Ugly Betty - General Discussion

[Trini]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

I don't understand why either Betty or Charlie want Henry near the end of the first season.  Why Betty liked the world's biggest dork to begin with, absolutely; their initial interaction was cute.  Then he goes home, rekindles his relationship with an ex-girlfriend, invites her to uproot her entire life to come live with him, and then spends all his time making googly eyes at Betty and getting jealous when she turns up with a date.  But instead of dumping his ass, Charlie tells Betty to keep away from him, and instead of saying, "Well, there went the attraction; if that's how you treat a girlfriend who moved across the country for your relationship, I'm glad we never even started dating," Betty just moons over him right back.

Full disclosure: I loved Betty/Henry. In terms of characters and actor chemistry, I thought Henry was the best match for Betty on the show. That being said, my goodness,  they made things WAY too convoluted just for drama's sake! Nobody came out looking good with that whole Charlie pregnancy arc.

[Bastet]

4 minutes ago, Trini said:

Nobody came out looking good with that whole Charlie pregnancy arc.

I haven't even gotten to the pregnancy in my re-watch yet.  Based solely on his inappropriate mooning and jealousy over Betty from the moment Charlie moved in with him, Charlie should've dumped his ass and high-tailed it back to Tucson (since she wasn't overly thrilled with NY) and Betty should have lost any inclination to be in a relationship with him upon seeing that's how he treated a girlfriend.

Part of why he got back together with Charlie was because Betty was with Walter.  So once he finds out she broke up with him, his behavior is even worse, but that first night Betty and Charlie are going out, and they "accidentally" get separated on the subway, he's already trying to kiss Betty (and she's right there ready to do it, so she's no prize in that moment, either, but he's the one committed to someone else). 

Charlie moved her fucking life for him.  He never should have asked that of her if he was hung up on someone else, and once he did, he needed to give it a proper shot (which means not coming up with reasons to be around the woman he's still harboring feelings for) and then, if once he learned Betty was single and had the same feelings for him he believed that to be the better relationship for him, tell Charlie he's sorry but he made a terrible mistake, and it's awful to hurt her like this but it would be far more cruel to string her along and make a fool out of her, so he needs to end things.  THEN go extol Betty's virtues, put crowns on her head, and joust to defend her honor.

[Bastet]

On the flip side of nice people doing bad things, we have mean people doing nice things when Marc lays into his mom about the way she's talking about the Suarez family.  No one else is there to hear it, he could have been his usual catty self, but he tells her off about getting up on her own high horse about people who've been nothing but nice to them.  The best part is his defense of Justin, when she says she doesn't even know what "that" is, and then finally telling her to "take a look at her own swishy son", but I start getting touched before that, when he's pissed on behalf of these people he looks down on 99% of the time because he appreciates that they agreed to help him by playing along with the charade he's dating Betty and were gracious to him and his mom.

[Bastet]

The very sight of Gio sent me into rage-inducing flashbacks, and I'm honestly not sure I can stomach watching him again; I may have to just FF through his scenes.  I'm so ready for the Betty/Henry storyline to end already, because they're both acting like morons, but the upcoming love triangle is just the absolute worst.  Gio is a horrible character.

I laughed out loud after the season one finale ended, because they packed pretty much every soap storyline in existence into one episode. 

I had forgotten Lorraine Toussaint played Claire's prison break buddy.  It's such a different role than I'm used to seeing her in.  Yoga and Fish in the Hamptoms crack me up.  I cannot wait until the episode where they turn up at the Suarez home; I don't remember the details of that scene, just that I laughed myself silly at it.

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

The very sight of Gio sent me into rage-inducing flashbacks, and I'm honestly not sure I can stomach watching him again; I may have to just FF through his scenes.  I'm so ready for the Betty/Henry storyline to end already, because they're both acting like morons, but the upcoming love triangle is just the absolute worst.  Gio is a horrible character

Couldn’t agree more. I hated Gio. He checked off every trait of the Nice Guy, complete with getting all pissy and bitter when Betty turned his trip offer down and having the nerve to blame her for it winding up as a disaster. Betty shouldn’t have gone out of her way to try to win back his friendship with that stupid cheese, she should have called him a dick and thanked her lucky stars for having the foresight to cut him loose!

