Nov 21 2008
Ugly Betty and Life on Mars
I was pleased to hear last week that Life on Mars was getting a second chance at life on TV by being moved to the time slot after Lost in January. What I didn’t realize was that the move meant a two-month hiatus. Last night’s episode of Life on Mars leaves us on a complete cliffhanger, with Detective Sam Tyler in an abandoned house picking up the phone to receive a call from someone who knows who he is and tells him to go to the basement. Talk about ominous. I’m not sure if a two-month layover is the answer to the ratings problem, but intense curiosity could build over that time and lead up to good ratings. Here’s hoping.
It was a strong episode leading up to the cliffhanger as well, with Sam learning hard truths about his father that he had long suppressed. This show is endlessly intriguing, because each story stands on its own, but then has the added layers of multiple interpretations based on whether you think it’s all a dream, hallucination, time travel, purgatory, etc. I’m looking forward to January and seeing how Sam’s journey of discovery continues.
And okay, so I’m still annoyed by Betty’s insane wardrobe on Ugly Betty. But I keep talking about it every week, so maybe that’s all they care about? It just seems that you could make Betty quirky–say a red dress with the butterfly belt and matching butterfly beret–without making her look like an expensively attired bag lady every week.
That said, this week’s episode was a good one. There was a lot of hurt in it, as when Betty discovers she’s won entry into an editor training program only because she’s Latina, and Justin loses his best friend to peer pressure from the band of “cool kids”. But instead of Betty getting the pie in the face repeatedly, she actually gets rewarded for once when she does the right thing and gives her training spot up to arch-rival Mark. This is when I love Ugly Betty–when you take someone like Mark and show the depth behind his over-the-top preening and Wilhelmina butt-kissing. Mark and Betty sharing a moment of solidarity as two put-upon assistants who hope to make it to bigger and better things was a sterling moment–and more of the reason I started watching Ugly Betty in the first place.
It was also nice to see Daniel being Betty’s friend again, and to see Betty’s family providing their unwavering support as always. Betty’s sister Hilda once again is perfect as an over-the-top diva who devotedly loves her son just as he is.
That is what I like so much about the show. It is comedic but has alot of depth. There’s always a deep message in each story line. She was a little over the top as far as fashion in last night’s show
Yeah, the clothes just keep getting more insane. I know the show’s supposed to be exaggerated, but it’s getting difficult to take the more serious and heartfelt messages of the show seriously when they’ve got her dressed up that way. And the messages are what I like–the emotional life scenarios that we can all identify with.