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about the showThe following information was provided by the awesome Honey. Season OneThe season first aired on September 28, 2006 and concluded on May 17, 2007. In addition to the twenty-three regular episodes in season one, a special, "The Beautiful World of Ugly Betty", was aired on April 12, 2007. Another special, which was a half-hour update recapping the first ten episodes, aired during the month of January 2007 on local ABC affiliates and various cable networks. Warning: It may contain spoilers! As the series began, we were introduced to Betty Suarez, a young Latina who lands a job as a personal assistant to newly-installed editor-in-chief Daniel Meade at MODE magazine. Betty is good-hearted and brave, but sorely lacking in social skills, self-confidence, fashion sense, and aesthetic polish. She sports thick-framed eyeglasses and a large and prominent set of dental braces (which have become the most identifiable symbol for both Ferrera's character and the show itself). Her lackluster physical appearance and awkward nature result in her immediately being singled out in the aesthetically-centered world of New York City fashion, and she is quickly saddled with the show's eponymous nickname. As Betty and her boss quickly become the success story of the fashion industry, they also must deal with how they got there and how it has affected their working relationship. At work the two find themselves dealing with Creative Director Wilhelmina Slater, who wanted the Editor-In-Chief position, along with Marc St. James, Wilhelmina's assistant/henchman and receptionist Amanda Tanen, who wanted Betty's job in large part, initially, because of her attraction to Daniel. The only friends that Betty trusts at MODE are seamstress Christina McKinney and acountant Henry Grubstick, to whom Betty is attracted. Their home lives are also a challenge. At home in Queens, Betty must deal with her illegal immigrant father Ignacio's visa troubles, older sister Hilda and Hilda's son Justin. In Daniel's case, the issues in his home and personal life revolve around his demanding father (and boss), Bradford, who gave both Daniel and Betty their current positions; his alcoholic mother Claire; and, after returning from a two-year disappearance, his transexual and competitive sister Alexis (formerly known as Alex), who bears a strong grudge against their father; as well as Daniel's own sex and later drug addictions. Throughout the show's first season, most of the serialized storylines revolved around Betty trying to balance her work, home and romantic life (involving first boyfriend Walter after he cheated on her with Gina Gambarro, and later Henry Grubstick, whose ex Charlie is setting him up by claiming that she is pregnant with his child, though she had in fact slept with another man), her sister's attempt to join her in selling door-to-door products (only to be unemployed afterward) and her newfound talent as a beautician and her father's health and immigration problems (not to mention his admission to murdering his employer after falling in love with his wife, who happens to be Betty and Hilda's mother). Other issues that played out included Daniel's womanizing, his affairs with fellow editor Sofia Reyes and lawyer Grace Chin, and his sudden drug addiction; Bradford's affair with Daniel's late predecessor Fey Sommers, whose murder came at the hands of Claire, who's battling her problems with alcoholism; Alexis' trying to repair her relationship with Daniel but at the expense of Bradford; Wilhelmina's scheming plans to force Daniel out of his job with the help of Alexis (who was known early on as the mystery woman, until she revealed to the world that she was alive and now a woman), a plot to marry Bradford so she can take over the company, dealing with her rebellious daughter Nico while winning acceptance from her father; Marc dealing with multi-tasking for his boss, his homosexuality and family acceptance; Amanda's binge eating, being the target of a prank, and learning of her true parentage as Fey's daughter; and Christina being used by Wilhelmina even as she helps Betty. « Go Back Plot and StorylineWarning: It may contain spoilers! Ugly Betty follows the daily life of Betty Suarez, a promising college graduate from a struggling Latino family in Queens. She was promptly rejected at a "job interview" at Meade Publications in Manhattan based solely on her appearance (thus the series' title). However, company CEO Bradford Meade spots her and has her hired as an executive assistant to his son Daniel Meade, the newly-installed Editor-in-chief at MODE magazine. Primarily because Bradford did not wish for Daniel to continue bedding his assistants, this after catching him having sex in his office with a potential applicant. Betty is not very interested in fashion and is sometimes clueless about the company's motives and organizations, although she has expressed a passion for photography. Betty finds herself helping Daniel personally and professionally. Daniel at times has been labeled a "himbo" and a "manwhore" (the latter quoted from the fictional Fashion TV). Daniel was always outshone by his brother Alex Meade. He has no confidence in his own abilities except as a lothario. He is not experienced in the fashion industry and was placed as the Editor-in-chief of MODE solely based on his namesake. However, as the story progresses so does Daniel's potential. Much of the earlier plot involved the suspicion surrounding the death of Daniel's predecessor, Fey Sommers. Fey's death and her involvement with Bradford Meade was used as the backdrop for a scheme to take over the company by Wilhelmina Slater, a former model currently serving as MODE's Creative Director, and a hospital patient swathed in bandages who in later episodes would be revealed as Daniel's brother Alex, post-gender reassignment. Alex staged his death as he feared his family would not accept his decision to undergo the surgery. Now, Alexis also pursues revenge on her father by helping Wilhelmina frame him for Fey's murder. However, Claire, the family matriarch, confesses to Betty that she was the true culprit as she could no longer stand to see her husband's infidelity. Claire eventually turns herself in to the authorities in order to release her husband from jail, this after Betty talked her out of leaving the country. In order to improve the relationship between the eldest Meade child and her brother and father, while being detoxed at a hospital as she prepares to face murder charges, Claire names