Episode Report Card Jessica: B+ | 5 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Pilot
By Jessica | Season 1 | Episode 1 | Aired on 09.27.2006
Queens. Betty, sitting on the stoop with Walter, looks not at all like a girl who's just received a proposal of marriage. In fact, Walter is telling her that he's in love with someone else: Betty's next-door neighbor, Gina. Well, that's awkward. "Good luck, Betty. With everything," Walter concludes. She rebuffs his attempt to kiss her cheek, and he leaves. Poor Betty. She's not having a very good day.
So Betty goes to comfort herself by eating flan out of the baking dish. At last, that flan's getting some love. Justin comes in and asks if she's feeling any better. "I'm fine," Betty mopes through a mouthful of custard. The phone rings: it's some guy from Meade. Sit down, kids: they want Betty to start working there tomorrow. "What magazine is this for? Mode?" Betty says into the phone. Next to her, Justin mouths, "MODE!" He looks totally thrilled, and races off. Betty tells the HR person who's called her in the middle of the night that she'll see them in the morning. "Assistant to the editor-in-chief!" Betty tells Justin, who's returned with a copy of the magazine. He didn't know she wanted to work for Mode. Betty admits that it's not her first choice, but that it's a good foot in the door. "Well, just TRY to dress fashionably. Do you have anything?" Justin asks doubtfully. "Actually, I do!" Betty says.
Cut to Mode's offices, and Betty in her Guadalajara poncho, which looks worse every time I see it. I feel pretty sure Justin never actually approved this outfit. "Oh. My. God," says Mode's chic receptionist when Betty comes into frame. "Are you the Before?" she asks. There's the requisite bit of confusion here, until Betty explains that she works there. "For the new editor-in-chief," she adds. Hearing this, Amanda the Receptionist (I'm too old to do that thing where I pretend I don't know what anyone's name is) makes a face that's a combination of intrigued, annoyed, and faintly amused.
Amanda sashays (and I mean it: she's got one hand on her hip, while the other one swings back and forth dramatically) down the hallway, Betty trotting behind her. Amanda explains that Daniel is about to start his first staff meeting. "FYI, Betsy?" she drawls. "Assistants are usually here before their bosses." Betty explains that she was in HR! Filling out paperwork! Poor Betty. She's so sweet and earnest. I fear that this hour is going to be cringy and painful for us all. Amanda looks her over, and narrows her eyes: "Where do you COME FROM?" "Queens!" Betty chirps. Amanda sighs and explains that she wanted to know what job Betty is coming from. Betty cheerfully explains that this is her first real job out of college. Amanda nods. "That's funny. I was told I didn't have enough experience for the position," she says, although not entirely unkindly. You get the sense that she's pissed about being passed over, but that she's also looking forward to the intense amount of gossip the new hire is going to stir up.