New Ugly Betty: The Verdict

After a patchy second season, I’m not asking for much of season three of Ugly Betty, merely that it be more consistent and entertaining than the last one, and that it be better than Heroes, which shouldn’t be too difficult… Warning – if you haven’t seen last night’s opening episode yet, don’t click the ‘more’ button…

I am approaching this series with some trepidation after learning that my two favourite characters will not be in most of it, and reserve my right to fall out with it in a major way further down the line, but last night’s opener was a promising start. The decision to end two series’ worth of Betty’s tedious love triangles was a smart one. They not only frustrated viewers, partly because there wasn’t really a ‘right’ person for us to root for her to end up with, it also diminished Betty’s character and made her quite unsympathetic.

Still travelling round the world to ‘Roam’ by The B-52s (my fifth favourite song of all time, fact fans) put some spark back into Betty and hopefully this will continue through the rest of the series. Betty choosing to move out is probably a good move, but I hope that doesn’t mean the Suarez family will fade away as they’re all fabulous.

Wilhemina taking over Mode and Daniel working for a men’s magazine is perfect. She was always the best person for that job, and he was never suited to it. I anticipate this set-up won’t last but I’ll be very happy if it does. However, the ‘Willy wants baby’ story last season was as misjudged as all those endless Jacqui McQueen pineapple womb/baby snatching plots of tedium in Hollyoaks and I’m hoping that once the child is born it goes the way of most fictional children (i.e. into the background).

I know ratings in the States haven’t been spectacular, but I’m hoping this is mere fallout from the previous season and not a sign of things to come… after all with a Big Brother destined to lose one of its most interesting characters on Friday, Channel 4 needs at least one entertaining show at the moment.

Tagged as: Channel 4, the lowculture verdict, ugly betty