Watching Ugly Betty

Last week’s ‘Ugly Betty’ episode, ‘When Betty Meets Yeti,’ pitted Betty against Marc for a spot in the YETI program or Young Editors in Training. Only one could be accepted from Mode. Who would win this face off and why? The episode, as usual, was entertaining but I noticed a pattern developing that made the episode seem stale. It seems if the main characters do not have an ongoing plot, then they are destined to play out the same scenarios week after week. I’ll explain more after the jump and recap.

The episode begins in Betty’s apartment as Amanda beckons Betty to get her a coffee. Betty tells her that is not her job and really, how ungrateful is Amanda anyway? I digress. Later we see Betty at work and Daniel asking for coffee, to which Betty says that’s my job. You get the real sense that Betty is ready for this not to be her job for much longer. She does have some lofty goals.

She then runs into Nick Pepper, former Mode assistant turned Editor. He credits his success with the program YETI. Intrigued, Betty checks out the program and learns that the deadline for the current year is just two days away. She has to create a magazine that showcases who she is. Betty tells Daniel that he will be her sponsor and she needs a letter of recommendation from him.

As always, Daniel flakes on the letter. Betty moves forward to her magazine concept. She has decided to do a fashion magazine. Why? Who the heck knows! She tells her family that she knows fashion. Justin disagrees with this statement. She says that she must use the resources at Mode since her deadline is so tight. She turns to Christina for help when it becomes clear that Betty doesn’t know fashion as well as she thought. But, really, would Betty choose a fashion magazine as something that really shows who she is?

So, she is at her family’s home when she says she is giving up since she doesn’t know fashion. To the rescue is once again Ignacio with his patented pep talk that gets Betty motivated again. He reminds her of the magazine that Betty and Hilda did for their mom when she was in the hospital for the first time. This gives Betty an idea for her magazine.

Betty presents her magazine “B” that is a magazine meant to inspire young women. She does a great presentation and feels pretty confident leaving the room. Marc shows up with his team, yes team, of people who will help him present his celebrity magazine. The A-List explores our fascination with celebrities and is full of commentary. He has done a full magazine. Betty is not feeling so confident now.

Betty gets into the program and Marc doesn’t. Marc is upset naturally. Betty tries to comfort him when he tells her that the only reason her 48-hour magazine beat out his three-month project was because she was Latina since they have to take in so many minorities. Betty doesn’t believe it but when she calls YETI, they don’t deny it. Betty is crushed and drops out of program since she wants to be accepted by her merit and nothing else.

Daniel finally writes the letter of recommendation for Betty and she is accepted into the program since she did work at Player magazine, hence it’s not two people from the same magazine. Daniel’s letter is very complimentary. Betty is psyched. The episode ends with Marc calling Betty to talk about what the YETI schedule. It’s a sweet moment.

So, let’s see. What else happened this episode? Daniel fills in for Connor at Molly’s school since he is called away to work thanks to Wilhemina. She practically throws herself at him and is rejected. Daniel and Molly have a good time at the school. Afterwards, Daniel calls her to thank her for the cards the class made for him. They have a nice conversation and it’s obvious that Daniel really likes her.

Justin and his new friend Randy whom he met at the Billy Elliott audition. They have become quite chummy, which Hilda is thrilled about. She says something a little weird like it’s good Justin has a male role model in his life because he hasn’t had that since his dad died. Ignacio clears his throat like ‘what about me’ but then Hilda says ‘well you know what I mean.’ No, not sure what you mean, Hilda. I guess the comment is thrown in to show the audience just how much it means that Justin now has a friend?
Anyway, Randy’s friends are a little put off by his new friendship with Justin. Randy then abruptly ends the friendship by calling Justin out in front of his friends. Justin is crushed. Hilda had bought tickets to Little Shop of Horrors for Justin and Randy. Hilda and Justin share a tender mom/son moment. Justin then asks his mom if she would like to go see the show with him.

The main story was definitely Betty and Marc. Ignacio’s scene and to a degree, Daniel’s interaction with Betty seemed played before. It was touching but very lackluster to me. I’m not sure how scenes can be both. But we’ve seen Ignacio with the bright idea of the day before. In fact, it looks to be his role in every episode. We all know that Betty is Daniel’s mentor, so I guess these scenes where he lifts her up are part of the overall story. Still, it’s roles that we know they both play. Do we really need to see it played out each week?

Overall it was a great episode and very enjoyable. ‘Ugly Betty’ is off this week but will return with a brand new episode December 4th.