A quick catch-up with Ugly Betty…
The Husband:
As our sole commenter for our Ugly Betty posts (…so far…spread the word!) has pointed out, the episodes have definitely picked up for this, the third season of Ugly Betty. I personally wouldn’t call the premiere episode a disaster by any means, but I will definitely admit that the show is back up to par, having nicely reset its buttons and gone into a comfortable groove. (Or as comfortable as an attempted murder can be.)
“Crimes Of Fashion”
In the third episode of s3, there is only one real question that needs to be asked: who pushed Christina down those stairs? (Well, really, two/three questions, as we’d like to know whether or not Christina and her unborn child are fine, too.) After Betty takes over most of the episode trying to prove Daniel’s innocence, she begins to suspect that maybe he did do it. After all, all the clues point toward him — the dusty jacket, the custom-made size 11 shoes that left obvious prints at the crime scene — and we get a few nice little gems in the meantime, such as Marc owning a true-to-life Wilhelmina mannequin he likes to berate when angry at life.
Ah…but who else has man-sized feet? Why, none other than our male-to-female transgender character, Alexis Meade. All the clues pointing toward Daniel were simply a mistake, but there was indeed malice behind the crime — it seems that since Christina was being Wilhelmina’s surrogate mother, all Alexis could see whenever she looked at Christina was Wilhelmina’s cackling evil and she felt like she had no choice. So after a good mystery, we were left with one of our main characters, one I feel sympathy for even during her more stupid storylines, going off to jail. Ahh…but not without dropping a bomb — after glancing at the results of a paternity test, it turns out that Daniel is not, in fact, the father of the French boy D.J….Alexis is. Dun dun duuunnn….
“Betty Suarez Land”
And here’s the glee I hear from our one commenter, as this episode indicates the return of Freddy Rodriguez’s Gio, one-third of the s2 love triangle. It was indeed great to see him back, and I’m happy that s3 has decided to throw some better obstacles in the way of the two of them being a couple, and not just have him pine over her for another story arc. After Betty turned down his advances during the s2 finale, he is back from Rome and pissed at her rejection, going so far as banning her from his deli as well as his delivered sandwiches to Mode Magazine (complete with a literal warning sign with her picture on it). She learns, though, that she can perhaps get him back into her good graces by replacing the heavenly cheese he found in Italy that was confiscated by customs by getting it from Mario Batali, he is a personal friend of Daniel Meade. Luring him into her Manhattan apartment (which he does not know belongs to her), she tries her best to get on his good side, but that is interrupted by two other stories:
1. Daniel now knows that he is not D.J.’s father, and D.J.’s French grandparents are in New York to claim their grandchild as ordered by the court. Betty, thinking that the grandparents are at her apartment door (it’s actually the focus of side storyline #2), has Gio help whisk D.J. off to Coney Island to hide from the grandparents, as she was hiding D.J. in her apartment in the first place. At Coney, D.J. learns the truth about his paternity, so Daniel has to let him go back to France, at least for a while. I’m happy this storyline can be put aside for a bit, not because it felt awkward (which it kind of did), but more because I was not a fan of the actor playing young D.J. Something just didn’t click with him and the Betty Universe, so I’m glad the show decided to refocus Daniel’s attention back toward the magazine itself.
2. Hilda and Tony’s relationship gets complicated when Tony decides to break it off with his wife, who tracks them down to Betty’s apartment (where they were having a “serious conversation”) and later returns. (You see? It was her at the door, not the grandparents. How screwball and…a bit too silly.) She later goes to Hilda, thinking it’s her husband’s lover’s sister, and has a heart-to-heart, declaring that she really wants to make her marriage to Tony really work. Guilt-ridden, Hilda goes to Tony and decides that they are not right for each other, that he has to take responsibility for his marriage, and that she can’t be the other woman. Bye, Eddie Cibrian.
