Does it seem to you that it has been about 2 years since we last saw UGLY BETTY? Well, at last it was here with a two-hour season opener at its new Friday night, eight PM position.
Right off, I am reminded why this is such a great show- the ensemble cast, the clever and unique writing, the tension and, in the first show, the instantly grabbing script.
It can be lonely when you get what you want- Betty’s ex is making her life hell, Mark hates her for getting the job he did not, Daniel is out of town and, get this, WILHELMINA GIVES HER GOOD ADVICE! OMG! And her day is a picnic compared to her nephew, Justin’s 1st day in public high- hell-where mean kids pour his lunch all over his Gucci shirt- is this going to be Gay Rage?
B’s attempt to make friends with home-made muffins backfires when Mark chokes on a walnut and goes to the hospital; then Matt tells her he has no feelings left for her. Betty helps her bitchy office-mate with an idea which was Betty’s to begin with, and moon-eyes Matt to the point that he says he liked her muffin- oh wow- what a stud! THEN DANIEL RETURNS AND DECIDES TO ‘HELP’: he calls a meeting, gives Betty back her story, flattens Matt for degrading her and brings her, albeit unwittingly, back to square one with her associates. Betty captures an interview with the most famous bug jewelry designer from the 60’s whose butterflies follow Betty in a beautiful scene. When she presents to Wilhelmina, W. is not enthralled with the bug jewelry idea, so Betty changes it to bed netting, used as a designer fabric, and Willie actually likes it. Matt literally flounces out of the room.
Betty’s overnight U.N. shoot converges on Daniel’s sad meltdown over his wife’s death and she chooses Daniel, leaving Matt and the staff to do it all. At home, Hilda tries everything to communicate with her hurting teenage boy, to no avail- Justin is mute to his mother and she feels cut off, and commits parental faux pas #1- trying too hard.
Meanwhile, back at the U.N., a Russian diplomat has to separate arguing models, Matt has a huge smiling mosquito, accuses Betty of sleeping with Daniel, who hears him and punches his lights out- such an international gesture of peace fitting the ambience if the location! Willie calls order and kicks Betty and Daniel out- WEASEL MATT says the mosquito was Betty’s idea-grrrr- I am so like over him and want Betty to be, too. Betty and Daniel have a bond. Hmmmm- like Daniel actually cares what is in her best interest- hello- remember him in season one?
Victory, ‘for the moment’; Betty tells Matt she is sorry Daniel hit him, but implies that she will be doing her own hitting iin the future, sorry about what happened between them, but over it, and determined to get what she has worked so hard for. She then takes a company car home on a lovely NYC night as Daniel beams at her.
To Come, Methinks, a long way home to Daniel and Betty; Matt goes from wonder-beau to wonder-villain, and in case I forgot, Wilhelmina’s duaghter, who, to no surprise, is insane, has accidentally killed her ex (is he ever) beau and she and mommy have missed a drop of blood in cleaning up. – OOOPs! They should watch more CSI. m
