Ugly Betty: How Betty Got Her Grieve Back ( Episode 24)

Who would have thought the Ugly Betty premiere would make me cry. Don’t get me wrong I laughed a lot during the show starting with Betty and Henry on a Telenovela (soap opera) type of scenario. It was just hilarious because as a Latina I know that Spanish telenovelas are actually like that. We come back to Justin waking up Betty from her dream. She is trying to make everything better by trying to make breakfast for him but there is nothing in the house to make. We see Betty wondering if Hilda would be coming down for breakfast.

We cut right through the floorboards to the upstairs bedroom where Hilda is lying in bed. Out of the shower, emerges Santos, the guy we all started liking the second he was brutally gunned down. He’s looking kind of hot, at least from the pecs up. It must be nice to have been shot and have an excuse to wear a bandage that hides your maybe sagging gut.

Santos says it’s been three weeks since he was shot, so he really should be getting back to his place, but Hilda insists he stay and rest up some more. She points to a gray hair and says, “See this one. This one I call, ‘When Santos almost died,’ and I don’t want any more.” We see them watching one of those gossip shows that you would find on E! , they are talking about Meade’s Family. They are interviewing Mode’s acting editor-in-chief Wilhelmina she is talking about how Alexis is still in a coma — the one soap opera element this show somehow managed to overlook last year. With hilarious faked emotion, Wilhelmina says she asked Alexis to flutter an eyelid to indicate her support of her impending marriage to Bradford, and “By God, her little eyelid fluttered. That’s our girl.” She says Daniel will make a full recovery. This makes you think, how lucky is he that he will recover while his sister (or brother) is in a coma. Come on he was the one with the overdose during the crash.

Then we cut to Claire Meade, and she’s angry at Wilhelmina for stealing her family from her. Claire and the convict who helped her escape — the one who calls everybody “Fish” which in my book makes her the “Fish Monger” — are hiding out in the Hampton’s. The Fish Monger says everybody in the Hamptons thinks she’s the maid; I’d say the two of them, with their berry picking and seashell collecting and clambakes at “Candie Bergen’s house,” would come off more like a gay couple. How can’t they have not been caught while in the Hampton’s, aren’t the police looking for them?

We then go to Mode, Marc strolls in and talks to Amanda, and I’m waiting for the DVD set of this season that includes the lost episode where Amanda and Christina somehow manage to escape from Fey’s secret love dungeon. Marc tells Amanda he was at the gym and only seven inches away from Emilio Estevez in the shower and, through the steam, could see “Elmo’s still on fire.” I’m not buying that any gay man would find Emilio Estevez hot. Noticing chocolate on Amanda’s lips, which she lamely claims is lip gloss, Marc accuses, “You’ve taken a lover! A lover with a creamy center!” and opens her drawer to reveal her secret candy stash. He says that all the stress about the birth certificate she found — the one that indicates she’s Fey’s daughter — is making her eat too much, and the camera pans down her body to show us what three weeks of binging will do for you.

Daniel is in traction in the hospital, and asks Betty to scratch his toe. He tells Betty he doesn’t want to leave the hospital yet. Alexis is still in a coma, and Daniel apparently is abusing the pain pills the hospital gives him. Daniel gives Betty his notes to give Wilhelmina about an upcoming photo shoot. Wilhelmina swears she will do Daniel’s bidding. As Betty leaves, she has Marc throw them in the waste can. She discusses the upcoming Victoria’s secret spread with Sheila, a new character. They also discuss the “natural disaster” shoot. She tells Marc she is worried about Claire interfering before the wedding.

Betty discusses the upcoming shoot with Christina - apparently they are going to give makeovers to women who have lost everything in natural disasters. Christina tells Betty she is running way too fast and she needs to think about Henry. Christina suggests that maybe Charlie’s baby isn’t Henry’s. Betty refuses to think about Henry. She then runs into a glass Mode Cover mockup, which it’s classic because the cover reads “Love hurts”.

