Episode no. Season 1
Episode 19 Written by Oliver Goldstick Original air date 19 April 2007 | Directed by Miguel Arteta Production code 119 | |
"Punch Out" (also known as "Why Do You Want to Treat Me So Bad?") is the 19th episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on April 19, 2007. The episode was written by Oliver Goldstick and produced by Miguel Arteta.
Contents
Plot
As the day begins, Betty frantically tries to keep Daniel focused on work, but as she makes phone calls to his home to ask when he was coming in, it appears that Daniel is more occupied with sleeping with women than with his job, as he has reverted to his old hard-partying ways. Betty also notices author Quincy Combs (Leslie Jordan) in Daniel's office, looking to dig up dirt about the Meade family, even after telling Betty about Fey Sommers' diaries. Betty tells Quincy that he is wasting his time but Quincy isn't buying Betty's threats.
Betty is also distracted by Christina, who shows off an invitation to a new night club that was given to her by Wilhelmina. Christina became worried that Betty is too focused on Daniel, so she hopes that Betty will loosen up with the invitation. But as we're about to find out, old habits are hard to break.
As Betty and Christina enter the club, Betty tries to loosen up but it's not working, even after a big guy (who claims to be from Cheboygan, Michigan) asks her to dance with him. However, Betty discovers Daniel at the same club she and Christina are at. She sees her boss and Becks partying and flirting with a young model, Petra, and her sister, Lena. After Betty sees this, she also thinks she sees Quincy, who called her for info on Daniel's whereabouts, only to discover that Quincy was never there after she tries to warn Daniel, even as to taking a microphone from the DJ booth. Daniel, upset over being embarrassed by Betty, blames her for controlling his life and causes Daniel to betray Betty in a big way as he chews her assistant out, saying that the only time Betty should be concerned with Daniel is at work. When Christina and Betty leave the club, as Betty questions Christina why she doesn't like taking compliments for her clothes shown at the MODE Fashion Show, Betty learns from Christina about her "deal" with Wilhelmina and how she got the invitation, which results in Betty ending her friendship with the only person she ever trusted at MODE.
Meanwhile, things go from bad to worse when Quincy stalks the Meades. As the other Meades deal with this new-found obstacle, Alexis schemes to get her hands on the diaries. Not to be outdone, Wilhelmina also hunts for them, as Quincy claims that the last six months of her life that were detailed in another set have not been accounted for. When Quincy confront Alexis about a secret dungeon that Bradford and Fey went for their secret trysts, Alexis decides to seek it out by looking at a blueprint of the Meade Building after Quincy shows her the passage from the diary. Alexis learns that the diaries hold a key to Bradford's treatment of Alexis, but as Alexis tries to call her dad in an effort to extend an olive branch, Wilhelmina succeeds in winning over Bradford by seducing him with her feet and learning his secret fetish, thus outwitting her former ally; it appears that Wilhelmina gave Quincy pictures of Alexis (before and after) in exchange for information on how to turn Bradford on. When Wilhelmina sees Alexis' name on Bradford's answering machine, she put it on voice mail.
As for Amanda, she's upset that Alexis would choose Nick over her, so she attempts to sway Alexis into hiring her. Alexis also asked Amanda about the dungeon that Bradford had kept hidden, but told her it doesn't exist. But as Amanda secretly visits "The Closet" to look for shoes, she accidentally opens a compartment that leads to the hideaway.
Meanwhile, Ignacio feels the heat when Constance pressures him to make their relationship a romantic one despite his non-attraction to her, knowing that her demands stands in the way of him obtaining a green card so he can stay in the United States. So despite warnings by Hilda not to go, Ignacio believes it's the only way he can see the lawyer that Constance hired for him. When he arrives to Constance's apartment, he discovers that Constance tricked him; she never called the lawyer and used this evening to lure him into marrying him.
Hours later, Hilda is visited by Ignacio's real caseworker, who happens to be a man! Hilda learns from him that Constance was fired two months earlier, prompting Hilda to go to Constance's place after she warns Ignacio. As she arrives and prepares to confront her, Ignacio tells Hilda that Constance isn't a bad person; she had her heart broken, so he decides not to turn her in and forgives her.
Back at Daniel's apartment, Daniel is having sex with Petra. But Lena comes in to drop a bombshell as Daniel finds himself in major jeopardy as he discovers that Petra is actually 16 and her "sister" Lena is actually her mother, who extorts Daniel into putting her daughter on the cover of MODE. Daniel finds himself wondering what he should do to get himself out of this situation, but when he calls Betty at home, Betty, upset over Daniel's actions at the club towards her, tells Ignacio to give him a message: she just "punched out".
Production
The episode's original title was Footloose and Meade-Free.
It is also the last episode that reurring regular Octavia Spencer appears as Constance Grady. Both Spencer and Leslie Jordan submitted this episode for consideration of their work in the categories of "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series" and "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" respectively for the 2007 Emmy Awards.
Reception
There were a lot of criticism from viewers involving the underage storyline as noted in a Q&A message to TV Guide's Matt Roush.