Ugly Betty

[ClarkKent_DC]

Last week came the sad news that Ugly Betty is canceled. To add insult to injury, the episode order is cut from 22 to 20. With 10 episodes remaining to air -- and six already in the can -- at least they can build to a fitting series finale.

But what would that be?

The other versions of this telenovela have Betty marrying her boss, but I think in this version, the relationship between she and Daniel have developed more that she's the sister he never had. In any case, I would not want to see Betty and Daniel hook up. I'd like her to get back with Henry, but I think a really happy ending for the show would be for her father to marry that hot nurse Elena, for her sister to marry that hot guy Bobby who just came back into her life, for Wilhelmina to marry Connor (yeah, he's a skunk, but he makes her happy) ...

... and for Betty to leave the Meade fold and get a job at a publication where she can write the socially conscious stuff she wants to write where it and she is appreciated, and not being belittled, laughed at or stabbed in the back all time.

What say you?

[ClarkKent_DC]

The Ugly Betty series finale is Wednesday, and I, for one, will be sorry to see it go.

I was on board from the beginning. This tale of an ugly ducking coming to full maturation as a lovely swan has been enjoyable and relatable throughout, although it clearly stumbled in seasons two and three and lost all its buzz.

I got somewhat behind in my watching, so last week caught the last six episodes, and it seems the writers did lay the groundwork for a satisfying finale. They planted the notion that she was a success in business but wasn't being true to herself; they reacquainted her with much-missed characters from her past -- BFF Christina and old boyfriends Gio (who I never liked) and Henry (who I really did).

And not only did Betty grow over this last story arc, so did others; frenemies Marc and Amanda revealed their jealousy was rooted in feeling they were stagnating, and tried to break out of their molds; Betty's sister Hilda did marry that hot guy Bobby; nephew Justin outed himself, with the full support of his family (in a moment that was endearing as it was bizarre); and Wilhelmina --

-- well, we have to see the finale for the final fate of Wilhelmina, but it doesn't involve Connor. It may or may not involve the ultimate comeuppance, however.

Most of all, it appears the happy ending I wanted for Betty -- to leave the Meade fold and get a job at a publication where she can write the socially conscious stuff she wants to write where it and she is appreciated -- is in the offing. But with a twist I didn't anticipate: It's in London!

Whatever will Daniel do without her? Good question. Grow up, maybe. But she doesn't need him.

Here's to the end of a lovely show.

[Ana Canino-Fluit (Anacoqui- mod)]

I just watched the ending (even though I pretty much missed all the years in between) and I have to say it does seem right and fitting for this version. She has grown up, and so have the people around her, and she has happy direction to her life.

Did it feel right after all?

ClarkKent_DC said:

The Ugly Betty series finale is Wednesday, and I, for one, will be sorry to see it go.

I was on board from the beginning. This tale of an ugly ducking coming to full maturation as a lovely swan has been enjoyable and relatable throughout, although it clearly stumbled in seasons two and three and lost all its buzz.

I got somewhat behind in my watching, so last week caught the last six episodes, and it seems the writers did lay the groundwork for a satisfying finale. They planted the notion that she was a success in business but wasn't being true to herself; they reacquainted her with much-missed characters from her past -- BFF Christina and old boyfriends Gio (who I never liked) and Henry (who I really did).

And not only did Betty grow over this last story arc, so did others; frenemies Marc and Amanda revealed their jealousy was rooted in feeling they were stagnating, and tried to break out of their molds; Betty's sister Hilda did marry that hot guy Bobby; nephew Justin outed himself, with the full support of his family (in a moment that was endearing as it was bizarre); and Wilhelmina --

-- well, we have to see the finale for the final fate of Wilhelmina, but it doesn't involve Connor. It may or may not involve the ultimate comeuppance, however.

Most of all, it appears the happy ending I wanted for Betty -- to leave the Meade fold and get a job at a publication where she can write the socially conscious stuff she wants to write where it and she is appreciated -- is in the offing. But with a twist I didn't anticipate: It's in London!

Whatever will Daniel do without her? Good question. Grow up, maybe. But she doesn't need him.

Here's to the end of a lovely show.

[ClarkKent_DC]

It felt right to me in many ways.

Wilhelmina really had an epiphany. It was touching and endearing to see Marc taking care of her in the hospital; it didn't really hit me until that moment that he's been a better son to her than Nico ever was a daughter to her. And -- true to the underlying message of every Ugly Betty episode, the value that Betty has always lived by and Wilhelmina never did -- when you do the right thing, good things happen. So, Wilhelmina put the brakes on her scheming and buries the hatchet with the Meades, and what happens? She gets named editor-in-chief -- the prize she's been after throughout the show! And not because of a quid pro quo, either! And to top it off, there's new hope for her and Connor!

I am so glad that Hilda got her happy ending, with Bobby. I am glad that Justin got his happy ... beginning? (It really wasn't an ending, he's so young.) I am glad that Dad gave his blessing to both Hilda and Betty moving on, because he's cool like that. I was glad that hot nurse Elena came back for Hilda's wedding; I like her and Dad as a couple and I can squint my eyes and think that maybe they started up again if I want to.

And I think that was the beauty of the way they left things between Betty and Daniel: If you want to, you can believe that they got together after the final shot, but if you're in the camp that thinks their relationship is more like brother and sister (which is the camp I'm in), you can believe that if you want to.

It's my understanding that, throughout the course of the series, the actors didn't want Betty and Daniel to get together, but there is a certain constituency of fans that wanted it* and the producer began to be receptive to the idea. But then the show got canceled with eight episodes left to be filmed, and the network said we don't want eight, we want only six. I think if they had been given another year, the producer would have put Betty and Daniel together.

Which I am glad they didn't do. I can believe that Daniel began to have feelings for Betty, but I never got the sense that Betty ever had romantic eyes for Daniel, and I really don't think he's good enough for her. The show was always a parallel coming of age story -- Betty's and Daniel's -- but even though he's older, he's still too immature.

Oh, yeah; I liked how they wrapped up Amanda's story about her father; I thought they totally forgot about that. And Amanda's goodbye to Betty was just right; she gets warm and fuzzy right when Betty is exasperated with her for doing something totally selfish, so Betty has to forgive her, which is absolutely true to the core of both of them. Well done.

And it seemed that Mrs. Meade got left out and things were kind of hanging with her other son, Tyler, but I chalk that up to having only six episodes to build toward an ending rather than eight.

*There's another constituency that likes Betty and Gio and another faction that likes Betty and Henry .

[ClarkKent_DC]

Oh -- one very, very nice touch at the very, very end: The title "UGLY BETTY" came up on screen ... and then "UGLY" disappeared, leaving just "BETTY."