Goodbye Ugly Betty

ABC closed the doors on the show Ugly Betty last Wednesday. After four witty and thought-provoking seasons, Betty said goodbye to America (literally). The show may have hit a creative wall, but all in all, it was well worth watching.

Whether it was raising awareness on issues like female body image in the media industry or mocking the frivolity of some fashion trends, it really made an impact on viewers' lives. It is hard to forget the gleaming contemporary halls of Mode magazine or the crazy schemes that Wilhelmina worked up in order to take over Mode.

Throughout the four seasons, the performances by America Ferrera, Mark Indelicato and Ana Ortiz kept audiences engaged. Ferrera made Betty a strong character regardless of her lack of traditional beauty. Indelicato wonderfully portrayed Justin as a gay teenager, who despite not coming out until the second to last episode, still gave us some great moments to look back at. Ana Ortiz's performed fantastically as Betty's older sister Hilda, who had to go through the pain of having her fiancé, Santos, shot in a robbery.

There was also a crew of memorable supporting characters like Daniel, Gio, Henry, Ignacio, Claire and Marc who kept the show amusing, if nothing else. These entertaining minor characters left us with great memories, like when high-maintenance snob Amanda (Becki Newton) gets a second job at a pizza parlor in order to pay off her financial debt. Remember when Lindsay Lohan did a guest-appearance as "Kimmie" Keegan, Betty's childhood nemesis and manager of Flushing Burger, who backstabs her way into a job at Mode.

Ugly Betty was sometimes pretentious, but in a good way. It was a reminder that real life exists, and it delicately folded in issues with its overzealous plot lines. But Ugly Betty was clever — in fact too clever to boot.

Ultimately, ABC killed Ugly Betty by moving it to the Friday night death slot. But in the end, it was a bittersweet finale. The writers left the show with an open ending in regard to the relationship between Daniel and Betty. It faded out by taking away the word "ugly" and just leaving "Betty," leaving what we all have known from the beginning: Betty was never ugly, inside or out.

Some classic quips are:

"I'm not the emotional type, but you can write yourself a nice note from me." — Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams), after Marc (Michael Urie) tries to give her a hug when he gets the junior fashion editor job