Dress for Success (Ugly Betty)

"Dress for Success"^[1] (also known as "Dressed for Success") is the 11th episode in the third season, the 52nd episode overall, of the American dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on January 8, 2009. The episode was directed by Matt Shakman.^[2]

Plot

The day begins with Betty helping Hilda, Justin and Ignacio decorating the Suarez home as they celebrate the relaunch of "Hilda's Beautilities." Betty agreed to help out Hilda with filling out gift baskets and other goodies, believing it would not interfere with her work and her studies at YETI.

At work Daniel and Wilhelmina addressed the "MODE" staff that they landed Keira Knightley for an April shoot and just ordered a Halston dress for her to wear on the cover. The two also warned that this info must not be leaked out to the competition. In addition Betty is tasked by Daniel to pick up the dress.

But it looks like Betty might have spoken too soon as she tried to juggle work and family without much success as she struggles to impress her idol, Jodie Papadakis (Bernadette Peters), the editor running YETI, this after Jodie asked Betty where she was when Betty was supposed to be at a gathering the evening before. And when Betty told her she was helping her sister, Jodie didn't like that answer. Jodie then gave the students their assignment, which was to gather 40 contacts through social networking (no family members), and warned them if they don't complete this, then don't bother returning to YETI.

So with help from Marc and Amanda, albeit reluctant, Betty does gets some good tips, even after Marc and Amanda abandon her at a local bar, where she succeeds, despite passing on helping Hilda again that same evening, leaving Hilda disappointed. Things go from bad to worse when she encounters Teri O'Shaughnessy (guest star Nikki Blonsky), an assistant at ELLE magazine, just as the long-running Mode/ELLE rivalry heats up. As Betty and Teri exchange cards, the two made small talk about each other, but when Betty went to the bathroom Teri eyes her Blackberry that was left on the table and managed to scoop enough info for ELLE.

Thanks to Teri, not only does she gets Knightley for ELLE, but also steals the dress for their party by using Betty's name. This makes Wilhelmina furious and Daniel somewhat upset, so they call out their rivals at ELLE over their sabotaging tactics. Luckily, Betty recalled who Teri said was catering the ELLE party that evening, and got the caterer to sneak her and Marc in to steal back the dress, just in time to escape the clutches of Teri after she spots the two. Arriving with the adorned dress at Wilhelmina's party, Betty gets invited in and has the opportunity to rub elbows with the fashion elite. When Jodie spots Betty (as she was looking at her cellphone message from Hilda), Jodie told her that she was surprised to see Betty at an event like this and told that didn't have to worry about being kicked out of YETI.

Unfortunately, after Jodie left, Betty learned that Hilda left several more messages on her phone and when she answered it, she raced over to the hospital, where Hilda told Betty that Ignacio had a heart attack.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Wilhelmina's feelings over Molly and Connor respectively continues to take center stage, with Wili showing Daniel the security footage of his almost-kiss with Molly and encourages him to follow his heart, which Wilhelmina uses as a ploy so she can pick up the pieces of Connor's. At first, it doesn't seem like the plan will work since Molly (who told Daniel that she and Connor had been engaged for four years) reacts to Daniel's revelation of his feelings by leaving Wilhelmina's party upset. But she later shows up on Daniel's steps, saying she's dumped Connor. She and Daniel consummate that almost-kiss from long ago. Likewise with Connor after he looked very susceptible and admiring of Wilhelmina at the party, then makes a huge surprise by going to her home later and kissing her.

Music

The ending song is "La Ritournelle" by Sébastien Tellier.

Casting

Judith Light, although credited was absent from this episode.

Ratings

Although they came in third to the BCS Championship Game between the Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners on Fox and a repeat of CSI: NY, the episode scored a 5.0/8 overall, a 2.4/6 among 18-49s and 7.50 million viewers, even though it was down from 900,000 viewers from the previous episode.^[3][4][5]

References

Also starring

• Grant Bowler as Connor Owens
• Sarah Lafleur as Molly

Guest starring

• Bernadette Peters as Jodie Papadakis
• Nikki Blonsky as Teri O'Shoughnessy
• Thomas Sadoski as Ryan Richards, the Caterer
• Elaine Kussack as Mrs. Bowen

See also

• Ugly Betty
• Ugly Betty (season 3)