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Here is the full recap for Ugly Betty episode 4.08, The Bahamas Triangle. Some quick thoughts:
- The Anne Kellerman opening was a really inventive touch. Kellerman was a fascinating person, check out more about her on her Wikipedia page.
- There was a whole lot of vacation sex in this episode!
- It’s funny that Amanda was one of those who had “meaningless sex”, and was the most open about it. I say that because in this episode, she showed more depth than any other episode I can remember. The two dramatic soliloquies with Betty and Matt were wonderful.
- However, what the heck was wrong with Becki Newton’s color in the scene climbing the stairs to the water slides? She didn’t look quite right, and that was the only scene she seemed, i don’t know, “uneven”.
- The scene where Betty ran into a topless Wilhelmina was one of Willi’s funniest ever. “Take the stick out”, and being on “island time” – I loved it!
- Adam Rodriguez is just fun to watch. Although I love Ralph Macchio, there was a short time in the episode when I was hoping Hilda would choose Bobby.
- Where was Ignacio? Rarely do we have an episode with the Suarezes with no Papi.
- The whole Marc/Daniel dynamic is strange and fun at the same time. Are they a good fit as boss / assistant? Probably not, but that should make for some interesting story lines in themselves.
- Now I see that we haven’t seen the end of Connor.
- The whole scene where Marc told Amanda about Daniel’s “wiener not working” was hilarious.
- They used Shakira a lot less than the promos suggested. I do not care for her singing, but that is one beautiful woman.
- They wrapped up the Amanda/Matt/Betty triangle story line, and fully opened up the Hilda/Archie/Bobby story.
- I guess now we know where the pregnancy scares in episode 4.09 are going to come from!
Altogether, a good episode, and a refreshing change from the normal setting of the show. It was like we viewers were given our own fun, breezy vacation fling.
Full recap after the jump.
The episode begins with spiffy reenactment of Annette Kellerman’s arrest in 1907 for wearing a one-piece swimsuit to a Boston beach. Betty is Kellerman, morphing into Betty in the Mode conference room, pitching a feature article and photo spread: “100 years of swimwear”. (She even has the actual swimsuit Kellerman wore)
Daniel and Wilhelmina like the idea for the feature, but not the photo spread. Willi announces that Matt will be drawing up the list of “essential employees” who will be going to the photo shoot in the Bahamas.
Wilhelmina is being perfectionist about the shoot, her last, and her plans leave Marc no time for leisure. She wants to impress Isabella magazine, hoping for the open Editor in Chief job. Her competition: Penelope Graybridge, her rival.
Betty brings Matt a thank-you (for helping rescue Daniel) package, and finds that the entire office has been bribing Matt. She calls him a good friend, causing Matt to pause.
Hilda is watching TV, when Justin enters, followed by Bobby. He says he drove Justin home to protect him. They share a very friendly moment, and Hilda is obviously smitten.
Matt invites Amanda to the Bahamas shoot as associate stylist. Amanda asks if this is “just a work thing”. He hints that he wants to see Amanda away from “other people”, meaning Betty.
Betty sees the list of those chosen to go in an email, and sees Amanda’s name as the last name. She later complains to Marc, who is trying to ignore her. They see Matt and Amanda coming off the elevator, flirting. Marc then tells Betty all about how Matt and Amanda are kicking off a relationship that will probably consummate in the Bahamas.
Betty complains to Justin and Hilda about Amanda. Hilda says she should go to the Bahamas herself and take Matt back. Hilda wishes she and Archie could go to the Bahamas to “get the juices flowing”. Betty says she can get them the Mode rate, at the Cove Atlantis. Justin gets excited: he knows Shakira’s going to be there. He then shows Betty a book where he has photoshopped himself into Shakira pictures, asking Betty to get Shakira to sign it.
Daniel worries that everyone is staring at him since he left the cult. Betty gives him advice: act like his old self in the Bahamas (even being a little bit of a “man-slut”).
Hilda surprises Archie, showing him the brochure for the Atlantis resort. Archie says he can’t go because he has a political strategy meeting upstate that weekend, and he’s worried about how it might look to the voters. Hilda is very disappointed.
Amanda shows Matt her new bikini, and he suggests she not wear it on the plane. :) Betty spies them from afar, and hides behind Amanda’s desk. Wilhelmina passes with Marc, going over their wall-to-wall Bahamas schedule. Marc complains, and demands a vacation. Wilhelmina, surprisingly, agrees, and conscripts Betty, who she sees hiding, to be her assistant in the Bahamas, letting Marc have a vacation.
Betty arrives at the resort, taking it all in, when Wilhelmina comes up behind her and starts barking orders. There will be no time for fun. And she tells Betty that there is no time for pining over Matt, either.
