‘Ugly Betty’: An uneven ending

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Let’s see who got what during last night’s ‘Ugly Betty’ season finale:

Daniel got a French son who inexplicably wears eye makeup. At least he thinks the kid is his son. (More on that later.)

Wilhelmina got her revenge, unseating Daniel and finally clinching the title of Mode editor in chief.

Hilda got herself a new (albeit married) man.

And so did Betty.

At least, we think Betty chose a man. If she did, we won’t know whom she picked until the fall. (We noticed, however, that she was not sporting an engagement ring, which points to a Gio victory. She can’t move to Tucson, right? Then again, maybe she packed those bags for a solo trip somewhere to figure things out.)

All in all, we were disappointed. But because ‘Ugly Betty’ has never disappointed us before, we choose to believe that the finale could have and would have been stronger had it not been interrupted by the writers strike. In spite of a bangin’ soundtrack, composed entirely of Madonna’s new dance-happy album, ‘Hard Candy,’ the whole affair felt somehow slapped together.

We like what’s going on with Hilda, who is still hurting after losing Santos and falling for someone she knows she can’t have. You just feel for the girl!

And we cheered out loud when Wilhelmina and Mark returned to Mode headquarters last week. Leaving us without Mark and Mandy moments for so long was just plain cruel, and Wilhelmina’s scheming has always worked best in the Mode building.

Only time will tell whether giving Daniel a kid will mean anything for the show. Something tells me the kid won’t end up being Daniel’s, in which case, throwing him in there during a finale seems like a lazy way to bolster the cliffhanger. And as far as the Mead clan goes, we are not at all happy with the news that Alexis will not be around much next season. She’s already been reduced to a one-note pain in Daniel’s side, which is a shame, as Rebecca Romijn has always exceeded our expectations. (Even in awful dreck like ‘Pepper Dennis.’)

And on the subject of one-note, what’s been done to Betty saddens us the most. In the truncated season, she’s lost some of her gumption. We’ve enjoyed her having a love life, and we’ve always been into the idea of the Henry-Gio love triangle. But Betty the career girl has almost vanished from the show. Her first article was published in last night’s finale -- but instead of reigniting her writing ambition, it served only as a metaphor for her need to take risks in her personal life.

Also, toward the ends of this season, Betty has been all about making excuses for Henry. In fact, both of the men in her life are only shadows of their former lovable selves, which in turn makes Betty seem that much less intelligent.

Now that he’s declared his love, Gio’s spunk and snap is gone. He’s now just a man hopelessly in love. Henry’s judgment has been called into question too, which is far worse because he’s always been Bett’y’s perfect match -- nerdy, smart and thoughtful in all the same ways as our heroine. With Charlie back in the picture, he became a helpless know-nothing, unaware of not only Charlie’s plotting but also Betty’s hurt feelings.

We’d been rooting for a showdown between the two guys, but now we’re hoping Betty chose ‘none of the above.’

Thoughts? Do we like what’s happening between Daniel and Alexis? Is Hilda headed for disaster? Anyone hope that Gio whisked Betty away to Rome? Or that she up and moved to Tucson? Let’s discuss below.

-- Denise Martin