Sad Betty: The Ugly Betty Premiere

I am apparently a sucker. I spent almost the entire hour of the Ugly Betty season premiere being so glad that Santos was seemingly alive, that I didn't even care about how cheap it was to have him be okay after getting shot in the cliffhanger last season. So, I had a hard time handling the reveal that he was in fact dead and the whole thing had been a fantasy of Hilda. The scene where Betty just held Hilda as she broke down in tears was heartbreaking and really well done. Ana Ortiz (Hilda) did a fabulous job with all those scenes.

The rest of the cliffhanger follow ups were also all done well. Amanda and Marc were as hysterical as usual with Amanda trying to figure out why her birth certificate lists Fey as her mother. I loved that meta reference to VC Andrews, when Amanda wondered if Daniel could be her brother. Those meta and pop culture references are one of the things this show does best. In shipper land, Betty spent most of the episode trying to get over Henry. Despite her goodbye to him in the "relationship funeral," I don't think she is really close. Which is why the romantic in me was thrilled that Henry showed up back in New York. Hopefully, he will arrive knowing the that Charlie was cheating on him. I know shows often drag out romances, but Betty and Henry really need some time happy together. More near-misses will cause them to become as annoying as a unnamed couple on another Thursday night ABC show.

Meanwhile, Daniel was still popping pills, now out of guilt for causing Alexis to slip into a coma in their car accident. But by the end of the episode, he had decided to clean up for her sake. I hope he doesn't reconsider when he finds out Alexis was the one who had the breaks on the car in the first place. At the end, the show did seem a little cliche, by having Alexis wake up as soon as Daniel got the nerve to visit her. But, the follow up, was so good that it almost doesn't matter. Because as soon as she talked, we find out that "Alexis" doesn't remember anything about her operation, so to speak, and still thinks that she, is the very male Alex. That is certainly not a story you see every day. I suppose that storyline could become a little insensitive, depending on how long it lasts and Alex/Alexis's reaction. But it is the perfect thing to play out on "Ugly Betty."