Sofia's Choice

"Sofia's Choice" is an episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on January 11, 2007. It is the twelfth episode in the series, which was written Silvio Horta, produced by Salma Hayek and directed by Jim Hayman.

Plot

The show begins with a scene of Betty desperately trying to get onto the closed set of the live filming of a television show to see Daniel. She was apparently told that she specifically was forbidden to pass, and guards carry her away as she screams to Daniel, who is about to go on television.

Then the screen flashes: 24 hours earlier...

...To where it all began, at MYW, where Betty, who just after settling into her new job and meeting another unattractive doppelgänger named Ruthie (played by Amanda's actress, Becki Newton), gets her first assignment from Sofia. She wants Betty to write an article about her experience of being an outsider at MODE. When Betty informs her that she doesn’t feel comfortable doing an article like that yet, Sofia breaks down in tears and tells Betty that she feels this is where she loses Daniel...just like all of the other girls. She informs Betty that this is her chance to make it big and that she needs to get over to Mode and get started on the article. When Betty leaves Sofia cuts the act and quickly wipes away her fake tears.

So Betty goes back to MODE to see Marc first and gets his feedback about his first impression of her when she came to work at MODE. He frantically cleans the office in preparation for Wilhelmina’s return. He shows her a screensaver collage that he has on his computer of his favorite Betty pics that make him laugh. Betty tells him that he had better delete all of those or she will tell everyone about his personal profile on a certain website. Betty goes to Amanda next for her article. Amanda tells her that she originally hated Betty for taking the position she had wanted as Daniel's assistant. Amanda then admits she has come to envy Betty's carefree ways. Amanda quickly comments, somewhat insincerely, that this doesn’t mean they are friends.

At the Slater apartment, Wilhelmina and Ted continue to become closer and progress with their relationship. Ted brings out an obviously different side of her that her employees never get to see until today. When Wilhelmina arrives at the office, everyone is shocked to see her in a good mood. She was even nice to an employee whom she had just fired. She tells Marc that Ted took her shopping at an outlet mall and she was able to shop right alongside of fat people. Later Marc brings a delivery for Wilhelmina to her office and almost faints when he opens it. Wilhelmina is thrilled to find a stuffed armadillo that Ted has sent her.

Meanwhile, at the Suarezes', Ignacio and his caseworker, Constance Grady, have a falling out. He tries to get a new one but she returns to his home and stresses to him that she can’t just be gotten rid of like a pair of socks. Hilda suggest to her father that he should try being nice to her and maybe start by getting her a small gift.

Back at MODE, Betty catches Daniel and informs him that Sofia was downstairs crying and that if he doesn’t want to lose her...he knows what he needs to do. Betty leaves MODE and grabs some lunch from a hotdog vendor. She sees Sofia exit a cab across the street and approach Hunter (her ex, who supposed to be in Europe). Betty hides behind the vendor and spies on Sofia while shoving down her lunch. She sees Sofia put some money in Hunter’s shirt pocket and hop back in the cab. Hunter then enters a male strip club (Called "Boylesque") and Betty runs back to MODE. Betty goes straight to Christina and tells her that she saw Sofia with Hunter and when she tells her about the bar, Christina suggests they investigate more since Christina is a frequent patron of the establishment.

Wilhelmina and Ted have lunch and she thanks him for the gift. She tells him that she is now focusing on the important things in life...versus "hemlines and heels." Ted informs her that he is carrying around a lot of baggage. She stresses that everyone has baggage, but that they can work through it. Wilhelmina goes to see the mystery woman (she brings photos of her and Ted, but our bandaged person is not interested as she throws them to the ground) and tells her that plans sometimes fail and that the attempt to take over Mode may not happen. She tells Wilhelmina that if she isn’t with her then she must be against her. Wilhelmina says to let the chips fall where they may and leaves.

Daniel takes Sofia to his father’s house to have dinner with both of his parents. Claire introduces herself as his alcoholic mother and takes Sofia away to see some of Daniel's baby pictures. They finally sit down to dinner and Sofia is shocked to find out that Daniel's brother had died. They begin to talk about her life growing up and she informs them that she wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in her mouth...and that they could barely afford plastic ones. They later retire to the family room and tell Sofia that sometimes a marriage can be awful, but when bad things happen you realize that you could have never survived it without your partner. Daniel’s parents get up and begin to dance...Daniel and Sofia follow their lead. Claire tells Bradford that she does like Sofia, but that she thinks that she is hiding something. Unfortunately, Claire's instincts were right.

Across town at the same time, Betty and Christina go to the strip club to find out more information about Hunter ("The 9") as he is known in the club. Christina gets sidetracked with all of the male dancers and Betty tries to keep focused on the task at hand. They finally get Hunter over to them and continue to tip him so that he will talk to them. Betty is startled to find out that Sofia hired him to play the part of her fiancé. Betty immediately calls Daniel to tell him the news but before she can get it out, Daniel tells her that he has just proposed to Sofia. He thanks Betty for their talk earlier today because it helped him make the decision. Betty can’t think of anything to say but "congratulations," and hangs up.

Wilhelmina makes plans for her and Ted to go to the opera. She notices his bag on the floor and she asks what is going on. He informs her that he talked to his ex-wife today and feels that he must try to work things out with her. Though obviously hurt, Wilhelmina tells him that they probably never had a real chance anyway (what chance would a roadrunner and an armadillo have?) and lets him leave. She then numbs herself and turns back to her old attitude (She even ran into the same guy she had fired and asked him why he was still there after she'd fired him). After she returns Marc tells her that Steve, the private investigator who was working for Bradford but turned out to be a traitor, called, and she goes to answer his message.