[Bastet]

Betty should have been done with Gio after she got him his job back (she never meant for Daniel to have him fired when she was venting about him, so I understand why she wanted to rectify that).  Leave him to his stupid five-year plan and never deal with his petulant, self-righteous ass again. 

I don't know why she ever gave him the time of day; he was an utter asshole from the word go.  She asked for additional sun-dried tomatoes on HER sandwich, for which SHE paid, and he went into the first of his many diatribes about how he is a sandwich artist and knows the proper ratio.  She rightly points out she's just asking for her sandwich to be made as she likes it, and he jumps to his judgmental dick self, acting like she treated him poorly by making a perfectly acceptable request in a cordial way.

Then he's pissed he got fired, and is so out of line, basically saying her entire existence is wrong - she's "a Mode girl" who has betrayed her roots.

All he ever does is pontificate, and mansplain her life to her.  He's awful.

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

I don't know why she ever gave him the time of day; he was an utter asshole from the word go.  She asked for additional sun-dried tomatoes on HER sandwich, for which SHE paid, and he went into the first of his many diatribes about how he is a sandwich artist and knows the proper ratio.  She rightly points out she's just asking for her sandwich to be made as she likes it, and he jumps to his judgmental dick self, acting like she treated him poorly by making a perfectly acceptable request in a cordial way.

Ugh. Pretty sure any moron that works in any kind of food or restaurant industry knows you’re just supposed to make whatever the customer orders without giving them crap.

She should have just let Daniel fire him. But Betty was always too nice for her own good.

[JAYJAY1979]

Betty was so unlikable to me.  Annoying, gullible, and always thinking her way was right.  

I liked when Amanda, Marc, and Willomina always poked fun at her.

I liked every character except Betty 

[Bastet]

On 10/2/2021 at 12:35 PM, Bastet said:

I had forgotten Lorraine Toussaint played Claire's prison break buddy.  It's such a different role than I'm used to seeing her in.  Yoga and Fish in the Hamptoms crack me up.  I cannot wait until the episode where they turn up at the Suarez home; I don't remember the details of that scene, just that I laughed myself silly at it.

Quoting myself to say I watched it this morning, and, yep, every bit as funny as I remembered.  "You are the worst fugitive in the world."

Betty's subconscious manifestation of guilt being Bradley Meade in cabana wear cracked me up, too. 

When Rick Fox played the bodyguard Wilhelmina was banging, I thought I remembered that he and Vanessa Williams were married at some point, so I looked it up and they'd divorced two years earlier.  Must have been amicable! 

Edited October 9, 2021 by Bastet

[Spartan Girl]

I rewatched Gio’s return in season 3, and ugh. Fuck him and his hurt feelings. To paraphrase a quote from Hilda, “nice guys” can be sweet until you turn them down, and then they’ll show you who they really are. And I hate how once again the show acts like Betty was in the wrong just for *checks notes* wanting to just be friends. If he wanted space that was one thing, but to act like a petulant brat and ban her from the deli? Nothing excuses that. 

Honestly he was just like Walter except with more “machismo.” 

[Bastet]

I've made it through Betty saving Claire from prison* and surviving Daniel's girlfriend trying to kill her, and I don't understand how neither Christina nor someone in the Suarez family has told Betty to demand a raise.

*There are not 60 consecutive seconds, and probably not even 60 combined seconds of the entire episode, from the trial that show how trials actually work, so I kept grumbling at the TV until I remembered, Oh yeah, I'm watching a soap opera; let it go.

Can Henry hurry up and go back to Tucscon already?  He and Betty finally stopped acting like a couple of 13-year-olds, and then Gio turned back up like a bad penny, and now we just keep going on and on and on with this Betty/Henry/Gio/Charlie shit in which everyone is stupid and annoying. 

