History Headscratchers / UglyBetty

* Ignacio is so inconsistent in his protectiveness of his daughters. He refuses to accept Santos is trying to change and be a part of Justin's life and Hilda has forgiven him, but he insists Betty forgive Walter, who has 'cheated' on her after several years of relationship, and take him back even though she keeps saying she wants nothing to do with him? Santos and Hilda would have been barely adults when Justin was born: even if it's not right, you can't really blame Santos for bailing out. What was Walter's excuse?

** Well, we only see segments of news that are plot relevant so it wouldn't be unreasoable to assume they talk about other subjects as well. As for the non-fashion parts, they don't actually go much into detail, they do a pretty superficial analysis of the subject and focus on the drama instead, so there are likely more serious business-focused channels that do analyze and discuss boardroom activities.

[[WMG:[[Main/UglyBetty Ugly Betty]]]]
* Pretty much the last half of the of the second season of ''UglyBetty'' has been a test of fridge logic. The show remains a fun ride, but heaven help you if you stop to think about what certain characters are trying to accomplish with their machinations. Why again was it so important for Willhelmina to break up Daniel and her sister? How does the Meade / Slater baby have any claim on the Meade assets, being born after Mr. Meade's death (when all the assets get passed to the wife automatically)?

*** Those aren't braces. And THAT's why she's called UglyBetty. No but seriously, they contain her soul or something.

* What's the deal with Fashion TV's relentless coverage of the management goings on at Meade Publications and Mode? There are real-life fashion TV channels (including one that's really called Fashion TV and the imaginatively named Fashion Television) which broadcast actual fashion events internationally, with any Suzuki St Pierre-style coverage largely concerning the designers and creative directors of fashion houses; otherwise the focus is on fashion itself, from the latest runway collections to the latest trenda. One fashion media outlet reporting on the management staff at another fashion media outlet (even if it's implied to be an expy of Condé Nast and Vogue magazine) would be of little interest to someone who is truly into fashion; Vogue readers wouldn't care if there was a major boardroom revolt at Condé Nast unless the magazine consequently changed editorially. Considering the mostly business focus of Fashion TV's reporting of Mode (even Meade family drama affects company ownership rather than the magazine itself), wouldn't it be CNBC, Forbes and Bloomberg giving scoops on Mode instead of Suzuki St Pierre?

* Much was made (certainly in earlier episodes anyway) of the Queens/Manhattan dichotomy, summed up by [[TheScrappy Walter]]'s boss' wife at the Christmas party: "We're Queens girls, Betty. Born and bred. We belong here." While definitely part of Betty's (and later, other family members') FishOutOfWater schtick, it's not like Betty is commuting into Manhattan from Amish country.

* Things I and many others love about this show: Betty and Daniel's friendship, Betty/Amanda/Marc as a team, Justin, Claire being awesome, Cliff, Betty doing good at her job and trying to work up in her career. Is there anything on that list that hasn't been corrupted or neglected in some way? Are they intentionally trying to fail? The good characters get minimal screen time and the horrible love triangles never end. And worst of all, Betty trying to succeed is treated as a sin she must be punished for. All this ridiculous stuff about "neglecting" her family when she had already got her sister a ton of free stuff and made an appearance at the party. Saving your career and reputation is more important than standing around passing out chips and dip, Hilda. And moving BACK home now? I'm kind of glad for the hiatus about now, hopefully they fire some writers.
** The answer to all these questions is RuleOfDrama. In fairness, though, Betty's messed up love life was ''much'' more annoying in the second season.

* This troper is disappointed Austin's personality won't be expounded on. In his first episode, he and Justin have SlapSlapKiss relationship with Betty commenting she's heard so much (off-screen) about him. He laughs with the others when Betty appears but is polite to her when Justin introduces him. He's and Justin are both somewhat [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundere-ish]] to one another, and it's fairly obvious he's into theatre. When Justin breaks the kiss, he apologises and drops the class, hinting he was afraid he'd crossed a line and wanting to not deal with the fallout. His next episode he appears for literally less than a minute and says nothing. In the episode after that, he tentatively asks Justin on a date and regains some of his cockiness when he suggests he'll surprise Justin. Then, he assures Justin that they can do reschedule their plans with no apparent sulkiness. He leaves very quickly after Bobby sees them but it's unknown if he realised why Justin broke the kiss or if Justin just kind of signaled for him to leave and explained the situation later. In the next episode, he either buys bracelets for him and Justin or convinces Justin to buy one while he presumably buys one for himself. He's supportive of Justin's desire for his family not to know, and then, they decide matching bracelets are lame. Although, it's later revealed that they decided to go with the matching bracelets just in a different colour. He apparently has no reservations with the Suarez family knowing that he's into boys and dating Justin as evidenced by how he shows no qualms when Justin signals he's ready to come out. So, Austin's a polite kid who acts [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundere-ish]] towards his crushes, or maybe just towards Justin, until he actually gets in a relationship, and then, he's low-key lovey-dovey. This troper has no complaints with how the relationship has been handled, but I do wish Austin's character had been more fleshed out either before or immediately after the kiss.
** Austin doesn't even have a last name. He was probably intended to be a SatelliteLoveInterest.
** The writers had to focus on wrapping up Justin's story arc in the remaining five episodes. This is essentially why, for all intent and purpose, Austin is completely okay with his sexuality, is probably out to his own family, doesn't care the Suarez family knows and doesn't even mention it. They needed to put the focus on the character the audience had been with for four years, not the one introduced in the final stretch. Though, this just opens up Austin's characteriation and their relationship to the wonderful world of FanFic. It has a small following on FanFictionDotNet after all.

