The Butterfly Effect, Part 2
Production Number: 4-02 (episode 67)
First Aired: Friday, October 16, 2009
Recurring Characters: YaYa DaCosta (Nico Slater), Smith Cho (Megan), Piter Marek (Oskar Castelar), Kristen Johnston (Helen)
Guest Cast: Rob Bartlett (Security Guard), Matte Osian (Dmitri), Jeff Blumenkrantz (Christiano), Lorianna Izrailova (Olga), Agnesa Foygel (Tatiana), Simon Jutras (Roberto DiPaolo)
While telling Hilda about Matt's staff's reaction to Daniel's stern lecture, which somehow resulted in breaking her glasses, Betty embellishes the truth a bit, making it out to be a mix of Lord of the Rings and Lord of the Flies. Apparently, nobody believed her when she said that she didn't ask Daniel for special treatment. Hilda advises Betty to tell Daniel that she can take care of herself. Daniel's new temp, Helen, tries to bond with Amanda after they both realize that they were at the same club, The Gates, the night before, and they both saw the father from "Jon & Kate Plus 8", whom they both refer to as Ben. Wilhelmina presides over a pitch meeting and Matt puts Betty on the spot. Wilhelmina rejects the insect jewelry idea because Elle did a piece on dragonfly brooches last year, so out of desperation Betty offers up her malaria story again. On the spot, she spitballs an idea about doing a photo shoot at the United Nations featuring models in designer garments made from mosquito netting. Surprisingly, Wilhelmina approves Betty's proposal. An investigator named Oskar Castelar tries to talk to Wilhelmina about the disappearance of Nico's boyfriend, a Spaniard named Jonathan Vieja. Castelar says that he would like to ask Nico some questions. Hilda tries to get Justin to talk to her, but he tells her that she doesn't understand him at all. Betty bursts into Matt's office and tells him that because of scheduling issues the U.N. photo shoot has to happen the next day, but she has gotten designer Roberto DiPaolo to agree to design the dresses, despite the quick turnaround time. She says that if she is going to make the photo shoot happen she will need help from the entire department. She reminds Matt that he shouldn't think of the request as a favor for her, but as something that is what's best for the magazine. Just then, the building's security guard calls Betty to tell her that Daniel is having a meltdown on the sidewalk. It seems that Daniel is taking out some anger on a Tahiti advertisement on the side of the bus stop out front. Betty escorts Daniel home, where he tells her that Tahiti was where he and Molly were going to spend their honeymoon, so seeing the poster everywhere around the city just got to him. Betty realizes that she should get back to work, but she can't bring herself to leave Daniel alone. Matt is furious when Betty calls him to say that she has to help Daniel. Unfortunately, she and Daniel end up falling asleep on his sofa, so she doesn't awaken until 9:00am the next morning. Amanda is disconcerted when she starts to realize how much she has in common with someone as pathetic as Helen. Amanda realizes that if she doesn't make some changes, she will end up just like this older version of her current self. Hilda desperately creates a fake online profile so she can "friend" Justin and maybe learn a little bit about what he is going through at school, but Ignacio advises her against such a ruse. Nico has a meltdown when Wilhelmina tells her that she will have to talk to the detective about Jonathan. Nico then remembers the night on Jonathan's boat when he flew into a rage, grabbed her, and began hitting her. She says that she grabbed something and started hitting Jonathan back, just to defend herself. She hit him over and over, then dumped his lifeless body into the water. Wilhelmina promises Nico that together they will come up with a story to tell Castelar about the last time she saw Jonathan alive. Betty rushes to the U.N. and apologizes to Matt, but he isn't interested in hearing her excuses. He tells her that Roberto DiPaolo is threatening to walk out. Even though the designer appears to assure Betty that everything is fine, his assistant tells her that DiPaolo doesn't like to be seen as the bad guy, so he leaves it to other people to do his dirty work for him. Wilhelmina and Nico meet with Castelar and Nico says that on the night that Jonathan disappeared she was feeling depressed because he had just dumped her, so she got together with her mother, who had just lost the baby she believed was hers, so they could commiserate together. While mother and daughter talk about how they went together to the theater to see The Proposal, then to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolates, and then home to watch a "Gilmore Girls" marathon, we see flashbacks of what actually happened that night. Instead of a frivolous girls' night out, Wilhelmina and Nico actually went to Jonathan's boat to scrub away all traces of a bloody struggle. When Nico accidentally mentions having been sea-sick, Wilhelmina covers by saying that they had taken a water taxi to see the city's skyline at night. In addition to dealing with DiPaolo's demands, Betty also has to mediate an argument between two models, a Russian and a Georgian. Betty thinks that Olga and Tatiana are fighting because their countries are at war, but the U.N. interpreter, who was pulled out of nuclear disarmament talks, explains that the models are actually fighting over a man. Hilda shows up at Mode to admit to Marc that she needs his help. She tells Marc that if Justin seeks out his advice again, he has her permission to counsel him. Matt chastises Betty for being with Daniel when she should have been working, and he asks her if she and Daniel are sleeping together. Daniel, who was standing behind Matt, hears this and punches Matt in the face, knocking him down to the floor. During the resulting chaos, Wilhelmina shows up and orders Daniel and Betty to leave. Daniel reminds Willi that she can't throw him out, and he tells everyone present that if they mess with Betty they are messing with him. Betty steps forward and tells Daniel that Wilhelmina was right, they should leave and allow Wilhelmina to salvage the photo shoot. Betty apologizes to Wilhelmina, who says that she is disappointed because she had hoped that Betty was changing. Hilda tells Justin that he is free to talk to Marc whenever he feels he needs to. She also apologizes for interfering in his business. Betty tells Daniel that although Matt deserved being punched, it wasn't the right thing for Daniel to do. She tells him that she is worried about how angry he has been since he returned to New York. Daniel then tells Betty that she made a mistake the night before by choosing to help him over tending to her work responsibilities. He appreciates her concern, but she has to look out for herself. All of the recent events (her braces removal dream, Wilhelmina's advice, Olivia's butterflies, Daniel's crisis, the blog highlighting her fashion missteps, etc.) inspire Betty to make some changes. She starts by changing the way she wears her bangs, then she replaces her broken glasses and puts on the pantsuit that Christina had sent to her. When she shows up at the office, Marc snaps a picture of her for the blog, but then he is disappointed to realize that her look isn't as funny as what he is used to. Betty tells Matt that Daniel won't be interfering on her behalf anymore, because she can fight her own battles. Wilhelmina is relieved when she realizes that Castelar believes the story that she and Nico concocted. Betty tells Megan that she finally found some fashion-related decor for their office, but Megan is confused when she sees that it is just a garish red Guadalajara poncho mounted in a huge square frame. That night, Daniel offers Betty a ride home, but she reminds him that editors who work late have their own town cars at their disposal.
Trivia:
• Kristen Johnston's character, Helen, was originally written for Paula Abdul. The role would have been Abdul's first post-"American Idol" TV project, but instead she decided to do an episode of Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva", which is sort of like a cross between "Ugly Betty" and "Samantha Who?" with a supernatural twist.
• This episode is one of the very few TV or movie projects to be granted permission to film at the United Nations.
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