Boogley- Eyed Betty
For these two episodes, a recap of the events says less than the sad message coming out of all story line resolutions. The rumor that this is the show’s last season is probably true and this loss to TV breaks my heart. Ugly Betty, in my opinion, is the ‘best’ example of the new ‘mood’ of TV, ensemble casts in outrageous situations. Whether Drama or Comedy, and UB has often straddled that line, from Mad Men to The Office, 30 Rock or Grey’s Anatomy, we have been privy to a new genre of expectations of the unexpected and suspension of belief, that may be, in retro-vision, a new Golden Age of Television.
As Daniel is rescued from a cult, Claire heads west to find her missing son, Willie realizes her beloved daughter is lower than a snake, Mark faces losing his job and Amanda appears to be reeling in Matt, we leave the first of these two episodes with a sense of satisfaction. The bad-guys are getting their due and our faves are all on top, with one exception- Betty, still feigning naught but ‘friendly’ feelings for Matt. Hmmph!
In the second of our winding down episodes, Willie faces the loss of her job by eating a Cheeseburger- quell fashion sin!- on the beach in the Bahamas, as Greek God of a Connor walks out of the ocean to an embrace right out of From Here To Eternity. Betty tells Amanda she is a brat for going after Matt and Amanda cajoles Matt into admitting he still loves Betty. Connor is arrested, and, as Willie tries to save him, he tells her to pretend she turned him in so she can have her job back at Mode. Last, but not least, all too serious Daniel has a fling with Amanda, Mark has a fling with a Mode lighting person and then tells Willie that Daniel has offered him, Mark, a job, but realizes he does not want to leave Willie.
The nicest scene is night-time by the pool when Betty is dancing with some of the models and falls into the lap of two European tourists to find a masculine hand- Matt’s reaching out to pick her up and kiss her with gusto. Oh yes!
Next flash, we are back at Mode NYC and all is relatively normal- Hilda has had a whirl with her old Beau and now has two men in her life- one too many. Previews tell us that both Suarez sisters will test positive on a pregnancy test in the next episode, so there is still much to knit up, including some booties, in future shows, before we say good-bye to Betty and her stapler with the palm tree.
ABC, have better luck on Wednesday nights- this show is worth saving.