Alexis as the magazine's Co-Editor-in-chief. It is revealed that Claire is Mode's actual owner after Bradford started the magazine under her name to evade paying taxes on it. These circumstances give Wilhelmina a new scheme to drive a deeper wedge between the family by intensifying the Meade sibling rivalry, and manipulating Claire into signing a Power of Attorney(Claire refused). As a result of this, Wilhelmina decides to romance Bradford by offering him "...a little company", without him knowing that she is using him to takeover Meade Publications. The scheme has made Claire furious, prompting her to team up with a fellow inmate named Yoga to make a prison break so she can stop the planned November wedding. Along the way, Daniel tones down his womanizing ways, but at a price. First, starting with Sofia Reyes, who was hired by his father to launch a new magazine, Modern Young Woman (MYW). Sofia would later entice Betty(who was a fan of hers) into working with her. Unfortunately, just as Daniel proposes to her, Betty discovers that Sofia was fooling them both; using Daniel as the subject of a cover story in order to launch the new magazine. The chain of events would result in Betty quitting MYW because of Sofia's deception. Daniel would later date lawyer Grace Chin, an old flame he once stood up back in college, after Bradford recommended that she represent him. But thanks to Wilhelmina's scheming and Alexis' hatred for her father, that romance ended quickly as well. After a deceptive scheme by Lena and Petra, a mother/daughter team who tricked him into believing that Petra was a teenager and would almost lose his job, only to be foiled by Betty after learning that Petra was an adult, Betty told Daniel that he might be a sex addict due to his family problems and recommended that he seek help. Unfortunately, after taking the advice of a doctor who was also a former sex addict, Daniel starts taking a bottle of pills that has led him to start a drug addiction and in the process is beaten up by a drug dealer and eventually overdoses. Wilhelmina, in-between her conspiring also tries winning her father's approval(a United States Senator), disciplining her rebellious daughter Nico(who, despite not acknowledging it, shares her mother's traits) and relationship with retail mogul Ted LeBeau disintegrating due to issues with his family. In addition, she has an ongoing rivalry with Italian cosmetics/fashion mogul Fabia, which included sabotaging an ad campaign, using "duck sauce", and making a trade for a wedding date. Her former ally, Alexis, post-surgery, has been ostracized and abandoned by her friends. Due to her transgender status she was the target of a bet between male patrons at a bar(Wilhelmina punched the winner out). She also had issues with her brother Daniel that has seen a series of ups and downs in the wake of learning that her mother was Fey's murderer as well as sibling rivalry between each other. Her relationship with her father has also taken a toll, prompting her to hire a hitman to cut the brakes on Bradford's car after he paid a creative director from MODE's Brazilian counterpart, Rodrigo Veloso, to romance Alexis (an idea setup by Wilhelmina). Unfortunately, she would end up taking the car after learning of Daniel's drug overdose and in the process tried to drive him to a hospital, resulting in the two crashing into a tree, both unconscious. Some of Betty's co-workers, particularly receptionist Amanda Tanen and fellow assistant Marc St. James often ridicule her appearance and constantly taunt her. They often easily trick Betty due to her naïveté and trusting nature (she ate gluesticks after being led to believe by Marc that she was eating white chocolate, and showed up to work in a butterfly outfit for a Halloween party that was fabricated by the assistants). Despite their dislike for her, the two are willing to work with Betty at times. Their personal issues have been addressed, such as Marc multi-tasking for Wilhelmina, mostly in plotting against Daniel, taking advantage of her takeover plans, taking side jobs by tipping off retailers, and coming out to his mother(who would reject him). Wilhelmina even forces him to test his close relationship with Amanda, leading him to try to keep the receptionist onboard at MODE. On the other hand, Amanda was one of Daniel's many paramours, until she realized that he would never commit. In addition to her binge eating she attempted to replace Betty and would find herself the target of a series of pranks made by another Meade employee after she received a Hobble Dress that she thought came from a designer. She also had a relationship with a straight designer named Tavares, who was pretending to be gay so he could get his designs noticed, but would end the relationship after he took advantage of her generosity. Prior to working at MODE, Amanda was an actress(one of her former roles was working as a "Serving Wench" at a restaurant), but when the offers dried up her father got her a "Lifetime Receptionist" job. Amanda would later find out why she got her job after she stumbled upon Fey's secret "Love Dungeon", where she would learn that Fey kept pictures of her as a child and a birth certificate that revealed Fey as Amanda's mother. Betty did briefly befriend a group of similar outcasts. Her best friend and confidant at MODE is Christina McKinney, the Scottish seamstress. Christina's goal is to be a fashion designer. But in pursuing her goal, she finds herself becoming an unwilling minion of Wilhelmina's when she is coerced (by winning a spot at Fashion Week) into turning a package in to the police that results in Bradford's false arrest. Fearing that Wilhelmina will manipulate it to look as if she was responsible, Christina goes along with her bidding to protect her friendship with Betty who she fears would turn on her should she discover the truth, which eventually does happen after Christina invites Betty to a club. However the two make up and Christina offers to give Betty info on Wilhelmina's schemes. Christina also finds herself getting locked up with Amanda after learning that Amanda found the "Love Dungeon", where after the two end up intoxicated, told Amanda that she was mrried to an insurance auditor back in Scotland and that she walked out on him. Christina would be the one who opened the safe that contained Amanda's birth certificate and photos. At the Suarez home, Betty's father, Ignacio, is a former chef and ex-boxer whose health problems(he has heart problems and has been warned not to drink any products that have caffeine