"Ugly Betty" (3.06) recaplet: Poochie's Dead!

Remember that episode of The Simpsons where they added a new character to Itchy & Scratchy? His name was Poochie, and he was supposed to jazz things up, and add a hip presence to an already established show. Unfortunately, he was instantly hated by the audience because of his obnoxious attitude and annoying behavior, so at the end of the episode, they sent him on a rocket into space, where he died.

You're probably asking "what the hell does this have to do with Ugly Betty?" Well, join us after the break to find out (where you can also read about the return of Betty's dreamy neighbor, Marc's bearish boyfriend, and ... the Karate Kid?).

This episode starts with Betty and Kimmie having the same power struggle that started last week, with Kimmie trying to horn in on Betty's responsibilities, and Betty displaying the patience of a saint by not knocking the !@#$ out of her.

Kimmie gloats that she has cards made up displaying her title as "Associate Editor", and that's she's done in two weeks what Betty couldn't do in two years. Betty's naturally perturbed, but things brighten up when she gets home and sees her super-cute neighbor Jesse, and he serenades her with his guitar and these simple words of wisdom "go for it, Betty."

Back at Mode, Claire (who's wearing a hideous outfit that makes her look like Bozo The Clown's boozy wife) informs Wilhelmina and Daniel that they're going to have to bring someone in to run the day-to-day operations and start delegating responsibility, like with photo shoots. Hmm...

At the big staff meeting for the March issue, Marc and Amanda are totally blown off by Kimmie, who has usurped their power and established herself as the reigning superior snob.

The theme of the issue is "sizzling hot", and Betty is appalled when she sees that Kimmie has successfully pitched "sizzling hot club", which both Daniel and Willie love. With Jesse's mantra "Go for it, Betty" running through her head, she decides to approach Daniel about making her own pitch for the issue, and when he surprisingly agrees, she hurriedly suggests "sizzling hot fruit" (in an amazing coincidence, that's what my ex used to call me during his ... moment of passion).

Anyway ... At the Suarez house Betty and her family are trying to find the perfect piece of sizzling hot fruit, and after many failed attempts decide on the Tico Berry, which is small and ugly but also happens to be the favorite fruit of supermodel Adriana Lima.

Once informed of this, Mode is able to secure a cover shoot with the elusive Tico lover, and now it's Kimmie's turn to be appalled as she sees that her "sizzling hot club" article has been canceled to make room for Betty's idea, and when she learns that her nemesis has been put in charge of the shoot, she hatches a plan for revenge.

Betty is scheduled to be interviewed live by Suzuki St. Pierre for Fashion TV, which affords Kimmie the perfect opportunity for sabotage, so she offers to "help" Betty with her makeup. After she sweet talks the TV crew into turning up the lights to "bake" she watches with smug satisfaction as Betty's face literally melts on live tv, and has to take over the interview when Betty can't finish.

Kimmie's plan flourishes when Daniel and Willie inform Betty that because of how horribly the interview went, they want the two of them to share the cover shoot responsibilities.

All may not be lost for Betty, though, as she has some ... unlikely allies. Marc and Amanda have been dissed again by Kimmie, and want to enlist Betty in a scheme to end her reign. At first she dismisses the idea, but after Kimmie sabotages her again by intercepting Adriana at the airport and taking credit for the tico berry idea, she reluctantly agrees to help them.

They meet at her apartment and discuss various plans for getting rid of Kimmie (and along for the ride is Marc's boyfriend Cliff, who's played by the irresistible David Blue). We haven't seen him since last season, and unfortunately he's only in this episode to eat pizza, deliver a line, and blow a raspberry.

They decide that the best course of action is to get Kimmie on Willi's bad side (which isn't hard), and they set their plan in motion..

Meanwhile, Hilda learns a civics lesson in this episode as she hatches her own plan to make tons of money on voting day by opening the salon early to catch voters on their way to and from the polls (which are right around the corner).

She cajoles Justin into dressing up like Uncle Sam (the national symbol, not the horror movie villain ... although how cool would that be?) and does end up having the busiest day she's ever had. Unfortunately, she doesn't have time to vote, and Ignacio reads her the riot act for shirking her civic duty.

She dismisses his objections, but will regret it when she stays open long enough for one more customer to come in who may end up changing everything for her. After he asks how difficult it was for her to get a business license, she casually mentions that she doesn't have one, which was probably not a good idea considering that he turns out to be ... a city councilman. Will Hilda have to shut down, or are they setting this up for a new romance? Personally, I'm hoping for the latter. It took me a minute to recognize him, but as soon as I heard his unmistakable voice, I knew instantly that the councilman was played by Ralph Macchio.

Daniel and Willie are at odds over who to hire to manage the business part of Mode. Willie wants to go with a hotshot named Connor Owens who's a well known name in publioshing circles, but Daniel won't hear of it.

Apparently, there's some bad blood between him and Connor and he wants nothing to do with him. Willie sees this as a perfect opportunity to put some chinks in Daniel's armor, and she sets up an interview with Connor. Reluctantly attending, it's obvious that Daniel has no intention of agreeing to hire him but later he surprises Willie (and us) by agreeing to give it a try.

As they meet Connor and give him the good news it seems apparent that Willie has won again. Or has she? When she leaves, Connor and Daniel terrorist fist jab each other, and we learn that this is all a nefarious plan ... that Daniel is plotting against Willie!

Over at the cover shoot, Amanda and Marc set their plan up by convincing Kimmie that the necklace Willie wants Adriana to wear is hideous, and Betty does her part by letting Kimmie know that Willie automatically respects anyone who stands up to her and has the courage of their convictions.

Of course, the opposite is true. Willie will annihilate anyone who dares to disagree with her, and after doing some soul searching Betty can't handle the guilt of setting Kimmie up for a fall, and confesses the truth ... that she shouldn't contradict Willie (especially about the necklace, which Willie has a stake in).

Kimmie dismisses Betty and decides to stand up to Willie when she asks where the necklace is. She calls Willie "babe", and tells her to "scooty-scoot-scoot into the shade". Yikes.

Willie fires Kimmie on the spot, but before she's carted off by security she manages one last evil act. She throws the rare tico berries into the algae pond, thus assuring that the shoot will be ruined.

Betty manages to save the day by doing what she does best. She sits Adriana down and with her combination of spunk and warmth, explains what happened. Luckily, there were some tico berries left in the fruit basket that Betty sent her, and the cover shoot is saved.

The episode ends with Betty meeting up with Jesse again and presenting him with her very own business cards. She doesn't have an official job title yet, but she'll get there.

There was a lot to like about this episode. Betty is back to her old warm, engaging self (and still keeping true to herself), but she's also managing to make inroads at Mode.

Hilda has some interesting storyline possibilities coming up (and I wonder if the councilman will make a return visit?) but I sort of miss the Brune Hilda from last week.

Things are heating up at Mode. With this new character plotting with Daniel, maybe the tables will be turned on Willie. And now that things are back to normal, Marc and Amanda can get back to their lovably evil machinations.

Oh, and Kimmie ... enjoy the rocketship into space. Arf, Arf!

What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments and come back next week, when Betty will have a new roommate ... Amanda!