial ways. For shame.
And lastly, Justin discovers that his mom's new job isn't at the chi-chi Bumble & Bumble salon as she claimed (well, she was fired for offering suggestions), but at a Hooters knockoff establishment instead. Acknowledging that Hilda had to swallow her pride in order to make money, Justin and Ignacio surprise her with her very own hairdrying chair so she can open her own backyard business, The Sweet Hair-After. Thank Betty for that bit of marketing genius.
Some highlights:
- Justin RE: "bitchslap": "There's no other word for it."
- Christina getting all hot and bothered when comparing Henry to a donut and how Betty should dunk him in coffee.
- Marc to Cliff: "You know the fashion world: very homophobic."
- Wilhelmina chose "Ebony and Ivory" as her wedding theme.
- Daniel, after Betty wiped a smudge off his cheek using a bit of spit: "You didn't just do that."
- Both Gio and Antonella calling Henry "Egg Salad"
- Betty to Gio: "You're a very rude fake boyfriend."
- Amanda to Betty: "Why are you talking about that guy's pickle?"
- Marc: "What do I do -- let him go just because he doesn't use product?"
Did I miss anything? Your opinion on the two romances?
It was such a wonderful episode!
First of all, I think Daniel made a huge leap backwards this time. Where he was actually making progress since the season premier, this was really a step in the wrong direction. He's accepting the way his father treats him, running back to his old addictions, deciding things FOR Betty, and most of all - he called her "stupid". I mean.. sheesh.
I loved Hilda; she really delivered another powerful performance this episode (along with her last on 2.05 with Justin.)
I think Henry and Betty are really making some progress, and that's REALLY exciting. Considering how they met on Halloween, it was sweet that a year later their first date is tonight, November 1st !
I can't stand Gio, especially as an item with Betty. He had some moments where he was slightly funny, but for the most part I agree with Henry. "You won't be the only one getting your heart broken."
I can only hope for the best in the next episode ~ Beckham, Wang~? Yay! Also, another wonderful quote to add to your already great collection at the bottom: Marc - "Oh, come on! What does Wang know about BONING?" Ahahaha ~ Or Gio - "When you hear a gag, that's me... gagging."
OH! And ~ Happy Birthday!!! :)
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I didn't like the show tonight. Isn't Betty like the moral comp*** on the show? Isn't that why she is kinda of retro with the braces and stuff....not about appearances. I saw all the suttle stuff they had in the show about her sister working at headlights saying that she was getting involved with Henry with her eyes open but for me I don't buy it. Daniel had her pegged correctly with his "stupid " remark. And how foolish for her character to get involeved with a man who is taken and leaving in 5 months. I guess Betty is having a laps in her morals and all in all for me it's not good. Not a positive example for young women in any coulture. Should be interesting to see how they deal with the Betty/Henry thing. For me she should have connected with Gio.
I loved when they were in the lobby for WICKED(Best Musical EVER) and Daniel introduced potential client (Marlo Thomas)to Betty and they played a Couger sound! I was waiting for Barney from HIMYM to come running over!!
Can't stand Gio. Ugh. Yuck. Dear Producers, please get rid of Gio. He has zero chemistry with Betty, in my humble opinion, and he's just plain annoying.
Secondly, what's with the whole controversy of Henry and Betty together, anyway? Didn't Henry break up with Charlie? Unless I missed something? Anyway, I think the Ugly Betty producers forget that it's 2007: there are Baby Mamas everywhere. I seriously doubt that the Baby Daddies stop themselves from engaging in new relationships because of said Baby Mamas. Not only that, but Henry was being responsible when he left for Tucson to be with what's-her-name. I don't know, but I think pegging Henry as this intentionally heartbreaking guy doesn't seem to work here. Not only that, but it doesn't seem to make sense.
I'm getting irritated with Betty.
IF she WANTS Henry, she should have him, but this silliness of trying to hide it is getting tedious.
And I think Daniel has some nerve trying to point ANYBODY's moral comp*** anywhere. I have a feeling his decision not to keep going with Marlo had less to do with right and wrong than the fact that he just didn't WANT to.
THANK GOD Justin is back to being himself!
I really like Daniel and Betty's sibling-like relationship on the show. I thought it was sweet of Daniel to be so protective of Betty, but he had no right to threaten Henry's job if Betty continued dating him. Let's face it, if Daniel had fired him, Henry could have filed a lawsuit against Mode for wrongful termination! :-)
My favorite part of this episode was when Marc was helping Wilhelmina with the wedding plans. I loved it when she said that the chocolates were not supposed to be 'segregated'. Then she threw one of the chocolates right into Marc's mouth, like he was Amanda's little dog.
I think the reason that Gio seems so annoying to us is because he has a secret crush on Betty, but he can't bring himself to just admit it. Personally, I don't know who would be a better match for Betty at this point because we haven't seen too much of Gio's background yet.
Unfortunately, I did not become a writer for television, because I pretty much had every event in this episode pegged from minute one, and probably could've written it myself. Hilda lying about still working for the hair salon? Check. Justin finding out about it and being just a wee bit snarky to his mother? Check. Daniel getting the back of his father's hand, while Alexis continues to be the "favorite son?" Check. Don't get me wrong...I still love "Ugly Betty" and will continue to watch it until the last episode (hopefully not for another five years or so), but really...it's time to start stirring the pot a little, plot-wise, before the stew begins to stick to the bottom. I'm hoping that Marc's own troubles keep making him more and more human, because I have really liked his, er, blossoming this season. The writers do need to keep him paired with Amanda, though, because without a few snarky asides by those two, "Ugly Betty" just isn't right. It is because this show is so incredibly complex, yet well-written, that I think so many people find things to love about it, even when certain subplots go ploosh. And now, dammit, I'm going to have to go find a copy of the soundtrack to "Wicked." Some of those songs are quite catchy.
Oh come on Michael! The great thing about this show is that no matter how over the top they are, above all the characters are human. Betty's not perfect and whose moral comp*** is she adhering to - yours? The saying is "love is blind" it makes you do crazy things. We've all been in relationships we've known are wrong for all manner of reasons, and yes some of them are very stupid but who's to say Betty & Henry's relationship won't work? With Charlie's track record she could easily be with someone else now preparing to phase Henry out of his fatherly rights. Hilda is so right - Why shouldn't Betty have 5 months of fun? It's better than a lifetime of "what if?" Good on her I say.
As for Christina - no mention of her mystery husband this week and she seems to be very calm, perhaps he's not as bad as we think.
Gio is like the annoying older brother Betty doesn't have - there is no romantic chemistry between those two and shouldn't be. He's a perfect fit for mode he's as horrible to Betty as Marc and Amanda are!
How is it that Amanda is allowed to bring her dog into work anyway?
Love that Justin seems to be right back to normal - it's as if he never went away!
Willi's "I smell fear" line cracked me up.
Daniel's a fine one to talk - it's time he grabbed hold of his balls and told his father where to get off instead of drowning his sorrows on one night stands. If his father is hanging around as a consultant he should start dispensing advice instead of nagging his son to death it's not like his judgment is that brilliant anyway. He's marrying a woman who is using him and he prefers the daughter that tried to kill him to the son that loves him unconditionally - Eedjit!!
Loved all the Wicked songs playing in the background - more please!
I was absolutely disappointed in the episode. I'm with Daniel on this one. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I lost respect for this character and what she stood for and to drive it home they have a morally ambiguous character pointing out the truth. She was better than that, but not anymore.