General

Review: Ugly Betty, Season 3, Episode 16: Things fall apart

5.00 avg. rating (99% score) - 1 vote

You know that, with a title like that, things are not going to be good. It was a good ploy to make viewers sit tightly in their chairs for this particular episode – and as I sat down, clutching my little foam stress-relief basketball, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just a cheap marketing ploy and, that at the end of the episode, I would find out that it only had to do with clothes.

Boy, was I not disappointed.

One of the first scenes of the episode is the heart-warming home and hearth scene with Wilhelmina, Connor and William. The baby is absolutely adorable; thankfully, just as Suzuki St-Pierre wished for, William seems to have taken more from his mother than his deceased father. How interesting that, in love and with child, Wilhelmina is actually wistful about going into work. Then again, at the end of the episode, we see the true, the real, the good old Wilhelmina come roaring back to life: it’s all about the career.

Welcome back Willie! Does this mean she is going to go back to wearing only black and white again?

I have to admit that, while it totally adds to the plot and helped speed the come back of the good old Wilhelmina, I didn’t really see the whole Connor-is-a-thief-and-a-jerk thing coming. And I can’t get over the extent of his hatred for Daniel, or, in general, for the Daniel Meades of the world. I can however believe in the thoroughness of his plan – he always seemed like an extremely intelligent and shrewd man.

While Wilhelmina called the cops and told the Meades and Betty that she never intended to go with Connor, I can’t help but wonder if that’s the whole truth. I feel quite certain that she was very tempted, and only the sting of the last couple of episodes at not being on top anymore made her choose her career over Connor. Perhaps also the fact that, were she to win over 100% of Meade Publications, she wanted it to be done her way, and not Connor’s way – which would make her forever indebted to him and, as well, dependent on him. Whichever way it is seen, Wilhelmina’s involvement with Connor is going to make Claire Meade’s defences go straight back up. Perhaps we will now see the return of Alexis Meade to help with the situation? That would be great. I kind of miss her.

One thing is for certain: Wilhelmina already had quite some problems in her relationship with men; this is only going to get worse now that she has been lied to by Connor and double-crossed by him – i.e. that he didn’t trust her at the end and gave her a different rendez-vous point. I wonder if he will ever come back for her, or at least ask her to join him? Perhaps he will give it a try if things at Meade Publications go from worse to even worse.

It is sad though – that Wilhelmina lost all the money in Meade Publications as well as the man she loves. Coming right after the fact that she has noticed her power in the fashion world decreasing, it can only lead to one thing: the return of our evil Wilhelmina, determined on getting one of the things she want. And this Wilhelmina is even more dangerous than before: she has nothing to lose.

Wilhelmina: In life you have to make choices. You can’t have it all.

All in all, the writers really weren’t joking: things really are falling apart, at all levels. Molly’s disease also came as a shock, although we might have had an idea at the end of last episode, when we realised she was lying about the leak and was calling from her OB-GYN’s office. This story arc is very interesting in that, in what she perceives to be her selflessness, Molly is being thoroughly selfish in her rejection of Daniel in her life at this point in time.

On a lighter note, I love seeing Betty exhausted and high on coffee. America Ferrara really does a great job of keeping the character consistent, and this consistency is at its most obvious when Betty is in such situations. Kudos also to the really, really weird YETI teacher. Anyone catch her name? And by the way, for those of you who were wondering, here is who Tina Brown is.

I also loved the way they are ‘updating’ Ugly Betty by inserting Facebook into its plotline. After all, Facebook is such an integral part of the lives of many, if not most people between the ages of 13 and 30 that it only makes logical sense to use it to advance the plot of the story. It also opens to debate the countless questions about Facebook and it’s seemingly thoughtless usage by some people. This has yet to be done, but hey, a girl can hope.

I’m really glad that Betty is finally doing something about Henry – although I don’t want Matt to only be the rebound. While I don’t think she should have accepted his friend request on Facebook – God only knows what Henry is going to now do to poor Betty – at least it’s only Facebook. And like all good Facebook users know, she can put him on limited profile or even block him in the future.

The power of Facebook.

Hopefully Betty will also add Matt to her Facebook and perhaps to her life – then the only person who will need to meet someone will be Hilda (speaking of which, what happened to the city counsellor?). I really like Matt and would love it if he became something of a fixture – i.e. that he became the one. To be honest, I don’t think I can take more heartbreak after losing Gio, especially over Henry. I’m still not over Betty’s choice. That was way too painful. After all, who cares about Betty’s happiness? It’s all about the viewers’ happiness!

My favourite funny moments:

Mark: I’m talking about tall dork and handsome asking you on a date back there.

Wilhelmina: Why am I being polite? This conversation is not amusing. Leave!

Amanda: I need to know that you know what you’re wearing.

Mark: Chop, chop, Slowpocahontas!

And my personal favorite:

Amanda: What’s happening in there anyway?

Betty: It’s kind of serious, Amanda.

Amanda: Oh my God, is pink back? Don’t tell me. I don’t think I can handle it.

Last point: seriously, why is Claire limping?

5.00 avg. rating (99% score) - 1 vote

1 thought on “Review: Ugly Betty, Season 3, Episode 16: Things fall apart

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *