[*Stacy*]

"Punch Out" Thursday, Apr. 19 @ 8/7c! Betty frantically tries to keep Daniel focused on work as he reverts to his old hard-partying ways, including romancing a multitude of stunning models. Things go from bad to worse when a tell-all writer (Emmy winner Leslie Jordan, "Will & Grace," "Boston Legal") in possession of Fey Sommer's diaries starts stalking the Meades. Another Suarez, Ignacio, feels the heat when Immigration caseworker Constance (guest star Octavia Spencer) pressures him to make their relationship a romantic one, and Wilhelmina and Alexis both try to get their hands on Fey's diaries -- but for different reasons.

If you go here you can see 2 clips from tonights ep. Should be great.


Oh and yay, a new ep finally!!

[Sheebs]

Can't wait!

[PringlesGal]

Yay New Epi Tonight!!!!!!!!!

[aydiamond17]

8 minutes to go! Yay

[Lost in Translation]

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd............. Ouch. Okay, I'm the first to admit I haven't been paying attention but I caught Daniel telling Betty to punch out and it hurt.

[london grammar]

The ending was so sad! Daniel was so mean to Betty.

[2Nickels]

What an amazing but sad Daniel/Betty episode! Can those two act or what?? Man they were amazing!!! Daniel was pushing her away & now needs her so much & she is going to try & pull away. The writers did a great job! Daniel was heartbroken when she didn't come to the phone.

[SpySyd]

Awww Eric and America really do have great chemistry. Daniel/Betty focused eps are always the best ones.

But I like that Daniel hasn't totally changed, it's more realistic.

[TalkingHead]

Originally Posted by SpySyd (View Post) Awww Eric and America really do have great chemistry. Daniel/Betty focused eps are always the best ones. But I like that Daniel hasn't totally changed, it's more realistic.

I have to agree with this. Those two actors have chemistry that I rarely see these days.

Funny...from all the rumors I heard about this episode, I expected to hate Daniel by the end of the night b/c of all the meanness. Surprisingly, I ended up loving the episode and not hating Daniel at all. In fact, I ended up liking Daniel and Betty more than before. Last night's episode confirmed how "real" everything is b/w them. I could totally relate to their relationship - they share laughs but they also have some bad times. They fight, and there aren't any happy endings by the end of the night. It was very believable how everything went down, especially b/c I think they both have a lot of learning to do - not just Daniel, but Betty, too. Sure, Daniel was mean and he needs to grow up, so it was great that Betty gave him the cold shoulder in the end. But this is good for her, too, because she needs to stop mothering him too much. Be his best friend, yes - be his guardian, no. He needs to learn to stand on his own two feet.

After tonight, I look forward to seeing more episodes centered around these two in the future.

[Starfield_Scribe]

*closes eyes* Don't wanna read anything 'cause I don't wanna get spoiled... Last night I ended up starting late with the tutor kid, so I got home after 8, so I haven't seen last night's ep yet, but I will later today. Until then... I don't wanna know what happens so...

[*Stacy*]

I love your thoughts Talking Head. I thought for sure i'd hate Daniel too, but the end I just wanted to hug him. He realizes what he said may have been harsh, but he definitely relies on her and I think that's what keeps bringing Betty back around to her mothering ways.

Hopefully this will teach them both. Also, I had no idea of the twist of the daughter. Should make for some interesting Daniel twists and turns.

[PringlesGal]

poor brtty and daniel i love this shoe daniel is really mean and now he really need betty... awww

[Veiled Vesta]

I guess I'll add my own thoughts on this episode, since this didn't get many posts. Could it be because this episode wasn't as "fun" as the others? Or my own theory: there was no Henry.

Anyway, I'll start with Betty and Christina: I was in complete agreement with Christina. Betty needed to get out and have some fun for once (and keep her mind off of the Meades. More on that later). I felt sorry for the guy Betty ignored at the club, but as soon as she saw the supposed stalker I knew it wasn't really him. And true enough, Betty made a complete fool out of herself. After that public embarrassment and the Daniel folly, it just wasn't a good time for Christina to tell Betty about the Wilhemina thing.
Despite Betty getting upset at Christina after her confession, I know these two will sort it out and become friends. After all, Christina didn't join Willi without a fight and when Betty calms down a bit, they'll talk it over (hopefully).

The Wilhelmina plotline: It's awful how she's stooped so low just to become EIC. Honestly with her brains and her ambition, she could just take a job in any other magazine and save herself the demoralization. While she's not one of my favorite characters, I did sorta understand why she was so angry that Daniel got her well-deserved position. This whole "seducing Bradford" idea is all kinds of wrong. (especially the foot-fetish thing)

Immigration Storyline (with Ignacio "Nacho" Suarez): I'm sure I'm not alone when I say thank goodness this storyline is over. The whole "crazy immigration worker is a stalker" angle got really tiring, really fast. But those crafty writers really had me sorta feel sorry for her in this last episode. Plus Hilda was awesome, and hilarious. I liked how she was ready to stand up for her dad and I really loved Ignacio being so forgiving in the end. Cheesy? Perhaps. Kind-hearted? Definitely. He and Betty are really two peas in a pod. I wish he were my dad!

Amanda, Alexis, and Marc: Not a whole lot going on but Amanda did provide the usual laughs (which this kinda sad episode needed), From her almost decent drawing of Betty to the crazy lengths she went to sabotage Alexis' assistant, Amanda was entertaining. But when she accidentally discovered the "love dungeon" and didn't even notice I just shook my head in disbelief. Oh, Amanda.

