Ugly Betty: The Complete Third Season DVD Review
Posted by Michael Weyer on 09.22.2009
The third season of the ABC hit manages to return to the off-the-wall mix of comedy and storytelling that helps it stand out in a crowd with fashion.
Ugly Betty the Complete Third Season
Six disc DVD
ABC Studios
1032 minutes
ABC has an interesting tendency in the last several years to have shows that blossom as giant surprise hits in their first seasons only to hit stumbling blocks in their seconds. Lost and Desperate Housewives are the best examples as the network does seem to hit the “sophomore slump” often. Ugly Betty is another show that’s fallen into that rut as its first season was fantastic, a ratings and critical winner with star America Ferrera winning both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for the title role. Its second season, however, seemed rougher with some plot lines that went nowhere and the writer’s strike marred its progress. The third season starts off rough as well but does manage to gel midway through, returning to the great mix of humor and drama that made the show stand out and provides a funny but touching show.
The Show
The second season left off with Betty (Ferrera) deciding between Henry (Christopher Gorham) and Gio (Freddy Rodriguez) and chose instead to go to Europe for the summer. Upon returning, she quickly finds things have changed as Daniel (Eric Mabius) has been removed as editor-in-chief of Mode and Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams) has finally taken over. Daniel is now working at a sports magazine, raising his recently discovered son and seems happy with it as Betty is forced to work as Wilhelmina’s assistant, working under Marc (Michael Urie). However, this change is short-lived as Wilhelmina’s first issue is the lowest seller the magazine has had in years and Claire (Judith Light) and Alexis (Rebecca Romijin) manage to get Daniel put back in charge. Wilhelmina must comfort herself with the fact that she still has connections to the company as the baby Daniel’s father is being carried by Betty’s best friend, Christina (Ashley Jensen). Betty decides to take charge of her life more by moving out of her family home in Queens and into a Manhattan apartment where quirky Amanda (Becki Newton) becomes her roommate. While her sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz) juggles romantic problems and an attempt to open her own hair salon, Betty soon finds herself trying out for YETI, a special program to give people a shot at real magazine writing.
The problem with judging Ugly Betty is its tone. Yes, the show is often ridiculous and wildly over-the-top and melodramatic. The thing is, it’s supposed to be that way since it was inspired by a telenovela and those things can be downright insane. The show embraces the wild stereotypes of the fashion world where people can be self-serving and freak out over things we mere mortals can’t understand. The whole thing is tongue-in cheek to the full so you can’t judge it as either straight drama or comedy but a mix of both which makes it easier to forgive some of its storytelling flaws. Still, it’s clear the first episodes of the year aren’t as good as they could be. It spends too much time on the “Daniel working at sports magazine” stuff and Betty figuring her place in Manhattan, not enough on the really juicy stuff the show does well. Even the writers seem to face that as they make several bold decisions a few episodes in. First, they have Christina take a tumble down some stairs and reveal she was pushed by Alexis who’s arrested (originally to give Romijin some time to have her baby but she elected not to return to the show). That ties into the revelation that Daniel is not the father of his son and the boy leaves for France, thus cutting out a lot of the rather schmaltzy bonding stuff. That’s followed by Lindsay Lohan in a nice guest turn as Betty’s high-school nemesis who’s fallen on hard times. Betty gets her a job at the magazine only to reawaken the girl’s snotty and conniving attitude. Lohan does a good job as the arrogant girl who gets a nice comeuppance when she makes the mistake of trying to out-diva Wilhelmina.
While Betty has never been the most realistic of shows, it does take an interesting direction mid-season due to the economic crunch. With ad revenue and readership falling (not to mention how, much as the people working there can’t accept it, people have more to care about than fashion) the magazine hits financial trouble. Wilhelmina wants to bring in Connor Owens (Grant Bowler), a playboy financial whiz. Daniel seems to dislike Connor which naturally means Wilhelmina wants to get him on board more. She does so only to discover Daniel and Connor were faking their animosity to trick her. However, Connor soon makes it clear he’s not playing favorites in his desire to get the magazine on track. Daniel soon becomes infatuated with Connor’s girlfriend, Molly (Sarah Lafleur) who responds to him too. Noticing this, Wilhelmina tries to set them up because she wants Connor herself, struck by how she actually cares for the guy. This dual romance works throughout the season and concludes in a pair of stunning twists that rock both Wilhelmina and Daniel and the magazine itself.
