What I’m Watching: Ugly Betty

Ugly Betty: Season 4, Episode 15 “Fire and Nice” (B+)

This show only has the rest of its season to wrap up all of its story arcs, but it doesn’t feel like it’s hurtling towards it end, which is nice because the show is still exploring new avenues. It’s good to see Hilda closer to finding happiness as Bobby proves himself to be a serious man in her life. Casting Nestor Serrano (“24”) and Lainie Kazan (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) as Bobby’s parents was brilliant, and all of their immediate references to murdering people were very entertaining. The hunt for the fire-starter was also enjoyable, and it’s a pity that Betty is always the one who gets blamed for things, although her family is considerably nicer to her than her work friends. This episode did provide a fun and unusual opportunity for Betty to play nice with Wilhelmina, who was at her least vicious since spending some sappy time with Connor. Rich Sommer, best known as nervous, kind-hearted Harry Crane from “Mad Men,” turned in a completely different performance here as a less-than-humble firefighter with an obnoxious sense of humor and strong interest in dating Betty, despite making only annoying comments on their date with Wilhelmina and her normal man. It took the dim-witted Daniel a while to discover that Tyler was his brother, but the process was good because it permitted Amanda to become closer with both of them, and for Claire to become the center of some very misconstrued gossip about her relationship with her illegitimate son. Marc’s continual disappointment about Justin’s assertion that he is straight is also fun.