[Spartan Girl]

4 hours ago, Bastet said:

I've made it through Betty saving Claire from prison* and surviving Daniel's girlfriend trying to kill her, and I don't understand how neither Christina nor someone in the Suarez family has told Betty to demand a raise.

Not to mention all the cruel and racist comments thrown her way—not by Daniel and his family but still.

[Bastet]

I am thoroughly enjoying revisiting how absolutely fantastic Vanessa Williams plays Wilhelmina's evil scheming, and then how deftly she handles those rare moments of humanity, like when she feels sorry for Christina finding out Stuart is dying, so fills her hospital room with flowers, closes the curtain on the paparazzi she'd summoned, and sits there with her.

I like that they moved production to NY, because this is a show in which the city needs to be a character, but the new costume designer is awful; now everyone is starting to look as ridiculous as Betty.  Wilhelmina's wardrobe was to die for in the first two seasons, and all the fashionable people at Mode indeed looked like what fashionable people would wear to the office.  Now everyone looks like they're in costumes parodying fashion (that ridiculous rubber dress that woman sent Amanda, pranking her that she'd served as a muse to some designer, is now the type of thing everyone is wandering around the office in).

It is also driving me nuts that in all the various shenanigans over who - between Alexis, Daniel, and the fetus - owns what share of Meade and thus who can exert what control over Mode, the writers completely ignore that Claire owns Mode.  Just toss in a line about her giving it to the kids when she was heading into prison or something!

[Bastet]

Two more Wilhelmina is human moments I love: inviting Betty to share a beer with her on the roof when they both strike out with their crushes, and making an absolute fool out of herself trying to talk casually to Connor after he turned her down.

The Suarez family continues to spike my blood pressure.  Yes, Betty can act a martyr and be judgmental and controlling (like a lot of people, especially people her age - but also especially people who were forced by circumstances to step up and be a third adult in the family before she actually was, and who thus tends to still see her family the way they were for years).  But good fucking gods, all the guilt-tripping every time she has to work rather than help them with something, no matter how important and/or time sensitive either task is; this stupid family has a full-time job engaging in false equivalencies.

And when Hilda has the nerve to claim she lives and works at home as a "sacrifice" equal to all the time Betty spends running back home to help?!  Fool, you live at home because you decided to have a baby as a teenager and sell Herbalife for a living.  You work at home because your shitty attitude made you unemployable, so you decided to run an unlicensed business out of your dad's house and then get pissy about the fact that's not allowed.

Hilda is indeed getting her shit together with this business, and she doesn't need Betty making daily checklists of what she's supposed to do for their dad.  Betty needs to see her responsibility and capability now, not keep treating her like the flighty sister she used to be.  But, as I said above, it's natural for Betty to need that drilled into her head a few times.  And that doesn't extend to cause to give Betty hell for, the horrors, accepting the offer of a free consultation and complete testing with a renowned cardiologist rather than relying on the opinion of a family doctor - given over the phone, mind you - in the aftermath of a heart attack and quadruple bypass.

[Spartan Girl]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

The Suarez family continues to spike my blood pressure.  Yes, Betty can act a martyr and be judgmental and controlling (like a lot of people, especially people her age - but also especially people who were forced by circumstances to step up and be a third adult in the family before she actually was, and who thus tends to still see her family the way they were for years).  But good fucking gods, all the guilt-tripping every time she has to work rather than help them with something, no matter how important and/or time sensitive either task is; this stupid family has a full-time job engaging in false equivalencies.

Geez, after more or less having to be the designated adult for the family, God forbid she can’t take a breather and focus on her career instead of being devoted to the family 24/7. Then again, these are the same people that took Walter’s side after he cheated on her. 

[JAYJAY1979]

Betty was a control freak..and quite frankly deserved to be called out and made fun of.

[Bastet]

I'm in the final stretch of season three, and it's interesting to see Daniel and Wilhelmina have to work together, because in the aftermath of Connor cleaning out the Meade Publications coffers they've both broken the number one rule of business by spending their own money. 

