Episode Report Card Jacob Clifton: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Elle In A Handbasket
By Jacob Clifton | Season 3 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.08.2009
Betty runs into Connor in the elevator, and of course he knows Jodie, and knows very well that Jodie's a hard ass, and Betty whines about the whole networking thing -- "she was a little unfair to me," she says -- and Connor's like, "Yeah, it's sad how you can't be a success in a vacuum without ever meeting people or forging connections of any kind, and aren't you so put upon," and then goes for the bonus by talking about how sometimes you just have to fuck your family and loved ones over because that's the way the cookie crumbles, the unspoken "And apart from macking on Daniel, Molly doesn't seem to mind" hangs between them in the air. Then, to shut her up, Connor tells Betty to find somebody who excels at "the shallow stuff," and get their help.
Ugh. This show's usually a bit more even-handed in its portrayal of Losers vs. Popular Kids, but this is ridiculous. The "shallow" stuff? Such as making friends and learning to understand other people? Meeting people in your industry? It's not a fucking chore, it's basic shit. So now you've got what could have been a fairly interesting episode about watching people who get it trying to explain it to Betty who doesn't, in a way that gets past her automatic nerd arrogance and leading to greater self-esteem once she realizes how easy to like other people actually are... But instead, you have confirmed heartless Bad Boyfriend Connor explaining that being good at your job is a good thing, but that being good at your job also involves doing horrible things. Such as your job.
Of course, "shallow" means Marc, who shuts her down immediately in his amazing patchy couture jacket, and blackmails him to help her network with how she leveraged her affirmative action to get him into YETI. He says they can go to Swill for her forty contacts, but the offer's for tonight only. Betty calls Hilda to say she can't help her assemble the gift bags for the party on Saturday, and Hilda acts uncharacteristically whiny about it and hangs up, and Ignacio tells Hilda that her sister has no choice. Which is true. And what's more true is, Betty thought of the motherfucking gift bags in the first place, and got them for you for free, not to mention that your son was born to assemble gift bags and he is standing right there.
Daniel and Molly babble at each other for whatever reason, and act all awkward about the kissing thing, and she stands around lobbing ellipses at him long enough for Connor to arrive and whisk her away to somewhere stupid. Wiley Watching Wili shoots Daniel her most beautiful, caring and nurturing (yes!) smile, and they have a little convo about the nothing that just happened. She tells him to occupy Molly at her party under the guise of more helpful advice, and Daniel is grateful to the alien that has taken up residence inside Wilhelmina because it's so gosh-darn sweet.