Last but not least, Daniel's spiral to rock bottom (again): Honestly I yelled at the TV when Daniel told Betty that little "Punch out" speech (which I realize now is the title of this episode!) So Betty does everything short of bending over backwards to help out Daniel and he pretty much says to leave him alone because they're only co-workers? Ifit wasn't for Betty he wouldn't still have the job and money to go sleeping around (with an underaged girl as it seems).
Which is why I said "I told you so" when his sleeping around came back to bite him in the... well you know.
I was glad Betty didn't go back to her old mothering ways when he called her once again for help. Tough luck, Danny-boy. I'm just surprised he was able to talk with his ankle lodged in his throat.

And with that, I'll say I'm looking forward to next week's episode. We get Henry back, we get proposals, blackmail and what I assume will be a very sorry Daniel.
Oh yes, now he needs her.

[MacGyverFan4Ever]

Hi! I'm new to this board, but not new to the show. I just wanted to post my thoughts on last night's episode, which I thought was quite good. This show really can be a little bit of everything - both comedy and drama. Yes - a dramedy.

Amanda and Marc: They were great as always. I think Amanda does deserve to be Alexis' assistant, so I hope she eventually brings Nick down. And I thought it was funny how she shushed Marc at the beginning of the episode. As for Amanda not noticing the dungeon? Well, I think there's a good chance that she'll find out about it again and use that to her advantage...

Ignacio and Constance: For a while now, Constance has been getting on my nerves. And whoa - I can't believe she lied for the past two months and got away with it! But after seeing this episode, I get where she's coming from - feeling unappreciated. I applaud Ignacio for being kind and understanding about the whole situation. It was a nice ending to their "twisted relationship".

Wili and Bradford: For the past few episodes, I've been hoping to find some reason to like Bradford more. I'm sorry to say that "Punch Out" only made me dislike him more, along with Wili. After everything that he put his wife through with Fey (especially now that Claire's in jail), I'd hope that he'd relinquish his bad behavior. Apparently not. I guess he's one of those men who abides by the saying, "When the cat's away, this mouse will play - as long as the cheese has feet."

Alexis: I'm glad she's trying to find ways to help out her mother, but I hope she reconciles with her brother. I enjoyed seeing Daniel and Alexis working together before, so I hope someday soon she gets to read his letter. I'd like to think that Betty still has it locked away somewhere...

Betty and Christina: I'm going to be frank here: When Christina warned Betty about getting close to people at Mode (i.e., Daniel), it was one of those hypocritical moments, especially since she herself had been lying to Betty. The good thing is that she finally told Betty the truth about her connection to Wili, so now that monkey is off her back. The bad thing is that Betty got slammed by another friend, which made me sad. I'm sure they'll reconcile later, but I'm not sure how easy it will be for Betty to open up completely to her again. I hope things b/w them get sorted out in time, though.

But yes, Christina definitely had a point in telling Betty that she needs to get her mind off of work and Daniel once in a while. She was the voice of reason there. Speaking of which...

Betty and Daniel: I don't ship any pair (not "Detty", not "Hetty", not anyone) when it comes to this show, so I won't speak in terms of romance here, especially since there isn't any to speak of yet. But I will admit this: Since the show's inception, it's obvious that Daniel and Betty have been the two most important (if not the most important) characters here. And in this episode, their story really took center stage, and rightfully so. For the first time, we saw a real fall-out happen b/w these two...and personally, I'm glad it happened. I'm not saying this because I want to see them break up. (In fact, as some have already mentioned, these two have some of the best chemistry I've ever seen, so it's always fun watching them together.) Instead, I'm saying this because I think they both needed a wake-up call.

I've read a few reviews, comments, etc. all over the place where people have derided Daniel for what went down in "Punch Out", and that's understandable. It was quite mean and callous of him to treat Betty that way. My heart most definitely went out to her; I truly wanted to give her a hug. However, I'm in agreement with the review of TalkingHead, which I think is spot-on: Neither Daniel nor Betty are perfect, and this episode illustrated that point really well. Daniel must take responsibility for his actions and he needs to fly solo once in a while. More importantly, he needs to start treating Betty as the friend that she really is. On the other hand, Betty must learn to pull away her "safety net" from underneath Daniel or else he'll never learn how to walk the high-wire on his own. And I'm sure she wants her good friend to become a stronger person, so really - this fallout was meant to happen. If not now, it would've happened later.

A long time ago, before my spouse and I married, I remember when we experienced something similar to Daniel and Betty's recent fallout, and let me just say: The experience only makes both people and the relationship stronger. In this case, I believe it'll be a positive step in their friendship with each other.

And yes - I think SpySyd brings up a good point: For me, the character of Daniel is more realistic in remaining flawed. That's not to say that I think he should be like this forever. He needs to grow up sometime, or else I'd really want to slap him. But this is only Season 1, and in terms of the show's timeline, Daniel's only known Betty for over 6 months. So, realistically, he shouldn't be completely reformed by now.


As for next week's episode, I'm looking forward to it. I'd like to see how Betty handles everyone around her. And I see Henry is coming back. I think it will be interesting to see what happens there. So far, I think he is a cute, sweet guy, but I hope the writers show us more to his character. I personally think that he's "one-dimensional" right now, compared to all of the other characters on the show. Everyone here has flaws, so I'm wondering what his are...

Sorry if this post is too long. I hope no one minds.

[wolfie woof]

^ Wow! Excellent summary MacGyverFan4Ever!