I know this seems like Ugly Betty and American Idol blog so far, but, unfortunately, most of my other shows haven’t started up yet in 2010.  Although a lot of shows are starting again tonight, including a new season of Project Runway (which will hopefully be better than last season’s dismal snoozefest), I won’t be able to watch until next week.

Synopsis of this episode here.

So, just a day after saying that I liked Betty and Matt together, seems like they’re done (at least for now).  I’ve heard rumors from a friend that Betty and Daniel are going to be romantically linked, but I REALLY hope that doesn’t happen.

This episode was pretty mediocre… seems like they used it as a vehicle to end two romances (the other being Connor and Wilhemina, which was super played out) and deepen two relationships: Hilda and Bobby’s, which I still don’t care about, and Daniel and Mark’s, which I care more about.

Mark is probably my favorite character on the show — I’m rarely bored when he’s on screen, and although I liked the explanation for Mark’s seeming failure as Daniel’s assistant, this episode made me miss the Mark/Wilhemina dynamic.  The two best exchanges of the night were: 1) “I no longer feel betrayed by you — that’s compensation enough!” (Wilhemina, when Mark asked if he’d be paid extra to act as both Daniel and Wilhemina’s assistant for the day); and 2) “Are you going to bring that up EVERY time I get married?” (Wilhemina, when Mark complained about the fact that he wasn’t allowed to get married).

That second quotation is representative of the typically great politics on Ugly Betty… not only did they recognize the injustice of Mark’s legal inability to get married, they also knocked the sanctity of “traditional” marriage down a peg.

America Ferrara’s dramatic acting chops were on full display when Matt broke his news to her — she never overdoes it and her reactions always seem real, in a show that’s mostly fantasy.  I think Vanessa Williams is great in this role, but compare her broken-hearted soap opera acting to Betty’s understated sorrow.  I think America’s a super-underrated actress, and I wish she had more opportunities.

Finally, I’m VERY glad they didn’t bring in Ace of Base for a cameo.