Rabbit Test
Production Number: 3-20 (episode 61)
First Aired: Thursday, April 30, 2009
Recurring Characters: Daniel Eric Gold (Matt Hartley), David Rasche (Calvin Hartley), Derek Riddell (Stuart McKinney)
Guest Cast: Brennan Brown (Miles Foster), Adam Grupper (Dr. Erskine), James Lurie (Narrator), Gerritt Vandermeer (Courier), John Hillner (Emcee), Avery Glymph (Security Guard #1), Kevin Herbst (H.R. Guy)
We see Wilhelmina and Daniel during their morning commutes to work: she stumbles out of the subway, and he fumbles down from a bus. Clearly, neither one has gotten used to their new methods of transportation. But then we see Betty stepping out of a limousine, wearing her huge metallic grin. Matt confesses to her that he's really not a "limo kind of guy," but he thought that it might be fun. When Betty gets up to the office, she sees that furniture and electronics are being removed by moving men. Marc tells her that since the Sex Issue was a "limp noodle" the budget has been "cut to the bone". Everything leased or non-essential has to go. Betty then receives a mysterious golden briefcase from the Calvin Hartley Charitable Foundation, which Daniel believes is for him. He has been trying to score an invitation to Cal Hartley's big Easter event for years. The case does indeed contain a big decorative egg, which in turn contains the coveted invitation, but Daniel is surprised and dismayed to see that the invitation is addressed to Betty. Justin then calls Betty to reveal to her that he, Ignacio, and Hilda have all been invited too. Wilhelmina and William are being photographed by Miles Foster, but holding the baby for five minutes causes poor Willi's back to ache, so Christina gives her a little relief. Wilhelmina tells Miles that Christina was her surrogate and he asks if she had also been the egg donor, because he notices that William resembles her. Wilhelmina assures Miles that William will "brown up" eventually. Matt shows the Suarez family a video about his father's accomplishments and she worries about meeting such a prestigious and notable man. Betty then does research to learn more about Cal Hartley and she discovers that he has an interest in investing in media outlets. She gets Daniel's hopes up, but Matt tries to discourage her from mentioning the idea to his father because he is constantly being solicited for such so-called business opportunities. Wilhelmina tries to canvass Marc to see who he thinks the baby looks like, her or Bradford, but he ends up agreeing with Miles's assessment that William looks like Christina. Wilhelmina summons a doctor to rule out the possibility that Christina could be William's real mother, but she doesn't get the answer that she wants to hear. The doctor tells her that it is possible for such an occurence if the surrogate had very recently gotten pregnant before the implantation procedure. Daniel finds renewed enthusiasm and creates a presentation for the meeting he hopes to have with Cal Hartley. He even puts together a video that is clearly modeled on the one about Cal Hartley himself that Matt had shown to the Suarez family. When Matt and Daniel later encounter each other at Mode, Daniel thanks Matt for setting up a meeting with his father, which perplexes Matt because he had told her specifically that he couldn't do it. Betty apologizes to Daniel, but he tells her that—having also been the scion of a wealthy family all his life—he understands Matt's position. Wilhelmina then tells Daniel that because they have just shut down five of their magazines, the time has come for them to cut back on staff. Marc questions Christina about her sex life, particularly past June, so she gets suspicious and talks to Stuart about what Marc's motiviation could have been. She reminds Stuart of the night they had spent together right before she was supposed to go in for her procedure. The first round of Meade Publications firings begins and Amanda is among the casualties. Betty decides that she is going to risk her relationship with Matt by getting Daniel his desired meeting with Cal. She tells him to come to the Easter Egg Hunt with her. At the party, Betty finally meets Cal, who tells her about the things that Victoria had told him about her. She starts to worry, but he assures her that anyone who can get under his ex-wife's skin like that is O.K. with him. Christina confronts Wilhelmina about her suspicions regarding William's parentage. Matt feels betrayed by Betty when he sees security guards trying to remove Daniel from the party. Betty pleads with Matt and he accedes. Daniel meets Cal and tries to talk business, but Cal seems completely focused on the children at the party. He tells Daniel that it is such a shame that Floppy, the bunny, didn't show up. He then says that they have the costume, but they just need someone to fill it. If Daniel wants to talk business, he will have to put on the costume to satisfy Cal's whim. During the hunt, Hilda finds the expensive special Fabergé-inspired egg that everyone is looking for, but she is disappointed to learn that the person who finds the egg is not allowed to keep it. Instead, a donation to charity is made in her name. Matt starts to soften up a little, but he tells Betty that Daniel's meeting with Cal might not turn out as hoped because his father is actually a lot tougher than his dragon-lady mother. As Cal planned, Daniel is completely humiliated in the big pink bunny suit. Betty apologizes to Daniel, but he tells her that there is no need for apologies because he had just spent ten minutes with Cal and the billionaire has agreed to invest in Meade Publications. Wilhelmina shows Christina some lab results that show that William is her (Wilhelmina's) baby. She then tells Christina that she will no longer be needing her services as nanny.
Trivia:
• The season's short hiatus, which began after The Sex Issue aired on March 19, was supposed to end on May 7, but the broadcast date for this episode was moved up one week to April 30 due to the dismal ratings for "Samantha Who?" and "In the Motherhood". In order to refresh viewers' memories, a "Previously on 'Ugly Betty'" recap was shown. The last time they had shown one of these recaps at the beginning of an episode was the sixth episode of this season, Ugly Berry.
• This is the first episode in which Sarah Lafleur (Molly) hasn't appeared in since her character was introduced.
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