Narrative

The episodes tend to a start with a recap of the previous episode and they all usually end with a resolution for the small problems which occur (the day to day tasks and problems), so ‘Ugly Betty’ does follow Todorov’s narrative structure. However, all the major problems are usually continued on to the next episode leaving the ending with a cliff-hanger.
The audience are positioned as outsiders looking in on what’s going on in Mode building or in Betty’s home. Occasionally, the audience are sutured into the narrative often taking a characters role and seeing things via their perspective. For instance, when the audience are placed in Daniel’s shoes when he is describing this geek girl to Betty and Betty is looking over at him (shown via a medium shot and a low angle). We the audience and Daniel see that Betty is being described and we along with Daniel get the reproaching look. There is also much dramatic irony as the audience knows the schemes and scans going on yet the characters do not.
The two separate categories of hero and villain is broken down in ‘Ugly Betty’ as - clearly Wilhelmina the villain is shown to be manipulating and she is much alienated via the shots used to show her. She is the villain as she is the one that creates obstacles for Daniel. Despite this, we are shown that she has a daughter and a softer side of Wilhelmina is revealed. Looking at her poor relationship with her daughter, the audience feel sympathetic towards her, and high angles shots are used while the camera moves away from, making her seem even more isolated. We are shown that she has no one which increases our sympathy.
However, a clear hero role has not been established. On one hand, Daniel can be viewed as a hero as although he makes mistakes, he is shown to be a good character. On the other hand, Betty can be viewed as the heroine because she saves the day and resolves all the problems. She is the main character and we sympathize with her more than any other character.
The sound, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene are all vital in allowing the narrative to flow and make sense.