Another Thursday evening, another episode of Ugly Betty. I can tell you one great thing about spraining your ankle: since you should be sitting with your ankle up, it gives you a great excuse to do that in front of the TV. For the first time in ages, I’m on top of all my shows. Amazing!

But we’re not here to talk about that (that’s what the Chronicles of a Sprained Ankle are for, after all). Let’s talk about this week’s Ugly Betty episode, Tornado Girl, starting with my favourite character, Justin: when can we expect the Tornado Girl shirt he was wearing to make it into stores? Because I kind of might want one :).

Let’s go on to more serious things with my second favourite character. Welcome back, evil Willy, willing to do what she has to get what she wants! It’s kind of an odd place to be, i.e. cheering for Wilhelmina, especially when it’s reinforced by the fact that if she gets what she wants, i.e. Connor, Daniel will get what he wants, i.e. Molly… Which makes me wonder if Wilhelmina is going to try to team up with Daniel, or if she will manipulate and use him, too, thus not only getting Connor but driving a wedge between the two friends. Now that she knows about Daniel’s crush, we are probably only going to have to wait until next week’s episode to see what happens. Whatever the case, it seems that a little bit of the spice of season 1 might have returned – albeit still quite diluted.

On the other hand, there is another evil thing Wilhelmina said during this episode that reminds me why we all have this love-hate relationship with her. Wilhelmina is not only someone who will crush others to get what she wants; she will sacrifice them, at whatever cost; even worse, she will sacrifice those below because, according to her: “Taking the fall is what little people are for”.

Now I know this is ‘only’ a show, but let’s be honest – there are many out there who would agree with Wilhelmina, and unfortunately, their actions are costing a lot for the ‘little people’. I’m in no way an expert on the subject, but when thousands of people are getting fired from their jobs while CEOs are taking home bonuses worth somewhere in the millions, something tells me that the philosophy of “taking the fall is what little people are for” is unfortunately a part of our society, when it clearly shouldn’t be.

Which makes me turn around and tell all Dettyers: wake up and smell the coffee! Daniel Meade had once again chosen to use Betty to his advantage. While he steps up at the end, like he always does, it doesn’t change the fact that he was willing to let her take the fall until he got one of her pep talks. When is he going to grow up and be a man for God’s sake?

Which brings me to the big lesson of this episode, brought to us by Ignacio: “Question is, what are you going to do now?”. I love this philosophy, to always look to the future and not dwell on the past.

Interestingly enough, while Betty has to fight for her reputation, Hilda’s permit for her salon is dropped into her lap by none other than Councilman Archie Rodriguez. Since this guy and Hilda started bad, it therefore means that they are going to date – that seems to be the Hilda way of doing things. Unfortunately, this means that it isn’t going to end well. One got shot, the other was married – I wonder what is going to be wrong with this one?

Now a couple of random tidbits:

– Betty is yet again trying to accomplish the impossible – and achieving it. Is there nothing this girl can’t do? Maybe she should be the next Finance Minister and get us out of this economic crisis.

– Claire Meade’s question to Daniel as to if his crush’s name is Betty engendered an interesting reaction from him, didn’t it?

– Ignacio wanting a picture of the Councilman in his house was kind of adorable.

– I loved the cheesy Suarez family shot at the end of the episode.

– This week’s episode was lacking its usual great one-liners; only two stood out: Wilhelmina Slater to Claire Meade: “I’m going hunting later. Feel free to step in front of my gun.” And the following exchange between Hilda: “Everyone loves a little danger” and Justin: “When it comes to their haircuts?”.