Ugly Betty: the last few episodes thread

Cafe Society
1

The show now being cancelled and having very limited viewership on the board, I think one thread will probably be more than enough for the final few episodes.

I consider it ultimately a victim of the writer’s strike: they never really picked their momentum back up after the long hiatus, and then they had to wrap up story lines in fewer episodes than expected, and the move to NYC cost them Rebecca Romijn and dreamboat Henry (Christopher Gorham- though his character was ultimately a total wuss), then being sent to wander aimlessly in the TV schedule wilderness it lost most of its already reduced viewers, so several things in combination ultimately just wore it down. Plus, since it’s a soap opera continuing storyline, it wasn’t likely to get new viewers, so, no big shock that the ratings dwindled, but that said it had gotten a lot better this season.

Thoughts on recent episodes:

-Loved the Bahamas episode. We finally get to see Marc hook-up (which was cool; so many gay characters are strictly “off camera” only in anything like a lovelife- even with Cliff you never saw them in bed or affectionate in public), and Daniel:Amanda becoming ‘F-buddies’ agains [they say “fun buddies” but everybody knows that you don’t call such a relationship fun buddies), and I liked the dynamic of Marc working for Daniel later.

I was glad to see Connor give the money back because it allowed them to buy out David Rasche’s character who in my opinion added absolutely nothing except a love interest for Claire. I think the way the show has wasted Judith Light the last few seasons has been a sin- she just walks through the scenes and says something bitchy to Willi; I kept hoping they’d bring back Yoga in some capacity.

I can’t stand the character of Matt and didn’t like his chemistry (or lack of) with Betty. He’s too flighty and impetuous and self-consumed and I hope she doesn’t end up with him.

The scuttlebutt for the remaining episodes:

-Betty will finally get the full makeover that turns her from ugly duckling into America Ferrer

-There will be closure all around

-Justin will come out and get a boyfriend

-Either Gio or Henry will come back into Betty’s life (sort of deus ex machina)

Silvio Horta has said that there will be a big wedding, but he won’t say who’s.

Any thoughts?

2

Without reading the OP - I have the entire season unwatched on my DVR. I kind of lost interest during the last few episodes of last season. (I didn’t care whose baby it was)

Is it worth watching them & catching up for the series finale?

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Count me and my SO as fans as well who are sorry to see the show go. Then again, I believe it was based off a telenova (sp?) that only ran one season, so I guess we should be happy it lasted longer.

I actually kind of liked Matt - sort of the lost, out-of-place rich kid who was a perfect fit for Betty’s lost, out-of-place homegirl. They were a good fit.

It sounds at least like they have had time to do a real series finale - not just throw out a season finale and pretend that was the series finale.

The real kiss of death was when they put the show on Friday nights and the audience tanked.

Looking forward to seeing how they wrap all of the stories up - I guess the illegitimate son of Claire will forever remain in South Dakota? (Bet that actor is pissed off the series is ending…)

4

I stopped watching when Matt came into the picture. Not just because of him, but because Batty was just doing stupid, non_Betty stuff. Did they ever wrap up the sub-plot with Christina and the baby? What’s this about an illegitimate brother for Daniel? What about Hildie and Daniel-san?

StG

5

I hear the braces will come off. I don’t like this so much since I liked the plot line of an ugly girl doing well among people who are obsessed with beauty. Why does she have to go pretty in the end?

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I thought they’ve done a pretty good job of making the supporting ‘obsessed with beauty’ characters into well rounded characters. Having her care about fashion a little bit at the end, considering she works at a fashion mag, isn’t the worst way to end it.

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And they didn’t go Devil Wears Prada where lo and behold everybody’s shocked to find out Anne Hathaway is pretty (as if they could make her not pretty withoout prosthetic warts and a latex mask). America Ferrara is attractive but she’s never going to look like a fashion model as she has a shape and she’s not 6’2.

Claire gave birth to a son in the early 1980s who was adopted in South Dakota (I think- someplace in the northwest anyway). The father was Cal Hartley, so the son is a half-brother to Daniel and Alexis through Claire and to Matt through Cal. Cal knew about the pregnancy but thought she had an abortion and was furious when he learned she’d had the child and put him up for adoption [not because she gave him away but because it meant there was a potential lawsuit for his fortune], which destroyed his renewed affair with Claire. Claire looked up the child in one episode- he’s a bartender at a small town bar- and left him an enormous tip (but didn’t tell him she was his birth mother) in what was clearly supposed to be an opening for the character to come onto the series, though since they only have a few episodes left I’m hoping they don’t go down that road and just concentrate on the current characters instead.

8

Bump.

So… what’d you think of the kiss? Kind of sweet, daring. I certainly hope Justin and Austin come together to talk it out at least.

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I thought the kiss was also a great method of making Justin become aware - and yes, even though everyone sort of already knows, I think it is great they let him decide/learn for himself. The “gray” in the background, as per Marc’s description, was a nice touch.

It seems pretty obvious the show is headed for the big reveal/happy end of Betty - the only question is if she goes back to one of the big loves of her life over the series run, or sticks it out as a single woman on a fast-track in her career.

Sort of sorry to see the show end, but maybe it is time. Plus, glad to see they at least had time to write and film a real series finale, and not just end the show with a season finale and pretend that was their plan.

