Back in Her Place

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"Back in Her Place" is an episode from the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty, which aired on January 13, 2010. It is the 11th episode from Season 4 and the 76th episode overall.

Plot[]

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The story begins with Betty, complete with a sprained left ankle, peeling dry skin and over-puffed hair, pleading with her landlord, Mr. Z, after she knocks on his door and he asks for the rent. She explains that she does not have enough money and has had a horrible week so far. So he gives in, and, in a series of flashbacks, she starts explaining her story.

Two days earlier, Betty tells Marc that she wants to write something that inspires people. He then gives her an assignment from Wilhelmina to write about stilettos, but she finds the piece too light. Meanwhile, at the federal pen, Wilhelmina and Connor kiss, only to have Connor tell her that as much as he loves her, he is unsure if he wants her in his life, feeling that she is giving up too much of her own life just to be with him. As Marc talks to Daniel at his office, Wilhelmina walks in, saying that she wants Marc back. So the two agree to share him for a while. At a cafe, after overhearing a couple talking, Betty and Matt talk about their future together, when Betty suddenly observes different people wearing shoes, inspiring her to pitch a story called "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" about people who do inspiring things that help change the world. But Wilhelmina, who wanted Betty to write the story that she gave her, rejects her idea.

As Betty talks to Hilda about work when she starts to believe that Wilhelmina is giving her a hard time, Hilda watches Bobby spill spaghetti on the floor and is starting to get moody around him. This prompts Bobby to try to tone down Hilda's behavior now that she is expecting and facing raising another child after having done the same for Justin. Back at work, Betty begs with Wilhelmina to give her another chance, so Wilhelmina gives in. She admits liking the title of Betty's piece "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes", but in what can be called "torture", she gives Betty a pair of high heels and tasks her to wear them for a mile so that she can review them. Unfortunately, Betty is not feeling comfortable wearing them while walking the streets of New York City, and she bumps into Daniel, who is frustrated that Marc is beginning to screw around with his work schedule by rescheduling his appointments and altering his daily routines. Betty tells Daniel that he is not the best communicator and should give Marc more credit as he might be doing him a favor. They part before she slips and hurts her ankle.

Betty returns the shoes to Wilhelmina while on crutches and tells her that she has submitted the story to her while in the hospital. Before Betty leaves, Wilhelmina gives her a Ukrainian moisturizer lotion (that caused Betty's skin to break out) to use as her next story piece, before proceeding to confide in Marc about her dilemma with Connor. To prove that she is committed to him, she surprises Connor by proposing to him in prison, and he accepts reluctantly. During dinner, Betty complains about Wilhelmina to Hilda, Matt and Justin, thus prompting the trio to convince Betty to start a blog. She agrees and they briefly celebrate until Betty notices the burns on her skin.

The next day, Betty stops by Amanda's desk to ask her about using the apartment, but Amanda tells Betty that she and Marc moved out, which Betty only learns now because Amanda had earlier tried to tell Betty weeks ago but was not paying any attention to who she was talking to and kept on forgetting what she was going to say. Betty is disappointed, having not known that Amanda would be giving up the apartment for good, but Amanda reminds Betty that she gave it up a year ago to help out her family. At her beauty shop, Bobby tells Hilda that he will put her on a what he calls a "Hilda Week", in which they get a chance to spend some time together while he pampers her. Hilda accepts, as witnessed and encouraged by a customer. Daniel continues to be frustrated with Marc's apparent ineptness when Marc spills coffee over his brown jacket and quickly swaps it for a slimming black jacket from Daniel's dry-cleaning before sending him to a meeting at a different location than Daniel originally planned.

During an evening out together, Hilda and Bobby stop by the local nightclub as Bobby wants to take Hilda to a concert featuring Ace of Base, which happens to be their favorite group. However, the club is closed and he cuts a finger. Hilda then tells Bobby that the group is playing the next day after Bobby thought it was this evening. At the apartment, Betty and Matt prepare to set up the blog and gets in a series of interviews from ordinary people, including a woman who talks about her experiences in helping people in Botswana. After Betty gets off the phone with Matt while launching her blog, she is visited by Z who confronts her for the overdue two months back rent.