I've said before I remember very little about this show, so a lot of storylines feel new to me.  I remembered Connor was bad, but nothing specific.  Once Betty got the YETI assignment to go over the budget, I groaned aloud in remembrance: Yes, of course, an assistant doing a class assignment uncovers an embezzlement scheme an entire publishing company's worth of professional accountants failed to detect.

I was 100% Team Hilda when Ignacio said she was acting like a child (being weirded out by him and Elena canoodling on the couch during movie night) and she came right back with, "Because you're acting like a horny teenager."  As if he wouldn't be uncomfortable if Hilda or Betty carried on like that while the family was sitting there watching a movie.  Hell, he gets weirded out when one of them says they're spending the night at a boyfriend's house, but they're supposed to roll with it smoothly when for the first time ever someone other than their mom is coming to the breakfast table in his robe. 

Betty's wardrobe physically pains me sometimes.  She looks like a rodeo clown.

[Bastet]

I know, I know - it's a soap opera, so if people behaved rationally, 80% of the storylines wouldn't work.  And I can usually handle Betty's naivete.  But Christina is very wise in the ways of Wilhelmina Slater, so when she suspects the baby is hers and Stuart's, the fact she goes to Wilhelmina about it and has her get the DNA test done instead of just trotting that baby - who Wilhemina always has her watching - off to get the test done herself is utterly ridiculous.

After looking up why the actor left the show (she had remained based in L.A. when the show moved to NY, and got cast in something local), I was perusing a few other show-related articles, one of which prompted me to remember Judith Light and America Ferrera remained great friends.  So I went down that rabbit hole of pictures, and came across a recent interview where Light said she's still in touch with most of the cast, especially Ferrera, Vanessa Williams, and Ana Ortiz.  I thought that last one was particularly cool, because they didn't work together as much.

I'm at the point near the end of season three where Ortiz is noticably pregnant, and I am so glad they didn't knock Hilda up.  I wish more shows would trust their audiences to just roll with it rather than thinking an actor's pregnancy means they need to foist the same condition on the character, even though they wouldn't ever have considered it otherwise.

[Bastet]

If I wind up dying of cancer, can it please be of whatever kind Molly had, so that my worst symptom ever, even hours before death, is a fever?

Her bland perfection meant I couldn't get invested in her fate the first time around, and I couldn't do it this time, either.  They gave her about 60 seconds of acting like an actual person when she admitted it bothers her that she's going to die, the world is going to keep going, and eventually she'll be forgotten.

Yes, I finished season three last night.  Which means now I have to suffer through Matt the World's Biggest Jerk, when he wasn't all that great to begin with.  Ugh, they give Betty the worst crushes and boyfriends. 

And why are almost all of them so very white? 

[Spartan Girl]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

Yes, I finished season three last night.  Which means now I have to suffer through Matt the World's Biggest Jerk, when he wasn't all that great to begin with.  Ugh, they give Betty the worst crushes and boyfriends. 

And why are almost all of them so very white?

I hate Matt so very much. His storyline in season four would NOT FLY today. Betty shouldn’t have gotten back together with him after he tried to abuse his power over her, she should have sued his ass for workplace harassment!!!!!

[Bastet]

Matt's behavior at Mode wouldn't have been okay even if Betty had truly screwed him over, but it's all the worse because her transgression wasn't that bad.  I understand him being upset that he kept giving her opening after opening to tell him about kissing Henry and she didn't, but when he finally confronted her, she was completely honest about what happened - and since he'd stood there and watched them kiss and walk away, he knew she was telling the truth when she said it was a good-bye. 

She was also honest that, sure, there are still some feelings attached to a first love (I love how they just pretend Walter never existed, heh), but she doesn't want to be with Henry, she wants to be with Matt.

If he's too insecure and jealous to stay in a relationship with her under the circumstances, that's his call, but he doesn't get to turn around and take a revenge job so he can make her professional life hell.  He loves to babble about his parents' terrible traits, but he's just as bad.

