Ugly Betty: The Complete Fourth Season

Some TV series end too soon, leaving us panting for more, while others overstay their welcome, leaving a bad taste (and possibly a jumped shark or two) in their wake. Fortunately, ABC's Ugly Betty has done neither, bowing out just right with this fourth and final season (with 20 episodes, plus bonus material, on four discs) chronicling the adventures of young Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) as she navigates the world of high fashion in New York. When the third season concluded, one wondered if the show would continue to spotlight Betty's cutesy, quirky ways, including a fashion sense so extreme it could scare a blind person, and thus risk becoming redundant--or would we see her blossom into some version of grown-up normality? As it turns out, the answer is a bit of both. Betty is still well-meaning but often tactless and klutzy, someone who's adored by her family, pursued by boyfriends old and new, and, because she's honest and agenda-free, resented by her covetous, conniving colleagues at Mode, the magazine that employs her. But the character became steadily more confident and assertive through the years; she's an editor now, and by the end of season 4 she has made some major moves in her personal and professional lives. Other changes, though more superficial, are also more dramatic, including an extreme (and permanent) fashion makeover in the second episode and (warning: spoiler alert) the removal of her braces toward the end of the season. The people responsible for the show knew the end was coming, so while various story lines come and go in the course of this final season (as do guests stars like Shakira and Brooklyn Decker), most of the major characters' fates are resolved by the end, including the power struggle between Claire (Judith Light) and Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams); the future of Mode and its editor, Daniel (Eric Mabius); the dispositions of Betty's "frenemies" Amanda (Becki Newton) and Marc (Michael Urie); the romantic lives of Betty's family members; and more. As before, virtually every aspect of Ugly Betty--the sets, the props, the lighting, the clothes (of course), even the writing--is almost cartoonishly bright and colorful, sometimes quite beautifully so. And if you've never watched it before, fear not, as the "starter kit" bonus feature sorts it all out on the first disc.