Fey Sommers

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Fey Sommers
First appearance	Pilot (aka I Am Not Going To Sell Herbalux)
Information
Gender	Female
Age	60's
Occupation	Editor at MODE
Title	Editor-In-Chief
Relationships	Bradford Meade (20 year affair)
Portrayed by	Christine Jones (TV Clips as Sommers)
Created by	Silvio Horta

Fey Sommers is the name of a supposedly deceased fictitious character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty. She is played in TV clips by Christine Jones.

[edit] Background

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Fey Sommers was the previous and much-revered editor-in-chief of MODE magazine. In the series she died in a bizarre accident, in which her car was burned in a mysterious hit-and-run.

However, her death raises more questions than answers: When Bradford Meade went to her funeral, he said that the casket was closed; meanwhile, suspicions were cast over Wilhelmina Slater, whose visits to a clinic lead to the presence of "The Mystery Woman," who was swathed in bandages, fueling speculation that Sommers had survived the crash and was plotting to resume control of MODE Magazine.

When Bradford visited Fey's gravesite, a person who fitted Fey's description showed up and he chased after her, but hours later his private detective, Steve, advised him that the camera caught no footage of Fey Sommers and hinted that Bradford might be losing his mind.

Bradford's theory proved wrong -- not only is the casket empty, but Steve was indeed working with the Mysterious Bandaged Woman to confuse Bradford and make him believe he may be going crazy and would pay for it with his life. Bradford believed that Fey survived the crash and has brought in an associate named Mr. Green to step up his plot to find her at any cost. But another angle has cropped up when Mr. Green handed him a file that has proof of Fey having died after all and learning that a relative has identified the remains, leading to more questions about the mystery woman's true involvement and intentions.

In the episode "In or Out" Bradford would be arrested for her murder after he was set up by his post-op transgendered son Alexis Meade, who used Fey's murder to get back at his father for disowning him after he told Bradford about wanting to become a woman. But in the episode "Brothers", Claire Meade, the family matriarch, confessed to Betty that she was Fey's actual murderer. Because Claire was drunk when she made the admission, just as many doubts of who Fey's murderer really is still remain. In a press release, Executive Producer Silvio Horta announced that, although Wilhelmina Slater and Alexis Meade were trying to convince Bradford Meade into believing he may going insane, this sub-plot failed. Horta stated, in response to an inquiry made as to whether Fey was truly dead, "Um, no?" This may provide an inkling towards the suspicion that Fey Sommers may have survived the car crash that supposedly ended her life.

In the episode Icing On the Cake, Claire described Fey as a conniving and manipulative bitch who got what she deserved. Grace Chin (played by Lucy Liu) who was formerly the lawyer to defend the Meades, said that she could convince the jury and judge that Fey would have killed Claire Meade, had Claire not killed her first. (Note: There was misleading information on this page earlier that said that this was actually true, not just something Grace Chin thought she could prove)

[edit] Behind the scenes

The actress who plays the mysterious woman and Fey are two different people. The mysterious woman (played by Elizabeth Penn Payne) mentioned that it was time that Fey (played in TV clips by Christine Jones) came out of seclusion. However, on the February 1, 2007 episode it was revealed that the mysterious bandaged woman was Alexis Meade, formerly Alex Meade, Daniel's brother who was presumed dead in a skiing accident but who has instead undergone sex reassignment surgery. Alexis is played by Rebecca Romijn.

[edit] Puns

Fey Sommers' appearance in TV clips closely resembled that of real life Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Wintour's last name is a loose homonym with 'Winter', while Sommers' is a loose homonym with 'Summer'.

Ugly Betty

v • d • e

The Suarez family

Betty • Hilda • Ignacio• Justin

MODE magazine

Christina McKinney • Alexis Meade • Bradford Meade • Daniel Meade • Marc St. James • Wilhelmina Slater • Fey Sommers • Amanda Tanner

Recurring characters

Fabia • Gina Gambarro • Steve • Constance Grady • Henry • Claire Meade • Sofia Reyes • Santos • Nico Slater • Walter