Also, Henry continues to show what a jackass boyfriend he is, which boggles my mind that Betty isn't totally turned off by that.  First there was the way he treated Charlie when she first moved to NY, and now he's talking shit about the fitness instructor to Betty.  If he doesn't want to be with someone, he shouldn't be with them.  But if he's going to be, he should respect them.  Jackass just can't stand to be alone.

(I also find his dorky face and walk irrationally annoying, so I groaned when I saw the actor's name pop up in the guest credits again.)

[Spartan Girl]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

If he's too insecure and jealous to stay in a relationship with her under the circumstances, that's his call, but he doesn't get to turn around and take a revenge job so he can make her professional life hell.  He loves to babble about his parents' terrible traits, but he's just as bad

Seriously, it wasn't enough for him to dump her, he had to take the job at Mode just to sabotage her career for pure spite? And we're supposed to feel sorry for him later when he whines about messing up his own chances of "fixing" their relationship?! UGH.

[JAYJAY1979]

On 11/1/2021 at 3:31 PM, Bastet said:

If I wind up dying of cancer, can it please be of whatever kind Molly had, so that my worst symptom ever, even hours before death, is a fever?

Her bland perfection meant I couldn't get invested in her fate the first time around, and I couldn't do it this time, either.  They gave her about 60 seconds of acting like an actual person when she admitted it bothers her that she's going to die, the world is going to keep going, and eventually she'll be forgotten.

Yes, I finished season three last night.  Which means now I have to suffer through Matt the World's Biggest Jerk, when he wasn't all that great to begin with.  Ugh, they give Betty the worst crushes and boyfriends. 

And why are almost all of them so very white? 

Maybe the problem was Betty.  

[Spartan Girl]

9 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Maybe the problem was Betty.  

No. Like it was stated before, if Matt wanted to end it with Betty, fine, but engaging in workplace harassment just for revenge? NO. Absolutely inexcusable.

[Bastet]

I have five episodes to go, and it has been a slog getting through season four.  No wonder it was the last.

The Daniel's in a cult and Nico is scamming Wilhelmina storylines were ridiculous and went on forever (and, holy cow, the new Nico is one of the worst actors I have ever endured).  Then they finally ended and I still had several more to get through before horrible Matt finally went away.  I cannot believe the show wanted me to think it was a good thing for them to get back together.  After what he did?!

No one's personal storylines are doing it for me so far this season, the only thing keeping my interest is Betty at work.  I like that she doesn't take Mode by storm as a junior editor; sometimes she does well, sometimes she screws up.

I vaguely remember it ends with her accepting a job offer in London, which seems rather far-fetched, but we'll see.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Bastet

[Spartan Girl]

I forgot about Daniel’s cult storyline. Honestly, I barely remember the last season except for Matt being the king asshole.

[Bastet]

Yeah, pretty much every storyline in season four was like new to me, as I remembered virtually none of it.

I finished the series last night, and as much as the first half and then some of season four bugged me, I really liked the final stretch of episodes.  Often, when shows wrap things up for all their characters in the end, I hate it for feeling forced and twee.  But I generally liked it here.

Justin's coming out was great (the dance at the wedding was one of the few things I remembered), and I love the smile on Marc's face when Justin finally told him.  Justin kept coming to him, and Marc would get all prepared for the big reveal, and it would turn out to be something else.  When Justin was finally ready, Michael Urie's body language and facial expressions were spot on.

While I'm a little surprised Hilda wants to live in the city rather than getting a house in Queens, I like that them moving gives Ignacio a chance to finally shine, truly being happy for both his daughters instead if selfishly wanting one or both to stay. 

The detente between Claire and Wilhelmina is wonderful, and I love that Wilhe finally gets promoted to Editor-in-Chief.  She and Claire will always trade barbs, but they're through scheming against each other. 

Amanda got a lovely storyline, too, with finally leaving reception behind and striking out as a stylist, and then her dad finding her.