in them) is one of the reasons Betty needs to work. But after learning that he avoided a HMO provider and discovering that he used the name of a person who had been dead for 117 years, Betty and Hilda learned that Ignacio is a illegal immigrant who had not applied for residency as he murdered the abusive ex-husband of his[Ignacio's] now deceased wife Rosa(who happens to be Betty and Hilda's mother) in his home country of Mexico. His residency status, however, depends on responding to romantic tactics from his caseworker, Constance Grady, which would be thwarted after learning that Constance was fired for being too involved with her clients. After an effort to obtain a visa was denied, Ignacio was told to stay in Mexico, unaware that he is currently the target of a revenge plot, now that he has returned to his home country. All this puts the Suarez family in a legal bind as they also deal with Betty's older sister Hilda being unemployed after the health supplement company she represented is placed under investigation by the government. In addition, she became the victim of a scam by "Lawyer" Leah Stillman, who Hilda thought would help the family with getting Ignacio his American citizenship. After several setbacks in her attempts to find a real job, Hilda would later find a new talent in cosmetology. Hilda and her pre-teen son Justin, whose interests have sparked questions about his sexual orientation, slowly let his father Santos, a gambler who runs into trouble with loan sharks, work his way back into their lives as he attempts to understand his son, which would result in Santos asking Hilda to marry him; Hilda said yes. Unfortunately, the wedding plans would take a tragic turn when he is shot and presumably killed trying to foil an armed robbery. In-between these events, Betty also finds herself dealing with a pair of romantic situations. Her long time boyfriend Walter cheated on her with next door neighbor Gina Gambarro. Betty reluctantly took him back but realized that she had lost her attraction to him and they ultimately parted ways. After the split Betty thought that she had found a soulmate in Henry Grubstick, an accountant at Meade Publications. However, Henry's on-again/off-again flame Charlie shows up, prompting Betty to hold off on her pursuit of Henry. But the friction between Henry and Charlie, whose relationship was on the rocks, would heat up as Charlie became jealous of Betty and told her to back off. After seeing a vision in Mexico that she thought was Henry, Betty would discover that he might be the right person for her, and when she returned she told him that she wants to be with him, and he agreed; Henry and Charlie had broken up, resulting in the two becoming a couple. Unfortunately, Charlie would show up on their first date at Betty's home to say that she was pregnant, thus crushing Betty's dreams. But Betty would later learn that Charlie had been cheating with Betty's dentist, Dr. Gabe Farkas, after Betty introduced him to Charlie at her birthday party, and as Henry and Charlie prepare to go back to Arizona, it is unclear as to whether Henry or Gabe is the actual father of Charlie's unborn child. « Go Back Regular CharactersThese profiles include some "background" information about the primary characters, with some information about their jobs (in case they have) and relationships. Please read at your own risk becuase they may contain spoilers for people who haven't finished watching the entire season. Quick NavigationBetty Suarez
Betty then had two internships. In the summer of 2004, she was at the weekly magazine Politics & More, collaborating on research for the July 2004 cover article on Presidential hopefuls and their wives. Next summer, she interned at Daily Dermatology Magazine; her stay at this Flatbush, Brooklyn publication focused on research for a five-part series of articles on pores for the then upcoming Wide World of Skin convention. She is fluent in English, Spanish and some Mandarin Chinese. She can also speak some Portuguese, as she called a spa in Brazil for one episode. Pleasant and common in appearance everyday, while she may not be the most attractive woman in New York City, she makes up for that in confidence and intelligence. Despite her unattractiveness, she does land a job at the prestigious fashion magazine Mode, where she serves as the personal assistant to Daniel Meade, the magazine's new boss. Despite Daniel's less-than-enthusiastic reaction to working with her, Betty does win him over and together they become an unlikely team in the world of fashion. Despite their working relationship, Daniel is known to be a womanizer, and Betty offers him no temptation. She keeps her job because of her attitude and skill. However, at work Betty is not liked by fellow co-workers, who feel threatened by her presence: Wilhelmina Slater, the magazine's Creative Director, who wanted the job Daniel got, and her cohorts Marc St. James and the magazine receptionist Amanda Tanen. All three are determined to make sure that they sabotage Betty and Daniel at any cost. But not all co-workers are like the previous mentioned three, as Betty finds an ally in Christina McKinney, a seamstress whose knowledge about what goes on at Mode will play a part in their alliance. At home, Betty has to deal with her father Ignacio and her sister Hilda, who feel that she's been taken for a ride at her job and are concerned that she's being used like a puppet because of her appearance. However, her nephew Justin is the only person who supports Betty and thinks she should continue pursuing her dreams. Romantically, the unattached Betty also had to deal with her ex-boyfriend Walter, who dumped her but wanted back in whether she liked it or not. Betty and Walter were once an item and her family thought that he would be the person who would marry her, but he dumped her for Betty's next door neighbor, Gina Gambarro. When Betty found out that Gina used him just to get a TV (which she later broke), Betty decided that she wanted nothing to do with Walter, despite Gina's explanation of what happened. However Betty did take him back and was willing to work out their relationship, which was hampered by Betty's family being more supportive of Walter, especially Hilda, who wanted to keep the two together. But that became more difficult now that Betty has exhibited feelings towards Henry, the accountant that works at Betty's workplace. « Go Up Daniel Meade
