"Ugly Betty" (3.18) recaplet: A mother of a problem

Posted by

on March 13, 2009

This week's Ugly Betty sees our heroine meeting her possible-future mother-in-law. How does it go? Just look at the above pic.

But that pales in comparison to Wilhelmina having to sell her stuff to make ends meet. Hey, was that her ad I saw on Craigslist?

We start with the entire Suarez family (including hello nurse! Elena) and special breakfast guest star Matt enjoying Papi's lumberjack Saturday morning meal.

As Justin is grilling Matt about being rich, Hilda receives her first hair appointment of the day. It's Archie, the councilman who sparred with her earlier in the season, and who Elena and Betty think would be the perfect candidate to ~~fill her vacated seat~~ tame her wild side. Is it just me, or is Ralph Macchio better looking now than he ever was as a teen idol?

Daniel and Willi have a meeting with a hilariously conceited photographer (who's best known for a shoot he did of Brangelina as The Brady Bunch ... with Jennifer Aniston as Alice) who they need to get Mode back off the ground. Unfortunately the magazine can't afford his fee, which means each of them will have to come up with cash out of pocket. For Daniel, it isn't a problem, but it'll hit Willi right where she lives.

Forced to cut back on office expenses, Willi's afternoon snack of Caviar and champagne has been replaced with ... almonds and club soda. Ugh! They could probably afford some Hostess cupcakes, or at least a couple of Slim Jims.

It gets worse for Willi, though, when she realizes she's going to have to raise cash right away, and will have to sell some of her furs and jewelry (is there a rich bitch version of Cash4Gold?). She brings in a woman to estimate how much she can get for her belongings, but later experiences post-traumatic stress disorder and when Marc arrives to let her know "it's time", he finds her among the furs, trying to say goodbye. I fully expected a Will freak-out culminating in a shout of "they can have my sable when they tear it from cold dead hands", but Willi handles it well, and she flings the furs away and tells Marc "mama is downsizing!" And how rockin' is Vanessa's body?

Willi raises the cash she needs to keep the photographer, but decides that there some things she just can't live without. She can survive with no furs or jewels, but is drawing the line at her daily caviar and champagne. Whether she has to take a second mortgage or sell Marc's bodily organs, she'll find a way to keep her daily snack.

Betty is excited about meeting Matt's mother for the first time (mothers always love Betty), but her balloon is popped when she comes face to face with Victoria (played by Christine Baranski in full Maryanne Thorpe mode). She realizes that Victoria has no idea who she is, and when Matt shows up late and formerly introduces them, Betty gets the distinct impression that his mother is none too happy that they're seeing each other.

Betty is furious that Matt hadn't mentioned her to his mother before, but he basically says it was for Betty's own good. But to make it up, he invites her to a snooty high society party at his mother's house. Not wanting to be caught off-guard, she enlists Claire's help on the do's and dont's, and together they find out that the topic of the dinner is "torture", which is right up Betty's alley, being a do-gooder and all.

The dinner goes about as well as you'd expect. Betty accidentally flings a mushroom onto Victoria's priceless painting, but Matt takes the blame. When the topic of the after-dinner talk turns out not to be torture, but opera, Betty is aghast. When she's called on by Victoria to give her opinion, what could have been public humiliation turns into triumph when Matt reminds her about the opera edition of Mode, which prompts a stirring speech from Betty about the similarities of opera and fashion.

Betty's glee is short-lived when Victoria confronts her and tells her in no uncertain terms that Matt is too good for her, and she should find someone her own class. When she tells Matt what happened, he basically tells his mother to cram it, he'll see whoever he wants. And I have to say, angry Matt is hot!

Meanwhile, Archie shows up for dinner at the Suarez house, to the surprise of Hilda, who is none to happy with Elena and Betty for this ambush. After some initial hostility, Hilda warms up, and she and Archie make an official date to go out. I hope this means Ralph Macchio is sticking around, because he and Hilda have nice chemistry.

The episode ends with Betty running into Victoria on the street, and Betty tells her, in her own way, "i'm going to bang your son and there's nothing you can do about it". The she and Matt meet up and walk into the NYC sunset.

End of episode. Oh yeah, Daniel and Molly blah, blah, blah, Molly's still dying. End of Episode.

Well, I liked this episode more than last week, but it's mostly for Willi, who continues to be the highlight of each show. The Betty/Matt/Victoria stuff was fine, although I wish they could have done something more than the old cliche about the disapproving rich mother. Overall, I'm giving this episode a seven.