Ugly Betty: Twenty-Four Candles (Episode # 214)

Betty's less-than-perfect bday

If Tommy Boy taught me anything, it's that brothers gotta hug. By the same token, Betty's gotta dream. Sure, she's in a relationship with an expiration date, but does that mean she can't have a super-duper 24th with Henry by her side?

Actually, yes. Here's how Betty's day goes from carriage ride and fireworks fantasy to cheese in a bag and cocoa on her dress disaster.

It's Betty's birthday and she and Henry have a romantic trip to the Poconos planned. Betty rolls up her suitcase to Henry's door, all smiles, only to see that Charlie's in town. She just happened to come to NYC for a baby seminar this weekend. Henry says he'll ditch the class, but because Betty's sweet, she tells him no and says she'll plan the perfect bday in the city. Umm...shouldn't Henry plan?

Betty goes into work where Daniel has forgotten it's her birthday (Amanda remembers and wishes her a happy 40th. Ha!). He's preoccupied with Renee, Willy's sister and his new gal. Willy came to his house this morning and told him to ask her sis about "Stonybrook." It was mysterious, and he's not sure what to do. In his haze, Betty's able to weasel some free tickets to a concert in central park followed by fireworks for her and Henry. All she has to do now is bully a maitre'd into giving her a patio table at the city's most romantic spot, and voila! What Poconos?

Gio stops by and hears about Betty's plans. All that's missing is the carriage ride, he remarks. Wow...can Gio read dreams?

Alexis comes to Daniel with news that Claire's new magazine, Hot Flash, is going to cost the company too much money. She says she's shutting her mom's mag down. Harsh! Daniel pulls a douche move of his own, panicking when Renee says she's found a place just a block from his. He asks about Stony Brook, and Renee lets him know: it's where she went to college. And he can forget about calling her until he trusts her.

Renee goes right to Willy and tells her to back off her and Daniel -- this isn't like Stony Brook. Besides...don't we all have some secrets that we don't want out? Christina hopes so -- in her boredom, she's listening to the Slater's arguments via a baby monitor. After plying Marc with some chocolate-tinis, Renee learns about her sister stealing Bradford's sperm and gets what she wants: leverage over Willy.

Meanwhile, Charlie fakes sick to keep Henry from the re-planned birthday, but Betty doesn't get the message, so she's jilted on a romantic restaurant patio, eating fondue for two. The waiter finally kicks her out, so Betty decides to go home dejected, zip-loc baggie full of cheese in hand, when Gio rolls up in a hansom cab. He intercepted a Henry message that Amanda failed to pass on, and went to rescue Betty from bday embarassment. And, of course, his cousin runs a carriage business. I hate to say it, but I kind of like Gio this episode.

They have a nice ride (with some classic Betty hiccups -- falling out of the carriage, spilling hot cocoa, etc) but miss the fireworks in the park when a wheel breaks. No matter -- an electrical mishap does the trick for ever-romantic Betty.

Speaking of romance, Daniel and Renee are back on and happy. She tells him the truth about Stony Brook: she had a breakdown there and now goes to therapy. She takes medication, and all is well. That is, until Mark breaks in and swaps her pills with fat-blockers. Ruh-roh.

Betty finally makes her way home, where Henry is passed out on the couch waiting for her, and her dad is up to give her a pep talk. He's always going to want to make her cupcakes and spend her birthday with her, and she assures him, she'll always need that. She snuggles up to Henry, who finally realized that Charlie was messing with him, and looks off with doubt.

At least she can be sure that she did some good today -- upon finding a distraught Claire Meade, she convinces her that she can make Hot Flash happen, she's just got to tap her resources. Sure enough, she finds an ex-con work program that will pay her to hire an entire staff of former prison inmates. Take that, Alexis!