Sensing that Daniel will need help because of his inexperience in the fashion industry, Bradford decides to hire a personal assistant to guide him. However, due to his son's habit of womanizing, he knows that the assistant he chooses should be one that his son would never be attracted to - so he chooses Betty Suarez. Bradford figures that by having Betty as an assistant, he is confident that MODE will continue to thrive. Additionally, he knows that Daniel would never sleep with Betty because she has very little sex appeal, not to mention avoiding sexual harrassment lawsuits. At first, Daniel resents having Betty work for him, but he eventually reconsiders and realizes how valuable an asset Betty would be to the company. Due to the unusual combination of Daniel's business savvy and Betty's wealth of knowledge and ideas, the duo becomes the "darlings" of the fashion industry. Daniel was also reminded by his father and Wilhelmina about his late brother Alex, who was the editor-in-chief of sister publication Hudson. Daniel hopes that by being in charge of MODE, he can prove to them that he can hold his own without living in the shadow of his late brother. However, he was unaware that Alex was not only alive and had a sex change, but plotting to have Daniel removed from the job. When Alexis does show up and reveals herself to Daniel, he was not happy about this and explains to Alexis that they really cared about him and blames him for their mother's drinking problems, which happened after "Alex's" death. Daniel is strongly hinted throughout the series that he is not just a "womanizer", but unfortuntely his lothario ways would catch up with him. Betty believes that he using his womanizing to cover for his family problems, and has an actual physical sex addiction. Seeking the advice of a doctor who works at a sister publication, Daniel takes his recommendation and is prescribed a bottle of pills to end his addiction, unaware that he may have found a new one (drugs) to replace his old one (sex). In the season 1 finale, Daniel overdoses on the drugs he uses to control his sex addiction, and stumbles into Alexis' office on the verge of dropping dead, blubbering nonsensical things to Alexis. Alexis then decides to take him to the hospital. On the way, the man Alexis hired to killer Bradford Meade had cut the brakes on the car and therefore the car is crashed, and in the last shot, he is lying unconscious beside his sister in the totalled car, no ambulances in sight. « Go Up Wilhemina Slater
It is for that reason that Wilhelmina has launched a series of attempts to derail Daniel, but because of Betty Suarez, Daniel's assistant, many of her plans were thwarted. In her many years as Creative Director, she has acquired many minions in the fashion industry that she uses in order to reach her goal of becoming Editor-In-Chief. Wilhelmina was also in league with a mysterious bandaged woman, as the series progressed, many clues link this woman to be Fey Sommers but it has since been revealed to be Alexis Meade, Daniel's older (m-f transgendered) sister. But her scheme to replace Daniel was again delayed because of an injunction as Bradford's will states that Alex Meade would take over Meade publications, but Alex has since become Alexis. Wilhelmina refused to work until she becomes Editor-In-Chief. However the career minded woman could not help but find out the goings on at MODE, so she made Marc carry a pot of orchids in which she has placed a tiny camera around the office of MODE. After she witnesses Alexis and Daniel bury the hatchet, Wilhelmina would later discover that Alexis has turned on her; When Alexis told her that she's keeping Daniel onboard as editor-in-chief, Wilhelmina ended their partnership, as she now sees Alexis as an enemy. When Wilhelmina found out later that MODE legally belonged to Claire Meade, Bradford's wife, she goes on to visit her at the hospital where she was being detoxed for her hearing in the hopes of manipulating her into signing a Power of Attorney. She also tempted the alcoholic Claire to some liquor on the condition that she makes Wilhelmina the Editor-In-Chief. But when Claire did not relent (Claire told her that MODE "...will always be run by a Meade"), Wilhelmina resorts to seducing Bradford. She believes that by doing this, it will convince Bradford that she can be the next Mrs. Meade, which would allow her to takeover MODE. She also helped Bradford in his scheme to get Alexis out of the country by recommending that her counterpart at MODE Brasil, Rodrigo, romance her. In the season finale, Bradford gives Wilhelmina a gaudy engagement ring that he designed himself, setting things up for a November wedding. Unknown to Wilhelmina, Claire has just escaped while en route to prison, hoping to stop Bradford from marrying Wilhelmina. « Go Up Hilda Suarez
Hilda is also very protective of Betty (even though Betty would like her to back off a bit) and at times vents her rage at anyone who threatens her family, most notably next door neighbor Gina Gambarro. She also sometimes feels that she's being left out of her family, because Justin looks up to Betty as more of a mother figure than Hilda while Ignacio tends to be more protective of Betty. This often leads Hilda to be jealous of her sister, though she and Betty are as close as siblings can be. In the first season finale, "East Side Story", Hilda was watching Justin's performance as Tony in his school's production of West Side Story when Betty pulled her out of the audience during the final scene to tell her that her fiancé, Santos, had been possibly killed in a convenience store robbery. The whole season ended on a bleak note as Hilda sank to the floor and cried in Betty's arms with the final bars of the musical tolling sadly in the background. « Go Up Justin Suarez
Justin is quite fashion conscious and exhibits model-like behavior, such as commenting on his own body image and being food conscious. This behavior concerns Hilda, who would rather see Justin act more like a "normal" boy, however, in the episode "Lose the Boss" his mother says to Justin's homophobic father Santos, "He's comfortable with who he is and so am I." Justin is a straight-A student with an interest in performing arts and home economics. He is a fan of Fashion TV and idolizes Martha Stewart and Gene Kelly. His knowledge about the fashion industry, from reading MODE and watching Fashion TV, is one of the reasons his aunt influences him. In the season 1 finale, Justin plays Tony in his school's production of West Side Story; he won the role after putting walnuts in his sandwich that he gave to the actual lead after Justin learned that he had an allergy to products that contain nuts. As he is on stage, Justin sings the interludes while everyone's story temporarily concludes the season. As he dies on stage, Santos, his father, is shot, and possible killed, during a hold-up in a convenience store, and Betty tells Hilda about the sad news. Justin was still unaware of Santos' shooting as the season ended. « Go Up Amanda Tanen