* Did they really have to make Justin gay? Seriously, the first few season's, everyone is scrambling around his sexuality, never actually talking about it, acting as if he was. The show could have made a point that just because you like fashion and theatre a lot doesn't mean your gay. But no, they couldn't have that, could they.
** They didn't "have" to make him anything, but the point is, this character just happens to be gay. Why does every character have to be a "message" or "make a point"? Justin is gay because that's who he is. And in a show about accepting who you re, it's odd that this is such a prevalent thought among some fans.
*** Maybe because it sends the message that if a man likes fashion, he must be gay?
**** Just because Justin happens to like fashion and is gay doesn't mean that the show was trying to say that if a man likes fashion he has to be gay. Many of the males on the show have an interest in fashion, such as Daniel. There was even that designer in Season One who was straight and felt like he had to pretend to be gay to get anywhere. There's also the consideration that there are some gay characters in the show who do not seem to have any interest in fashion like Troy or Cliff or Austin. So, no, there is no message there, just ones that audience members like to make up for no reason.
** WriterOnBoard -- Silvio Horta (show creator, a gay Cuban-American) wanted Justin to symbolize his own journey
* The series ending. Betty is certainly more self-confident and accomplished than when she started at Mode, but the Hollywood Makeover she gets in the last few episodes rubbed me the wrong way. She gets the braces off, Justin gives her trendy glasses, and she starts wearing more mainstream clothes (though not necessarily better looking clothes; see neon-nightmare discussion above). Now that she's given up her personal and cultural identity, PRESTO! Now she's a winner. The final scene's pullaway and title card struck me as especially {{Anvilicious}}.
** But she's still ''Betty''. Just because she happens to look better doesn't change who she is inside, and that's a huge point of the show. She'll always be a hard working sweetheart even if she is more polished on the outside these days.
* Santos. I give Justin a pass, but everyone but Ignacio giving him a second chance pushed my BerserkButton. He left a pregnant Hilda. For almost twelve years, she and her family were the ones to make sure Justin was safe, happy, and well-provided for. When he finally decides to give being a father a try, he makes clear his disdain for his son. And that's the guy Hilda decides to marry. That's the guy Betty has no problems with her sister marrying. The fact he eventually stops trying to change Justin, which probably wouldn't have lasted, does nothing to make up for the fact he abandoned the mother of his child and their baby. Ignacio was not being unreasonable or misguided in trying to get such a man away from his daughter and grandson.
** You can't expect someone to change overnight, and Santos, finally spending time with his family, was still getting used to everything. Getting beat up, saving the clerk from a robber, and standing up for his wife and son show that he may not be perfect but at least he's trying. Ignacio never saw those moments so he only sees Santos the way he always saw him. True he may have regressed at some point if he and Hilda married OR he might have actually changed and become a great father. Sadly we'll never know if he truly had a change of heart so this head scratcher may end up staying that way...
** One of the nicer Santos scenes in the first season was when they were all stuck in the subway on the way to see Hairspray during a blizzard, and Santos ended up defending his son who was acting out the entire production of Hairspray in the subway car.
*** A scene in which, this troper notes, Justin was in the wrong. Imagine you're packed into a subway car which breaks down. Irritable, sweaty and frustrated you then have to listen to a precocious 10 year old loudly reenact a play. Flamboyant or not, the commuters had the right be irked by his theatrics (while that still didn't excuse the homophobia expressed).

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** One of the nicer Santos scenes in the first season was when they were all stuck in the subway on the way to see Hairspray during a blizzard, and Santos ended up defending his son who was acting out the entire production of Hairspray in the subway car.

** Austin doesn't even have a last name. He was probably intended to be a ShallowLoveInterest.

* Speaking of which, what planet was the architect who designed the [=MODE=] offices from, because it clearly wasn't Earth? The show even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] this with Hilda saying that it looked like "a gay version of ''StarTrek''" (it does).

** Wait, how is Mark "brainless?" He's running a freaking XanatosGambit!

* The series ending. Betty is certainly more self-confident and accomplished than when she started at Mode, but the Hollywood Makeover she gets in the last few episodes rubbed me the wrong way. She gets the braces off, Justin gives her trendy glasses, and she starts wearing more mainstream clothes (though not necessarily better looking clothes; see neon-nightmare discussion above). Now that she's given up her personal and cultural identity, PRESTO! Now she's a winner. The final scene's pullaway and title card struck me as especially {{Anvilicious}}. She spent three and a half seasons as a symbol of empowerment for the ordinary woman, and they end the show by making her a [[{{CookieCutterCuties}} Cookie Cutter Cutie]]?

* I don't understand how the show or fans could find Wilhelmina and Marc in anyway sympathetic after they made a woman almost commit murder and pretty much guaranteed she would never be released from a mental institution. They made a person whose own mind was the enemy but was responding appropriately to medication and was learning how to cope with the tragedies of her mind being her enemy had caused and deliberately took away her sanity and her chance for emotional healing. I love black comedy and acknowledge that certain subjects are more triggering to me than others. After all, I really like the character of Dexter Morgan and find Nancy Botwin mostly sympathetic, but characters cross the line into unforgivable for me when they deliberately screw with another's mental health.