IMHO "Ugly Betty" (3.23/3.24): Season Three Finale

Last week was the two-hour season finale of ABC's Ugly Betty, and it ended with a death, a startling revelation, a cliffhanger, and Betty about to start the next chapter in her life.

There was a LOT going on during this two-parter, so I'll concentrate on the highlights...

Betty and Marc interview for editor jobs with all the big NYC magazines. Betty manages to pique the interest of the woman from The New York Review by telling some B.S. story about how she had a subscription when she was a kid, and it changed her life, etc. (I'll have to remember that if I'm ever interviewing with Honcho.)

Jodi (Bernadette Peters) informs her that the magazine loved her and wants to offer her a job, but when she calls to confirm finds out that Jodi has stolen the job out from under her. Backstabbing in the publishing world? Who would have thought?

Unfortunately, Betty has other problems, namely the return of first love Henry (and Christopher Gorham is looking alarmingly gaunt ... was he trapped on Harper's Island too long?).

It's bad timing that boyfriend Matt has just asked her to move in together, because the return of Henry leaves her momentarily flummoxed. After the obligatory scenes of Betty trying to compare the two (and I'm almost positive they did the exact same thing when she was trying to choose between Henry and Gio), she decides not to push her luck, and vows not to see Henry again.

But first ... she sees him again. To tell him goodbye ... with a kiss. Which Matt just happens to witness (NYC being so tiny and all). This sets up an inexplicable and, frankly, unbelievable character change for Matt from supportive boyfriend to bitter ex.

It's not all bad news for Betty, though, thanks to the death of Mode editor Penny (Rachel Dratch) (and remind me never to shoo pigeons away from an open window on the 26th floor).

With Penny gone it means her position is open, and both Betty and Marc are promised the job by Daniel and Wilhelmina, respectively. After an aborted attempt at making the position into a contest between the two, Willi and Daniel decide the only fair way ... is to flip a coin.

Speaking of Daniel, he and Molly are nearing the end of her life (you can tell because she's suffering from Love Story disease, in which the patient becomes more beautiful the closer she is to dying).

Somehow, Daniel has become a media star thanks to his relationship, and he ends up on The View, with Joy Behar (playing herself, badly) and a pregnant Elisabeth Hasselbeck (and I don't know about you, but I was on the edge of my seat expecting some kind of Alien-esque stomach-burster scene here).

Molly spends her remaining days trying to get Daniel a hook-up for after she's gone. I've given it some thought, and I think that plot would make a perfect summer romcom. Maybe Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in Who Will Lay My Husband? or How to Lose a Grieving Rich Guy in Ten Days. (Of course, being a romcom, she would end up being cured at the last moment thanks to a special um, "healing herb" that Mathew acquires.)

Molly is running a fever, so Daniel attends the big fashion publication awards by himself. Unfortunately Marc steals his speech (t/y to starri for the reminder) and when he wins and has to say something, he's at a loss for words ... until he sees Molly (looking radiant in a beautiful gown) standing in the back of the room, which gives him the strength to speak. When he rushes off stage afterwards, he realizes that Molly isn't there ... and then realizes that she was never actually there.

Yep, in her final moments, Molly astral-projected herself into the ballroom to give Daniel a boost of confidence, which he wouldn't have needed if he had held on to his speech. He rushes home in time to see Molly's body being carried out of the apartment.

Willi is tired of Claire barking orders, and vows to dig up some dirt on her. Luckily, she finds out that Claire and Victoria Hartley (Christine Baranski) have some kind of bad blood between them, and uses every trick in her book (including some vague flirting) to get to the truth. It turns out that Claire and Hal had an affair eons ago, and when Claire became pregnant, she left town for an abortion (and kept it secret from Hal).

Willi confronts Claire with this knowledge, and blackmails her into stepping down from Meade publishing.

Justin receives the devastating news that his application for a performing arts high school has been rejected. He's heartbroken, as this means he'll have to endure public high school next season.

The episode's stories come together at the awards show, where we get Marc giving Justin some advice about being gay at public school, we get Molly's "vanishing hitchhiker" trick, and we learn that the coin that Willi and Daniel flipped came up "heads", which means Betty wins the promotion.

Betty leaves the party to visit her new office, which she obtained by remaining true to herself and without comprising her principles (I half-expected to hear Carly Simon's Let The River Run start blaring in the background). Instead, Matt comes by to talk to her ... oh wait, it's not Matt anymore, it's Evil Matt. Matt starts babbling about being betrayed, and how Betty was his first true love, and how even though he's dumping her, they'll still see each other ... because he's her new boss at Mode. Um ... what?

Finally, Claire informs Willi that she will not be stepping down from Meade. She told Hal about the abortion, and he accepted it, and the two of them have decided to "re-evaluate" Willi's role in the company.

The episode ends with Claire burning a Certificate of Adoption (which means she didn't get an abortion, but actually had the child and gave it away), and Willi at home making arrangements with a bounty hunter. She wants her money back from Connor, and hires the guy to find him.

After the bounty hunter leaves she strolls through the apartment, and when rounds the corner, gasps and drops her glass of booze. She looks aghast and cries out, "what are you doing here?!"

End of episode and end of season

Well, there's a lot to ponder until the new season starts this fall.

Will Betty and Matt patch things up? — Probably not. I don't see Betty ending up with Matt.

Will Betty ever get her braces off? — Yes, definitely (it's already been promised).

Will Justin have problems fitting in at high school? — Certainly, and hopefully we'll see it.

Will Claire's long-lost son be brought up again? — Obviously.

Will Marc be bitter about Betty's promotion? — Um, yes.

Will Hilda and councilman Archie stay together? — I see some kind of political scandal in the future.

Finally, who was the person that Willi saw at the end? There are three likely choices: Connor (which I think is way too obvious), Alexis (which is doubtful, since Rebecca Romijn is the star of the new fall show Eastwick), and my pick, the allegedly dead Fey Sommers. It would mean lots of intrigue and drama for the new season.

What did you think of the season finale? Frankly, I could have done without the return of Henry. His appearance was pointless except to create an artificial conflict between Betty and Matt. And I just didn't buy Matt's transformation into Evil Matt.

What did you think of the season as a whole? Will you be following Betty as she makes the move to — gulp — Friday nights this fall?