The next day, Betty confronts a panicked Amanda over the unpaid rent, and makes it clear to her that she must pay by blocking her from getting out of this excuse by using her crutches with force. Betty asks Marc about why she was not informed about them moving out, but he does not remember and stops by to give her a shampoo bottle (that destroyed her hair) to do a piece on. Moments later, Matt stops by tell her that after being moved by the Botswana story that he has decided to sign up for a six-month tour to help people in Africa, stunning Betty. As Daniel arrives to another unexpected and rescheduled meeting, he proceeds to complain to Amanda, who reminds him he is not the best communicator and needs to give Marc credit. She then casually mentions that Wilhelmina would want Marc back, prompting Daniel to think that Marc is trying to sabotage him so he can go back to Wilhelmina. During the afternoon, Bobby takes Hilda back to the club to see Ace of Base, when Justin calls his mother, as he is home with the flu. Concerned over Justin's sickness, Hilda tells Bobby to enjoy the concert on his own and races back home.

Meanwhile, back at the prison, Wilhelmina and Marc show up to see her get hitched to Connor. However, moments after trying to bribe a guard, the guard tells Wilhelmina that Connor has been transferred to another prison. Wilhelmina goes hysterical now that she realizes that he initiated the ploy to get her out of his life. Over at Casa Suarez, Betty tells Hilda, who is tending to a sick Justin, about Matt's decision to go to Africa, and wonders how to stand up to Wilhelmina. When Hilda comes back to the living room, Bobby is there to give Justin a remedy for his cold, and tells Hilda that he wants to make sure that he will do whatever it takes to make her feel good.

After Betty sees her ruined hair, Betty finally walks up to Wilhelmina at MODE to complain about being tortured, only to see Wilhelmina stare at her window and tell Betty about her painful feelings for Connor jilting her at the altar. After a brief chat, Betty leaves Wilhelmina alone. She then asks Matt to meet her in the city. As he walks up to her and offers not to go to Africa, Betty tells him that he should take the opportunity. As he affirms that nothing will change the way he feels about her, Betty feels inspired to do her next blog post about goodbyes and hugs Matt sadly.

Daniel finally confronts Marc about sabotaging him and urges him to go back to Wilhelmina if he wants to. However, Marc explains that he was actually helping him because he has been attracting more unwanted attention in the press with his appearance and schedule, prompting Marc to intervene so that Daniel would not end up being tabloid fodder. Because of Marc's actions, Daniel has lost weight and looks better in slimming outfits and now has more paparazzi exposure, with designers now chasing after him instead of the other way around.

Finally, back at Betty's apartment, Amanda shows up with rent money after selling her hair extensions, even though she was a little short but promises to make it up. Amanda tells Betty the reason for moving out was to help her get over Matt and that being in Betty's old apartment would make matters difficult. After Betty explains that Matt is moving away for a while and she is beginning to start over as well, Amanda urges her to take her apartment back.

Finishing her story to Z, Betty promises to do whatever it takes to pay off the rent. But Z says that he will raise Amanda's rent in order to cover the costs and allow Betty to move back into her apartment. He asks Betty about her story that she wants to submit, which he will accept as part of her rent, and takes him up on that offer.

As Betty reads her post on goodbyes, it becomes apparent that Connor bribed the guard earlier on before Wilhelmina's visit. All that Connor left to a devastated Wilhelmina is a note, saying: "Willie, I did this for you. I love you too much. - Connor". Meanwhile, Hilda admits to Bobby that she was freaking out over raising another child by herself; she does not have to worry about that anymore because Bobby is there for her, and they kiss. The final scene then returns to Betty and Matt sharing a final kiss before walking away, as Betty finishes her post by saying goodbyes will allow a chance to start over again.

See also[]

• Ugly Betty
• Ugly Betty (season 4)

Notes[]

• The episode received a 4.6/6 rating, 1.7 among the Adults 18-49 and 4.67 million viewers during its original broadcast.^[1]
• Judith Light (Claire Meade) and Tony Plana (Ignacio Suarez) are credited but do not appear. Daniel Eric Gold (Matt Hartley) is credited as a regular for the last time. This is the fourth time a series regular leaves the cast midway through a season, the first three being Kevin Sussman (Walter; season 1), Alan Dale (Bradford Meade; season 2), and Ashley Jensen (Christina McKinney; season 3).

References[]