Betty calls Hilda (who is freezing because Papi has the thermostat set too low) and complains about Amanda/Matt. As Betty passes the entrance, she sees Shakira, who begs her not to tell that she is there. Back home, Hilda tries to adjust the heat, and ends up breaking a handle, shooting steam everywhere. Bobby shows up, and Hilda immediately enlists him to fix the radiator.
We see the beginnings of the photo shoot, with Betty working hard. Wilhelmina complains about all the swimsuits. Betty shows her the new model wrangler (a large, scary, very butch woman). They then see Suzuki St Pierre on the television announcing that Penelope Graybridge got the Isabella job.
Betty sees Amanda hauling a rack of clothes; Amanda tries to hide from her and runs away.
Marc reluctantly saddles up to the bar beside Daniel. A few drinks later, and Marc is complaining that there are no gay people in the Bahamas. The two share a bonding moment, where Daniel tells him that he, too, is looking for someone, but not having luck. Marc tells him that women love straight men who hang with gay men, so he will help Daniel.
A woman (Suzanna) walks up, and Marc tells her that Daniel is trying to set him up with guys, and they need her help. This gets her attention, and she starts talking to Daniel.
Betty chases Amanda up the stairs to the massive dual water slides. They argue over Matt. Amanda suggests they race (down the waterslide) for Matt. Betty thinks it’s stilly, then agrees. They race down the slide in their clothes, and Betty wins.
At the bottom, Betty celebrates and Amanda mopes. Betty tells her she’ll find another millionaire quickly. Amanda is insulted, and tells Betty that she has real feelings for Matt. She says Betty only cares about what she wants, not what Matt wants (good scene). Matt approaches, and Betty rethinks and tells him she’s OK with him dating Amanda.
Marc finds Betty and tells her that all hell has broken loose with the shoot, and Wilhelmina is nowhere to be found.
Wilhelmina is by herself on the beach, eating a cheeseburger. :) Suddenly, out of the water pops Connor! (Complete with Barry White soundtrack). She rushes to him and kisses him, then slaps him for making her think he was dead. They kiss some more, ala “From Here to Eternity”.
The two later lay together, discussing their plan. They will leave tomorrow, and spend the time up till then in “hot, secret sex”.
We then see Daniel and Suzanna in bed, but he appears to be in dire need of Viagra. :) They are both frustrated .
Back home, Bobby is working on the radiator, and he obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s getting hotter and hotter, and the two shed more clothes. Hilda gets him to confess that he had come to see her. She then has to send him away, even though she’s torn between him and Archie.
Betty tries to get in Wilhelmina’s room, then Wilhelmina approaches from behind, topless, carrying a bucket of ice and in a very good mood. Betty tells her how the photo shoot is going, but Willi is not interested; she tells her “it’s island time – jump on board!’”
Matt had prepared a private, on-the-beach dinner with Amanda. Amanda kisses him, but she stops. She says Matt isn’t kissing her like someone who has feelings for her. She asks Matt if he still has feelings for Betty. He says that Betty has declared they are ‘just friends’. She says he didn’t answer her question. Amanda then tells him that Betty is in the Bahamas for HIM, and that Betty still has feelings for Matt. She tells him to go tell her how he feels, and then grabs the bottle of wine and leaves.
Daniel brags to Marc about his sexual exploits the night before , and Marc knows he’s lying. He figures out that Daniel “couldn’t get the rooster to crow”. Marc tells him he can’t be who he was before, he’s changed since Molly. Daniel tells him that Wilhelmina is lucky to have him working with her. Daniel then points out a guy he thinks might be right for Marc. Before Marc leaves to meet the guy, Amanda shows up, and Marc tells them to console each other – because Matt doesn’t love Amanda, and Daniel’s “wiener’s not working”.
Betty tries to keep the models under control the night between shoots. She gets knocked down on top of a couple of guys, but Matt comes to rescue her. Matt kisses her.
We then see a montage of couples in “afterglow” the next morning: Daniel and Amanda, Marc and Troy (the guy from the bar, who happens to work at Mode and now considers Marc his boyfriend), Bobby and Hilda, Matt and Betty, Wilhelmina and Connor.
Connor tells Wilhelmina that the plan is for her to slip away after the shoot starts, and get on the boat with Connor to run away forever.
Marc interrupts Betty and Matt’s breakfast in bed, telling Betty that the models are missing; apparently they got on a boat with some guys, and ended up in Cuba. Betty then sees Justin’s Shakira book and tells Marc she knows how to solve the problem.
Betty then pitches Shakira to be their new cover model for the issue, wearing Annette Kellerman’s swimsuit. Shakira agrees to do it.
At the shoot, Wilhelmina tells Betty that “it’s not terrible”. Daniel tells Betty it will be a great cover.
A team of FBI officers then arrive on the beach via ski jet, coming to get Connor. Wilhelmina goes to try and warn him, but Connor tells her it’s too late, that she has to pretend that she was the one that turned him in, to get back to Mode.
