Dear Crabby: What's the difference between Y.E.T.I. and Yeti?
Dear Couch: Lots of waxing and apparently affirmative action!
Every time a bell rings, Betty jumps a little faster!
We open this episode of Ugly Betty with a bell ringing. Santa? Is that you? No, it's Amanda in the tub ringing for Betty to hand her a loofah. So, Betty has a bathtub in the middle of the living room, but nowhere does she have a full-length mirror? Because it looks like Ronald McDonald and Chanel barfed all over her.
Holy God Almighty, it's like a wallpaper collage
done during craft time in the local psych ward.
Betty tells Amanda that although she loves her "stepping stone" job (yeah, mine's a stepping stone to winning the lottery), she does not like being Amanda's assistant at home. Betty continues to dress like Marcel Marceau on crack as Amanda says, "I think of you as a roommate. And sometimes a maid." Just like teens think of their moms! Oh, and she adds a kicky beret with a butterfly clip, much better. She asks Betty for a coffee while she's up. "That's not my job," Betty says. Bet it is!
At Mode, Daniel asks for a coffee and Betty says, "That's my job!" And your stepping stone! Guess who's back? Nick Pepper! I know, I had to think back to remember who this tool was too...at first I thought it was Ryan from The Office but I don't think Mode has a work-release program set up like the Scranton branch.
I'm hip and cool and
you soooo wanna be like me.
Nick has become Deputy Culture Editor for The New York Review. Sounds like a job Kimmie would have liked! They must throw those editor titles away all over New York. Betty asks Nick how he got that job since not only was he not at Mode long, he sucked bigtime. Isn't that how Daniel did it? Turns out he's a Y.E.T.I. alum, and yes, I thought he was training to be Sasquatch too....he sort of seems like he'd be that hairy, you know?
The first recipient of the Y.E.T.I. scholarship.
He works for Elle magazine now.
Y.E.T.I. stands for Young Editors' Training Initiative and Betty has no idea about it. Seems like someone like her might have made a 5-year plan and she would know about this, but she does keep busy with Daniel's screw ups, so maybe not. He tells her she has to get a sponsor, present a whole magazine concept, and win over the judges. Once you do that, you get this brass ring thing which continues to elude me. I bet I could buy one with my lottery winnings!
Betty accosts Daniel with a cup of weightless coffee and tells him he's going to be her sponsor. All he has to do is write her a letter of recommendation. This cannot go wrong in any way, shape, or form. I mean, Daniel always comes through for her, doesn't he? Daniel gets on the elevator and weirdly says, "Okay," and for a split second I thought, maybe he doesn't really think she's that good and he'll have to tell her. That would hurt!
I barf, the end.
Wilhelmina saunters off the elevator and sees Connor and Molly kissing and says what most kids do when they see mom and dad making out, "Gross!" Heh. She rallies then calls Molly's ponytailed look "coltish." Yes, women loved being compared to horses. But Molly has to take off because she has a "Thanksgiving thing" at school..."I have a Native American from the Poospatuck tribe coming to speak." Yeah, that should really resonate with pre-schoolers looking to make pilgrim hats with construction paper and edible paste.
Wilhelmina suggests they go to brunch together to which I spit out my margarita. Seriously? In her office, Willie spats, "I'd rather gouge my eyes out." Phew. For a second I thought she'd gone nice. And she forgot the rest of the sentence, "with fondue forks." I find that much more dramatic.
"I would shoot you in the heart before I'd let you brunch with her," Marc says. She tosses him a Milkbone. Willie can't understand why a mousey school teacher would attract a hot, ambitious guy like Connor. "He's a Male-helmina!" Marc exclaims. Willie says she's going see if Connor will join her in Palm Beach for a meeting with some designer, saying if he gets to know the real Wilhelmina he'd see that they'd make a great couple. I'd have to agree with that - good looking and formidable.
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Comments (5)
Excellent recap.
I wasn't so upset about what Mark said to Betty - I thought she had a lot of nerve thinking she "deserved" it just because she wanted it. She was acting more like an entitled Paris Hilton type.
It was a pretty good episode overall... starting with Amanda in the tbu.
BTW - Vanessa Williams used to be married to handsome former Laker Rick Fox. Does anyone know if they are still together? (Just curious.) I couldn't find anything on the web.
1 of 5 | Posted by fire@will | Posted on November 28, 2008 1:41 PM
Here is an explanation to why all the costumes are so zany:
Episode 3.01
The Manhattan Project
Trivia:
• This episode marks the show's return to New York as well as the return of Patricia Field ("Sex and the City") as the show's Costume Designer. Betty's look will probably evolve, which is only normal for anyone who spends so much time surrounded by fashion-obsessed people. She won't be getting "beautiful," but she will be a little more fashion-forward, yet with the expected Betty-fied touches.
• Rebecca Romijn (Alexis) and Christopher Gorham (Henry) are now credited as Guest Cast.
2 of 5 | Posted by elmo | Posted on November 28, 2008 2:00 PM
Vanessa Williams and Rick Fox have been divorced for a while now, although I believe they are still friends. In fact he appeared on an episode of Ugly Betty (last season I believe)
3 of 5 | Posted by blazergirl | Posted on November 28, 2008 4:15 PM
Thanks for the great recap and writing so much. Love the captions under the pictures.
4 of 5 | Posted by User Name | Posted on November 30, 2008 1:23 AM
fire@will:
Blazergirl's right. Vanessa and Rick Fox are divorced and still friendly. Several months after their divorce, Vanessa even mentioned during an interview with Howard Stern that they are still VERY FRIENDLY with each other when the need arises. ;-) That was years ago, but I assume they are still cool since he played her love interest on Ugly Betty several years post-divorce.
Also, I totally agree with you about Betty acting like an entitled Paris Hilton type (or like America Ferrara's real-life She-ro, Hillary Clinton), when she assumed: a.) that she wanted the YETI award more than Marc and therefore, b.) she should get it just because she pulled an all-nighter.
With every episode, I am growing to dislike Betty more and more, but her assumptions (or as I like to call 'em, her Betty-isms) in this episode were so wrong, it surpassed her usual Bettyness. Marc has natural talent when it comes to fashion. Also, he actually cared enough to line up all his ducks THREE MONTHS EARLIER than Betty. How Betty came to the conclusion that SHE should present a fashion magazine is...beyond me. Her complete lack of self-awareness is annoying as hell.
This show's constant underlying moral message is that inner beauty is better than outer beauty. I'm all on board with that message, but I don't buy that Betty's beautiful on the inside, either. She always has these cracks where her "ugly" side shines through and someone (usually her dad) has to remind her to stop being overly judgmental, critical, etc. And those traits would all be less annoying in her if she weren't constantly pulling the self-righteous act and judging everyone else for their moral flaws.
Funny how "moral" Betty didn't mind at all that Daniel wrote that B.S. letter saying she was an employee from PLAYER in order for her to qualify for the YETI with Marc. How long did she work there? Like 3 days?
I don't have a problem with what Marc said to her about being a token because all signs point to Betty being a token choice for them. Her presentation wasn't better than Marc's. By the way, Betty stole that idea of "B" magazine. There's already a "BE" magazine on the shelves.
It's a credit to this show's writing and ensemble cast that I still watch this show despite disliking the main character so much.
5 of 5 | Posted by blahblah | Posted on December 6, 2008 8:47 AM