Amanda has a tendency to go on eating binges whenever she feels threatened, as a way to control her fears and insecurities. This issue is expected to be addressed in future episodes, where it is learned that her past involves uncontrollable eating habits and attempts to be the "perfect" woman. Despite her somewhat conceited and ditzy exterior she is quite bright, but has a tendency to butcher the Spanish language, using mangled pronunciations like HO-la and Bare-rio. And like Betty, she too found herself becoming the victim of a prank herself when a rival employee sent her a hobble dress that Amanda thought came from a designer. She even had a romantic fling with a closeted straight designer named Tavares, but would end it after he took advantage of her generosity. Prior to working at MODE, Amanda was an actress, and appeared as a hostess in a commercial for a Medieval themed restaurant. In the first season finale, she was trapped in Fey Sommers' secret room ("love dungeon") with Christina McKinney after which they consequently got drunk and began confessing secrets to each other. Though most of Amanda's revelations initially revolved around her sexcapades. She later revealed to Christina that the late Sommers was a friend of her family and that her father had appealed to Fey for help in getting Amanda a job at MODE after her career as an actress didn't pan out. As Christina marvelled at this whilst stumbling around drunk, she uncovered a red safe hidden under a scarf and the pair managed to get it open (using Sommers' genuine dress size as the combination). Instead of money inside, a bunch of photos of Amanda as a child are uncovered, as well as a diary and a genuine birth certificate, naming Sommers as Amanda's biological mother. « Go Up Marc St. James
Although he has made no secret that he is openly gay as evident by his flamboyant behavior and his refusal to touch an attractive female, he has not told his family, who thinks he is straight and has a girlfriend who lives in Canada. He has also used Amanda as a beard for three years. Interestingly enough, his secret of keeping his sexual orientation hidden from his family would no longer stay hidden. When Marc's mother came to visit him for a cat show, Marc uses Betty as a fake girlfriend to cover up his sexuality. However, when she sees the dysfunctional nature of Betty's family while having dinner and begins to speak harshly about the craziness of the Suarez family, Marc surprisingly talks back to her and defends Betty and her family. He eventually confesses that Betty isn't his girlfriend and comes out to her. Unfortunately, Marc's mother rejects him, and leaves for home. « Go Up Christina McKinney
Her knowledge of what goes on at her workplace inside and out comes in handy as she becomes fast friends and forms an alliance with new fellow co-worker Betty Suarez. And like Betty, she too has dreams, in which she aspires to be the next fashion designer. She finally got her chance to show off her designs in the episode "I'm Coming Out", only to learn that Wilhelmina chose her show to set up for the return of Alexis Meade, who helped bring down Bradford Meade by framing him for the murder of Fey Sommers. Prior to the event a week earlier, Wilhelmina tricked Christina into turning a package in to the police in order to frame Bradford. After turning in the evidence, Wilhelmina has been using that as a crutch, so Christina can serve as a minion for Wilhelmina; even though Christina wants nothing to do with Wilhelmina's schemes. However, when Wilhelmina threatens to blame her for turning in the evidence by lying to Betty, Christina has no choice but to go along, even if it means she has to protect her friendship with Betty after she told her to never sell her soul to the devil when she talked Betty out of cashing a check Wilhelmina gave her to help her father in exchange for turning on Daniel. When Christina came clean to Betty in "Punch Out", the outcome would result in Betty ending her friendship with Christina because of her selling out to Wilhelmina. But the two would make up as Betty realized that she needs her more than ever in "Petra-Gate", with Christina offering to help Betty seek out any info about Wilhelmina's schemes. In the finale of Season 1, while intoxicated, she reveals that she has had a husband named Stuart (a insurance agent), whom she left in Scotland. She tells Amanda that ever since she left the country no one has bothered to look for her since. « Go Up Henry Grubstick
Henry, who hails from Tucson, Arizona, is a bit of a bookworm with an excellent memory for facts and figures. He can often be heard saying, "It's just something I know." He springs that wealth of knowledge on Betty, who's charmed whenever Henry is around, indicating that she might have found her true soulmate. In the episode "Fake Plastic Snow," this was affirmed when Betty had a dream in which Henry kissed her and it left her flustered all day; she had a chance to make that dream a reality at the office Christmas party, but Betty ran away after misunderstanding a situation where a model forced a kiss on Henry first. This drove Betty back to Walter, though her attraction to Henry is clearly stronger. When Henry called after the party to explain what really happened, he was impeded by Betty's sister, Hilda. As the first half of season one ends, Betty finds herself in a romantic dilemma: She still has feelings for Henry even as she tries to work things out with Walter. Knowing that his attraction to Betty will doom her relationship with Walter, Hilda "loses" Henry's message so to make sure that he doesn't confuse Betty any further. After the Christmas party, Betty did her best to avoid Henry, but later learned in the episode "In or Out" that Henry's "kiss" with the model was not his fault, as he did not instigate it. During the episode "I'm Coming Out," Betty is busy with organizing Fashion Week for MODE and she re-encounters Henry for the first time since the Christmas party, but when Henry attempts to ask Betty a question (considering the party), he is interrupted by Hilda (this after he introduces himself to Hilda and when he remembers talking to her on the phone, Hilda dragged Betty away so she wouldn't