| Ugly Betty - Pilot part 1 |
Ugly Betty - Pilot part 1
Ugly Betty - Pilot
The pilot opens on Betty Suarez sitting in the foyer of the Meade building. After an awkward conversation with a model who is dressed in a poncho from Milan, Betty is turned down on sight for a job by an interviewer. She tries to persuade him to change his mind, to no avail. The camera pans around to Bradford Meade watching from a distance.
We cut to a television screen showing a scene from a telenovela, which is being shown in the Suarez house. Justin, a young boy, complains that he wants to watch fashion TV, but his mother, Hilda, tells him to come and eat. Hilda then asks Betty if she has ordered their fathers birthday cake, Betty replying she’s ordered the same one they had last year. The family then sit around the table to eat. Betty’s father then asks Betty how her interview went. Betty tries to put a positive spin on her bad interview. Her sister isn’t fooled, and mentions her own company, Herbalux. Hilda is cut short when Betty’s father says that this is her dream job. The conversation then turns to Betty’s boyfriend, who was overheard on the phone telling someone that “she’s the one.” The family assume that he will ask Betty to marry him. When he arrives, he is greeted with excitement, as he takes Betty outside to talk.
The TV is turned to fashion TV, which passes along the information that Fey Sommers has dies. The magazine she edited has been taken over by Daniel Meade, Bradford’s Son, rather than Wilhelmina Slater.
We cut to the Meade building again, and the offices of Mode. Daniel sits behind his desk, relaxing, as his father walks into, startling him. Bradford finds underwear in a flower arrangement, which prompts Daniel to ask him assistant out from under the desk. Bradford gives Daniel a wrap on the knuckles for his behaviour.
We cut back to Walter and Betty, while he tells her he’s in love with Gina, a neighbour.
Back in the house Betty receives a phone call from Meade to say that she has got a job working for Mode, a fashion magazine, as assistant editor in chief. Justin talks to Betty about needing to dress fashionably.
Betty arrives for work the following morning dressed in a large red very unfashionable poncho. The receptionist, Amanda, greets her. Amanda surprised to that she is working for the company, especially as she doesn’t have very much experience. Betty prepares herself to join the meeting, and strides forward, straight into the large glass door, causing uproar in the meeting the other side. As Betty enters, Daniel asks if she is ok, as she tries to make her way to the back of the room, with the other assistants. Daniel continues the meeting.
Wilhelmina arrives at the meeting late, giving Daniel a gift – with the name “Danny” engraved on it. Daniel corrects her, and she brushes this off, as she takes over the meeting, talking about the Fabia cosmetics supplement. Wilhelmina explains that as the editor has changed, Fabia needs to agree to the supplement before it can be printed. Wilhelmina says that everyone is here to help Daniel, and then wraps up the meeting for him.
Betty then introduces herself to Daniel. He looks less than impressed when he realises that she is his new assistant.
In Wilhelmina’s office, Marc is injecting botox into Wilhelmina while they discuss her input into the magazine, and the atrocity that she wasn’t given the job. They then discuss the fact that he’s assistant isn’t the norm for such a magazine, and the hope that Betty will be his downfall. Wilhelmina then receives a mysterious phone call that makes Marc suspicious.
We cut to Betty’s desk, where she is gathering information for Daniel on Fabia. Amanda comes to talk to her, briefly discussing the photographer, Philip that is in Daniels office. We learn that Daniel once slept with Philip’s girlfriend.
We then join Daniel and Philip in the office. Daniel confides in Philip that he is aware he’s not welcome as Mode’s new editor. Daniel wonders if he’s being sabotaged with the layout design, and Philip offers his own idea’s, while telling Daniel to keep things quiet from the other staff. Betty then interrupts their conversation, and after establishing that no-one wants lunch, she tells Philip she is a big fan, but inadvertently accuses him of stealing another photographers idea. Daniel silently warns her to stop talking. After Betty leaves again, Daniel tells Philip that his father made him hire Betty. Philip says that she’s to ugly to be working there, and then suggests that because she cannot be fired that they should try to get her to quit.
