ABC’s “Ugly Betty” has been quietly tickling our fancy with gentle humor, bright colors and a fairy-tale aesthetic similar to the network’s other female-skewing confections, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives.”
We root for the warmhearted Cinderella to attend the ball; we thrill to the nastiness of the vapid, entitled adversaries she meets on the way. We note that everyone has daddy issues.
Increasingly, the hour sews controversial subjects into its design. This blend of merriment and reflection makes “Betty” even more beautiful. It isn’t all cattiness and thick-eyebrow jokes. “Ugly Betty” just keeps getting better, sneaking in tough issues amid the easy jabs at fashion snobs.
On the surface, the tension revolves around the spirited, hardworking but plain-looking Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) from Queens, as she confronts the vicious, superficial Beautiful People in the hypercompetitive world of a high-fashion magazine in Manhattan.
A power struggle for the editorship of Mode magazine and an ongoing central mystery regarding the publishing patriarch Bradford Meade (Alan Dale) keep things suspenseful. The curious history involving Bradford’s wife and his late mistress, the former editor Fey Sommers – who isn’t dead after all – lends the series a serialized touch.
The publisher’s playboy son, Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius), has no experience in publishing, and he’s being challenged from all directions. With Betty’s help, he may survive to unravel a family mystery and lead the magazine empire.
But now we’re digging deeper as the writers skillfully explore the endearing female protagonist, her family, and the spiteful world of her workplace. The sharply defined characters never devolve into caricatures. Each is drawn so well that we care about the issues, fairy-tale archetypes or not. Beyond the surface nastiness of the Manhattan ogres, we suspect we’ll find damaged souls.
Like “Grey’s” and “Housewives,” “Betty” successfully ranges from slapstick and parody to fanciful romance and genuine character drama. But “Betty” boasts even greater range, planting trauma amid supremely playful stories:
Betty, who spent an entire episode in a butterfly suit when her co-workers tricked her into believing everyone was dressing in costume for Halloween, was surprised to learn that her father Ignacio (Tony Plana) is an illegal immigrant who has been using someone else’s Social Security number for fear of being deported. (Was it an accident that, when he revealed his alien status during the Halloween episode, he was costumed as a blood-sucking vampire?)
The show is raising awareness of an issue, testing viewers’ preconceived notions and making the idea more personal than it is in news headlines.
Betty’s younger brother Justin (Mark Indelicato) is a tap-dancing, fashion-obsessed kid with smart taste in couture, a youngster unconcerned with the fact that he is out of the mainstream. Justin bonded with the backstabbing, toadying and effeminate assistant Marc (Michael Urie) in an earlier episode; maybe he’ll teach Marc that it’s possible to be gay and sincere, the way Betty is teaching Daniel it’s possible to be at once successful and honorable.
Wicked diva Wilhelmina Slater (deliciously played by Vanessa Williams) has been a hoot from the start, lording it over her assistant, scheming to attain the magazine’s top job, and enforcing a standard of physical perfection all the while. Oh, and there’s no pleasing her father.
When Wilhelmina the fashionista grows from a size 2 to a size 4 ball gown, her fury is delectable. Now, with the introduction of a grown daughter, Wilhelmina is faced with the reality of her age and stage in life. What if fashion editors embraced the idea that there is beauty beyond skinny, 20-year-old flesh?
Betty’s longtime boyfriend Walter, played by Kevin Sussman, is the ultimate nerd, the antithesis of the slick, image-conscious folks in the city. But he is wise enough to know that growth is possible. Over sushi, Betty tells a suitor that she comes from a place where people like their fish cooked.
Luckily, she’s open to new ideas and the class fluidity America promises. That may make it easier for the Niel sen masses to warm to new ideas, too.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