find out about what she did). Betty later discovers that Henry attempted to call her after the party and Hilda purposely "lost" the message; Betty's response was "To be an only child" and went after Hilda by firing her at Fashion Week because of it. The relationship between Walter and Betty is remains a dilemma between her "crush" on Henry and, in the episode "Brothers," Henry asks Betty on a date to see the musical Wicked, but Betty affirms "just as friends." That night, Walter tells Betty that he accepted a management position in Maryland, and the two break up. At the same time, Henry was seen at Betty's desk at MODE with a gift, a Wicked shirt with a note that read: "Can't wait, green girl!" But, the following morning, Henry confessed to Betty that he had a surprise visit from his ex-girlfriend from Tucson, Charlie, who wanted to reconciliate their relationship, not knowing that Betty and Walter had broken up. He gave her the Wicked tickets, apologizing, and left Betty broken-hearted. The following week in the episode Derailed, Henry is surprised when he finds Betty and his now official girlfriend, Charlie, talking in the lunch room. He later thanks Betty for inviting Charlie to a party and he's confident that Betty does not feel anything for him; that is until Betty calls him over to a downtown subway station and finds out that she lost track of Charlie intentionally. He then questions Betty as to why she did it and finds out her true feelings for him. Just at the moment when Henry and Betty were about to kiss, Charlie appears back with a smile on her face saying: "It was fate that separated us Betty" and also states that she will stay in NY indefinitely. In Secretaries' Day, a semi-conscious Henry told Betty that he loved her. In the following episode, A Tree Grows in Guadalajara Betty believes she sees Henry in Mexico. She follows the apparition and discovers her grandmother's house. Her grandmother, mistaking Betty for her mother Rosa, encourages her to fight for her love. Betty resolves to fight for Henry. In the season 1 finale, Charlie declares that she is pregnant, and Henry opts to go with her to Tucson after a long, tearful goodbye with Betty. However, Charlie had been cheating on him with Dr. Farkas for 2 months, and therefore the baby could possibly not be his. « Go Up Alexis Meade
In the episode In or Out Daniel told Betty that Alex had been killed in a skiing accident. In the final moments of the episode, Wilhelmina told the mysterious bandaged woman, now out of her bandages, that her "skiing accident" had done her a world of good, and called her "Alex Meade." The woman corrected Wilhelmina, advising her that she was "Alexis" now. Alexis attended Fashion Week in the episode I'm Coming Out. After initially flirting with Daniel, she told him her true identity, explaining that she had felt from a very young age that she was "in the wrong skin." This revelation put Daniel into a state of shock. Wilhelmina insinuated Alexis into the MODE "up and coming designers" fashion show. Following the show, Bradford began a speech but Alexis interrupted him, announcing her former identity as Alex moments before police arrested Bradford for the murder of Fey Sommers. Following Bradford's arrest, Alexis moved to consolidate her control of Meade Publications and tried to install Wilhelmina as editor-in-chief of MODE, but Daniel obtained an injunction to block her actions. At the instigation of Betty and their mother, Alexis and Daniel set aside their differences and formed a fragile détente. While Daniel always thought their father treated Alex like the golden child, Alexis has informed him that the real reason Bradford spent so much time taking part in characteristically masculine activities (the Boy Scouts and football games are mentioned) was to try and "cure" Alex's desire to be a woman. When Alex told his father he was going to undergo the sex change, his father said that if he did, Alex would be cut off from the family forever and that Bradford would rather have Alex dead. She also said the reason she didn't want to tell Daniel the truth was because she feared her brother "was just like Dad." Alexis later has a change of heart about Daniel; when Wilhelmina remind her that he is the enemy and should be fired in favor of WIlhemina as Editor-in-Chief, Alexis tells her that she won't fire him because he is her brother. That statement results in Wilhelmina ending their partnership for good and endeavoring to drive a wedge into their sibling rivalry. After Bradford was released from jail and had Alexis fired, Claire Meade, the actual legal owner of MODE, appoints Daniel and Alexis as co-editors-in-chief in an effort to keep the Meade family from falling apart. But although Daniel makes some effort to share, it appears that Alexis might still be trying to outdo Daniel even as they try to work together for the sake of the family. In the meantime, Wilhemina bides her time and tries to sow chaos through fueling the siblings' enmity. Alexis is also hampered by Bradford's scheme to get rid of her, and with the help of Wilhelmina, the two pay off Rodrigo Velasco, a creative director at sister publication "MODE Brasil", to get her out of the United States by having him romance Alexis after she falls for him. Alexis later finds out about Rodrigo's deal after she picks up his phone and overhears the conversation, prompting Alexis to dump him. Because of this, Alexis has now made her hatred towards her father a major priority as she makes a phone call to a hired hitman about getting rid of someone "...in her life." In the season one finale, an intoxicated Daniel stumbles into her office, his drug use out of control. She takes him to the hospital in her father's car. As they are driving they find out that the brakes of the car have been cut by the man that Alexis hired to kill her father. The Season finale ends with them crashing the car, and lying unconscious beside each other inside. « Go Up Bradford Meade
