Okay. We all know how much I adore all the players in Ugly Betty but the main player is starting to lose some of her luster. Betty’s been at Mode for two years now and she does nothing about moving up in her job except whine about it. I mean, until this week’s episode, she didn’t know about Y.E.T.I (Young Editors in Training). Meanwhile, Marc has been working on his presentation for over three months. Guess who gets in?
Nick, Alexis’ old assistant, pays a visit to his former fellow assistants and tells them all about how he is now an editor at the New York Review. When Betty grills him for details how he fast tracked his career, he gives her one word. Or at least one anagram. Y.E.T.I. Young Editors in Training is an extremely exclusive program that basically guarantees an editor position after you graduate. How has Betty never heard of this program? Simple. Please refer back to my previous comments on how she claims to be so ambitious but her actions speak to a different adjective: lack of initiative and lack of imagination.
Now that she has heard of the program, she of course wants to be accepted for the coming term. She gets the rules on what she has to do which is creating a magazine that describes her. It has to contain a cover, a table of contents, and a letter from the editor. She also has to have a letter of recommendation which she asks Daniel to write, naturally. He’s a tad preoccupied with Molly, his new crush, but he promises to help her in any way he can. Betty sets out to create her magazine. One catch, it has to be ready in 48 hours in order to be eligible for this coming term. Just a small glitch which Betty is ready to take head on.
The first step is to come up with a concept and since she’s worked in fashion, she decides that’s what best describes her. Well, maybe not what best describes her but certainly something she can do. Only, when she tries to, she fails miserably. She can’t even create a look for the cover and she is definitely stuck on what to say in the editor’s letter. Everyone around her knows she’s only stuck because she doesn’t care about fashion. It’s not her passion so she can’t figure out what to do with a fashion magazine. You know who would have a great fashion/celebrity magazine? Marc. And he’s doing one for his YETI presentation. Betty’s screwed.
Not only does Marc have an eye for fashion, he has more contacts and has been an assistant for two years longer than Betty. That has to give him an edge over Betty which is good for him since YETI will only accept one person per magazine. Looks like a death match. My money’s on Marc but it is Betty Suarezland. She can only win if she finishes, though, and she’s ready to quit when she finds out about Marc. Then Daddy Suarez gives her “The Betty Review,” a magazine she made for her mother when she was in the hospital. It was basically a magazine of the family and suddenly Betty had an idea.
She finished her presentation due to an all-nighter and was wired in the morning, ready to do her dry run with Daniel. Too bad he’s just not available at the moment. Especially since Wilhelmina just told Connor they had to take a trip for a client (wink, wink) and now Molly’s class doesn’t have a speaker for the day. Obviously, Daniel will save the day. How come he’ll always save the day for some one else and not Betty. She gets the shaft in this relationship. You would think after last week’s tornado incident he would be a little more grateful but I suppose his boyish charm is what’s so great about him and what’s more boyish than a schoolyard crush. He’s off to help Molly but he assures Betty he’ll be back in time for the presentation.
It’s just about two and, no surprise here, Daniel isn’t back. But Betty has to go with her gut. She gives a good presentation and her magazine concept is typical Betty: Cultural magazine for the young woman. It’s a magazine meant to inspire and lead these young women. Cute, probably won’t sell much, but maybe if she reworked it a little, B Magazine would be great. She’s sure she nailed it until Marc comes strolling in with an entourage. He just borrowed a few of the interns to set up his power point presentation. No biggie. What is a biggie is that the head designers behind Badgley Mishka are there, in person, as his reference. Betty never even got a letter for Daniel. Guess it does pay to get to know all the people who work with Mode.
Betty’s worried. As she should be. Marc not only made the first few pages, he created an entire magazine, articles and all (one was even written by David Sedaris). On top of all of that effort, he has a great concept: A-List Magazine, a celebrity/culture magazine that not only highlights these things but also digs to discover why we, as a society, are so obsessed with them. I know, smart, right? Like I said, Betty should be worried.
Daniel finally leaves Molly’s class, after flirting all day, and comes to tell Betty he’s ready to help her. Not speaking to him, she texts him that he missed the presentation. Nice. He tries to apologize, lamely, but Betty cuts him off just in time for the phone to ring. I hope you didn’t put your money on Marc, too. How is that possible? How did her little presentation beat Marc’s, which he spent three months working on? According to him, Betty fills the quota. She’s the token ethnic girl and this little tidbit shakes Betty to the core.
Though her family tells her it’s just Marc being a sore loser, Betty knows she didn’t deserve this win. When she talks to the people at YETI and they don’t deny the claim, she knows she didn’t deserve it. Being Betty, she doesn’t just take Marc’s spot. Instead, she drops out and gives Marc her spot. How is she ever going to get ahead without any ruthlessness. Still, Marc is thrilled and when Daniel hears about this, he contacts YETI and tells them that Betty worked at Player Magazine, too. With his six page letter of recommendation and this news, they reinstate Betty and now her and Marc are both in.
Cutest part of the show: Betty and Marc on the phone with each other once Betty gets in, laughing, chatting about who they’ll get to meet, ect. Until they’re both beckoned by their respective bosses that is. By the way, Wilhelmina’s trip with Connor didn’t go exactly as planned. She did find out Connor’s not completely happy with Molly but he also turned her down cold and told her to stop doing what she’s doing. Harsh but awesome.
Before you go, just one more little nugget. Justin and Randy have been hanging out a lot but as soon as stupid Randy’s stupid friends find out, they hassle Randy so much he screams at Justin to leave him alone. Justin feels better after some cheering up from Hilda but it’s nice to see that sometimes kids act like kids. Even bratty, spoiled kids I want to punch in the face. Now if only Betty would stop acting like a kid and actually get something on her own.
