Sugar Daddy (Ugly Betty)

"Sugar Daddy"^[1] is the 17th episode in the third season, and the 58th episode overall, of the American dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on March 5, 2009. The episode was written by and directed by David Warren.

Plot[]

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In the wake of Connor's recent cleaning of Meade Publications, everyone struggles to survive financially. For the Suarez family, even as Betty tries her best to cut back on her work attire, the family notice Ignacio watching "Kitchen Rumble", a cooking show hosted by Frankie Burrata, in which he challenges anyone to beat him at his cooking from their home. The family is visited by their landlord who has decided to evict them and sell off their home. The family, seeing that they have no resources, tries unusual money-making schemes to buy their home; Betty going to Amanda and Marc for back rent, Hilda charging $200.00 for a perm and Justin taking to the streets as a performer. As those attempts fail, Ignacio has succeeded in getting the challenge from Burrata to come to the residence so they can win the $10,000 cook-off.

On the day of the taping, the family, along with Matt, are on hand to see Ignacio go face to face with Burrata. As the show starts taping, the competition between the two gets intense as they try to beat the clock and get their meal completed before they can serve the judges. Unfortunately, just ten minutes into the final stage, Ignacio throws out his back and cannot continue, even as Burrata tells the viewers that there are no time outs on the show. So with no other choice, the family turn to Betty, who ends up finishing the meal. As the meals are served to the judges, the declare Burrata their winner, stunning the Suarezes.

The following day, Ignacio and Hilda get a major surprise in the mail: a check for $10,000. While Hilda is excited about this, Betty believes that it might have come from Daniel, who had offered earlier to help pay for the home. She confronts Daniel, who denies sending the money. She then discusses the check with Matt at the bar. Matt, thanking Betty for bailing him out even after losing his wallet and coming up short of cash, then tells her that he can now pay for his drinks. When the waiter gives Matt the bill, Matt signs the receipt and goes to the bathroom. Betty takes a look at the signature, which matches that of the check. When Matt returns, Betty confronts him about why he did it. Matt then explains that he comes from a wealthy family and that he does not care about his background. Betty is not happy about him helping her family and leaves.

Upon returning home, Betty, Hilda and Justin are stunned over Ignacio accepting Burrata's offer to work at his restaurant. It turns out that Burrata had a change of heart after the taping. Ignacio also negotiated to sell his recipe to Burrata for $10,000. The family can now keep their home, just in time for them to see Ignacio on "Kitchen Rumble". Betty later meets up with Matt and apologises to him for snapping because she was angry, but he tells her that he will not treat her as a charity again. As Betty says she feels like she does not know much about him, Matt admits that he really is into her. The two then share their first kiss.

Meanwhile, Daniel, Wilhelmina and Claire each bicker over the now-bankrupt company, with Daniel and Wilhelmina being at odds over their relationships with Molly and Connor which started this freefall. Claire comes up with a brainstorm idea: have the government bail them out. While they like the idea, Daniel and Wilhelmina struggle to make ends meet en route to a hearing to determine if the company qualifies as they first endure a New York City bus ride that does not accept credit cards or US$50 bills. After their first day of grilling by a financial committee, the two have lunch at an expensive restaurant to console themselves over what has happened. Unfortunately, a photo of their lavish lunch leaks to the committee, who reject their request. Back at MODE, Daniel tells Wilhelmina and Claire about another idea that would keep the company afloat by selling his assets and stocks, a move spurred on by Wilhelmina and Claire, who also opt to spin off their belongings. As Wilhelmina opens her desk and sees a picture of Connor for a brief moment, Daniel, with the encouragement of Betty, finally goes after Molly and tells her that he wants to still be there for her as she faces her battle with cancer.

Finally, in between these events, Marc tries to help Amanda deal with confronting her adopted mother after she lied to her two years earlier, while Marc spots a hunk named Timothy with child in tow during a baby shopping spree with Amanda that same day. For Marc, his idea to win over his new obsession by lying to him about being a dad himself will mean using William to lure him. So they turn to Christina, who is watching William, saying that Wilhelmina wants him to bond with the baby. However, those plans get scrubbed when Timothy shows up sans baby, resulting in Marc lying to the guy that Amanda is his nanny. As Amanda returns William to Christina, Christina gives some motherly advice about being truthful, especially about being adopted. In the end, Marc returns hours later to apologize to Amanda for bailing out on her. Amanda then calls her adopted mother to talk to her.

Continuity[]

There were errors over the issue of the Suarez home and who was the owner. In the first season, it was mentioned the Suarezes owned their home, but in this episode the home was owned by the landlord.

Music[]

The ending song of this episode is sung by Brett Dennen, called "Ain't Gonna Lose You".

Casting[]

Although his photo was shown, Grant Bowler () did not appear in this episode, but he was credited.

Ratings[]

This outing would also see another ratings decline, mostly among 18-49s as it posted a 1.8/5 in that demo and a loss of 430,000 viewers overall, but remained in third place with a 4.3/7 with 6.3 million viewers overall.^[2][3][4]

Also starring[]

• Sarah Lafleur as Molly
• Daniel Eric Gold as Matt

Guest starring[]

• Cheyenne Jackson as Timothy
• Steve Schirripa as Frankie Burrata
• Mo Rocca as The Host
• as Mr. Delima

See also[]

• Ugly Betty
• Ugly Betty (season 3)

References[]