Things Fall Apart (Ugly Betty)
Encyclopedia
"Things Fall Apart" is the sixteenth episode in the third season, the 57th episode overall, of the American dramedy series Ugly Betty
, which aired on February 26, 2009. The episode was written by Henry Alonso Myers and directed by Tom Verica
.
Wilhelmina wakes to find Connor holding baby William. She wishes that they could just "live in this moment" and laments that they both have to go to work.
Betty and Marc's YETI assignment for next week: Do a presentation on their magazine's budget. Matt volunteers his help because he's got an MBA but Betty turns him down. Marc points out to a clueless Betty that Matt was asking for a date. He also teases her about what it will be like to return to the accounting department, since it will remind her of Henry. Sure enough, the new accountant gives them an update: Henry's just posted pictures on Facebook of him and his new girlfriend in Peru.
Justin advises Betty to channel her frustration over Henry into a project, so she buries herself in Mode's budget numbers. When the budget comes up short by several millions, she asks Daniel, who tells her to take it up with Connor or Wilhelmina.
Connor explains that corporations often move money from one account to another and that it's nothing unusual. Out of earshot, Connor, makes a call to his banker saying, "Looks like I might have to make my next transfer ahead of schedule." Connor suggests that he and Wilhelmina get away, and she thinks he's talking about a long weekend, but he's got something more long-term in mind.
Betty tells Marc about the budget discrepancy and he's skeptical that she caught something that all the real accountants didn't. Marc thinks it's all about her being jealous over Henry having a new girlfriend, and advises her to find a new guy. Betty decides to give Matt a call, but Connor interrupts, telling her he appreciates her "moxie." After multiple interruptions, she blurts out over the phone to Matt, "Do you want to go get a drink?"
Matt backs up Betty's suspicions about the budget as they chit-chat over drinks. When she gets a text message from Henry, requesting to be her friend on Facebook, she spills the whole story to Matt, who listens patiently. She decides to get going and he tries to stop her, so she tells him that she's not ready to see anyone right now. But he was simply going to tell her that he forgot his wallet! She offers to get some money from an ATM, but forgets all about Matt when she sees that she has an extra $100,000 in her account! She goes to ask her family's advice, and then finally remembers Matt, but only gets his voicemail.
He shows up at Mode to tell her it's fine since the bar started a tab for him. He knows she's not over Henry and she insists she is, but believes that dating a colleague is a bad idea.
Betty asks the Meade accountant to check on her account and it says that a "B. Suarez" authorized the transfer! She asks Connor if he knows what's going on. In the elevator, Connor implies that any one investigating the money transfer will believe that Betty did it herself.
She asks if he's responsible. Connor stops the elevator and looms over her threateningly. "I don't know why anyone has to know about stealing from the company. The way I see it, if you keep quiet about this, there's no reason that anyone needs to know about the money in your account," he says, adding that papers he had her sign implicate not just her, but Daniel as well. He warns her not to tell anyone else, and threatens he'll "ruin their life with a couple of keystrokes."
Connor goes to tell Wilhelmina everything. "I'm stealing from the company. I'm taking the money and I'm leaving the country and I want you and the baby to come with me." He confesses that he hates Daniel for taking Molly from him, but that he loves Willy now, not Molly. "When I found out about them, I came up with a plan to steal everything... I found a way to take all of their money and I want to give it to you. We could work for these people for the rest of our lives or we could be happy together." He's chartered a private jet that's leaving tonight and he wants her to be on it.
Wilhelmina confides to Marc that she's considering leaving the country with Connor. "Mode is your life," he tells her, and she insists it's her one chance at love. "If you had a chance to have all the money you ever needed and be with the person you loved for the rest of your life, would you do it?" Marc doesn't know what to tell her.
Betty informs Daniel of Connor's scheme and Daniel isn't sure whether to go to the police, so they call Claire. No one's seen Connor in hours, or Wilhelmina either, but Claire has more bad news, "As of noon, all of the Meade accounts have been cleared out. We're going to have to find that money, or this company is dead."
Marc's loyalties are conflicted, but he hands Betty the address where Wilhelmina is meeting Connor. "You didn't get this from me. If you hurry you can still stop her."
Daniel, Claire and Betty arrive at the airport to stop Wilhelmina. She tells them that if they thought she was running way with Connor, "You don't know me at all," just as the police, whom she called, arrive. But Connor's already gone. He calls to tell her he took an earlier flight and that he still loves her.