Bradford also was responsible for making major changes at the magazine after the mysterious death of chief editor Fey Sommers, including handing over the day-to-day operations to the inexperienced Daniel. He was also responsible for getting Betty Suarez hired as Daniel's personal assistant because he believes Betty is the only woman in New York City that Daniel will never ever sleep with. Bradford's decision to put Daniel in charge and to make Betty his assistant are reasons alone for Creative Director Wilhelmina Slater -- who wanted the editor-in-chief job -- to plot against them in an effort to manipulate Bradford into reconsidering her for the top job. However, Bradford is also skeptical about Fey's death. He had tampered with the steering wheel in her car and she later died in a car accident. After noticing Fey's casket was closed at her funeral, he hired a private detective, Steve, to find out any information that could implicate him and whether she faked her death. Prior to her death, Bradford and Fey had an affair and later he broke into her apartment and retrieved a photo of them together. After the funeral, he burned the photo to hide it from Daniel and Bradford's wife Claire. Bradford has shown signs of being more sinister after learning that Fey is still alive and that Steve was actually working for her (It was later discovered in "Sofia's Choice" that Steve was really working for Wilhelmina). In turn, he hired a henchman, Mr. Green, to "clean up messes" starting with Mr. Green burying Steve in Fey's empty tomb - though Steve survived. Bradford plans to step up his scheme to bring Fey out into the open by any means, dead or alive, even though he is unaware that his "late" son, Alex, is actually behind this scheme and is planning to frame him for Fey's murder, which happened during Fashion Week, when he is arrested after Alexis stuns him by revealing his sex-change in front of the world as he was about to hand over the reins to Daniel. He is actually innocent though, because it was revealed in the episode Brothers, that Claire killed her. When Claire visits him at Rikers Island and tells him that she will turn herself in, Bradford is not happy about this, since he might be trying to protect her in more ways than one, but in the end she does and he is released immediately. With that turn of events out of the way, it is expected that his damaged relationship with both Alexis and Daniel will resume, and with Alexis back in the picture still trying to reclaim a piece of the Meade empire, expect Bradford to make his distrust of her a priority, especially after going through with the sex-change operation even as he tried to mold his son into the "Golden Boy" that would carry on the tradition, which he was hoping to distill on Daniel before the arrest. It was later revealed that Bradford's company only publishes MODE; Claire is the actual owner of the magazine and has the ability to pull the strings. She was able to do this as Bradford had put the magazine under her name to evade taxes. In the episode Punch Out it is revealed that Bradford is turned on by womens' feet (a fetish that Fey Sommers exploited to keep their relationship alive). Wilhelmina uses this information to her advantage and seduces Bradford (successfully), so she could "own" and control Meade Publications. She also succeeds in convincing Bradford to divorce Claire after Wilhelmina made Marc beat her up, and told Bradford the injuries were caused by someone Claire hired. In the season finale, he gives Wilhelmina an engagement ring that he made himself, setting things up for a November wedding. Unbeknownst to Bradford, Claire has just escaped while en route to prison, hoping to stop him from marrying Wilhelmina. In the finale it is also revealed the brakes on Bradford's car have been cut by the hitman Alexis hired to kill her father; ironically, Alexis makes this discovery while driving the car in order to take Daniel to the hospital. « Go Up Ignacio Suarez
Ignacio admitted that he came to the United States with Rosa (in December 1976) after he fell in love with her while she was married to a wealthy banker and Ignacio was working as their chef. The banker was physically abusive toward her and she started an affair with Ignacio. The banker discovered the affair and attacked Ignacio, prompting Ignacio to kill him in self defense. Ignacio was later arrested by Immigrations and Customs, but was let go and has been told that he will need a case worker for his deportation hearing, who would show up in the form of Constance Grady, who would fall for him and hold up his paperwork for citizenship. Constance was later found out by Hilda that she was fired and that someone else took over Ignacio's case. But as he was about to celebrate his chance to obtain his citizenship as his paperwork was about to be approved, he got bad news from his real caseworker that he would have to return to Mexico. Upon arrival in Mexico, Betty and Hilda learned more of their mother's past as Ignacio revealed to his daughters that their maternal grandmother was alive and that she did not approve of his affair and marriage to their mother, but after Betty finally visits her, the woman (who has alzheimer's) mistakes her granddaughter for her daughter and says that she has forgiven them and Ignacio watches this exchange as the woman makes peace with him. Unfortunately, Ignacio would learn that the US counsulate has denied him a Visa, so now he will have to stay in his home country. The return to Mexico also means bad news for Ignacio as well: It appears that after 30 years, Ignacio is currently the target of a revenge plot against him ever since he murdered the banker. « Go Up Claire Meade
After completing rehab, Claire and Bradford finally reconnect as a couple. Bradford plans to try his best to keep his marriage afloat while Claire tries to stay sober for Daniel's sake. However, Claire is showing signs that she might be leaning back towards the bottle as evidenced in "Sofia's Choice" and there are hints that in the wake of the arrest of her husband that she also knows that he wasn't the murderer after all, a move that drew Betty into the mystery in later episodes, after Claire revealed to Betty in the episode "Brothers", that she was the actual murderer of Fey Sommers. When she visits Bradford with plans to confess, he is not happy about it and warns her not to got through with it, but insists she will, and already her confession has Daniel confronting her as she arrived home after Betty and lawyer Grace Chin both mentioned to Daniel that her Aston Martin was at the scene of the murder, in which she tampered with the brake lines and followed her for 18 miles prior to Fey's demise. Claire also admits to being sober at the time of the murder, saying that she wanted to see her "...Burn, and burn, and burn" because Fey took away the only man (Bradford) that she ever loved in her life. As Daniel tried to keep Claire from going to the police until he can find a way to get her out of the situation, Claire maintained her admission and wanted to tell Grace about how it happened (over Daniel's objections), as Grace and Daniel agreed that