A caterpillar doesn’t turn into a butterfly overnight but when the fourth season of Ugly Betty begins, we get to see the beginnings of Betty’s metamorphosis. The two-hour premiere, appropriately titled “The Butterfly Effect” brings us back to Mode Magazine to see where things are at for the glamorous employees there and back to the Suarez household to check in with Betty’s familia.
When the third season ended, Molly died, leaving Daniel to be the grief-stricken widower, Wilhelmina received a visit from a mysterious, unseen person and Betty was promoted to Associate Editor. When season 4 picks up, you’ll get to spend most of the first hour wondering who Wilhelmina’s got hidden away in her apartment but rest assured, you do find out. What’s more, the guest has some drama with them that spells major trouble for Willy.
Speaking of trouble, Betty’s adorable nephew Justin is off to high school and while he managed to get by ok in junior high, the kids at Queensboro High School aren’t nearly as welcoming to the Gucci-wearing kid. Meanwhile, back at Mode, Amanda buddies up to an temp who, despite being much older, lives the same type of lifestyle as the pretty receptionist. This causes Amanda to reevaluate the path she has in front of her.
Betty’s set up as Associate editor but with her recently ex’ed boyfriend Matt running the Features department and some of her coworkers, who don’t necessarily think she deserves the position (including Mark), she’s got enemies to contend with. As Daniel’s got his own problems, dealing with the loss of Molly, he’s not much help and when he does try to step in to defend Betty, things only get worse.
So needless to say, the new season brings in a new set of challenges for Betty but what I’m most excited about is where our girl is headed as she moves forward in her career as well as in her personal life. The butterfly theme, which serves as a comfortable metaphor for Betty’s slow but steady transformation (the braces are still on but she says they’ll be off in a few months!), carries over into the theme of Betty and the other editor’s feature on insect jewelry. Betty’s new position as an editor means not only having to step up her game in her work, but also to adjust her appearance to fit in better among her coworkers.
I love Ugly Betty. Much like Desperate Housewives, the series manages to pack itself with drama and at the same time not wallow in it (see Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice for examples of the opposite of that). While season four’s premiere has some dark patches, like always, the show manages to allow us to take those aspects of the show seriously while also seeing the humor in the little moments and those great one-liner jabs (mostly at Betty’s expense).
Another interesting aspect that I think needs to be addressed is Betty’s relationship with Daniel. As his assistant, she was often put to the task of looking after him but we also saw Daniel take Betty under his wing many a time. Now that she’s an associate editor, while she’s still his subordinate, their relationship as coworkers seems to be evolving into something more than that of boss and employee. Will we be seeing a blossoming romance between the two characters? I think it’s a little too soon to say that given Daniel’s newly-widowered status and Betty being at the start of her external transformation, but I do think we might be seeing the playing field leveled a bit more in her relationship with Daniel as Betty moves up the ladder at Mode.
I was disappointed when ABC pushed the premiere of Ugly Betty off a week, but I assure you, the two-hour premiere is worth the wait. Betty’s moving on up and while there’s definitely going to be some challenges in her path, we all know she will rise above. And if all goes well as the season progresses, we’ll hopefully get to see Betty morph into a butterfly on the outside, while maintaining her cute, fuzzy caterpillar nature on the inside.
Ugly Betty Season 4 premieres Friday, October 16 at 8:00 p.m., ET.