"He asked me to choose, him or my career," Wilhelmina sadly tells Betty. "You have to make choices. You can't have it all. You are a career girl just like me. You'll see."
Betty returns home to find Elena handing out presents from her trip to LA. Alone with her in the kitchen, Betty confides she might have just lost her job. She asks Elena if she ever had to make a choice between work and a personal life. "If I felt like that, I never would have met your father," she answers. Betty wistfully watches her father and Elena cuddling on the couch. She decides to accept Henry's friend request. Then she goes to find Matt at his usual bar, where she's just in time to bail him out from another cashless situation.
Molly is waiting at Daniel's office. He suspects she saw him looking at engagement rings, but she replies, "We don't have a future, because I don't have one. I'm sick. It's cancer. I beat it before and it's back." She insists she can't put him through what she put Connor through a few years ago, so she's going to go stay with her family. He begs her not to go, but she walks out. Claire, who witnessed the whole thing, comes to comfort him.
on Fox
and Survivor: Tocantins on CBS
, hit below 7 million for the first time, and had lost 3 million viewers since the debut of Season 3. It was the lowest result for Ugly Betty at that point, at 6.78 million.
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
, which aired on February 26, 2009. The episode was written by Henry Alonso Myers and directed by Tom Verica
Tom Verica
Tom Verica is an American actor and director, known for his role of Jack Pryor on the NBC drama American Dreams. He played Astronaut Dick Gordon in the HBO miniseries From The Earth To The Moon...
.
Plot
Daniel is sick and checks into a luxury hotel where he can be babied. Molly brings him soup and he complains that he's dying. She has something serious to tell him about but changes her mind, saying it can wait.Wilhelmina wakes to find Connor holding baby William. She wishes that they could just "live in this moment" and laments that they both have to go to work.
Betty and Marc's YETI assignment for next week: Do a presentation on their magazine's budget. Matt volunteers his help because he's got an MBA but Betty turns him down. Marc points out to a clueless Betty that Matt was asking for a date. He also teases her about what it will be like to return to the accounting department, since it will remind her of Henry. Sure enough, the new accountant gives them an update: Henry's just posted pictures on Facebook of him and his new girlfriend in Peru.
Justin advises Betty to channel her frustration over Henry into a project, so she buries herself in Mode's budget numbers. When the budget comes up short by several millions, she asks Daniel, who tells her to take it up with Connor or Wilhelmina.
Connor explains that corporations often move money from one account to another and that it's nothing unusual. Out of earshot, Connor, makes a call to his banker saying, "Looks like I might have to make my next transfer ahead of schedule." Connor suggests that he and Wilhelmina get away, and she thinks he's talking about a long weekend, but he's got something more long-term in mind.
Betty tells Marc about the budget discrepancy and he's skeptical that she caught something that all the real accountants didn't. Marc thinks it's all about her being jealous over Henry having a new girlfriend, and advises her to find a new guy. Betty decides to give Matt a call, but Connor interrupts, telling her he appreciates her "moxie." After multiple interruptions, she blurts out over the phone to Matt, "Do you want to go get a drink?"
Matt backs up Betty's suspicions about the budget as they chit-chat over drinks. When she gets a text message from Henry, requesting to be her friend on Facebook, she spills the whole story to Matt, who listens patiently. She decides to get going and he tries to stop her, so she tells him that she's not ready to see anyone right now. But he was simply going to tell her that he forgot his wallet! She offers to get some money from an ATM, but forgets all about Matt when she sees that she has an extra $100,000 in her account! She goes to ask her family's advice, and then finally remembers Matt, but only gets his voicemail.
He shows up at Mode to tell her it's fine since the bar started a tab for him. He knows she's not over Henry and she insists she is, but believes that dating a colleague is a bad idea.
Betty asks the Meade accountant to check on her account and it says that a "B. Suarez" authorized the transfer! She asks Connor if he knows what's going on. In the elevator, Connor implies that any one investigating the money transfer will believe that Betty did it herself.
She asks if he's responsible. Connor stops the elevator and looms over her threateningly. "I don't know why anyone has to know about stealing from the company. The way I see it, if you keep quiet about this, there's no reason that anyone needs to know about the money in your account," he says, adding that papers he had her sign implicate not just her, but Daniel as well. He warns her not to tell anyone else, and threatens he'll "ruin their life with a couple of keystrokes."