she could get medical help and receive a lighter sentence, until Daniel's sister, Alexis made it worse when she accused Daniel of hiring and sleeping with Grace (who would excuse herself from the case afterwards), making it harder for Claire to get a reasonable conviction. When Claire feared that her own words would turn on her in court, she was ready to leave the country, only to have Betty intervene after she called her to bring a credit card to her hotel. Betty later brought Claire to her home so she could buy time, hopefully to convince her not to leave the country, and in the end Betty's words convinces her to do the right thing as she calls the police and turns herself in to authorities. While being kept in a hospital while being handcuffed to the bed, she told Bradford that although Meade Publications is the publisher of MODE, Claire is the actual owner of the magazine and revealed that she has the right to keep Daniel and Alexis onboard. This revelation prompted Wilhelmina Slater to manipulate her into signing a power of attorney, but Claire tells her that it will never happen and that MODE will remain in Meade hands. Days later, in jail, Claire finds out that Wilhelmina is sleeping with her husband. Mrs. Meade loses her mind and threatens Wilhelmina with death; but Wilhelmina takes advantage of the situation by injuring herself only to tell Bradford that his wife hired a couple of thugs "to take care of her." After hearing this, he ultimately decides to divorce Claire. In the season one finale, Claire and her inmates make plans to escape. They do so by feeding their diabetic inmate chocolate, causing the driver to stop. When he goes to check on the girl, they choke him with their handcuffs while Claire grabs his gun and points it at him saying, "This is happening!" In the end of the finale, Claire and Yoga are seen running down the road, still handcuffed, as Claire prepares to seek revenge on Wilhelmina now that she knows about her plans to marry Bradford and get her hands on taking over Meade Publications, and especially MODE. « Go Up Recurring CharactersThese are the recurring characters that interact in the series. By clicking on their names, you'll be taken to their own Wikipedia entry to learn more about them. More information over here at Ugly is the new Beautiful. « Go Back XHTML 1.0 Transitional & CSS |
Betty Suarez (her first full name is Beatriz, but everyone calls her Betty) lives in the Jackson Heights neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. There she attended Queensborough High School, graduating in 2002, where she was salutatorian and received a Regents diploma. She never went to the Senior prom, staging an anti-prom with her best friend Trina, who later got invited. Betty and Trina never spoke again. She attended Queens College, in Flushing, Queens, described as "one of America's best value colleges" She graduated QC in December 2005, with a BFA in Media, Cum Laude. It should be noted that her real goal is to become a magazine publisher, which explains her journalistic credentials.
Daniel is the son of magazine publisher 
Wilhelmina is a conceited, self-absorbed diva and former fashion model who lives for two things: MODE and Botox. She is also the Creative Director of MODE magazine. With Fey Sommers' sudden death, she was next in line to become the magazine's chief editor. However, she was passed over in favor of the less experienced 
Hilda Suarez is Betty's older sister and the mother of Justin. Although she respects Betty's job choice, she thinks that her sister is being taken advantage of at her job at MODE and feels that it provides her with an unstable lifestyle. She was also determined to get Betty to consider another option: to join her in selling door-to-door products from Herbalux, a health supplement company based in Poland. Hilda does have talent as a beautician and enrolled in cosmetology school, where she passed.
Justin lives with his mother 
Amanda Tanen is the attractive receptionist at MODE magazine and is allied with both Wilhelmina Slater and Wilhelmina's assistant Marc when it comes to taking down the two major thorns in Wilhelmina's side: Betty Suarez and Betty's boss Daniel Meade (whom Amanda is attracted to). Amanda, who was raised in The Hamptons on Long Island, was supposedly the daughter of an investment banker whom she has hinted is an embezzler in an earlier episode, but would later learn that she is actually the daughter of Fey Sommers.
Marc (Whose real last name is Weiner; he changed it to St. James because he feared that he would get beat up as a kid), who hails from Schenectady, New York is the openly gay personal assistant of Wilhelmina Slater, the creative editor at MODE magazine. He is very loyal to Wilhelmina and so far he will do whatever it will take to help his boss succeed in her goal to become the magazine's editor by conspiring with both his boss and magazine receptionist 
Christina emigrated to the United States from Scotland and is one of 10 children; she is a seamstress who works at MODE magazine and calls her office "The Closet" because of the leftover fashion designs she has in her space, of which she uses to whip up new outfits from time to time. Christina would later find out that her workspace also served as a passageway to a secret hideaway for Bradford Meade and the late Fey Sommers.
Henry is an accountant on the 3rd floor for Meade Publications who catches Betty's eye. Although he was introduced in "
Alex Meade has been a background presence in the series since its debut. The former editor-in-chief of Hudson magazine, he is believed dead by the world at large. His example as an editor was held over 
Bradford Meade is a famous publishing mogul whose company, Meade Publications, publishes the popular fashion magazine MODE. He is also the father of 
Ignacio Suarez is the father of both Betty and her sister Hilda, and grandfather to Hilda's son Justin. Ignacio used to be an amateur boxer in Mexico and is known to be an excellent cook. Ignacio supports Betty in her job at MODE, even though both he and Hilda worry that she won't survive in the world of fashion. Betty, on the other hand, is more concerned about his well-being, because he has a heart condition and continually drinks caffeinated beverages. Also, while Betty attempts to get Ignacio an HMO provider, it appears that he tries to avoid them because of his illegal immigration status. He hides the truth about who he is, and uses the social security number and name of a person who, had he been alive, would be 117 years old.
Claire is/was