Episode Report Card Jessica: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Fey's Sleigh Ride
By Jessica | Season 1 | Episode 4 | Aired on 10.18.2006
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.This was really a very good episode. Mode is in upheaval when the Hot Yard Guy from The O.C. manages to get the scoop about Mode's big Christmas feature spread from unknown sources. We do know that Amanda, Marc, and Betty all gave him a bit of information while at a networking event, and they assume they're to blame. The three of them implode together under the stress of trying to keep the secret (Marc starts carrying an inhaler everywhere; Amanda inhales all the food in sight), but it turns out that they weren't entirely to blame after all. A particularly nasty staffer with the mean but hilarious nickname of "Fat Carol" (of course, she's totally not fat) slept with the Yard Guy and told him everything. The threesome get to keep their jobs, and I think they might even be friends, a little bit, now. Wilhelmina, on the other hand, decides that the Yard Guy might be the perfect person to spy for her. In other news: Betty's dad has a fake social security number. Fey Sommers sends Daniel the music box Bradford stole from her apartment, apparently having stolen it back, and he puts two and two and two together, realizing that not only was his father having an affair with Fey, but he may also have killed her off. Justin ditches school to hang out at the magazine, where he wins over Evil Marc and even Wilhelmina. Walter, advised by Betty's dad to make a "big gesture" to win her back, serenades her with the theme from Beauty And The Beast. Let's just say he's the beast, okay? Well played, Ugly Betty team. Well played. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Evil Marc, Amanda, and our hapless heroine are attending a networking event at a bar-like place called "The Rack." Betty tells them that she's really thrilled to be there, and she's even more thrilled when she realizes that that they're serving free grilled cheese sandwiches! Amanda affixes her with a long look, advises her to "stop with the chatty," and tells her that no one eats the sandwiches. Except for a girl at the bar, who Betty points out. "Well, of course Fat Carol is eating one, what do you expect?" Marc retorts, as if this were all very obvious. It must be noted, of course, that Fat Carol isn't particularly fat. Betty knows better than to mention this, though, and just rolls her eyes. She asks Marc and Amanda how this "networking" thing works, and the gruesome twosome advise her to circulate. "We want everyone to meet you," Marc tells her. "Okay! Wish me luck," Betty says sweetly, and Amanda and Marc give her two very ironic thumbs up. Betty promptly turns around and bumps right into some dude. Drinks fly everywhere, and Amanda and Marc both whip out their Razrs to commemorate this moment on cameraphone forever. "It's my first time," Betty calls after the booze-soaked guy. "More classic moments for Betty's wall of shame," Marc notes gleefully.
Betty -- who is nothing if not resilient -- bellies up to the bar and introduces herself to Fat Carol, handing her a business card. "I always thought I'd be good at your job," says Fat Carol brusquely. "How long do you think you'll last?" Betty sweetly replies that she thinks she'll be there for a while, and tries to change the subject by telling Fat Carol that she's so happy to see her eating the cheese sandys: "So many people at Mode don't eat." Fat Carol gives Betty the once-over. "Sometimes they shouldn't," she retorts. Betty just looks slightly sad, as Fat Carol slides off her bar stool and walks off. I hate Fat Carol.
But our heroine is not alone for long. She's soon joined by a man I remember as Marissa's hot but wooden gardener lover on The O.C. He's just as hot here, and he also appears to have taken a few acting classes, which: props. He introduces himself as "Carlo Medina," and explains that he works for the EIC at Isabella (which I presume is the Elle to Mode's Vogue). He purrs that he knows who Betty is: "You're a legend." Betty giggles.
Cut to Bradford's office, which is a terrible, terrible mess. He appears to have lost the music box he went to all that trouble to find. I find it hard to believe that Bradford Meade didn't stash the music box somewhere safe, like a safety deposit box, but who am I? Only the only person in the world who's ever plotted a crime in secret, apparently. I was a Girl Scout -- I believe in having a plan. Bradford's assistant -- who is of the Old and Mean Assistant variety -- crabs at him that Daniel and Wilhelmina are waiting for him to sign off on "the holiday spread." If only she were referring to the meal they're planning to serve at Christmas instead of a shoot for the magazine. I love the thought that Bradford has to go downstairs and approve Wilhelmina's choice of yams rather than Brussels sprouts. Bradford is totally distracted, but goes, telling her to keep looking for the box.