Marc and Amanda drive to Scarsdale (who would had though a Scarsdale kid would grow up to be a receptionist) to see her parents. ” Mother! Her mother comes down in a bathrobe, followed by her father, also in a bathrobe. Amanda obviously interrupted something. She starts to confront her parents about the circumstances of her birth, but another couple, in bathrobes, comes down the stairs. Amanda and Marc are completely stunned that her parents are swingers. Amanda starts to back out of the confrontation, but finally Marc tells them about finding Amanda’s REAL birth certificate. Her parents admit that Fey is her birth mother, and that they adopted her. Amanda is quite upset and storms out, grabbing a lot of candy on the way.

Daniel is in a wheelchair. He confronts paparazzo who is taking pictures of Alexis. She is still in a coma. But, Daniel won’t go in to see her. He just asks for more medication.

Back at Mode, Marc and Amanda discuss the big question of just who her father is. He could be anyone. As Marc says, Fey was a “hootchie in a bob”. Bradford walks in an0d Marc notices he has many of the same mannerisms as Amanda. Amanda is quite worried about this being the case: it means Daniel is her half-brother, and she slept with him. “That’s the kind of dirty that don’t wash clean”, she says. Marc suggests they get Bradford’s DNA, and come on who would have though Marc would be so much of a genius.

The camp calls Betty and tells her that Justin ran away. Santos and Hilda are watching telenovelas and planning the wedding. Santos doesn’t want to wait; he wants to elope. Santos asks Hilda to put on her dress.

Justin sneaks into Mode, while Amanda does everything she can to get Bradford’s DNA. Betty also notices that there are pink daisies on Amanda’s desk (Amanda overlooked them). They were from Henry, with a note “Thinking of you”.

At the natural disaster photo shoot, Sheila and Wilhelmina are fretting over every detail. In a move that qualifies as the worst taste ever, they are going to take “plain” women wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the natural disaster they have fallen prey to, and give them makeovers. Wilhelmina insists that when they do the “after” photos, they put the “skinny ones in the front”. Sheila then says, “Famine, makeup, now!” Betty gets disgusted with it all, and goes off.

Betty is trying to drown her sorrow by eating potatoes. Daniel joins her and offers to listen. Betty starts to admit that she loved Henry. Daniel suggests Betty go to the office, get some things, and go with him to “a funeral”. Betty buries all of her mementos, and gives a eulogy for her relationship with Henry, while Santos reads his wedding vows to Hilda. This is quite touching. Daniel also decides he needs a fresh start, and buries his pills with Betty’s mementos.

Wilhelmina discovers Justin (calls him a little “fashion elf”), and discovers that he has “the gift”. Claire calls Wilhelmina and offers to give her Mode if she’ll leave Bradford. They arrange a meeting in Central Park. Marc tricks Bradford into letting him trim his ear hair. It is a ploy, of course, to get his DNA. It is successful (and gross).

Yoga comes to Central Park in a nun’s outfit, but instead of seeing Wilhelmina, Marc arrives dressed as Wilhelmina. We find out later that Yoga beat him up. Meanwhile Wilhelmina is in Bradford’s office when Claire arrives, and lest her know her plan has failed. Claire takes a drink, and punches her. Wilhelmina decides she’s going to need a bodyguard.

Daniel finally goes to see Alexis. As he is speaking to her, she wakes up. She asks him why he keeps calling her Alexis; she says “I’m Alex”. Betty informs Justin that Daniel has agreed to let him be an intern at Mode.

Hilda is still taking in bed with Santos. Santos says, “We can’t stay in here forever. I think I’ve got to go.” Hilda says, “No, I’m not ready”. They embrace. Betty comes to the door, and we discover that Hilda is actually alone in the dark, hugging her pillow. ”He’s gone.” Hilda finally admits. And this is where my heart broke again; the first time was when she was being told that he had been shot. Then they start this new season and make it seem that it’s all fine and he is not dead, you wish with all your heart that it’s true. It also doesn’t help, the fact that Justin doesn’t seem to be mourning his dad, made me actually believe. To be all a lie, and then the tears came flowing.

We then cut to Henry, arriving in Times Square by bus. What does this mean? Did he leave that skank? How will Betty take it?