Betty walks through the lunch area, with all the staff looking at her in contempt. She finally finds an empty stool. Where Christina instantly joins her, the Scottish in-house seamstress who is also dressed slightly differently to the fashionista’s around them. Two other ladies, Nancy and Zelda, join them - also not part of the clique.
Cut to Bradford, sitting on a park bench feeding pigeons. He is joined by another man, who tells Bradford that “she’s gone”. Bradford was at her funeral, but he doesn’t trust that she is really dead, and he asks the other man to investigate what Fey Sommers knows about him, and his company.
We cut back to Daniels office, where he starts his plan of degrading Betty into quitting. Her first job is to pick the cabbage out of his coleslaw = which we then see her sitting in a side room doing.
Cut to Betty being woken at 3.23 am by a phone call. Cut to Betty bringing Daniel and Philip coffee on a street, and then walking a large great dane for them. Cut to Daniel walking in his office with one shoe on, as Betty pulls chewing gum from the sole of his shoe. Cut to Betty sitting outside, at night. She receives a phone call from her sister telling her that she’s missing her fathers birthday party because she is still working. We follow Betty’s eye line, and see a young woman getting out of a cab. She ends the call with her sister, immediately phoning Daniel telling him “The red turkey is on the move”. We cut into Daniels apartment, where he is lying mostly naked, with Amanda. He tells Amanda that the phone call is work stuff, and she has to go. She asks him when the assistant position is going to be open, he responds that he hopes it’s soon, as she puts on her coat, and leaves. Daniel returns to the phone, telling Betty to stick around for a bit, rather than leave. She looks aggravated, but agrees. Daniel looks out of the window at her, a moment of doubt passing across his face before the other lady then arrives in Daniels apartment, removing her coat to reveal that she only has underwear on.
We cut to Betty arriving home, passing by Gina’s house, and hearing her with Walter, as well as seeing their sillouettes through the window. The house quiet, as her sister cleans up after the celebration. After telling Betty that their father is asleep, she reminds Betty that this is the first time they haven’t been together since their mom died. Hilda hopes that Betty’s job is really worth it. Betty slumps on the sofa, and happens to look over to a picture of her mother, with her as a child, putting make up on. She then gets out her notepad, and starts writing “Work Idea.”
Cut to daytime, Betty follows Daniel through the corridor at Mode. He talks on the phone about a photoshoot, while Betty drops files. Daniel continues, ignoring her. They enter the lift, and Daniels call cuts off as he states he’s on his way to the set. Betty tries to make conversation, and Daniel ignores her. She tries to show him her idea, but he’s cuts her off completely by walking out of the lift, leaving her behind. As they walk out onto the street, Betty again tries to give Daniel her idea, but again he cuts her off. He then sends her back to collect an outfit that was forgotten.
Betty walks into the closet and meets up with Christina. They talk about a designer outfit made from burlap. Christina comments about how she loves fashion, and notes that Betty isn’t too much into it. Christina then asks how Betty is doing. She tells Christina about how badly Daniel is treating her, and how he bit her head off when she was trying to show him her idea. Christina then tells Betty the truth about why she was hired. Daniel was made to hire Betty because Bradford didn’t want his son to be tempted to sleep with his assistants. Betty tries to put a positive spin on it, but quickly leaves wardrobe with the outfit for the shoot, leaving her idea folder behind. Christina picks up the folder. It’s a supplement idea for Fabia cosmetics.
Cut to various brightly colored models draped over a car wreckage. Clearly a fashionable photo shoot. Amanda grabs Daniel as he walks through the shoot, telling Daniel that if he needs anything, she is more than willing to help. We then see Philip on his mobile, complaining because one of the models didn’t show up yet. Philip needs the model for the test shots. Daniel suggests using a stand in. Philip says he needs someone with the correct skin tone, and decides that he’ll use Betty as a stand in. Betty walks in, staring wide-eyed at the photo shoot. Philip persuades Daniel to ask her, as it’s likely to be the thing that makes her quit.
Betty helps herself to a donut from the buffet table, only to have to spit out her mouthful as Daniel approaches. He explains the crisis they are having and says he needs her to help, by standing in for the model in costume. Betty dithers and confirms with Daniel that this is what he wants her to do. Betty walks out, without agreeing, and Daniel watches her leave, a disappointed look on his face.