The next day at work when Betty approaches Sofia with her morning coffee, Sofia ask her where she got it..."Hunter’s crotch?" Sofia informs her that she hired Hunter because she had to keep Daniel on his toes so that she would not end up like the other girls. Sofia grabs her coat and tells her that she and Daniel are announcing their engagement on the air this morning. Betty insists that she will grab her things and head right down, but Sofia instructs her to stay there and finish the article about working at MODE. While on her way back to her desk Betty notices two of Sofia’s team members (Ruthie and a disabled person who describes herself as "Handi-capable") reviewing her latest article that has just been sent to press. Betty can’t believe the title, "Fling to Ring in 60 Days," which the ladies tried to shield from Betty after she asked to see the advance copy. Betty then grabs the article from them and the chase is on. With Ruthie on foot and the other on wheels (in a wheelchair), the two employees chase Betty all the way to the elevator. The doors shut just in time and Betty is safe to read the article. She is able to see all of the steps that Sofia recommends (to get a proposal in 60 days) in her relationship with Daniel in a series of flashbacks of Daniel and Sofia's interactions. Betty rushes over to Christina and tells her that it was all a lie and hands her the article.

Which brings us back to what happened at the start of the episode, as Sofia and Daniel are about to go live on the air when Betty rushes in. Security guards carry Betty out of the studio as she screams for Daniel. The show begins and Sofia tells the morning show hosts all about her new magazine. She tells them that she is also sitting there with the most notorious bachelor in Manhattan...and that she got him to propose to her in 60 days. Daniel squirms as Sofia holds up the article and tells the audience that they can do the same thing. Daniel admits that he was not aware that she was doing this, but that they have fallen in love. Sofia turns to Daniel and informs him that he is the one who has fallen in love. She takes the ring off and hands it to him. While all of Manhattan watches the television show, Sofia tells Daniel that she has to focus on her work right now.

After the show ends Daniel tells Sofia that he can’t believe she did this to him. She insists that this is how he has treated numerous girls. She informs him that she had to do it and that this is how she has gotten to where she is today. She tells him that for what it is worth, he was so much more than she thought he would be. Daniel leaves the studio in a total state of shock. Betty tries to stop him to convey how sorry she is, but he doesn’t even notice her there. Bradford stands by Daniel at his house and offers to fire Sofia, but Daniel insists that the stunt that she pulled will probably get him the biggest launch of any magazine he has ever had.

Sofia enters the office to thunderous applause from all except Betty. Sofia tells Betty that she does believe in her potential and that she sees a lot of herself in her. Betty hands her the article that she has written about working at MODE and tells her that at least the people that work at MODE don’t pretend to be what they’re not. Betty informs Sofia that she is nothing like her and tells her that she quits! Betty turns around and leaves.

Ignacio makes his caseworker's day by giving her a little gift. She hugs him ecstatically and tells him that she hopes to be seeing a lot more of him. Ignacio sits stunned on the couch as she leaves.

Amanda greets an unsuspecting Sofia as she gets into the elevator to leave for the day. When the doors close Amanda drops her cunning smile, and starts to give Sofia a vicious and brutal beating with her purse as the doors close and the elevator creeps slowly to its destination. Meanwhile, Betty goes to see Daniel at MODE, but Marc quickly informs her that he was last seen at JFK this morning and that no one knows where he is!

Production

This would be Hayek's last appearance in front of the cameras on Ugly Betty as Sofia. Although there have been rumors circulating that her character would return, producer Horta notes that the door might be open but there are no plans right now.^[1] Regardless, Hayek did not make a return appearance on Ugly Betty.

This episode featured Becki Newton in a dual role, playing Amanda and Ruthie. According to Horta, he told TV Guide that Ruthie will return in future shows.^[2] However, this was not to be.

Newton also provided the screaming voice of Marc when he sees the armadillo.

In addition, a scene featuring Sofia and Amanda fighting in the elevator and then later exiting afterwards was deleted from this outing. The scene was among the deleted outtakes featured in the first season DVD.

The website DudeCruise.com, which Betty mentioned in this episode, is a redirect to the official Ugly Betty website. This would be the first of several "websites" (set up by The Walt Disney Company) featured in the series that actually lead to the show, since the websites don't exist. The website mentions again in Secretaries' Day, when Wilhelmina and Marc at the Meade Building stairways, she admits that she was the one who hacks into his computer, and cancelling his subscription to the website, which angers Marc.

There was a filming error in one scene. When Marc is opening the package containing the Armadillo in front of Wilhelmina, the ribbon on the package appears and disappears between shots.

In the episode, Sofia mentions that Penélope Cruz wants to play her in a movie version of her book. In real life, Hayek and Cruz are best friends and even Cruz has admitted that she would like to guest star on the show one day.

This is the first of the very few episodes where the first act does not end on a close-up of Betty when transitioning to the title sequence. Instead, it ends on a close-up of Sofia.

Casting

Mark Indelicato, although credited, was absent from this episode.

Music notes

In the strip bar scene, the song played in the background is Michael Gray's 2004 Dance hit "The Weekend".

Ratings

The episode was watched by more than 13.5 million viewers in the United States, its third highest episode ever.^[3]

Awards

Alan Dale submitted this episode for consideration in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series" on his behalf for the 2007 Emmy Awards.^[4]

References

Also starring

• Judith Light (Claire Meade)
• Salma Hayek (Sofia Reyes)
• Octavia Spencer (Constance Grady)

Guest stars

• Brett Cullen (Ted LeBeau)
• Teddy Sears (Hunter)
• Andi Matheny (Female TV co-host)
• Nolan North (Male TV co-host)
• Lisa K. Wyatt (Woman in wheelchair)
• Kurt David Anderson (Production Assistant)
• Justin Scot (Editorial Assistant)
• Lorin Shapiro (Jersey Bachelorette)
• Blumes Tracy (Male Stripper)