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I Heart Ugly Wanda!
Fingernails on a chalkboard served as a visual (and audible) aid in Betty's writing class. Victor Garber by Karen Neal/ABC
Episode Recap: "Grin and Bear It"
Wilhemina was in her full glory tonight. My favorite scenes were Pretty Willie (as Meade Publications' cochair) being introduced to some of the company's other publishing treasures, and Ugly Wanda weaving us through her evening at Studio 54 as Fey's mousey assistant, spying on her boss entwined with Amanda's mystery dad with the Tweety Bird tattoo on his ass. Priceless!
Speaking of spies, Syd's double-agent dad on Alias is now torturing the wounded artistes in Betty's writing class. His brand of teaching involves nick-naming Betty "Clappy" and/or "Crappy" and encouraging them to attempt suicide or start a knife fight — whatever gives them something to write about. I love Victor Garber; I hope we see more of him!
No wonder the usually self-assured Betty lost her nerve during class and claimed the bear-victim story was hers. The poor girl can't get away with anything! Soon she found herself Prof. Barrett's teacher's pet, then at the "New York Review," faking a pregnancy and being confronted by the real author back at the office. Daniel was there to rescue her, and to remind her that his opinion of her and her writing shouldn't matter quite so much.
Back in the executive suite, Wilhelmina and Marc were so horrified at what they'd soon be dealing with — from "Adventure Time"'s "everything extreme!" to "Player"'s concise "boobs" editorial concept — that Willie concocted a plan to destroy "Mode" and make way for her very own self-titled "Slater" mag, à la Oprah and Martha Stewart Living. I concur with Marc: "Mad props on the evil."
And just why was Wilhelmina waxing on about Fey's "Mode" party at Studio 54 on April 26, 1981? Amanda discovered that was the place of her conception! (How apropos.) And we learned several things about Amanda: not a real blonde, 25 years old, and Fey really did love her because she "quit smoking during her pregnancy… eventually." Now Amanda has the guest list, and can begin searching the asses of the respective male party-goers for that tattoo.
"Mode"'s destruction began tonight, or at least Willie hopes it did, with Atlantic Attire pulling its advertising from the magazine. Dear little Dawson (James Van der Beek) was all grown up as the ad guy, replete with corporate-speak and an obsession with the brand and the bottom line. Daniel stood his ground and defended his sister, playing the part of supportive brother with aplomb. He had his work cut out for him, as Alexis struggled with applying makeup, wearing a bra and walking in heels. (Poor Marc, mauled by a stiletto!) But near the end of the episode, Daniel revealed the guilt-ridden motivation behind his help, telling Alexis that if he hadn't been strung out, the car accident never would have happened. I wonder how long we'll have to wait before they learn/remember the real cause of the accident.
Thank god Henry provided some comic relief! Of course the do-gooder went to great lengths to adapt those Algebra tutoring sessions to Justin's fashion sensibility. How was he to know that the sullen teen has suddenly taken after his father? The fashion elf was strutting around in his dad's leather jacket, drinking milk out of the carton, and saying "whatevs" upon flunking a test. Later, Henry found Justin and a neighborhood girl making out and drinking "bee-ah." Loved Henry's wisdom imparted to Justin about the "gateway drug."
As the episode came to a close, Henry admitted to Betty what was behind all this fatherly worry. I saw it coming: Henry's about to be a dad. (That was a quick 14 weeks, no?) Looks like they're going their separate ways… for now. The promo for next week looked intriguing!
Relive your favorite Ugly Betty moments with our Online Video Guide.
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Oct 18, 2007 10:36 PM
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ABC is pressing their luck with boobies in the 8PM timeslot. First, "Cleavage Chuck" on Pushing Daises on Wednesday, and now "Alexis, the Braless Wonder" on Thursdays. Does Nielsen factor the soccer-mom and pre-pubescent teenager demographics into their ratings?
But I have to say the episode as a whole was dissappointing (albeit it was the best episode ever due to Victor Garber).
What the heck happened to Justin's storyline? He was my favorite character! Don't tell me it's the same "de-gaying" excuse as they used on Heroes...
I liked the Anna Nicole Smith gag. I was expecting an anachromism, and it delivered.
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Oct 19, 2007 12:22 AM
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WTF. after a week of promoting james Van Der Beek guest starring in this episode i thought he was going to get more then 2.5 mins of airtime. UB is still top 3 on my must watch list but this affront to shameful guest promoting is intolerable.
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Oct 19, 2007 2:12 AM
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Nobody does identity crisis quite like Ugly Betty. Of course you have Justin trying to be like his Dad, Amanda trying to figure out who her father is; Wilhemina still trying to de-Wanda herself and then the ultimate identity crisis: Alex/Alexis. Before his/her "death" he was a man, then he felt like a woman trapped in a man's body so he made the changes to a SHE. Then after the last accident he/she feels like a man trapped in a woman's body. So we have a man trapped in a woman's body trapped in a man's body. Ah the confusion.
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Oct 19, 2007 4:37 AM
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I gotta say, I wasn't thrilled with this episode. I thought it was one of the weaker ones I've seen. The whole "Betty's Writing Class" storyline was the weak link. How many sitcoms have we seen with this story: character passes off someone's else's work as his/her own, then gets in trouble when someone wants to publish it or display it in a gallery?? (I'll wait as we all count.) Maybe the writers needed a break and passed an afternoon watching old episodes of Growing Pains or Fresh Prince.
