Ugly Betty Episode 3.08 Tornado Girl

Hilda is crushed when her business permit for her hair salon is denied, so she decides to open an "underground, all-cash styling speakeasy."

Mode's "Fashion Storm" issue is delayed right before Daniel is scheduled to go away on an editors' retreat, so Betty offers to do the final print check in his place.

At the retreat, Connor asks for "bold" ideas to turn around Meade Publishing. Claire suggests that, for everyone to do their best brainstorming, Connor take everyone's phones and PDAs. So when a real tornado that looks far too much like their cover hits the midwest, Betty doesn't have the authority to pull the issue and she's is unable to reach Daniel or Wilhelmina.

Daniel is just thinking how lonely he is, when a woman falls out of a tree at his feet! She has a twisted ankle, so he helps her back to the lodge. When Connor identifies the woman as his fiancee, Molly, Wilhelmina is encouraged that Molly is "wonderfully ordinary." Daniel looks on wistfully as Connor carries Molly away.

With the deadline before the issue is shipped approaching, Betty has no choice but to go to the lodge in person. Marc insists on tagging along, and so does Amanda. Marc, who's been avoiding all talk of his upcoming wedding, borrows Cliff's car, and freaks out when Amanda finds receipts for two wedding rings in the glove compartment and the car goes off the road and Betty is left to make it to the lodge by herself, on foot. Stopping at a small market, she gets an inspiration when she sees a boy playing with a small wooden plane.

Daniel is just telling Claire about Molly when he looks up in the sky to see the words, "Daniel, call Betty!" Betty glows when he praises her ingenuity in preventing a PR disaster. So Betty is doubly shocked to see the original storm cover for sale on newsstands. There's a huge media sensation and Betty is publicly blamed for the cover fiasco and dubbed "Tornado Girl" by Suzuki St. Pierre. Capitalizing on the inevitable controversy was Wilhelmina's idea, which Daniel agreed to, but he now feels terrible that Betty is being blamed for the whole thing. "So what if some frumpy assistant gets her feelings hurt?" says Wilhelmina. " Taking the fall is what the little people are for."

Meanwhile, Betty is receiving angry calls from tornado victims. Marc cryptically tells her, "Powerful forces are arrayed against you," and urges her to go to Phil at the loading dock. "You didn't hear this from me, but it wasn't telling me to hold the issue. It was telling me to ship it," Phil confesses.

Ignacio does not approve of Hilda's illegal salon, and urges her to talk to Archie Rodriguez, the councilman who had told her she needed to get the business license in the first place.

Betty accompanies Hilda to see Councilman Rodriguez about getting her permit. "Lots of people have home businesses, there must be something you can do," she tells him.

Archie shows up at their house and tells her that there's a loophole: She can get a permit, as a boutique, as long as she also sells products and he has just the thing: He's brought over a box of candles for her to sell. "If you ever want a haircut, or a candle, you know where to find me," she says with a smile.

Betty can't believe that Daniel lied to her. "The only thing I have going for me is my reputation," she says. "And now I don't have that. Now I'm 'Tornado Girl.'"

When Betty thanks Marc for the tipping her off about the truth, she tells him that Cliff's "clearly had a good influence on him" and that he's a "very lucky man." Marc admits that he cheated on Cliff and that he only asked him to marry him because he felt so guilty. "I know you're a good person," Betty says, "But I also know that it really hurts when someone you love lies to you," and urges him to tell Cliff the truth.

At a press conference, Daniel can't take any more Betty bashing, so he admits that he was the one who authorized the cover. "I regret it, but not nearly as much as I regret watching my assistant, Betty Suarez take the blame. Wilhelmina feigns shock at the admission and Daniel announces that all profits from the issue will go toward tornado victims. He makes his way through a sea of cameras as Betty silently mouths, "Thank you."

Marc summons Cliff to the office to tell him that he crashed his car. "I thought it was something much worse," and Marc says, "Actually, there is something much worse," and tells Cliff to sit down. When he hears the truth, Cliff leaves the office in tears.

"Hey, 'Tornado Boy,' Molly says to Daniel and tells him she's impressed with how he's handled the scandal. "It's not every day that you see a big shot throw himself under a bus for his assistant." Wilhelmina overhears that Molly and Connor are going out to dinner to celebrate their anniversary, and orders Connor to stay late to "restrategize." Connor assures her it's not a problem and that he can reschedule.