The Butterfly Effect Part 1

Plot

The story begins with a fantasy sequence in which we see Betty taking off her braces, but in reality it was just a dream as Betty tells Hilda and Ignacio that they will be taken off in a few months. Hilda also gets a photo op for Betty and Justin to mark their move up in the world. As Betty begins her day as features editor, she tries to adjust to not being an assistant but this is not working out as she meets her new office-mate, Megan (pronounced, MEE-gan) who gave her back-handed compliments. And during a meeting, Betty is ignored by Matt, who, as her new boss, hands over Betty's assignment to Megan. Betty also gets ignored by Marc. She discovers that Amanda is taking stuff from the Closet and though she is warm to Betty, she confesses that she has to pretend that they are not friends anymore, as a favor to Mark. This makes her miss he best -friend Christina even more. While she visits the sauna, she runs into Wilhelmina, who gives her a little advice: If she is going to move up, then it's time to change.

Unfortunately, Betty tries to win over everyone at work with muffins, but no one will accept them. After a pep talk from Claire while looking at Daniel's office, Betty catches up with Matt to see if he still has feelings for her, because it might have been the reason he took the job as Betty's boss. She then kisses him but Matt pushes her away and runs off. After that event, Betty gets a call from Daniel, who was being held face down at the airport as it turns out that he assaulted someone upon arrival. After she bails him out, Betty provides comfort to Daniel, who admits that he is still angry over Molly's death, while Betty confides her challenges at Mode. Daniel tells Betty about how people felt about her at work and even has a daily blog that criticizes her. This has Betty really upset that for the past three years that everyone has made jokes and comments about her. Daniel also helps Betty by giving her information that can help Megan's assignment.

Betty then goes to see the insect jewelry designer that Daniel tipped her off about. There she witnesses the amazing transformation of a butterfly from a caterpillar, a metaphor for her own change. But as she gives the idea to Megan, Megan accuses Betty of trying to steal it at first, but Betty eventually earns Megan's respect and the two seem to become friends. Betty also had a conversation with Matt, which thawed his coldness. Betty believes that things start to become better now that she is getting more allies. However, as Daniel returns to work, he lays down the law at the meeting by informing Matt that as long as he is editor-in-chief, he has the power to make changes, so he reassigns the project back to Betty. This did not set well with Matt, Megan, or any of the co-workers, making Betty a marked features editor and earns back her office mate's dislike.

At high school, Justin is discovering that freshman year just got interesting when he is embarrassed by a group of bullies, leading to his shirt getting stained on. However, when he returns home he tells Hilda about the incident. He then later seeks out Marc at work because he looks to him as someone who can understand him. When Hilda finds out his visit to Mode, she confronts him at home but still hides the real truth behind the visit, saying it was to replace a shirt and that Marc bought him another. The following day Hilda comes to Mode to thank Marc for buying Justin a new shirt, only to learn from Marc about what really happened. During lunch Marc tells Justin about what happened, and Justin is not happy about it.

Wilhelmina meanwhile is fretting about her future at Mode. That all changes after a meeting when Cal and Claire tell her that they want her to stay. She then tells Marc about why they might keep her, but Marc suspect something else when Wilhelmina began to tell him that she wants privacy, and he later tells Amanda at the Closet that she might be hiding Connor. Marc then heads over to Wilhelmina's apartment and to Wilhelmina's shock, she sees Marc talking to Nico. Marc also learns from Wilhelmina about Connor and her plans to retrieve the money he stole from Meade so she can take over the company. After Marc tells Wilhelmina not to keep anymore secrets, Wilhelmina then turns to Nico and asks her if anyone else other than Marc knew why she was at the apartment, and as we see the flashback from "The Fall Issue" where Wilhelmina dropped her glass and discovers Nico all covered in blood, it's apparent as to why Wilhelmina was keeping this a secret.

Production

In an interview with TV Guide, creator Silvio Horta noted that this season will take a different approach from Season Three, starting with this episode. When asked about the sudden changes, Horta replied "I think it's gradual; I don't think you see a huge transformation; it's a step. During the first two seasons, she was Homely Betty. Season 3 she was working at a fashion magazine, so she was inheriting some nice clothes, but she just doesn't know how to put it together. It was important to me and America that the change not come because someone says, "You need to change." I think the look is still her. Sure, she's never worn pants before, but she wears a butterfly pin. The trick is: How far do you take it?" He also revealed that the opening scene in this episode that was inspired from 2001: A Space Odyssey was his idea.