The Fall Issue

"The Fall Issue" is the 24th episode in the third season, the 65th episode overall and the third season finale of the American dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on May 21, 2009.^[1] This episode doubles as the second part of a two-hour episode, a first in the series' history.

Plot[]

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Mode's "Wedding Issue" has just been nominated for best cover issue at the MAMAs. As Daniel is congratulated by Molly on getting the nomination, Wilhelmina gets wind that Claire is getting the credit, so Wilhelmina tries to use the info she got from Victoria as blackmail, demanding that Claire tender her resignation at the event or she will reveal Claire's dark secret to Cal and the public about Claire's secret visit to Madison, South Dakota in the early 1980s.

Daniel asks Betty to pay a visit to the features editor Penny Meadows, who seems to be distracted. Betty then gets a text from Matt to meet her downstairs and she decides to confess to him about her kiss with Henry. But just as she begins to do so, they witness Penny falling from the 28th floor. Now that Penny has died, Daniel agrees that Betty should get her job and says he will recommend it, and she organizes the funeral for the next day. However, Marc, who turned down the Vogue job, shows up at the funeral to honor Penny with the announcement that he will take over her job, shocking Betty. This causes Daniel and Wilhelmina to come up with a compromise: whoever does the best job in completing Penny's research before the deadline will succeed Penny as the new features editor.

As Betty prepares to track down Penny's hardware at home, Matt stops by for lunch at City Park, only to reveal that he saw Betty kiss Henry, and his jealousy over Henry gets the best of him. At Penny's home, Betty and Marc try to search for her notes when they are confronted by her twin sister Mindy, who then takes her sister's notes and throws them out of the window and orders the two to get out. A frustrated Betty and Marc hand Daniel and Wilhelmina their letters of resignation, threatening to leave if they do not decide who will be the new features editor. Afterwards, Betty catches up with Matt to offer him tickets to the MAMAs, though he is still bitter over his jealousy with Henry.

At the MAMAs, everyone is there, including Justin, who is devastated at not being accepted into performing arts school. He is whisked away by Marc and is given advice about acceptance, which Justin takes to heart. Matt also shows up and has a talk with Cal, who offers him a job. Meanwhile, Daniel and Wilhelmina decide to flip a coin to come up with Penny's replacement. Daniel later tells Betty that she has been promoted to features editor. While Betty is excited over this, Marc takes the news hard.

At the MAMAs, Mode is chosen as the winner. Daniel is about to give a speech but his cue cards are missing because Marc gave them to Wilhelmina. Before Wilhelmina is about to steal the spotlight, Daniel sees Molly standing next to Betty, and delivers a heartfelt speech, much to Wili's chagrin. As he goes over to see if it was her, Betty tells him that Molly was not there. Daniel starts to realize that the Molly he thought he saw was a ghost; she has just died of cancer and Daniel sees her body in a body bag being removed from their apartment building by an ambulance team. Meanwhile, Cal tells Wilhelmina that he knows about Claire's pregnancy, and her abortion, and that it is none of Wilhelmina's business, causing her position and stakes at the company to be "re-evaluated".

Wilhelmina turns to a mysterious man to track down Connor Owens by any means necessary to retrieve the money he stole from Meade Publications as a retaliation against the Meade-Hartley alliance. As she walks into another room, her glass drops as she sees someone in front of her. At the Meade mansion, Claire burns an adoption letter from South Dakota in the fireplace; revealing that she and Cal had a son and that he was not aborted after all. Betty is stunned when Matt angrily breaks up with her over her betrayal and tells her he will now be working at Mode as her new boss. After Matt leaves, Betty gets a text from Daniel to come to the apartment, where the two console each other.

Trivia[]

Though not revealed by name, the features editor was mentioned in the pilot episode during the ending sequence.

Casting[]

This episode marks the last appearance of Daniel Eric Gold as Matt Hartley being credited as recurring character and Christopher Gorham as Henry Grubstick. However, Gold will be upgraded as a permanent regular character in the fourth season while Gorham has a guest role in the fourth season.

Ratings[]

This final hour of this two hour season finale came in third with a 4.2/7 overall and a 2.0 among 18-49s,^[2] which contributed to a 1.9/6 among 18-49s and 6.2 million viewers tuning in, a 28% drop from last season's cliffhanger.^[3][4]

Also starring[]

• Daniel Eric Gold as Matt Hartley
• Christopher Gorham as Henry Grubstick (NOTE: Gorham is credited, but he does not appear in this second hour of the two-hour season finale)
• Ralph Macchio as Archie Rodriguez
• Christine Baranski as Victoria Hartley (NOTE: Baranski is credited, but she does not appear in this second hour of the two-hour season finale)
• Alec Mapa as Suzuki St. Pierre
• David Rasche as Calvin Hartley
• Sarah Lafleur as Molly

Guest starring[]

• Rachel Dratch as Penny and Mindy Meadows
• Antonio Sabàto, Jr. as himself
• Nigel Barker as himself
• Robert Verdi as himself
• Rachel Maddow as herself

See also[]

• Ugly Betty
• Ugly Betty (season 3)

References[]