Ugly Betty (season 4)

Cast

Most of the main cast from the show's third season returned for the fourth season, with the former main character Christina McKinney (played by Ashley Jensen) making a guest appearance near the end of the season. Daniel Eric Gold was promoted to the main cast as Matt Hartley, having appeared in a recurring capacity during Season 3. Yaya DaCosta took over the recurring role of Nico Slater, who was played in the first season by Jowharah Jones. Before the season began, Max Ehrich, who played Justin's classmate Randy, reported on his Twitter account that he would return on a recurring basis, but this turned out not to be true.

Some guest stars gave hints to what viewers could expect. For example, Kristen Johnston revealed that she would be playing a character called Helen. She has said that she will be like Amanda in her later years in a tragic way. Johnston made three appearances in this role during this season.

Shakira played herself in a cameo role in "The Bahamas Triangle", in which she helped to get a Mode photo shoot back on track. Throughout the series' run, Shakira had been referred to on a number of occasions by various characters.

The fourth season saw guest appearances by the brothers of two of the show's stars. Becki Newton's brother Matt took on the recurring role of Marc's new boyfriend Troy, and Vanessa Williams's brother Chris landed an appearance as drag queen "Wilheldiva Hater", whom Wilhelmina enlisted for another one of her schemes.

Plot

As the series enters the fourth season, Betty is finding her new job as Mode's associate features editor a challenge now that Matt is her new boss. At first, Matt treats Betty cruelly because of his jealousy of Henry and is upset that she still looks up to Daniel. After he ruins Betty's chances to land an interview, Matt begins to realize how unfairly he is treating Betty. At this point Betty decides that she wants to be friends with Matt. Unfortunately, some obstacles await them when Amanda also falls for Matt. Knowing that dating Matt could break Betty's heart, Amanda takes a risk to get Matt to notice her. When Betty finds out, she confronts Amanda, who confesses. After a short fling, Amanda realizes that Matt is still in love with Betty, so she drops him, leaving him free to return to Betty. When Matt begins to suspect that Betty is pregnant, he almost jumps at the chance to be a father, but Betty isn't ready to be a mother. After the pregnancy test turns out negative, they both feel relieved. However, Betty and Matt soon part ways, leaving Betty a single woman, especially after Henry fails to show up as Betty's date for Hilda and Bobby's wedding and finding out that Gio is engaged to another woman and has moved on. This paves the way for Betty to accept a job in London and resign from MODE. Although Daniel initially takes it hard by burning her release contract and refusing to go to her farewell party, he eventually lets Betty pursue her chance to move up by taking the London job.

Amanda also meets a temp named Helen, whose life seems to copy hers. After giving up Matt, Amanda also ends up sleeping with Daniel once again. Amanda buries the hatchet with Claire over Fey's death, and also discovers her desire to become a stylist, resulting in Amanda quitting her receptionist job. She also finally meets her father, Spencer Cannon, after she tries to set him up for a date with Marc.

At the start of this season, Wilhelmina searches for Conner across the globe. She first finds him in Bermuda, then learns that he died in Panama, only to discover that he is alive in the Bahamas. After a passionate and intimate time together, Conner is caught by the FBI and lets Wilhelmina take the credit for his arrest. The two continue their romance behind bars, thanks to Wili's secret visits, and the two come up with a scheme to retrieve the stolen money so Wilhelmina can buy the Hartleys out of Meade Publications. Wilhelmina faces bigger problems when Nico gets involved in a "murder mystery", only to eventually discover that Nico and her boyfriend Jonathan are trying to blackmail Wilhelmina out of revenge. A furious Wilhelmina throws Nico out and tells her not to return. Wilhelmina then turns her attention to Claire's illegitimate son, Tyler, by using him as a pawn against Claire. However, things do not go as planned, leading up to an emotional showdown resulting in Tyler accidentally shooting Wilhelmina, leaving her in a coma. Wilhelmina and Connor became a couple again and Wilhelmina is returned to Editor-In-Chief after Daniel's resignation to follow Betty to London.

The start of the season sees Daniel trying to come to terms with his feelings over the loss of Molly, usually manifesting in aggressive behaviors. Betty eventually intervenes and he seeks help at a bereavement group, where he meets a woman named Natalie. The relationship gets a lot stranger when Natalie invites Daniel to join the Community of the Phoenix, a cult-like group led by Dylan Bennett. Natalie manipulates Daniel into turning on Betty, Claire and Amanda by maintaining they are bad influences. This prompts Betty and Claire to take action to save Daniel after the group takes over the Mode offices. They get the break they need when Matt warns them about "Level 7" where the Community of the Phoenix helps people contact the dead, a process that has already resulted in the death of a former member who drank drugged tea. Although Betty and Claire save Daniel, his attempts to talk Natalie out of the group are unsuccessful. Daniel then turns his attentions toward getting Cal Hartley out of the way, now that he knows about Cal's affair with Claire and his risky decision-making behind Daniel's back. Daniel forms an unlikely partnership with Wilhelmina to retrieve the money Connor stole, but only on the condition that Claire never finds out. Daniel also learns that despite being friends with Betty, it is revealed that he has had feelings for her all along and becomes upset when Betty takes the London job. As a result, Daniel resigns his Editor-In-Chief job to follow Betty to London, where he contemplates submitting his resume for a position as Betty's assistant.