The acting remains on par with previous seasons to help the stories along. Ferrera shows once more why she has both a Golden Globe and an Emmy as she continues to add layers to Betty. She’s a bit more experienced in the fashion world now, no longer the naive waif and also shows a good backbone. When she’s put in charge of publishing an issue with a hurricane cover, a real tornado strikes and her attempts to call it back fail. She’s shocked then when Daniel puts the blame on her publicly and tells him how disappointed she is in him, causing him to apologize to the press for it. Ferrera continues to show that never-say-die optimism of her character which carries through always and makes you relate to her well despite her complete lack of dress sense. Another factor helping that is her mid-season romance with Matt Hartley (Daniel Eric Gold), a writer from a rich family who she soon mixes with despite their difference in classes.
Williams continues to make Wilhelmina a fun character to watch. Her initial plotline is a fun one as after plotting so long to become editor-in-chief, she finally succeeds only to discover that the readers hate her vision of the magazine. Naturally, she refuses to accept she can be wrong and continues to plot with the upcoming child and undermining Daniel whenever she can. Given her selfish nature, it’s fascinating to see Wilhelmina actually opening up to Connor, the two making a great couple. His eventual actions do drive things between them and show how, for all her faults, Wilhelmina does love the magazine more than most anything. Williams handles that and also sells the great comedy of Wilhelmina dealing with the financial woes and her declaration of how she’d rather live on the streets than go without her caviar. Whatever the situation, Williams is capable of delivering the best laser-hard cold stares of anyone on television and pulls the show along.
The supporting cast also shines well. Urie has Marc be mostly laughs with his flamboyant style and fawning over Wilhelmina. But he gets good material when his boyfriend Cliff suggests they move in together and in his panic over that, he sleeps with another man, ruining things. There’s also the nice dynamic of him also joining YETI as he wants to be more than just Wilhelmina’s errand boy for his entire life and Urie is able to show that deeper side to the character. Newton is much the same, hysterical as the superficial Amanda, especially when she and Betty become roommates with wildly inappropriate behavior. When she kisses a guy Betty likes, Betty is hurt and for once Amanda sees that, showing she does have some morals after all and feels honest guilt when she blows through the rent money Betty was counting on. But for the most part she’s comedy as she and Urie continue to be one of the best laugh-producing duos on TV now.
Mabius had a rough going last year but he gets better material here, starting with dealing with his “son” and the pain of letting the boy go. His romance with Molly is very well done, nicely paced as Daniel is afraid of poaching a friend’s girl but can’t help getting closer to this sweet woman. The revelation she’s sick adds a layer to their relationship as Mabius is given the chance to show how Daniel, to his own amazement, is ready to give up his bed-hopping ways for one woman and that confidence sparks his plotlines. For the home life, Ortiz gets great stuff with her romance with a councilman played by Ralph Macchio and her business while son Justin (Mark Indelicato) continues his dream of attending acting school. Getting some meaty plots is Ignacio (Tony Plana) who tries to help the family out by winning a cooking contest amid other jobs. He suffers a heart attack which convinces Betty to move home and in the aftermath starts a romance with his nurse, Elena (Lauren Velez) that’s a nice heartfelt contrast to the wild goings-on.
The show still shines with some amazing settings like photo shoots and crazy plotlines. There’s also fun stuff for long-time viewers like the great twist of Suzuki St. Pierre (Alec Mapa), the seemingly over the top gay fashion reporter who pops up on the “Fashion Buzz” program within the show. Trying to get some blackmail information, Betty and Daniel discover that the man is actually a happily married father living in Queens. In a twist on discrimination that only works for this show, he tells them that he’s always wanted to be a fashion reporter but no one would listen to a straight father from Queens so he remade himself into someone they would. There’s the interesting fashion shoots, a heart attack, a wedding and a birth on the runway over the course of the year to throw things for wild loops. Of course, the show’s attempts to parody the fashion world do fail to connect at times; not because they’re over the top but rather, compared to the antics you see on America’s Next Top Model or Project Runway, they seem downright subdued.