And, of course, Betty.  I don't buy that the London publisher would be so blown away by her blog and her honesty in the interview that he'd offer her that good a job at his new magazine, but I'll go with it, because it has to be something that big for her moving abroad to make sense.  I love that it's the perfect kind of publication for her, and she's getting to showcase the kinds of stories she always wanted to tell.

I also like that she's learned how to style herself, but didn't undergo some radical change that suddenly had everyone seeing her in a whole new light; it was an organic evolution.

I was appalled to have Gio turn up for one last lecture, and initially I was annoyed by the return of Henry, too, but I would up liking that.  They had a nice good-bye before, but she was headed off to be with Matt then.  Now she's single, Henry is moving back to NY, and she realizes that even with the opportunity there again, it's still not right; they had their time, and it's past.  I love when she looks at the picture of them and says, "We were so different." 

The Daniel thing.  Two watches now, and I still don't see any romantic or sexual vibe in their relationship; to me, it's wishful thinking on Claire's part.  But I appreciate that Daniel doesn't declare his love, he just lets her go, hands in his own resignation, waits a while, and then turns up in London saying he might stick around for a while and asks to take her to dinner.  Their relationship can go any which way, and at least if they do date, it's him coming to her, re-arranging his life to fit into hers. 

[Spartan Girl]

Rewatched a little bit on Netflix and my God I hated Walter so much. It still rankles me how Ignacio and Hilda just let him over for dinner without even asking Betty if it was okay, and when she told them that she wasn’t ready to jump back into a relationship with them, Ignacio actually scolds her for being rude, then later says nothing when Walter makes snotty remarks about Betty going out to a Mode party and drinking (she had ONE). Textbook controlling verbally abusive behavior.

Of course later in this same episode Ignacio and Hilda are parked in front of the TV and can’t be bothered to answer the door, forcing Betty to come all the way down and do it, despite the fact she’s in her nightgown with Nair on her lip. Which goes to show you how Betty was the family doormat).

Walter, Gio, and Matt all really had that sight of entitlement when it came to Betty, telling her what to do and how she felt, making judgements while playing the victims…say what you want about Henry, but at least he never mansplained to her. He was mature when it came to respecting her positions and never let his feelings get in the way of being amicable.

[Bastet]

I never understood why Betty still wanted Henry after he came back with Charlie; he was such a horrible boyfriend to Charlie, if I were Betty that would have turned me off ever wanting him to be my boyfriend.  But, yeah, he treated Betty far better than Walter, Gio, and Matt did.  I just never liked him again once he returned; he's gross in his mooning over - and kissing - Betty despite Charlie having moved her entire life for their relationship, then when he and Betty do get back together they act like particularly stupid teenagers.  (Plus, that stupid dorky walk and smile of his got really old really fast.)  I liked them when they had dork crushes on each other, but everything that came after that was a mess. 

Gio was almost unwatchable he was so awful from beginning to end.  I don't remember any redeeming qualities about Walter, either; he was always a jealous, whiny sad sack who treated her like crap and blamed her for it.  Matt started out okay, but that was wiped out by how deplorably he behaved at work after breaking up with her.

Betty's love life was a mess, and by far the least interesting aspect of her story to me.  Her best relationship - and the best relationship of the show for me - was with Claire.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Gio was almost unwatchable he was so awful from beginning to end. 

 

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Matt started out okay, but that was wiped out by how deplorably he behaved at work after breaking up with her.

I was horrified by how many tweets That ve recently seen that actually DEFEND Matt and Gio, mainly because how hot they think the actors were. Just…gross.

I never liked Matt and I really hated how they got back together when he should have gotten his ass fired from Mode for his workplace harassment.

There was more than enough drama on the show without the writers constantly messing up Betty’s love life. And I hated that it seemed to enforce the trope that that a female MC always has to choose between her career and love/family. 

[JAYJAY1979]

I liked that finally Betty started to learn how to dress herself properly.. though she did have a few outfits in the earlier seasons that kind of worked in a Betty way.  Still... Betty was the weakest character in the show.. and I watched it for everyone else.