Claire's affair with Cal, and the fallout with Daniel after he walks in on the two, prompts Claire to find her son Tyler, whom she gave up for adoption. She buries the hatchet with Amanda, who is essential in helping her re-establish a bond with Tyler. Claire decides that it is best if Tyler were to never find out about her, however Tyler starts to become suspicious after Claire leaves a $2,000 tip and an envelope with her name on it. Tyler shows up in New York City and learns the truth, however it takes him a while to warm up to Daniel, especially since he begins to date Amanda who was formerly involved with Daniel. When Claire learns that Tyler is an alcoholic and plans to get his hands on the Meade-Hartley fortune, Claire tells him that she will cut him out of the fortune, prompting Tyler to steal Wilhelmina's gun and confront Claire. But Wilhelmina discovers his plan and races to warn Claire, though the situation culminates in Tyler shooting Wilhelmina, placing her in a coma. Upon her waking, Wilhelmina claims the gunshot as merely a self-inflicted accident, protecting both Claire and Tyler from the authorities and essentially burying the hatchet between Claire and herself.

After failing to get into performing arts school, Justin attends a public high school where he is teased for his flamboyant fashion. With Marc's help he gets in with the cheerleaders, where he finally seems to fit in until he falls victim to a prank at the school's homecoming, where he is crowned homecoming queen. He accepts the award, only to later stun his family and Marc by telling them he is simply playing along with the joke and is not gay. Justin does not reveal his sexual orientation until he becomes best friends with Austin, who kisses him after realizing his feelings for Justin. They soon after became an item.

Marc seeks revenge on Betty after being denied the job of features editor, but later gives up after the two learn about the coin toss. Marc also ends up being hired by Daniel after feeling mistreated by Wilhelmina. He also finds a new partner, Troy, who turns out to be a Mode employee with a long-standing crush on Marc, of which Betty knew about for a while. Although Cliff does appear briefly, Marc realizes that his heart is with Troy and ends his relationship with Cliff. He also eventually succeeds Betty as senior fashion editor after she leaves for the London job offer.

At the start of the season Hilda is still in a relationship with Archie, but not without some surprises. The first comes from her attempt to e-mail a private photo to Archie, only to hit "Reply To All." Archie has to play damage control, but at the same time thanks her for saving his campaign. Then a former flame, Bobby Talercio, returns to woo Hilda even though Betty also has feelings for him. Bobby's feelings for Hilda have her conflicted over her feelings for Archie. Unfortunately, Hilda ends up sleeping with Bobby and becomes pregnant. In the end Archie chooses to end the relationship, but only because he wants Hilda to find someone who will be there for her. While Hilda and Bobby end up becoming engaged and married, they have a setback when Hilda loses the baby.

Following Elena's departure, Ignacio finds another girlfriend, Jean, a pharmacist of Jewish descent. He invites her over for a multi-cultural Christmas/Hanukkah dinner, which she enjoys. Because of differences in their religious background (the Suarez are Catholic, while Jean is devoted to her Jewish faith), Jean has yet to tell her mother about the relationship. Unfortunately, this relationship does not survive. In the season finale, Betty moves to London, while Hilda, Bobby and Justin plan on moving out of Ignacio's home to Manhattan.

DVD release

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment release of Ugly Betty Season Four, subtitled "From Poncho, to Honcho", would be August 17, 2010 in the United States and Canada. All 20 episodes were included in the set, along with additional bonus tracks.

Among the features:

UK Ratings

The fourth season was broadcast on Wednesday nights at 9 pm on E4, and an hour later on E4 +1.

^aViewers in thousands.
All viewer figures and weekly ranks are from BARB.

Production

Production for the fourth season began in July 2009. The cast headed to The Bahamas in October 2009 to shoot the episode "The Bahamas Triangle" on location at the Atlantis Resort and Casino. The series wrapped up filming in April 2010.

Scheduling

ABC announced that starting with the fourth season, the show would move to Friday nights starting October 16, 2009 (pushed back from the original date, October 9). Citytv aired the fourth season to Canada at the same date and time slot as ABC when the show aired on Fridays. Once the Wednesday move was finalized, Citytv (in Ontario and Alberta) was unable to accommodate the show for Wednesdays (due to a scheduling conflict with The Jay Leno Show) but can still be seen on Omni Television (OMNI 1). In Winnipeg and Vancouver, its Citytv stations there continue to air the show, but at an earlier time slot than its ABC broadcast.

Due to the cancellation of The Jay Leno Show, Ugly Betty returned to Citytv in Canada in March 2010 and aired Wednesdays at 10 on Citytv, the same time as it did in the USA. Rumors have come out that because Eastwick has been canceled, Ugly Betty may be moving to Wednesday nights after Christmas. ABC says that moving Ugly Betty to Wednesdays will complement their hit sitcoms Modern Family and Cougar Town. On December 2, ABC confirmed that Ugly Betty would be moving to Wednesday nights after Christmas, due to Eastwick's cancellation. But this move did not improve the ratings and on January 27, 2010 ABC announced that it was cancelling the series. However, it did allow the show's creators to give the series a proper ending. Although the series has finished its run on TV, there is the possibility that some of the completed storylines might have left hints that it might become a blueprint for a film.