The Butterfly Effect Part 1

"The Butterfly Effect Part 1" is an episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on October 16, 2009. It is the first episode from Season 4, the 66th overall, and the first of a two-part, two-hour episode. It is also the first episode to air on its new night, Friday, after spending three seasons on Thursday nights, and the second episode in the series to start its season opener with an episode title that was inspired by a movie of the same name.

Plot[]

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As Betty begins her first day as features editor, she tries to adjust to not being an assistant but this is not working out as she meets her new office-mate Megan (pronounced, MEE-gan) who gives her back-handed compliments. During a meeting, Betty is ignored by Matt, who, as her new boss, hands over Betty's assignment to Megan. Betty also gets ignored by Marc, who is still mad at her over her being promoted over him. She discovers that Amanda is taking stuff from the Closet and though she is warm to Betty, she confesses that she has to pretend that they are not friends anymore. This makes her miss her best friend Christina even more. While she visits the sauna, she runs into Wilhelmina, who gives her some advice: If she is going to move up, then it is time to change.

After a pep talk from Claire while looking at Daniel's office, Betty catches up with Matt to see if he still has feelings for her, because it might have been the reason he took the job as Betty's boss. She then kisses him but Matt pushes her away and runs off. After that event, Betty gets a call from Daniel, who is being held at the airport for assaulting someone upon arrival after scattering Molly's ashes in Tibet. After she bails him out, Betty comforts Daniel, who admits that he is still angry over Molly's death, while Betty confides her challenges at Mode. Daniel tells Betty about how people have felt about her at work for the past three years and even has a daily blog that criticizes her, which upsets her.

Daniel also helps Betty by giving her information that can help Megan's assignment. He sends her to meet with an insect jewelry designer, where she witnesses the amazing transformation of a butterfly from a caterpillar, a metaphor for her own change. She gives the idea to Megan, and eventually earns Megan's and Matt's respect. However, as Daniel returns to work, he lays down the law at the meeting by informing Matt that as long as he is editor-in-chief, he has the power to make changes. He reassigns the project back to Betty, which does not set well with Matt, Megan or any of the co-workers.

At his first day in high school, Justin is discovering that freshman year just got interesting when he is embarrassed by a group of bullies, leading to his shirt getting stained on. However, when he returns home he tells Hilda about the incident. He then later seeks out Marc at work because he looks to him as someone who can understand him. When Hilda finds out his visit to Mode, she confronts him at home but still hides the real truth behind the visit, saying it was to replace a shirt and that Marc bought him another. The following day Hilda comes to Mode to thank Marc for buying Justin a new shirt, only to learn from Marc about what really happened. During lunch, Marc tells Justin about what happened, and Justin is not happy about it.

Meanwhile, Wilhelmina frets about her future at Mode, only for Cal and Claire to later tell her that they want her to stay. However, Marc becomes suspicious when Wilhelmina tells him that she wants privacy, and he later confides to Amanda that she might be hiding Connor. Marc then heads over to Wilhelmina's apartment and to Wilhelmina's shock, she sees Marc talking to Nico. Marc also learns from Wilhelmina about Connor and her plans to retrieve the money he stole from Meade so she can take over the company. After Marc tells Wilhelmina not to keep anymore secrets, Wilhelmina then turns to Nico and asks her if anyone else other than Marc knew why she was at the apartment. A flashback to "The Fall Issue" reveals that Wilhelmina discovered Nico all covered in blood.

Production[]

In an interview with TV Guide, creator Silvio Horta noted that this season will take a different approach from Season Three, starting with this episode. When asked about the sudden changes, Horta replied "I think it's gradual; I don't think you see a huge transformation; it's a step. During the first two seasons, she was Homely Betty. Season 3 she was working at a fashion magazine, so she was inheriting some nice clothes, but she just doesn't know how to put it together. It was important to me and America that the change not come because someone says, "You need to change." I think the look is still her. Sure, she's never worn pants before, but she wears a butterfly pin. The trick is: How far do you take it?" He also revealed that the opening scene in this episode that was inspired from 2001: A Space Odyssey was his idea.^[1]

See also[]

• The Butterfly Effect Part 2
• Ugly Betty
• Ugly Betty (season 4)

Notes[]

• For the first hour, the episode was watched by 5.0 million viewers and placed third with a 1.3 among 18- to 49-year-olds and a 3.4/6 overall, which was down from last season when it was on Thursday night. As expected, the two-hour premiere of Ugly Betty on ABC improved on the previous week's reruns of FlashForward and comedies, bringing the network a fair third-place finish for the night.^[2][3][4]
• There were a lot of good reviews about this two-hour episode, especially coming from Zap2it^[5] and Entertainment Weekly.^[6]
• Daniel Eric Gold (Matt Hartley) is credited as a regular for the first time.
• Yaya DaCosta (Nico Slater) is credited as a recurring star for the first time since season 1, taking over the role from Jowarah Jones who played it in season 1.
• New characters are Megan (Smith Cho) and Oskar Castellar (Peter Marek), both of which are credited as recurring stars.

References[]