[Trini]

On 8/31/2023 at 5:00 PM, Bastet said:

Betty's love life was a mess,

On 8/31/2023 at 6:20 PM, Spartan Girl said:

There was more than enough drama on the show without the writers constantly messing up Betty’s love life.

I'd have to go all the way to TWoP to find the specific interview/quote; but the showrunner was on record saying that he thought happy couples were "boring", so unfortunately, it seems like the relationships were always going to be a mess -- and not just 'because it's a soap' reasons.

One thing I did appreciate is that he said Betty and Daniel were never going to be a couple and they didn't waver* from that.

 

*He had to walk back those comments a bit, and there were some teases for the 'Detty' shippers**; but never actually together like that in the show.

**Understandable, since those the two leads do get together in all other versions of the telenovela.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Trini

[Spartan Girl]

13 hours ago, Trini said:

I'd have to go all the way to TWoP to find the specific interview/quote; but the showrunner was on record said that he thought happy couples were "boring", so unfortunately, it seems like the relationships were always going to be a mess -- and not just 'because it's a soap' reasons.

 

That is such bullshit. Tons of other shows like Brooklyn 99 and Parks and Rec proved that shows could have happy couples that weren’t boring. What a hack.

[voiceover]

On 9/7/2023 at 9:39 PM, Trini said:

 he said Betty and Daniel were never going to be a couple and they didn't waver* from that.

Yeah let’s take the central romantic arc from all previous incarnations and say: Eeeyyyeeeuuuwww, we’re not gonna do it here, bc we soooo much better than that.

I have the same reaction to that as I do a lot of other remakes: Then pick a different story to tell.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, voiceover said:

Yeah let’s take the central romantic arc from all previous incarnations and say: Eeeyyyeeeuuuwww, we’re not gonna do it here, bc we soooo much better than that.

I have the same reaction to that as I do a lot of other remakes: Then pick a different story to tell.

My thoughts exactly.  I know I've ranted about this before but as much as I did like Ugly Betty (although it never topped the first thirteen episodes other than an ep here and there) I never understood why the show runner wanted to run away from everything about the original.  It was more like a Less Than Perfect reboot than an Ugly Betty adaptation.

On 9/8/2023 at 12:58 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Tons of other shows like Brooklyn 99 and Parks and Rec proved that shows could have happy couples that weren’t boring.

I have a lot of issues with Horta's vision but I will say that these are different shows from Ugly Betty.  Ugly Betty is a soap opera.  There can be happy relationships but putting the main character in a happy and stable relationship that doesn't implode changes the genre.  And with this series especially, it goes against the metamorphosis aspect of what her trajectory is supposed to be--one of growing more independent and confident.  I felt the whole Henry stuff came way too soon. 

[Trini]

On 9/15/2023 at 6:15 PM, voiceover said:

Yeah let’s take the central romantic arc from all previous incarnations and say: Eeeyyyeeeuuuwww, we’re not gonna do it here, bc we soooo much better than that.

I have the same reaction to that as I do a lot of other remakes: Then pick a different story to tell.

Aw, I don't think that was necessarily their mindset; but I do think that keeping Betty and Daniel platonic was a better call for this version of the story.

[Bastet]

20 minutes ago, Trini said:

I do think that keeping Betty and Daniel platonic was a better call for this version of the story.

I've never seen any of the others, but if they'd put Betty and Daniel in a romantic relationship in this one, I'd have been appalled.  I never saw anything resembling that dynamic between them - Claire's wishful thinking, I understand, but I didn't see what she was seeing - and like the relationship they came to have.  I don't particularly care for the possibility at the end, but appreciate that if it does happen, he's the one who changed his life and career to fit hers.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Trini said:

Aw, I don't think that was necessarily their mindset; but I do think that keeping Betty and Daniel platonic was a better call for this version of the story.

The reason I think @voiceoverhas that opinion of their decision...or heck  the reason I have it is because their intent  was said early in the run.  Very early.  So it's not like circumstances took them away from the original.   Horta made the call early on and once again, it begs the question, what show were they adapting because it held little resemblance to the global hit.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Irlandesa