On the plus side, finding out that Wilhelmina used to be a mousy assistant was interesting. ("Wanda"?) And, I didn't realize that 'fros were still big (heh) in 1981. Additionally, just because "Wanda" saw Fay getting busy with Tweety-butt, doesn't mean Tweety's her father. I'm sure Fey was quite busy when it came to getting busy.
Plus, I know it's because Henry's gonna be a dad and all, but I would have thought that he & Betty would have had the opposite reactions about Justin: Betty freaking out, and Henry assuring her that it's just a phase as Justin deals with his dad's death. It seemed a little out of character for Betty to be so non-chalant. It's sad that Henry really IS the father of Charley's baby, but we all know that something will eventually happen to allow him & Betty to be together. (In true soap-opera fashion, we could find out that Charley had the DNA test results switched.)
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Oct 19, 2007 5:21 AM
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Ugly Betty still makes me smile each week, one of the very few shows left on TV that do. So thanks to the cast and writers for their continued entertainment.
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Oct 19, 2007 8:05 AM
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Aimee - refresh my memory - what was the real cause of the accident?
Willie, Marc and Amanda - my 3 favorite characters! Week to week, they never let me down.
I was dissapointed by Henry's impending fatherhood, especially since we never see Charley anymore.
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Oct 19, 2007 9:42 AM
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I love Ugly Betty and will keep watching it but, WTF was up with the stuffed Bear attack? I get why they did it, guilty concious and all for claiming the bear attack story as her own, but that put this episode on a slippery downhill slope for me. My husband and I thought, oh wow that was just cheesy! I know all shows have their bad episodes from time to time. Next week looks good though! Was also suprised to see Justin making out with a girl, but I did notice that it was Hilda may have looked like at her age.
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Oct 19, 2007 9:53 AM
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I agree that the Betty writing class plot fell flat but I loved everything else going on. Justin trying to act tough b/c he misses his dad...really sad! The studio 54 flashback was the best part of the episode. Especially when they went through the guest list that night. Alexis trying to figure out how to be a girl was also priceless. But what I really love about this show is the brief moments of complete randomness. Like a few eps. back when Mark created the sound of thunder on the rooftop during the Betty/Willimena confrontation or last night when Mark fell on the floor, got up, and then Willi told him to get back down. So bizarre!
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Oct 19, 2007 10:18 AM
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I do agree that Marc and Willy are ALWAYS in top form! Loved the thunder clap too! :D
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Oct 19, 2007 10:27 AM
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I missed bits and pieces of last nght's episode 'cause I was flipping between the Red Sox and Indians championship game (Boston won - GO RED SOX!!!) so I will watch it again on my computer later but I just wanted to mention that Judith Light's real-life husband, Robert Desiderio, was the editor that Betty met with at the New York Review.....I saw his name in the opening credits and hoped that the two would have some scenes together, but alas - it was not meant to be. They met when they were both on "One Life to Live."
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Oct 19, 2007 10:36 AM
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honbun26, near the end of last season, Alexis fell for a "Mode" Brazil editor and considered moving to Brazil to be with him — until she discovered that her father had set the whole thing up to get her to leave the country. To get back at her dad, she called a guy to get the problem "eliminated." In the season finale, Daniel and Alexis fought while he was strung out from OD'ing on pills. She rushed him to the hospital in her father's car (all the co. town cars were booked, of course!), unaware that the guy she'd paid off to get back at Bradford had cut the brakes. She sped to the hospital and realized too late that the brakes had been cut, causing her to crash the car. Daniel doesn't know about the brakes, so assumes her speeding (on behalf of his condition) caused the crash; and Alexis doesn't remember the last two years, let alone that she indirectly tried to have her father killed.
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Oct 19, 2007 11:01 AM
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I agree with Jenna that Betty's mild reaction to Justin's bad attitude wasn't in character. I even think Hilda would have been more on his case. She may not be the brainy one, but I think she took pride in Justin's academic success. I audibly gasped when I saw him making out with that girl. The show has never really come right out and said that Justin is gay, but are they now trying to say that he only liked fashion and such because he had no father figure? I'm as confused as Justin apparently is!
As for Henry, it definitely feels like he is on his way out. It almost feels like the writers didn't realize how much we viewers would like this couple and they are now regretting bringing him in so soon. Like..."oh no, we can't have Betty find the love of her life in the first season. Let's get rid of him with the baby-by-the-ex-girlfriend bit and then bring him back in season 7 to end off the show."
As Justin would say, "Whatev"!
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Oct 19, 2007 12:29 PM
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The "who's my father" storyline sounds like it was loosely based on Eric Cartman's hilarious search for his father on "South Park."
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Oct 19, 2007 12:37 PM
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OMG YES!! Robert Desiderio -- wasn't he Marco Dane on One Life?? I totally missed that! Thanks for the reminder (and DOWN w/ the BlowSawx, hee, hee).
Not the best Betty episode, but I'm so digging Amanda'a new 'do! Love the hair Mandy! LOL! Willie's my absolute favorite and she was on top of her "evil" game. LOVE Marc!! Amanda's line "friends don't let friends wear glitter before noon" was just too funny! And Alexis jumping Daniel in the men's room...priceless!
Well slap her and call her Wanda!! LOL! I have to gush some more about Vanessa...she's just the bomb!!!
Didn't like the writing class storyline -- although I was expecting Victor Garber to take out one of the gadgets from the "agency" or call someone in class "Sydney"! LOL! Hilarious! Also, please bring back gay Justin!! LOL! I just love that kid. He's amazing!
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Oct 19, 2007 12:48 PM
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