'Ugly Betty' takes Mr. Toad's wild ride
We moved into weird, telenovela land with the latest Ugly Betty. But once you got that suspension of disbelief activitated, it was a darn entertaining episode.
Spoilers laced with a psychedelic-inducing drug made from toad venom.
Can perfume drive a person crazy? If it's mixed by Fey Sommers, then anything is possible. According to newly found diary pages, Amanda discovers that a certain bottle of perfume was concocted by Fey and then given by Bradford to Claire to distract her from his adulterous behavior. It was supposed to be toxic, but it slowly made Claire erratic, paranoid and insane instead, which eventually led to her killing Fey.
Through silly circumstances, Claire gives it to Betty to use and keep safe, not knowing its properties. Henry quite likes the scent on Betty, and our girl finds that she's suddenly hyper: speedily typing memos, leaping over furniture and staying up all night. Even stranger is that she experiences synesthesia, becomes fascinated by Pucci prints and loses her inhibitions when it comes to PDAs with Henry. Go, Betty. But it's when she becomes angry at Gio and breaks into his deli that she realizes something is terribly wrong.
So, the chemical analysis (these things happen so much faster on TV) of her blood shows that she's been poisoned, and she puts two and two together, realizing that Claire must have been out of her right mind when she killed Fey. Luckily, all this comes together during Claire's trial, which has been looking desperate lately.
After an initial bit of sabotage by Amanda, who doesn't want the truth about her mother's evil ways revealed, the diary pages and perfume are admitted into evidence, and Claire is declared not guilty. Free at last.
The side story with Betty, however, is that while Henry is visiting Tucson for Charlie's sonogram, Gio's presence makes Betty realize that she's not entirely secure with Henry's fidelity. Not only that, but Amanda points out that Gio has a crush on her, which Betty rejects. But when all the drama is over, Gio is starting to realize that this assessment is true. Love triangle ahead. Gio would totally take Henry down in a fight, but does he have the right?
Lastly, Wilhelmina's crafty plan to get Christina to carry her Bradford-frozen sperm lovechild succeeds after an initial hiccup. Christina first refuses the offer, intending to sell an authentic Jackie O dress she found instead to raise the money for her husband's experimental medication, but when the dress is ruined by Marc, she's forced to comply. When last we see her, the Slater-Meade zygote is rapidly multiplying its cells in her womb.
Highlights:
- Marc about Wil's inability to carry a child: "It's sad: Bono and Sheryl Crow should do a benefit for her lady parts."
- Christina: "My uterus is officially closed to devil's spawn."
- Betty: "The pastrami tastes like ... purple. The tomatoes are like sunshine."
- The new judge's name: Nancy Biotch
- The network shoutouts to Grey's Anatomy and "ABC-ya!"
- Wilhelmina to Marc about the dress: "You know what we should do?" Marc: "Bid on it and then take turns wearing it?" Wil: "Not this time."
- Betty: "Thank you, Amanda. You did the right thing. Feels good, doesn't it?" Amanda: "Eh, it'll pass."
Had a blast with this episode. Your thoughts? What about Gio's chances?
What a terrific episode! One of my all time favorites.
Oooh! I've never been first.
Anyway, I liked the episode. I love Amanda and Marc and I've missed the two of them together. I'm really looking forward to next week.
ABC-ya
-Emily
America Ferrara turned in a pitch perfect comedic performance.
Freddy Rodriguez is this year's Henry. I hate to say it because I really like Henry, but I am liking the Gio-Betty development even more.
Hahn, you review simply recaps the show and doesn't provide the expected commentary on the acting or character development! America was great in epidsode!
i hope this episode is submitted for america's emmy consideration. she was impressive. hahn, we need snarky comments please!
I thought I really wanted Betty with Henry, but after this episode I think I'm rooting more for Gio and Betty now. He has that extra ****e like Betty.
This was definitely one of the best episodes of the season. The toxic perfume was a little too convenient, but at least Claire doesn't have to spend the rest of her life in prison. I would like to see more family bonding between Claire and her children, especially now that Bradford is gone.
A lot of viewers complained that Gio was too annoying last year, but I think the writers have done a good job of toning him down. I like both Gio and Henry, so I don't think Betty can go wrong. ;-) I noticed that Daniel was staring at Gio when Betty hugged him.
I loved all the ways that Marc was trying to help Wilhelmina with the surrogate mother. The funniest part was when Christina ***umed that Marc was going to be the baby's biological father! :-)
Paige I noticed that too. I think Daniel will be pushing Betty in the direction of Gio, cause he doesn't like Henry and his situation.
If America doen't get the emmy for this episode , then the fix is in. She was amazing and really proved her versitality. If anyone wants to see a really good dramatic performance by America then you should check out 'Real Women Have Curves' fantastic movie.
I loved the part with Barry Bostwick about Bettys hair. "Thats her real hair" hilarious.
I LOVE THIS SHOW! ESPECIALLY LAST NITE...FOR ANYONE WHO'S EVER GOTTEN "HIGH"...THATS SOOO HOW IT GOES! A LITTLE DE JA VUE FOR US 60'S PARTIERS..EVEN THOUGH ITS ALL IMPOSSIBLE...ITS ALL BELIEVABLE THANKS TO THIS STELLAR CAST...EVERYONE IS SO GOOD....LOVE AMANDA..WHAT A SCENE STEALER!! QUALITY ALL AROUND..HOPE IT STAYS ON A LONG TIME...AND YES, I THINK BETTY & GIO WILL HOOK UP! WHAT ELSE? THEY CANT HAVE HENRY BE A BAD DAD,RIGHT?
Okay, okay. I admit I was in a rush to finish and meet a friend last night, so I concentrated more on the recapping and less on the commentary and opinion portion. (My only request is that if you're gonna chastise me, please spell my name right. Thank you :) )
America was freakin' awesome in this episode. She's always good, but they allowed her to have so much range. Oh, and forget about Mary Tyler Moore. This is a girl who can turn the world on with her smile. All her hyper/amorous behavior was hilarious to watch and made me giggle like a little girl. Loved it when she said, "I got your care package right here," and launched herself at Henry.
As for the Henry-Betty-Gio triangle, well ... Henry and Betty are just too sweet together. Bored now. They're so much on the same page, it's like they've been married forever -- the childhood sweethearts you figure will be together and really have nothing else to say about them. But on top of that is their doomed situation, which I guess ought to add some poignancy to the mix, but really just makes me impatient for them to be done.
With Gio, on the other hand, he adds some ****e. He has strong opinions and doesn't let Betty get away with slacking on her dreams. Couples ought to make each other better, and he makes her more aggressive about her career, standing up for herself. I think she makes him sweeter, less prickly. It's a good balance, and I'm curious to see how the show will awaken her feelings for him. All that annoyance and irritation from earlier in the season has to pay off soon.
I enjoy Marc and Amanda together, but she was kind of irritating me last night. And where oh where is my Cliff? They mentioned him in last week's episode, and I saw him in that faux fast food commercial (anyone else catch that?), but I've been deprived of that interaction.
Where else the show has been veering off: Get us back into the day-to-day with Mode, don't just set other action there. I want to see models and fashion shoots and guest stars. Also, let's see more of the Suarez household. How is Hilda's business going? I want to know if anything is going on with Papi.
I'm not so much with the snark on this show because it provides so much of it already through Marc, Amanda, etc., but I must say I have this love-hate thing going on with Suzuki St. Pierre (Alec Mapa), that fashion news commentator. I swing between wanting to strangle him and congratulating him for his ridiculous amount of snark.
Another new episode next week with Gio confronting Henry. Ooh!