Connor goes to tell Wilhelmina everything. "I'm stealing from the company. I'm taking the money and I'm leaving the country and I want you and the baby to come with me." He confesses that he hates Daniel for taking Molly from him, but that he loves Willy now, not Molly. "When I found out about them, I came up with a plan to steal everything... I found a way to take all of their money and I want to give it to you. We could work for these people for the rest of our lives or we could be happy together." He's chartered a private jet that's leaving tonight and he wants her to be on it.
Wilhelmina confides to Marc that she's considering leaving the country with Connor. "Mode is your life," he tells her, and she insists it's her one chance at love. "If you had a chance to have all the money you ever needed and be with the person you loved for the rest of your life, would you do it?" Marc doesn't know what to tell her.
Betty informs Daniel of Connor's scheme and Daniel isn't sure whether to go to the police, so they call Claire. No one's seen Connor in hours, or Wilhelmina either, but Claire has more bad news, "As of noon, all of the Meade accounts have been cleared out. We're going to have to find that money, or this company is dead."
Marc's loyalties are conflicted, but he hands Betty the address where Wilhelmina is meeting Connor. "You didn't get this from me. If you hurry you can still stop her."
Daniel, Claire and Betty arrive at the airport to stop Wilhelmina. She tells them that if they thought she was running way with Connor, "You don't know me at all," just as the police, whom she called, arrive. But Connor's already gone. He calls to tell her he took an earlier flight and that he still loves her.
"He asked me to choose, him or my career," Wilhelmina sadly tells Betty. "You have to make choices. You can't have it all. You are a career girl just like me. You'll see."
Betty returns home to find Elena handing out presents from her trip to LA. Alone with her in the kitchen, Betty confides she might have just lost her job. She asks Elena if she ever had to make a choice between work and a personal life. "If I felt like that, I never would have met your father," she answers. Betty wistfully watches her father and Elena cuddling on the couch. She decides to accept Henry's friend request. Then she goes to find Matt at his usual bar, where she's just in time to bail him out from another cashless situation.
Molly is waiting at Daniel's office. He suspects she saw him looking at engagement rings, but she replies, "We don't have a future, because I don't have one. I'm sick. It's cancer. I beat it before and it's back." She insists she can't put him through what she put Connor through a few years ago, so she's going to go stay with her family. He begs her not to go, but she walks out. Claire, who witnessed the whole thing, comes to comfort him.
Viewership
This episode of Ugly Betty, which posted a 4.6/7 and came in third behind American IdolAmerican Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
and Survivor: Tocantins on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, hit below 7 million for the first time, and had lost 3 million viewers since the debut of Season 3. It was the lowest result for Ugly Betty at that point, at 6.78 million.
Guest starring
- Bernadette PetersBernadette PetersBernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
as Jodie - Grant BowlerGrant BowlerGrant Bowler is a New Zealand actor who has worked in American, Australian and New Zealand films and television.He is known for playing the role of Constable Wayne Patterson in Blue Heelers and also appeared as Wilhelmina Slater's love interest Connor Owens in Ugly Betty.In November 2010, he was...
as Connor Owens - Sarah LafleurSarah LafleurSarah Lafleur is a Canadian-born actress, most recognizable for her roles in Ugly Betty , The Mentalist , Grey's Anatomy , CSI: NY , Crossing Jordan , Without a Trace , Playmakers ; and the films Shall We Dance? , Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story and Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story...
as Molly - Lauren VelezLauren VélezLauren Vélez is an American actress of Puerto Rican descent and the twin sister of actress Loraine Vélez. Her most notable roles are as María LaGuerta on Dexter, Detective Nina Moreno on Fox's New York Undercover, and Dr...
as Elena - Daniel Eric GoldDaniel Eric GoldDaniel Eric Gold is an American theater, TV and movie actor. He attended Lee Strasberg's Theater Institute as a teenager, and went on to graduate from Penn State in 1996, with a degree in Theater Arts....
as Matt - Laura Heisler as Jenny
- Chris NorthropChris NorthropChristopher Scott "Chris" Northrop is an American actor known for portrayals of offbeat, eccentric characters such as Emo in Wildlife and euro-chic fashion magazine staffer Sven on ABC's hit TV show Ugly Betty...
as Blonde Modie