She does this, even slapping him as he walks by under arrest.
Betty brings back souvenirs to the Suarezes including a used (by Shakira) straw for Justin. Hilda arrives, and Betty tells her to go to the dining room. Archie is waiting there, in full Caribbean garb, and he ahs made her a tropical dinner. He apologizes for not going to the Bahamas with her. She hugs him, looking a little guilty.
At Mode, Daniel and Amanda talk and decide that what they did in the Bahamas was a one-time fling.
Wilhelmina opens champagne, celebrating that Connor is actually alive, and that she’s a hero at mode for “having him arrested”. Marc then tells her that he’s leaving her: Daniel offered him a job as his assistant, and he’s taking it. He says that Daniel will actually try to help him become an editor.
Betty and Matt have lunch, and talk about their future. Betty is scared that it might not work out, but Matt says they should just go with it and let whatever is going to happen happen. They then enjoy lunch and the proofs from the shoot.
Image: SplashNewsOnline.com
Glad to see a bit of the old playboy back in Daniel! Not too much, but just enough to hopefully erase Mopey Cult Daniel for the rest of the season.
And I feel sorry for Archie. IMO, Hilda’s never seemed that into him, however. It would be better if she just let him go, since she’s obviously into Bobby.
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i loved this episode and the teaser for next week got me so pumped that i found this blog! lol
i love the marc/daniel paring i see it making for great tv.
i can only see the pregnancy scare thing going one way : betty’s is false, hilda comes clean loses archie and it ends up being his… damn re-occuring plot lines
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This episode felt a bit rushed to me, whilst still enjoyable for the most part, it didn’t really advance anything. The Matt, Amanda and Betty situation didn’t really resolve itself in a very fluid way; I think it was a case of trying to cram too much into a short period of time. Not to get Detty shippers hopes up but I can’t help but feel that with Matt leaving in a few episodes and with Marc becoming Daniel’s assistant there’s something fishy going on. Marc is the most astute and aware character in the entire show, when he gets a firsthand look at Daniel’s reliance on Betty I think alarm bells are going to go off. Moments between Daniel and Betty have always been very private with no real witnesses to the connection they share with the exception of Claire Meade. And she adores Betty and her devotion to Daniel. Why else put these two together? When I heard Wilhelmina was leaving a few weeks back the thought of Marc becoming Daniel’s assistant came to me and lo and behold it came to fruition. Putting them together to further Marc’s career is practical but doesn’t make for interesting stories. As I guy I tend to get behind Daniel as one of the few male presences on the show, Marc’s great but as a gay man I don’t relate to him but I’m not a shipper one way the other. I’ve liked pretty much all the guys Betty’s been with, Matt, Gio, Henry and even Walter but I really can’t see a reason to put Daniel and Marc together. Marc is unbelievably aware of people’s emotions and reads people incredibly well it just seems like he’d see through Daniel pretty easily. Maybe not full on Detty but someone’s going to become aware of certain feelings that’s for sure.
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Okay first this episode was great!! Loved amanda she really is growing every episode
hilda im so dissapointed as hot as bobby is, come on girl
betty/matt- meh i would have prefered amanda but w/e i liked betty a little this eppy
Marc/Daniel – okay it was cool bonding yay, but now he is working for daniel i mean i like the idea but how is DANIEL going to help him become an editor exactly betty got the job b/c she won a coin toss if anything working for willie will prepare you more cuz shes a hard ass and is damn good at her job better than daniel(im not bias its a proven fact watch these episodes again, willie has put everything into mode) so i mean im glad he is breaking away you know but thats kinda all that willie had left he is the only person she can trust since everyone else up and leaves her so i did feel bad for her, hell she gave him vacation! but we will see how long marc and daniel will last it will be interesting nontheless
Last but CERTAINLY not least
Connor/Wilhelmina- okay so i knew Grant Bowler was HOt as Hell but when he came out the water my heart just stopped OMG!! In those speedos no wonder in eppy 3.12 they were always having sex in the office hes packin lol i know people are like where did he come from blah blah blah who cares where he came from thank you Ugly Betty Casting Directors and Writers for letting us see that ..okay now to Vanessa Williams(my role model, idol) okay she is 46 and she had 4 KIDS and she still looks like THAT!! OMG she looked hot in that pink onepeice swimsuit OMG! and that whole sex on the beach scene totally made my day, it was too hot for TV and without a doubt the HOTTEST scene EVER on Ugly Betty plus they are the hottest couple on the show IMO Grant and Vanessa have CRAZY AMAZING chemistry !!!!! Cant wait till nxt week someone is preggo, amanda is waering a jumpsuit(?), marc helps daniel with his wardrobe and Willie and Connor have hot prison sex, yes
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I enjoyed last night’s episode..it had a little of everything. I kind of agree with alot of you that Amanda looked unevenly tanned esp. the scene on the beach. I didn’t expect Amanda & Daniel to be one of the couples shown in the morning after montage…the other four wasn’t a surprise. I guess they are growing in the characters as the old Daniel & Amanda would have pursued it.. The other surprise was that Marc told Wili that he was going to take Daniel’s offer to be his assistant.. I think when Marc said that Daniel will try to help him advance in his career, I believe he would try to as Marc probably has seen it through Betty altho Daniel & Betty have a special friendship. Daniel would encourage her while Wili puts Marc down & assumes that that’s all that Marc wants to do career wise.