3. Meanwhile, Alexis is in jail, but not without Wilhelmina trying to make matters only worse. By seducing the D.A., she has gotten the charges raised from misdemeanor assault to full-on attempted murder, and will only help reduce the charges again if she could get all of Alexis’ shares in Meade Publishing. Alexis refuses, but her mother Claire makes Wilhelmina a different offer — for Alexis to split her shares 50-50 between Daniel and Wilhelmina, giving them both half of the control of the publishing empire as well as the editor-in-chief position at Mode Magazine. With this deal, Alexis is released from jail, deciding to then leave the country for a spell. Me? I don’t want Rebecca Romijn gone for too long, as I consider her one of the show’s brightest spots now, so I hope that this episode, which purges us of three characters, isn’t the last we see of her for this season.
10.18.08 at 5:23 pm
Lovely recap. And my heart gets warmer as you say that this is the return of Gio. I also love how you pointed his anger is merely an “obstacle” of them being a couple. I am happy they made Rodriguez return for this season even if he is too busy to be very recurrent. But I am glad he is there to stay.
Daniel/DJ, Hilda/Tony and, of course, Betty/Gio storyline were beautiful tied together. This is the best episode this season. I hope they keep bringing quality like how they did with this episode.
And hey, thanks for this 😀
10.18.08 at 9:32 pm
Thanks for the recap Husband!
Hi Beatrice B! I see you at many other Ugly Betty fan sites and commenting on ABC’s Ugly Betty message board. I know how much you love Gio too and I love your modegirl sandwich guy website. Husband, if you didn’t know there is currently a Gio/Betty petition on ABC’s website and it is the most viewed post in the entire forum. So I can assure you I’m not the only UB fan who loves Gio!
The show has definitely picked up but there are few minor issues like the weird (but expensive mismatch designers) outfits Betty wears. I wish they would fire Patricia Field and hire a new costume designer.
Rebecca Romijin will be back after she has her baby. Probably near the end of this season. I think the show will probably shift more focus onto Amanda’s credit card debt, Marc’s bf Cliff (I’m looking forward to seeing him again), and Betty’s neighbor Jessie to fill in the void of Rebecca and Freddy leaving the show for a while.
10.18.08 at 9:47 pm
I also forgot to mention that the show will also probably focus more attention on Betty’s high school experience with Lindsay Lohan’s character. I totally forgot about Lohan which might indicate how little impact she’s had unlike Rodriguez who electrified the show since his first appearance as Gio. Lohan’s acting has really taken a step back. I thought she was a wonderful child actor in movies like The Parent Trap and Mean Girls. But ever since her spiral into drugs, alcohol, and massive weight loss I don’t think she’s ever gained back the sparkle she had that we now see in healthy actors like Rodriguez. I hope Lohan can get back on track and make a good impression on UB this season.
10.18.08 at 10:58 pm
I too really loved Cliff (and his appearances on last year’s canceled show “Moonlight”) and would love to see him return. I almost forgot about him.
As for Lohan, I still hold out some hope for her despite all her tabloid mischief, as I think that something inside of her may have clicked that she needs to become a good actress again after the horrible box office returns of “Georgia Rule” and…*shudder*…”I Know Who Killed Me.”
Thanks for the info about Romijn, even though I am usually averse to spoiler material show- or actor-related. I hadn’t even thought of that, even though I am an avid listener of Howard Stern and his relationship to Romijn and hubby Jerry O’Connell.
I’d love a link to the Gio-Betty relationship topic in the UB forum. Don’t get me wrong, I love Gio, but as a fiction writer I am also sympathetic to the plight of TV drama writers as well. It’s a tough line to straddle.
I was unaware Pat Field joined the show after the demise of “Cashmere Mafia.” What happened to Castro and Harris?
–The Husband
10.18.08 at 11:47 pm
http://abc.go.com/primetime/uglybetty/index?pn=mb&cat=30895
Currently the five most recent threads are all about Gio. Notice two of the Gio threads have over 5000 views, more than any other thread on the message board.
10.19.08 at 12:08 am
http://www.film.com/celebrities/story/patricia-field-brings-beautiful-fashion/23454861
10.19.08 at 9:41 am
Thanks for the link. Despite the fact that of the two of us I tend to watch the more female-driven shows, my wife is without question the fashion expert. I wouldn’t have even noticed had you not said anything.