Episode Report Card Potes: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Birthday Blues
By Potes | Season 2 | Episode 14 | Aired on 04.24.2008
Claire, meanwhile, is giving the staff of Hot Flash a pep talk. It's not just a job, she says, it's a family. Alexis enters and asks Claire what's going on -- after all, she's already told Claire there's no money to hire a staff. Claire says she doesn't need Alexis's money nor anyone else's -- she has her own resources. Turns out there's a state-subsidized work program for recently released inmates, so her overhead is minimal. Yes, Claire's staff is full of fellow ex-prisoners. They have life experience, says Claire, and that's what Hot Flash is all about. Alexis smiles, because she knows that Claire's a genius.
Gio continues to drive his carriage and slow down traffic as Betty sulks. There is not one honk. This is thus the most unrealistic scene in the whole episode, including the dream sequence. The horse poos, and Gio notes it's probably not the birthday that Betty imagined. Betty thinks it's her own fault for having a stupid fantasy with fireworks and epic romance. Fantasies are fun, says Gio, but they live in reality. It's not perfect, but that doesn't mean it can't be pretty good. Betty admits that she's lucky, except for the part where Henry's leaving her after the baby's born. She says it's probably time for her to go home, but Gio is intent on taking her to Central Park -- if she wants fireworks, she's going to get fireworks. Betty smiles as the horse kicks into gear.
Elsewhere, Marc is in Daniel's apartment. He finds Renee's bag and fiddles with it. Is he taking out the recorded confession or planting something else? It is unclear. However, he does happen to find a pair of Daniel's black mesh underwear. He should have left it in the drawer, because Daniel enters the bedroom at this moment and catches him. Daniel asks Marc what he's doing. Marc, thinking on his feet, says, "I want you, you big, sexy magazine editor." Daniel smells Wilhelmina all over this. Marc sniffs Daniel's underwear in a last ditch effort, but Daniel says he's going to call the police. Marc scurries off with the remnants of his dignity. It's a light load.
At Casa de Suarez, which is decked out to the max, the family thinks that Betty has finally come home. However, it's Henry at the door instead. He says the doctor couldn't find anything wrong, and so he thinks Charlie was just trying to ruin his night with Betty. Hilda is quick to forgive, but Ignacio isn't so sure. Everyone wonders where Betty is. She and Gio are still en route, but are derailed by a busted carriage wheel. Gio hops out to fix it, and Betty follows him, doing a face plant into the street, and spilling her coffee all over herself in the process. She cracks up as Gio offers her a Gio's Deli napkin. Best birthday ever. Gio feels bad that her day has sucked. He says she's a great, good, nice girl, and she deserves to have an amazing birthday. Betty tells Gio he did everything he could, and it's fine. But Gio will not rest. He wanted Betty to have a little bit of her fantasy. He apologizes for wasting her whole night. And just then, there is a little bit of magic as makeshift fireworks rain down from a construction site. It's romantic until the part when a spark takes root in Betty's hair and they both go up in flames. But until then, Betty rests her head on Gio's shoulder and we head to commercials.