Ugly Betty Episode 205 Recap: “A League of Their Own”

Meade Manor. Wili is trying to serve dinner, but Daniel, perhaps not so eager to eat a meal prepared especially for him by his evil stepmonster, decides now is the ideal time to piss off his father. He tells Bradford about how he lost Mode a bunch of money, and Bradford blows his top, calling Daniel a worthless screwup and other terms of paternal endearment. This leads Alexis to have a major memory flash, and she remembers a heartwarming family scene of Bradford telling Alex he’s dead to him.

Alexis runs from the room, and when Daniel goes after her, she explains she remembers everything, including how horrible Bradford was to her and that she tried to kill him by cutting the brakes on his car. Needless to say, Daniel is somewhat surprised by this news, given it led to a near-fatal accident for which he’s been carrying the blame for five episodes. Alexis begs him not to tell Bradford, and he responds, “It’s not like he’d believe me anyway.”

Cut to the dining equivalent of couple’s bowling night. Candles. Violins. Flowers. It’s such a romantic restaurant you expect to see two dogs enjoying a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in the corner. Despite the intimate mood, Betty and Henry decide they can manage to eat a meal together just as friends.

They laugh about his lame story about Betty’s date running off to care for his sick bird, and Henry admits that seeing her with another guy made him crazy jealous, which pleases her to no end. Then some violinists come over to serenade them.

Betty: Oh no. We’re not…
Henry: We’re just friends.
Betty: He got another girl pregnant.

Betty realizes she can’t actually go through with this “just friends thing” and gets up just as Henry goes to his knees to pick up his fork. This leads a busybody fellow diner to point and say, “Look, he’s proposing!” Everyone applauds for them, but Betty runs out. There sure is a lot of ditching going on this episode.

Cut to Cliff’s apartment. Another thing about hobbits? They have fabulous homes. And given that Cliff has invited Marc into his, we can surmise he’s forgiven him for being such a shallow, insensitive ass. This also means that either Marc completely ditched Gus, or had the good sense to get a quickie in and then ditch him.

Marc tells Cliff to stop grinning. But Cliff can’t help himself and does this adorable “you picked me over an underwear model” dance. I seriously don’t know how anyone could resist squeezing the stuffing out of him after that.

They sit on the couch and start watching Psycho. Marc asks, “What if I get scared?” And Cliff takes Marc’s hand. Now’s when Marc should say, “Well, I’m really, really, really scared,” and see what Cliff does. Instead, they settle in for the movie and start playing footsie.

I couldn’t stop smiling during this scene. I am so loving Cliff and this storyline for Marc. It’s especially gratifying to see a gay character’s romantic life treated as any other’s would be, and not have the central issues revolve around someone being closeted or uncomfortable with same-sex intimacy. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this relationship will develop. Although Cliff is a little bit what’s-on-tap, and Marc is a little bit appletini, I think these two crazy kids can make it work.

Casa Suarez. Hilda starts laying into Justin for crashing the car, but then it quickly turns into a major hugging/crying fest during which I cried and hugged myself. It’s a really well acted and touching scene, and I’m particularly impressed to see that Mark Indelicato has the potential for some serious acting.

Justin: I just wanted [my Dad] to be proud of me.
Hilda: Oh, baby. He was. He is. Exactly, exactly like you are.