Friday, May 9, 2008

Ugly Betty, Earl and The Office - Babies, Baggers and Bogeys

Is it the end of the road for Betty and Henry? Despite his promises that they would stay together forever, everything seems to change the moment Charlie gives birth to his son--just as Betty's dad predicted. Wilhelmina has baby problems of her own--Christina flees after finding out the baby she's carrying belongs to "Meade/Slater." This puts a wrench in Willie's plans to announce the pregnancy to the world--even with special live coverage on The View, "Which they never could have done if potty-mouthed Rosie was still around!"

Christina ends up in the arms of Stuart--her ex-husband with the deadly liver disease who was the reason for agreeing to the surrogacy in the first place. But Stuart is just as venal and manipulative as Wilhelmina, encouraging Christina to hold out for more money. Christina finally meets with Wilhelmina to discuss her terms--she wants her to promise to love the baby and make sure it gets everything it needs. The latter was Willie's plan all along and she plants the sonogram in a PowerPoint presentation as she reveals her evil plan to Daniel, Alexis and Claire.

As Betty's relationship with Henry is in trouble, a new love interest appears on the scene for Hilda in the form of Justin's Coach Diaz (Eddie Cibrian). The two go head-to-head when the coach won't accept Justin's excuses for getting out of gym: "There were bats and balls. It was like a nightmare that would never end!" but finally Coach Diaz agrees to give Justin a passing grade for choreographing the cheerleading routines. Daniel finds love as well--but not in the form of the therapist Betty sends him to because "ever since Renee, there's just not a pooper scooper big enough" to deal with his messes. The therapist and Daniel have sex, but a pep talk from Mr. Suarez makes Daniel realize that his true love is his job at Mode.

On My Name is Earl, Earl starts to realize that the differences between his new bride Billie and him might break them up. There's her penchant for "sharing" food, her preference for Sammy Hagar vs. David Lee Roth and her lack of boundaries when Earl is using the bathroom. Billie makes up a list of her own and Earl is relieved that karma seems to be acknowledging that they are soulmates--but Billie isn't as invested in making her wrongs right as Earl has been.

Earl's task is to help Joel (Jon Heder) a former champion-caliber grocery bagger get his life back. Billie thinks she's done when she returns Joel's ceiling fan. Joel's mangled hand prevents him from bagging, but when he realizes that Earl is a "natural bagger," he trains him for the championship. All goes well until while arguing with Billie he points at her and she breaks his finger. But the bagging competition rules don't say that two people can't compete, just not more than two hands. So Earl and Joel team up to defeat "Bagger Lance" and win the championship. Billie realizes the importance of putting more effort into the List and Earl thinks things will work out between the two of them. Then she tells him he should lose the mustache and Randy and Earl agree that it's Billie who needs to go.

Yeah, I didn't think Alyssa Milano would last too long. Funniest line: Earl apologizes for not bringing an antenna when he returns Joel's TV--it was Randy's job to get some rabbit ears and he managed to screw it up? Randy sees the vast expanse that is Joel's empty apartment and says, "Joel, you seem to have a lot of room here. You think you'd like to adopt an earless rabbit?" I'm sure no bunnies were actually harmed in the making of the show...

On The Office, Michael, Pam, Toby and Oscar attend a student job fair to attempt to hire an intern. Michael wants to infuse the office with young blood, "I want to euthanize this place!" he exclaims in typical Michael fashion. He says, "I'm trying to lure these kids into my booth, but these days kids are wary of being lured. Thank you, Dateline!" The only student that shows any interest in the Dunder-Mifflin table is not "special" enough for Michael who tells him, "Maybe for you paper should be more of a hobby..." Later, when the job fair is ending and there has been no other interest, Michael says, "Justin is like the ugly girl in the movie who takes off his glasses and you realize he's hot!"

Meanwhile, Jim tries to keep his job security following Ryan's warning by landing a new client while out playing golf along with Kevin and Andy. That leaves Dwight in charge of the office--but he faces a mutiny when Creed, Phyllis and Meredith want to skip out early. He warns them that there will be consequences if they leave before 5 pm. "What consequences?" asks Phyllis. "I will tell on you," answers Dwight. But as soon as Dwight turns his back, the three escape out the door leaving just him and Angela in the office. Dwight fulfills his threat but Michael's response is who cares since he's not there and Jim's not there...

2 comments:

  1. Amanda and Marc need to be in the same room together again! And I don't remember how the pre strike Betty ended, but where's Cliff?

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  2. You're right--the show could use a bit more Amanda and Marc! Marc's been working so hard for Willie, I doubt he has time for a love life. If I were Cliff, I'd have dumped him by now...

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