Things Fall Apart
Production Number: 3-16 (episode 57)
First Aired: Thursday, February 26, 2009
Recurring Characters: Bernadette Peters (Jodie Papadakis), Lauren Vélez (Elena Sanchez), Grant Bowler (Connor Owens), Sarah Lafleur (Molly), Daniel Eric Gold (Matt Hartley)
Guest Cast: Laura Heisler (Jenny), Chris Northrop (Blonde Male Modie)
While Betty is trying to snap a good photo for her Facebook page, Ignacio is missing Elena, who has been in California for three days. Daniel calls Betty to tell her that he is sick. He is staying in the Amsterdam Hotel, where he always likes to go when he doesn't feel well. Wilhelmina wakes up and panics when she sees that her son's crib is empty, but he is with Connor in another room. He wanted to allow Wilhelmina to sleep, so he decided to take care of the baby. Marc rushes Betty out of the office so they won't be late to YETI. When they get there, they are disappointed when Jodie tells them that their guest speaker for the day, Tina Brown, will not be there after all. The topic of the day pertains to how the economics in the magazine business are changing. The surprise guest speaker turns out to be Stanley March, who had been head of accounting at Hearst until 1985, so he talks to the students about budgets. They are all given an assignment to get copies of their magazines' budgets for the year, which they are supposed to study thoroughly. As Marc and Betty discuss working together, Matt interjects and says that he can help out if they'd like, because he has an MBA, so he's good with numbers. He invites her to go out for drinks, but she turns him down, not realizing that he was asking her out on a date. When Betty gets to Mode's accounting department she sees that Henry Grubstick's name plate is still on his old cubicle. The girl that Betty and Marc speak to, Jenny, informs them that she hears from Henry all the time, because he is on Facebook. Jenny reveals that Henry's page has pictures of him and his girlfriend in Peru. Betty is shocked to learn that the girlfriend in question is not Charlie, his baby mama, but someone named Samantha. Later at home, Betty tells Justin that she can't believe that Henry already has a new girlfriend. He reminds her that she recently had a crush on her "Emo neighbor guy" (meaning Jesse). Her wise nephew suggests that she should channel her energy elsewhere by focusing on the Mode budget. At the Amsterdam, Betty tells Daniel that the magazine's quarterly budget is short by millions of dollars. Daniel adviser her to speak to Connor, because he is the CFO, after all. Connor tells her that corporations are always moving money from one division to another, and she has to remember that Meade Publications is a very large company. Wilhelmina dismisses Betty and then asks Connor for reassurance about the financial shortfall. Connor then makes a call overseas regarding money transfers from Meade. He tells the person that he's speaking to that he'll have to make the next transfer ahead of schedule. Betty then discusses the money matter with Marc and Amanda. They also discuss the Henry situation, so Marc and Amanda suggest that she should try to move on by taking Matt up on his offer for drinks. Connor stops by to thank Betty for showing concern about the budget and he asks her to sign some papers for Daniel, so Betty hangs up on Matt, not once but twice. Molly visits Daniel at the Amsterdam to talk about their relationship, but he is too distracted by his illness. Connor asks Wilhelmina if she's happy and he suggests that they should go away together. She thinks that he's talking about a vacation, but he is actually thinking of a more permanent travel arrangement. Betty meets up with Matt at a bar called One Oak and he tells her that the Mode budget numbers should indeed match up. Betty's phone rings to alert her of an incoming message, which turns out to be a Facebook friend request from Henry. She puts the phone away and turns her attention back to Matt. She asks him if he's ever found out that an ex is dating someone new. He says that indeed he had... when he learned that Angelina was dating Brad. But he's talking about an Angelina Bromberg and a Brad Fletcher. After ranting about Henry for a while, Betty decides that it's time to leave. Embarrassed, Matt tells Betty that he forgot his wallet. Betty goes to an ATM to get some cash and is shocked to discover that her checking account has $101,242.13 in it. She goes home and tells her family about the money and says that the bank told her that the extra money came from Meade. Betty then realizes that after her unexpected ATM discovery she forgot to go back to the bar to pay the tab for Matt. When she gets to the office the next day, Amanda tells her that Matt is there waiting for her. Matt apologizes to Betty for pushing her into going out with him. She reassures him that she's not still hung up on Henry. Jenny tells Betty that the $100,000 deposit into her bank account was made by "B. Suarez", but Betty says that she's not authorized to make such a transfer. Betty then asks Connor about the transfer and he tells her that he knows she took the money to help her family. She asks him if he put the money in her account and he pushes the elevator's emergency stop button. She realizes that he put the money in her account as a pay-off because he was hoping that a huge sum of money like that would keep her from saying anything else about the budget abnormalities to Daniel or anyone else until he had enough time to leave town. He reveals that her signature is indeed on the papers that authorized the money transfer, because those were the papers that he asked her to sign for Daniel. He tells her that if she says anything about the transfers, she and Daniel will both go to jail. Connor confesses to Wilhelmina that he has been stealing money from the company and he wants her and the baby to leave the country with him. He admits that he as always hated Daniel, but he's tried to fight those feelings. He was hoping he could get over it by working with Daniel at Meade, but that all changed when Daniel took Molly from him. Wilhelmina reminds Connor that she (her baby, really) owns half of the company. He tells her that he has chartered a private jet that leaves in a few hours and he asks her to promise that she'll consider being on it. Even though Connor threatened Betty against telling anyone about what he had told her, she goes to tell Daniel anyway. Wilhelmina tells Marc that Connor has been embezzling from the company and he wants her to leave the country with him. She also admits that she is actually considering it. She asks Marc that if he ever had the chance to have all the money he would ever need and be with the person that he is in love with, would he do it? Marc says that he doesn't know. Claire, Daniel, and Betty wonder if Wilhelmina is in on the scheme with Connor. Claire then reveals that as of noon, all of the Meade accounts have been totally cleared out and there is nothing left. When Betty sees Marc she can tell that he knows what's going on. He gives Betty the address where Wilhelmina was supposed to meet Connor. Betty, Daniel, and Claire arrive at the airport, just as Wilhelmina is heading towards the plane with her luggage. Just then, a number of police cars arrive, but Daniel and Claire didn't call them. Wilhelmina reveals that she was the one who alerted the authorities about Connor's crimes and his attempt to escape. Connor calls Wilhelmina to tell her that he thought she might change her mind, so he took an earlier flight. He can hear the police sirens in the background, so he realizes that she wasn't going to come with him anyway. Betty brings Wilhelmina some coffee and tells her that she knows how difficult this situation must be for her. Betty likes to believe that they shouldn't have to choose between their careers and love, but Wilhelmina tells her that someday she will see for herself. Elena returns from Los Angeles with gifts for the family. Daniel finds Molly in his office and she tells him that she has cancer and she is dying. She has to leave town to spend the rest of her time with her family. Wilhelmina mourns the loss of her relationship, but takes comfort in the presence of her baby. Betty considers ignoring Henry's friend request, but decides to confirm instead, then she goes to One Oak to see Matt.
Trivia:
• Ashley Jensen (Christina) does not appear in this episode.
• In the final scene, we see a shot of the Suarez family's TV, which is playing an episode of last season's telenovelita, "Asesinato por Muerte".
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