| "Giving Up the Ghost" | |
|---|---|
| Ugly Betty episode | |
 Betty speaks at Bradford's funeral | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Gary Winnick |
| Written by | Charles Pratt, Jr. |
| Production code | 209 |
| Original air date | November 22, 2007 |
"Giving Up the Ghost" is the ninth episode in the second season, and the 32nd episode overall, of the American dramedy series Ugly Betty , which aired on November 22, 2007. The episode was written by Charles Pratt, Jr. and directed by Gary Winick.
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.(September 2015) |
Days after turning down Daniel's offer to return to work, Betty's subconscious manifests in the form of Bradford Meade's ghost, lecturing her for ignoring what he told her before he died, despite Betty's insistence that she is not ready to return.
At Bradford's funeral, Claire attends on day release from prison. Amanda ponders about whether she would be next in line to take over at the company, but Sheila, who arrived late and hears this exchange, tells her that two years as a receptionist does not qualify. As Betty is delivering a eulogy, Wilhelmina and Marc show up, hoping to make her last remarks. After Wilhelmina comments about Claire's prison uniform, Claire trips Wilhelmina, causing her to fall into Bradford's empty grave. Wilhelmina is fired by unanimous decision of Claire, Daniel, and Alexis.
Fumed by her termination from the company, Wilhelmina returns to her office at MODE to remove her belongings but before she goes, she deploys a computer virus called "Medusa X", which removes all files pertaining to the upcoming issue. When Henry notices the virus in his office, he calls Betty, who is helping the family plan their annual Christmas tree decorations at home, to inform her. As Betty returns to MODE for the night to help resolve the issue, she gives directions to Hilda, Justin and Ignacio on how the tree is normally decorated, although Hilda and Justin think that they should make changes to the tradition. However, the decoration goes awry when Hilda trips on a string of Christmas tree lights, knocking the tree over and setting it on fire.
While Daniel and Betty lead the effort to resurrect the issue with an emergency all-nighter work session, Wilhelmina and Marc interrupt to announce their new magazine, SLATER, and recruit many MODE staff. As Wilhelmina leaves, Marc tempts Amanda to defect, but she turns him down, thus ending their partnership.
In the all-night chaos, Daniel places Sheila in charge and in turn finds replacements to do new articles, with Henry being tasked with writing a food column and Amanda volunteering to write the "Hot or Not" section. Unfortunately Sheila is not happy about having Amanda on the team and Amanda struggles to impress her. When Amanda sees a pizza delivery guy's uniform, she finally comes up with an article, but as she shows off her design, Sheila scraps Amanda's article and condescendingly tells her that she should not try to live up to Fey Sommers' name. At the love dungeon, a distressed Amanda tells Christina that she hopes that when she finds her father, maybe she will know what type of talent that she might actually have.
Alexis takes on the task of getting the printers to extend their hours, but as she goes to the printer's office in an effort to charm him, she discovers that he has left the business to a dwarf-like successor, Harvey Milfree. After the two bicker and bluff all night, they end up discussing how both are "different" and how their fathers treated them. Once the conversation is over, Harvey agrees to keep the presses open, much to Alexis' delight.
The deleted magazine issue also erased the cover spread featuring Cameron Ashlock, a famous actress and singer who has been making a lot of headlines. Daniel and Betty go to break her out of rehab, and after much persuasion, they succeed in convincing her to do a reshoot. Unfortunately, that does not go as well as planned as Cameron goes ballistic on the set and demands alcohol, which Betty thinks is a bad idea. Daniel goes to confront Cameron but cannot bring himself to give her a drink, causing her to lose control and get escorted off the shoot. Unable to reshoot the cover, Daniel opts for a solid black cover in tribute of the late Bradford Meade with an "In Remembrance of Bradford Meade" theme. Betty and the staff are impressed with this cover as a way to honor the late publisher. Betty then tells Daniel that she will return to MODE permanently, and as Daniel walks away, she sees the spirit of Bradford one last time, who bids her farewell.
Later, at Wilhelmina's apartment, she tells the defected MODE staff that she will have the new magazine up and running soon. After they leave, Wilhelmina meets with her father, Senator Slater, to ask for a loan to get her new magazine established. He refuses, saying that the daughter he once knew and loved as Wanda has changed into someone else. After he leaves, Wilhelmina and Marc ponder other options on how to get the financial backing.
Finally, knowing that Christmas is a time for family, Betty buys a pink artificial tree to replace the burned-up one. As they finally decorate the new tree, Ignacio places the angel on top as a remembrance of his late wife.
The episode's original title was "Inherit the Sin", but was changed two weeks after it was announced.
The head of Bradford Meade in Betty's refrigerator was a parody of Friday the 13th Part 2 , where Jason puts his mother's head in the fridge before he kills the last survivor, Alice Hardy, from the first film.
This episode officially marked the final appearance for Alan Dale, whose decision to leave the series was entirely his own. "Ugly Betty has changed, because originally it was to be a drama with humour, and in the end it has become an hour-long comedy," notes Dale. "So I won't be with the show for very much longer, because my character doesn't do comedy, really." He went on to add that "They're going to go a different way, so I'll be moving on," Dale said. "But it's a fantastic show, breaking new ground, really. We'll see what happens next pilot season, but I'm surprised there aren't a lot more comedies just imitating it." [1]
The song played at the end of the episode is the Spanish Christmas song "Feliz Navidad", which means "Merry Christmas".