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@ Shaz10: the whole Archie/Hilda/Bobby love traingle will be interesting. While I like Archie, he is a little lame…I hate to say it because I love Ralph playing him but I think it’s time to move on.
@ Freddy Wisconsin: Yeah! I want Rebecca to come back too but I dont think it’ll happen. I think she left because they didn’t really know what to do with Alexis after the writers strike ended because they wanted to focus the show back to Betty. So maybe they’ll ask her soon because she was great and there is still SO MUCH they can do with a transgendered character.
I just dont know if she’ll want to come back because she lived in LA still and her whole life and family is there now. I know that was one of the reasons Ashley Jensen quit – her everything was in LA
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Yes they jam packed this episode but they made the flow just right. I like that they didn’t dwell on 1 issue to long and they made all things straight to the point. Like Willie and Connor for example, no long explanation, etc about what he did. They just went straight to running away together and Willie being happy. And the love triangle, I am so glad that they didn’t prolong that in the episode. It served its purpose and it was so obvious that Matt still loved Betty. And I think they know they do love triangles a lot, so they wanted this to short-lived and a jumping point to them getting back together in the most romantic way and perfect place – The Bahamas.
As for Hilda, I do understand her. I guess Archie just doesn’t give her the same excitement as Bobby. But I don’t know yet who will get pregnant. It might be Betty, but that would be jumping the shark too much. It could be Hilda, just to give her another chance at being a mom. But I don’t know, Betty getting pregnant seems so much for the show.
But I cannot wait for next episode. Everything is right in Betty world! Matt & Betty are back together and that scene when they kissed always gives me goosebumps, it’s just so sweet and I love Matt!
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oh and tom, can you post this? America Ferrera’s boyfriend wrote and directed a movie called “the dry land” and it’s premiering at the Sundance Film Festivle in January…America is also starring in it:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/2010-sundance-film-festival-line-up-unveiled
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Was I the only person who really does not want Marc working for Daniel?? One chat at a bar and he leaves Willie?? The comments about Daniel helping him become an editor are a complete cop out. Willie offered him the Editors position at Mode, the same one Daniel offered to Betty without even considering Marc for it although he studied at MIT, did an internship at Vogue and has worked for Mode longer, ultimately much more qualified. The only thing Willie guilty of when it comes to Marcs career was letting it all ride on a coin toss…but Daniel was there too so how does that make him better? Yes Marc turned down Vogue to stay at Mode but that was Marcs choice. I know a bit of a silly rant lol, but Marc was one of my favourite characters and that really put me off him!
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Did anyone else think that Marc taking that ever-so-meaningful pause about changing after being in love with someone and going back to who you were before? Anyone else think he wasn’t talking about Daniel there?
Add that to the news that David Blue is in talks with UB producers to return and I am cautiously hopeful.
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no keg_red i agree with you I mean yeah its gonna be fun to watch but 5 years with willie and then u talk to daniel for the first time in 5 years and now he will help you? i dont get it yeah i think daniel is more positive than willie but in the end its up to marc to further his career not daniel and not wilhelmina
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Anyone realize the overpowering parallels between Gio/Betty/Henry and Bobby/Hilda/Archie? Think about it: Betty/Hilda is doing just fine, albeit maybe a bit bored, with her sweet, heart-of-gold boyfriend Henry/Archie. Then macho Gio/Bobby comes around, flirts a bit, and gets BEtty/Hilda to reevaluate their relationship with their BF. And just like that, Henry/Archie looks weak and Gio/Bobby is her knight in shining armor!
Is this not way to obvious? Seriously, writers, it’s only been 4 seasons, and you’re already recycling a huge plotline. Boo.
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OMG-UB, very good point!
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not so fast. You can draw parallelism on majority of triangles. The 3rd wheel will always cause re-evaluation of the existing relationship. Note here Hilda has always been “bad girl/bad boy” type, and being with Archie is out of her norm. Didn’t she only had s3x with him because of his hottie ex wants him back? She is straying with an old bad boy flame. While Betty was totally surprised by the “not her type” Gio. The 2 triangles indeed are very different.
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Best episode of this season!
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