So much happens in the world of Ugly Betty, and there have been sex changes, murders, baby kidnappings... lots to keep up with. Season 4, if I remember rightly, as they all blur into one past episode, involved Betty's new role as junior editor at Mode, saw her love-interest with Matt rekindled and then abruptly end as he disappeared off to Africa. Thankfully a drunken phone call to Henry on Betty's trip to London didn't result in them getting back together, but instead Betty's career took her away from Queens, New York, the US to London in the finale.
Meanwhile, Wilhemina's estranged daughter turned up to con her mother, and Connor went to jail; Marc didn't get much of a storyline for himself, but was hilarious and provided a touching 'mentor' role for Justin; Hilda dumped her Karate Kid / Mayor boyfriend for bad boy hunk Bobby, and eventually married him, after suffering a miscarriage; Amanda found she had a talent for fashion and quit as receptionist, after a bit of fun between the sheets with Daniel, and happily found out her father was the gay guy from Mad Men; Daniel got involved in a daft cult and stopped moping after dead ex-wife Molly to hop into bed with Amanda again; Clare Meade got in touch with her long-lost adopted son, which didn't turn out very well for Wilhemina when he accidentally shot her; and Ignacio... well he got to cook and be paternal. On a plus note, his sometime girlfriend turned up for the finale.
I was very pleased with how Ugly Betty wrapped up everyone's storylines, even bringing back elements you'd forgotten, like Amanda's father and his Tweety bird tattoo. The defining and most brilliant part of season 4, and of the series as a whole, was it's treatment of homosexuality - it was never an 'issue', and when camp, flappy Justin declared he was enamoured by a girl in his acting class, I was afraid the writers had wimped out with the character. Thankfully, Justin was just-in... the closet that is (poor joke, I know). When his (admittedly hot) classmate Austin kissed him, and Justin realised that he had been scared to admit his sexuality, the character and the plot flourished. To see a young teenage coming out story portrayed so sensitively was so wonderful and positive, it swelled my heart everytime Justin and Austin were on screen. And the defining moment came during Hilda's wedding party, when everyone was paired off dancing, and Justin chose the moment to admit he was paired off too. It was beautiful to see the courage and the acceptance from his family, who knew, but were willing to let Justin open up in his own time. I really hope Mark Indelicato goes on to big things, his portrayal of Justin was the best.Then again, I hope all of the cast go on to big things! I've enjoyed every single one of them, especially Becki Newton's caustic and laugh-out-loud hilarious Amanda, an utterly underated comic actress. America Ferrera, who was revealed to be drop-dead gorgeous as Betty blossomed, is also undervalued - she puts so much into making Betty a likable and ultimately believable heroine, especially within such a cartoony environment. The only actor I know who's moved on to something else is Vanessa Williams, who's now in Desperate Housewives, which is excellent, but confusing as there were several weeks where the two shows overlapped on E4!
Ugly Betty is a show I see myself returning to on DVD. It's hilarious, it's touching, it's witty, it's gay, it's camp, it's cool, it's Betty.
No comments:
Post a Comment