Ugly Betty - Fire and Nice - Recap
Ever since their beloved house and salon burned down, Betty's family has been camping out in Betty's living room. Four people in that tiny apartment gets old fast and tensions are already running high. I've never seen so many clothes all over the place. For a second I thought they were hanging out in the Mode closet. The clutter and stress and downright annoying distractions are really getting to Betty once it starts interfering at work. Once a video of Justin acting out Lady Gaga's Bad Romance video is played, things really are getting strange. But I love it. She sets out to find the cause of the fire for the insurance company to get her family back where they belong. It's not as easy as it looks and Betty is forced to put up with a D-bag fireman who's idea of humor is just the opposite. He implies he can help Betty out if she goes out on a date with him. Using a man to get what you want? Why, Miss Suarez I am proud.
Over in someone else's hectic life, Daniel is still turning to women to deal with his problems. Only this time, he's back with Amanda and things are back to being casual. Well, whatever works. Amanda is busy juggling Daniel and Tyler in her life and doesn't seem to realize that hanging with Daniel's illegitimate unknown brother might be problematic. Sigh. I don't blame her though. Tyler and Claire are spending more time together trying to bond and it's not long before word gets out that Claire Meade is canoodling with a hot country boy. Daniel finds out and is predictably pissed and confronts Tyler. Before they are able to kick the crap out of each other, Claire intervenes and tells Daniel the truth. We also get the little detail about how Claire hid a pregnancy from her family. She went to rehab for a year. Convenient.
Willie and Marc are taking a stroll plotting more evil in the world when a familiar face pops up. It's an ex boyfriend of Wilhelmina who doesn't seem too thrilled to see her. It's a weird dynamic. Willie is extremely happy to see him but Don has heard of her new reputation. He knew Willie back when she was Wanda. Determined to prove she hasn't changed, she gets him to agree to a date and tries to transform herself into a nice decent human being. If that sounds hilarious it's because it is. They end up on a double date with Betty and her annoying fireman, Guest star Rich Sommer, and things get awkward fast. Betty has a little fun toying with the new Wilhelmina who is forced to play nice and pretend to be besties with Betty. It works for awhile until Willie can't take it anymore and confesses to Don that she's a Queen Bitch. Yay! They realize that what really mattered in their relationship anyway was sex and all is forgiven. It's the important things in life.
We found out that Justin was smoking in the last episode but not what his motivation was. He shows up for a heart to heart with Marc and his spiffy suit. Marc is ready to take on the task of hearing Justin spill his heart to him. Justin wanted to impress someone from his acting class that he had a crush on. Marc asks their name while holding his breath and Justin says "Lily." Facepalm. Just embrace the peen Justin! You'll be much happier I promise you.
Everyone thinks they're responsible for the fire and the guilt is eating them alive. Ignacio thinks his electrician skills are to blame, Justin thinks it was his cigarette, and Hilda thinks Bobby and his family are in the mob. Mobby! To try and get her to have an open mind about his family, Bobby arranges a dinner party with Hilda and her family for everyone to get to know each other. It starts off well enough, with a few Italian stereotypes making Hilda twitch, but once she finds out Bobby's parents think she's a slut, all hell breaks loose. She accuses them of being in the mob and causing the fire, which starts a chain reaction of confessions. Ignacio confesses his crystal chandelier is to blame, and Justin confesses to smoking. "That's it! You're grounded until you're dead. And if you want to shave some time off of that, KEEP SMOKING." Best line of the night by Hilda.
Captain Obnoxious shows up after the date with Betty just in time to tell the true cause of the fire. Betty started the fire giving herself an out of place curl. Or using a curling iron anyway. The night calms down and everyone kisses and makes up. After saying goodbye to Bobby's parents, Hilda turns around to see Bobby down on one knee. Bobby proposes to Hilda!! Yay!! And DAAAAAMN. That is one fantastic ring. If you forget how gorgeous Adam Rodriguez is, that ring alone would be reason enough to say yes. With only 5 episodes left until the series wraps up, I'm forced to be depressed because I thought this episode was great. Had some great laugh out loud moments and I really think ABC made a mistake with this decision.