Ugly Betty Review

Ugly Betty was a comedy/drama television show that was aired on abc from 2006 to 2010 totalling four seasons. The show revolved a young woman named Betty Suarez who is a little bit of an odd ball. She has braces, though she is 22 years old, wears glasses, and dresses in her own, a little goofy, style. Not only that, but she isn't the pretties or the skinniest of the women, but she is sweet, hard working, and compassionate.

Betty's dream is running her own magazine and she happens to score a job in a high fashion, very popular, magazine called Mode, working as an assistant to the Editor in Chief of the magazine, Daniel Mead. Unfortunately, while she is very qualified for the job, she was only given the job because the owner of the company, Daniel Mead's father, felt that she would finally be an assistant that Daniel would not try to sleep with, because of her appearance.

Because she has her own kind of clashing style, and is a bit heavier than the rest of the staff, she is a bit of an outcast and kind of the joke of the office. However, she proves that while she may not know much about the fashion world, she is a quick learner, and makes a truly excellent and helpful assistant to Daniel.

The show follows Betty, along with her family and a few of her coworkers, through her life and four years at the magazine Mode. You experience both her fails and successes in her work along with following her personal life.

While I didn't watch this show in it's prime and while it was still being aired, I recently watched the entire series on Netflix. My first impression of the show was that it was a little goofy in it's sense of comedy and very easy going. Almost a little too silly for my taste as a lot of the actions in some of the main characters were a little unrealistic and silly. However, I stuck with it and the characters really grow on you and seem to deepen as time goes on. After the first season I found myself really fond of the show, despite its almost silly and light humor. The show also really reminded me of television version of The Devil Wears Prada.

Though the whole show isn't silly and lighthearted, and if it was it probably wouldn't have been nearly as popular as it was. There is definitely moments that are much deeper, including certain character deaths, romantic ends, and hardships. By the end of the show, I found myself really rooting for everyone to have a happy ending, even Wilhelmina Slater, who is mainly an consistent antagonist throughout the series. Even the characters who started out to be rather mean to Betty grow on you as you get to know and understand them. Despite my first hesitation to watching the show, now that I have finished it I will miss the characters and am a bit sad the series had to come to an end after only four seasons.

The first two seasons were the most successful, and if you have seen all four, you can kind of see why. The second season has a very distinct ending and causes a bit of change to the show, especially for certain characters, which almost takes the show in a new direction. While I still enjoyed the last two seasons, they definitely didn't feel the same as the first two and didn't feel quite up to par. The mood seems to change a bit in the show and I can see why it may have discouraged some fans which lowered it's ratings and eventually led to the show's end.

After watching all of the seasons and finally getting to the last episode, I was almost disappointed. Of course I was disappointed in a show I enjoyed ending, but the ending wasn't really an ending I anticipated or exactly liked. However, while I may not have liked how the show ended, I enjoyed the show overall and was only truly disappointed by the last episode and isn't a reason enough for me not to recommend the show.

Overall, I thought the show was enjoyable. The characters really grow on you, along with evolve throughout the show. Ugly Betty really morphs from her awkward, slightly clueless, but sweet self into someone who starts to be more "fashion forward" and far more respected in her career, while still remaining a good person. You even see the other characters grow, becoming less shallow as the series goes on and much more likable. I recommend giving the show a watch, and recommend you give it a few episodes for the characters and style to grow on you.

While overall I liked the show there are a couple specifics that I'd like to talk about. If you haven't watched the show, you may not understand what I'm talking about and there will definitely be some spoilers.

So I think my main complaint was the end of the show. It seemed completely unlike the rest of the show and didn't really make sense as to why it happened that way. Personally my favorite boyfriend of Betty's was Henry and near the end of the show, despite the fact that Betty still obviously had feelings for Henry and his multiple appearances throughout the seasons showed that he was going to be a rather important romance, Betty brushes him off at their last meeting mainly because he already has a kid. I found this unexpected since he was such a big romance that she never really seemed to forget about, and very unlike Betty's personality to reject Henry because of his kid, despite knowing about it nearly the entire length of the series.

My second guess for her romance was that it would eventually turn to Daniel, and in a small way it does, but how it happens was disappointing. Of course it took until Betty was going to be leaving to London for Daniel to realize how much she means, but even though in the end Daniel ends up in London, it is never clear if the relationship turns romantic, or just continues their close relationship and possible intending their working relationship. I think the part that bothers me the most is that she didn't positively end up with anyone, even though I thought that would be a big part of the ending to the show. I thought there would be a definite boyfriend, even if they weren't married or engaged.

Finally, Betty's whole move to London simply doesn't make sense to me. While it would be exciting to move to a new country and she would be in a magazine that seemed to be a little more in her original interests, it simply didn't have much logic. Her family, who she is very close to, is still in New York, along with her friends, and an amazing job opportunity. Especially after she was offered a writing column in fashion on top of her editing job at Mode, (not to mention the raise Daniel offers her before she leaves) she would have been making far more and end up in a much more prestigious, in-charge position had she stayed. While fashion wasn't her original forte, she really made it her own and learned a lot, not to mention she seemed to really enjoy the work near the end. I feel that she was moved to London simply to put a more definite end to the show since she was leaving Mode magazine, the magazine she had been working with throughout the entire show.

While I really became fond of the show, I really didn't like who things ended and where everything was left off. It feels like there was too much left unsaid with too many big and slightly strange choices.