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I wondered if Marc was thinking of Cliff and if they’re going to get back together in the remaining few episodes.

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The Kiss scenes for anyone who hasn’t seen it and doesn’t want to watch the whole episodes.

As DMark alludes to, Marc had earlier told him that when there was really caring for somebody in a kiss, the rest of the world goes gray. Note the background when he kisses the girl and then when he kisses Austin.

12

Huh, good call on that background thing. I totally missed it.

I’m feeling pretty good about these last episodes so far. I’m more eager to see the show every week than I had been all last season!

13

Yeah, that was pretty much what induced me to stop watching: Betty’s stupid back-and-forth at the end of last season, acting like a total idiot, and very out of character. I watched the first couple of episodes this season to see if it could redeem itself, but it didn’t, and i haven’t watched it again since.

I would, however, be happy to watch an edited montage of all of Becki Newton’s (Amanda) scenes. Not only is she hot, but i think she’s very funny, and she gets some of the show’s better lines.

14

Last night’s episode, a sort of “Wonderful Life” twist, kinda sucked.
I think it ruined the big “reveal” of Betty not so Ugly.
Plus, it did very little in terms of set up; other than Justin and BF subplot, not a lot happened.

Still, with just a few episodes left, will be interested to see how it all wraps up.

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Yeah, with so few episodes left (2? 3?) I hate that they wasted time on what was essentially a dream sequence. If they were going to do that they should have saved it for the end and added a “whatever happens to” dream.

Glad to see Justin and Austin (or “Au Jus” as they’re being called on fan boards) get together if only at the end. I’m guessing were this not the last season Austin wouldn’t have been introduced (you never bring out your queens too early after all) but I’m glad they did. I’m hoping that the rumors that Mark Indelicato may become a semi-regular on Glee are true.

One of the things that’s never really been dealt with: now that Bradford is dead, who’s running the company? Daniel is involved with MODE but they seem to forget- until Wilhelmina sets her sights on a takeover anyway- that there are lots of other publications.

Bryan Batt (the closeted artist from Mad Men) is coming on board in one of the last episodes as a closeted soap star who takes a romantic interest in Marc. No idea if it’s reciprocal; I think I speak for most fans of the series when I say I’d much rather see him wind up with Cliff.

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Generally a waste of an episode- the flashing Gio scene would have been a lot better if they hadn’t included it in the commercials (and would have been more believable if in an airport bar). I think the publisher plotline is a tad predictable: 6:5 odds he’s going to read her blog and offer her some kind of related column.

I liked that Bobby was cool (at least as opposed to not cool) with Justin-Austin.

I wish they’d resolve the Tyler plotline or at least show him nekkid while they’re dealing with him; they’ve too little time to go to really work him in.

Nice seeing Christine again.

And do you think she’ll end up with Henry?

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[DMark sits down in Sampiro’s living room, admires the elegant sofa, nice artwork on the walls, the aroma of magnolias and accepts the mint julep. He takes a drink before speaking…]

Well, as long as it is just the two of us -

At least this week was better than last week’s waste of time. So Betty’s sister gets her big, grand wedding shower - yet she doesn’t have a single non-Betty friend to go with her?!
The London tidbits were OK - but not sure if we needed all of the postcard shots of London to “prove” they were really there to film it.
Can’t quite figure out Justin - I mean, both he and Austin seem cool with it and are planning a date, and already making out - you would think he would at least just blurt it out in some dramatic form and be done with it. He is starting to make Ricky Martin seem brave and forthcoming.

They do indeed seem to be spending a lot of time with the Tyler story this late in the game.

I hope Henry doesn’t turn into the one-true-love ending. He was such a wimp and would be a poor choice for Betty to choose, now that she seems to be bravely/stupidly tanking her career at Mode and simply tossing it all to work on her blog (and we all know how rich and successful blog writers are…).

Still, good to see some of the old cast member return for their farewell cameos - speaking of which, Sampiro, that is a pretty cameo over there on the bookshelf.

[DMark walks over to bookshelf to admire the cameo collection and graciously accepts Sampiro’s offer of another mint julep.]

18

so what exactly does bobby DO?

and on what planet does betty pass up a cushy job like THAT for… her blog?

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Good lord I hope not. I’d rather it be her first boyfriend than Henry (I believe he runs the comic book store in Big Bang Theory if I’m not mistake). Henry is such a nothing character. Daniel is the only one that makes any sense; they understand each other and he’s had affection for her all the way along.

She doesn’t REALLY have to end with anyone. I’d be alright with that.

20

It’s not a cameo actually- it’s just a picture I pasted on a mason jar top in 2nd Grade.

Actually I think they wasted a lot of money sending everybody to London when there wasn’t much they couldn’t have done with some stock footage. Only a couple of street scenes were obviously filmed on location.

Glad to see Mark’s “boyfriend” grew a pair. Apparently Bryan Batt’s going to be his last love interest on the show; too bad as I’d much rather see a Cliff return than a Henry (unless Henry’s shirtless).

How exactly does one establish oneself as a stylist? And I would think that quitting a job at an eminent fashion magazine where you’re already banging the boss would be about the last first move to doing it.

From the previews it looks like a Dynasty style bitch-fight is coming up for Willi and Claire. That could be good at least. (Would rather see Willi perform as her drag persona one more time though.)