So while it starts rough, the show does nicely improve as the season goes along, returning to the nice mix of melodrama, comedy and even some insight that made it work in the first place. The series does try a bit too hard sometimes to make you laugh and can skirt the line of self-parody but the wild sense is what gives it its identity and pulls you in. Ferrera and Williams may hold the focus but the rest of the cast sell the material wonderfully, aided by a slew of nice guest stars. The writing is also good with several laugh-out-loud lines and sight gags that merit repeat viewing. Overall, it’s good to see a show that openly acknowledges being just pure fun with the occasional insight and is a pretty sight to behold.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10.0
Video: Standard for ABC sets, Widescreen 1.78:1 ratio, enhanced for 16X9 sets. As the show revolves around fashion and New York, things should come off vibrant and the picture is clear, especially for interior scenes.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, the sound is mostly clear throughout with both dialogue and music. You may have to adjust it for the special features, however. Subtitles in English, French and Spanish.
Bonus Features
There are two unique commentaries on the DVD. The first is an audio commentary for “Crush’d” with producers Jon Kinally and Tracy Proust and director Victor Nelli. It’s a nice track as they discuss a lot of aspects of the show, starting with Newton doing a nude scene right in the middle of the magazine offices and how they had to get a different dog for Amanda due to the coast-to-coast move of the show. They mention how Ferrera prefers having Betty meet her family in person for scenes rather than always be on the phone. There’s a lot of talk on how they had a lot more planned for the episode but it got cut out such as getting Mariah Carey to make an appearance and Hilda doing her hair. Also, through the episode, Connor was to hold a big secret over Wilhelmina that would turn out to be seeing her at a screening of Wall*E. Kinally and Proust mention how the move of the show leaves the writers in California so they can’t see the show being made themselves. They explain how the big rooftop party was the hardest scene they ever shot and how they had to get the sunset finale just right. A good track that explains a lot of the show’s workings such as how Ferrera and Williams work to protect their characters.
The other track is “Look Who Keeps Popping Up,” a nice video commentary by Urie and Newton. They occupy one half of the screen while the episode “The Sex Issue” plays on the other. The two are delightful laughing and talking about shooting it all , cracking jokes like Newton saying “falling asleep at work shows you’re working hard.” The whole thing is like the old Pop-Up Video show as screens will show up with other stars talking about the episode and making it all come together. Counters will show up marking the number of mentions of sex references and “little-known facts.” The two are joined by director Nelli for stuff like how Nelli read the script calling for Betty, Marc and Amanda hiding behind three mailboxes, wondered how he was going to set it up only to find the perfect trio of boxes already on a street. They all marvel at how Ortiz was pregnant during the episode but still did a sex scene with Macchio as well as a catfight. While it can be professional with noting the challenges of shooting in New York, the trio are having a god time and Urie and Newton show how they are just as fun off set as they are in character.
Coming Home to New York City is a fourteen minute feature on the decision to move the show from Los Angeles and shoot entirely in New York. There’s a funny bit where the actors talk of how they were told by the producers, half of them thinking they were getting fired with the producers explaining they realized there was no way to replicate the real NYC in L.A. and it was better to just move there. It’s amazing watching how the massive sets for the offices and Betty’s home were deconstructed, shipped across country and put together in only a matter of weeks in time for shooting. Indeed, they had to rush through location shooting for several episodes while waiting for the interior shots to be ready and the cast jokes about how they always get lost wandering the office set which is like a real building. Narrated by Ferrera, it’s a fun feature on the show changing its location while enhancing its allure.
Mode After Hours collects a series of webisodes originally shown on ABC’s website focusing on Marc and Amanda at the offices late at night. Always hysterical given the duo’s chemistry, there’s lots of fun with bowling in the office, getting stuck on an elevator and conducting a séance to contact Amanda’s mom. Over the top but funny to watch as you can never get too much of Marc and Amanda.
There are thirteen deleted scenes spread throughout the discs. Most are just fluff stuff but some funny things here and there like Amanda trying a whacky seduction of a millionaire; a nice Marc/Cliff scene that makes their breakup painful; Wilhelmina getting to know Molly better at a ski lodge; and a scene perfect for the show where Daniel leaves for a trip, telling everyone that Betty is in charge. When he leaves, Betty gives everyone a pep talk and they all laugh hysterically at the idea she truly believes she’s the boss of them.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10.0
The 411: In its third year, Ugly Betty rebounds to the unique style that helped it stand out as it mocks the fashion world but adds deeper layers to the characters that helps them grow. After a rough start, the show manages to actually mix reality into things and provide some great entertainment thanks to its great cast. The extras add to the feeling with look at how they keep it real in NYC and show the series still is capable of some fashionable turns.
