My Tribute to "Ugly Betty" (Contains spoilers)

While watching the series premiere of "Ugly Betty," my husband kept saying that it was "The Devil Wears Prada." He still does. I'm sure that he's amused at how devastated I am over the news that "Ugly Betty" is done at the end of this season. He's been calling it "Devil Wears Prada" this whole time. Yeah, the first episode was about Betty as a new assistant at Meade Publications and her boss, Daniel, putting her through the ringer. But then...they reached some sort of understanding and the show shed its DWP status. From there on out, "Ugly Betty" was the show to watch for me. I never missed an episode. I adored Henry in the first season and so wanted him and Betty together. Then Charlie (played by Jayma "Emma Pillsbury" Mays) entered the picture and I loved hating her. The love triangle was so intense. I always liked Betty's family: Her older and more fashionable sister, Hilda; her flamboyant Broadway loving nephew, Justin; and her father, Ignacio, who always knew the right things to say and tried to use common sense when everyone else didn't. I was a wreck after the first season finale, when Hilda's fiance was shot while en route to Justin's school musical performance and Henry was en route to Arizona with Charlie, who may or may not have been the mother of his baby at the time.
There was also the staff at Meade. I've had a crush on Daniel since I remembered that Eric Mabius played Steve in "Welcome to the Dollhouse" and he looked even hotter with short hair. Once he and Betty reached an understanding, he was a great boss to her and they built up a special working relationship from there. I still think they have sexual tension between them and would love to see that resolved by the time the season ends. (Sorry, Matt!) Next, there's Wilhelmina, who is painted out as a "villain," even though she also has a vulnerable side. Marc, Wilhelmina's assistant, is as gay as they get, and snarky to boot. Amanda, the receptionist, started off as someone to hate, but she too showed a vulnerable side and became nice and funny after a while. I love the dynamic between her and Marc. It reminds me of the dynamic I have with one of my gay guy friends whom I used to work with (and now live a lot closer to). We can't forget Christina, one of Betty's only allies in the beginning. I loved her accent too. She even had her own storyline after a while and I'm glad things worked out for her in the end, even though she left the show. After a while, Claire Meade appeared on the scene, played by Judith Light (Angela from "Who's the Boss?"). She had this glamorous and witty personality and was definitely a match for Wilhelmina.
We can't forget love interests. First, Betty went from Walter (the guy she started out dating on the show) to Henry (who ended up actually being the dad of Charlie's baby, after all) to Gio (the hottest guy on the show next to Daniel, in my opinion) and then to Matt, who she was on again/off again with, and he was her boss at one point as well. I don't know if Matt will be back before the series ends, but I hope he stays in Africa so Betty and Daniel can finally hook up. :) There were Hilda's love interests: Santos (Justin's father whom she got engaged to until the fateful day of Justin's show), the coach (I forgot his name, but he was still married anyway), Archie (a politician played by my favorite "Karate Kid") and now Bobby (who is 3rd hottest after Daniel and Gio). Daniel was a player for a while but had a stint with Wilhelmina's sister until she went crazy and married Molly, but lost her to cancer. There was also a time he dated a magazine editor played by Salma Hayek, but she was actually playing him in order to write an article. Ignacio even had some romance in his life, with the nurse who was taking care of him for a while.
There were some crazy plot lines, but if "Glee" can thrive on its ridiculous moments, "Ugly Betty" should be able to do the same. It made the show funny and kept things interesting.
The more I watched the show this season, the more I continued to love it. And now the carpet is being ripped from under its feet. I knew something like this would happen when they moved it to Friday night. Moving it back to Wednesday just confused viewers. I thought it would have to compete with "Glee" anyway. (And as much as I love "Glee", there's a part of me that loves "Ugly Betty" just a little more.) I am sad to see it go and hope that the writers will give it a series finale to blow all other series finales out of the water. It deserves that much justice, at the very least! I'll miss Betty, the Suarez family, Marc, Amanda, Daniel and dare I say it, even Wilhelmina. I'm glad I had the opportunity to get addicted to this show in the first place. Thanks for entertaining me for the last 4 years, "Ugly Betty." Go out in style!