Wendy Benson, who played Veronica in this episode, makes her first recurring appearance in the series. Her next one will be in "Zero Worship". [2]
The episode received excellent praise, especially among the cast and performances. TV Guide cited Judith Light's Claire role in the funeral scene as her best yet, [3] while Entertainment Weekly 's Tanner Stransky cited it as one of the ten reasons for being thankful about this episode. [4]
The episode pulled in more than 7.49 million viewers in the United States, but came in 50th in the Nielsen ratings, the lowest so far this season. [5] 2.7 million viewers watched this episode in the UK, with a 9% audience share, ranking fifth place in its timeslot.
After Wilhelmina launches Slater, Alexis covers her eyes, Betty covers her mouth, and Daniel covers his ears, symbolising three wise monkeys.
Beatriz U. Suarez is the protagonist of the American comedy-drama series Ugly Betty. She is portrayed by America Ferrera, who won a 2007 Golden Globe Award and 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award for her portrayal of the character, as well as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the role at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards and was nominated again in the same category at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards. AOL named her one of the 100 Most Memorable Female TV Characters.
Wilhelmina Vivian Slater is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty. She is played by Vanessa Williams, who received a supporting actress award at the 2007 and 2008 NAACP Image Awards, a Best TV Villain award at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards and a supporting actress nomination at the 59th, 60th, and 61st Primetime Emmy Awards for her portrayal of the character. Her name is similar to Wilhelmina Cooper, a successful model who eventually established her own modeling company in the 1960s. In June 2010, Entertainment Weekly named her one of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years. In July 2012, she was on the #25 list of TV's Greatest Villains of All Time.
Daniel Meade is a fictional character in the American romantic drama-comedy series Ugly Betty. The character was portrayed by Eric Mabius.
"Trust, Lust, and Must" is an episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty. In the United States, Canada and Australia, it aired as the sixth episode, but is actually the seventh overall. Written by Cameron Litvack and directed by James Babbitt, the episode first aired on November 2, 2006. This episode will be executive producer Salma Hayek's first on-screen appearance on the series as a recurring regular outside her cameo from the telenovela scenes that appear on the episodes.
"Lose the Boss" is an episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on November 23, 2006. In the United States, Canada and Australia, it is the ninth episode but it's the tenth overall and was written by Oliver Goldstick and directed by Ken Whittingham. This episodes's title is a pun on a former ABC sitcom, Who's the Boss?, which starred Judith Light, who became a regular on this series.
Bradford Emerson Meade is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty, portrayed by Alan Dale.
Amanda Tanen is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty and spin-off web-series Mode After Hours. She is played by Becki Newton. Like Henry Grubstick, Amanda shares a last name with a real-life member of Ugly Betty's production staff — writer Brian Tanen.
Marcus St. James is a fictional character in the American comedy-drama series Ugly Betty and spin-off web-series Mode After Hours. He is played by Michael Urie.
"In or Out" is an episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, the thirteenth in the series overall, which aired on January 18, 2007. It was written by Myra Jo Martino and directed by Michael Spiller. The episode title itself is an allusion to the film with the similar name.
Claire Meade is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty, portrayed by Judith Light.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is the 18th episode of the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired in the US on March 22, 2007. The episode was co-written by Marco Pennette, Veronica Becker and Sarah Kucserka and directed by Tricia Brock. The episode's title refers to the United States' "Don't ask, don't tell" military policy.
"Secretaries' Day" is the 21st episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on May 3, 2007. The episode was written by Henry Alonso Myers and directed by Victor Nelli, Jr.
"Petra-Gate" is the 20th episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on April 26, 2007. The episode was co-written by Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman and directed by Paul Lazarus.
"Icing on the Cake" is the 17th episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired March 15, 2007. The episode was written by Dailyn Rodriguez and directed by Jeff Melman.
"A Tree Grows in Guadalajara" is the 22nd episode of the first season of the American television dramedy Ugly Betty. It was written by Tracy Poust and Jon Kinnally and directed by Lev L. Spiro. The episode was originally broadcast by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States on May 10, 2007.
"How Betty Got Her Grieve Back" is the season two premiere of dramedy series Ugly Betty. It aired on September 27, 2007. It is the 24th episode in the series, which was written by Silvio Horta & Marco Pennette and directed by James Hayman. The episode's title is a play on the book and film How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
"Twenty Four Candles" is the 14th episode in the second season, and the 37th episode overall, of the American dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on April 24, 2008. The episode was written by Veronica Becker and Sarah Kuscerka and directed by Michael Spiller. The title of the episode is a wordplay on the film Sixteen Candles.
"The Manhattan Project" is the first episode in the third season, the 42nd episode overall, and the third-season premiere of the American dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on September 25, 2008.
"London Calling" is the 18th episode of the fourth season of the American comedy-drama series Ugly Betty, and the 83rd episode overall. It originally aired on ABC in the United States on March 31, 2010. In this episode, Betty goes to London with Amanda and Hilda, where she meets up with Christina and Gio. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina joins the Alcoholics Anonymous in the hope of getting closer to Tyler.