Betty and Matt are hanging constantly, but she resists calling him her boyfriend. "I just don't want to put a label on it," she tells Daniel.
Archie, the local councilman, is making a habit of stopping by the Suarezes. Elena and Betty tell Hilda it's because he's sweet on her, but Hilda dismisses him as "nice, but missing something."
Now that they're back together, Daniel babies Molly, telling her to stay home instead of go the park."I have cancer, Daniel," she reminds him. "It's not like a bowl of soup and a nap and I'll be over it." But she agrees to stay in and skip the park.
Mode has lined up a big-name photographer to do an exclusive photo spread, but he walks out when they ask him to take a fee cut. "If you have the money, I'll sign the contract and if not, sayonara." Daniel offers to pay for it out of his own pocket and Wilhelmina insists on playing half.
Betty arrives at Matt's palatial family digs to meet him, but meets his mother, Victoria; instead Mrs. Hartley is back early and mistakes her for "the help." She's surprised to learn that Betty is dating Matt. Betty chews out Matt for leading her to believe his mother was "dying to meet her." He insists he wasn't hiding Betty from his mother, but the other way around. "She's judgmental and controlling," he says of his mother, "and no one I date is ever good enough for her." She insists that it matters that his mother likes her and wants to meet her again, properly. Matt invites her to join him at his mother's that Friday night for a formal dinner party. Amanda, having peeked into Betty's appointment book, congratulates her on the Hartley party invite and assures her, "A few more moves and you'll be in the gold-digger hall of fame." Betty insists that she doesn't care about Matt's money.
Willi gets her jewelry, furs and other valuable items appraised and assures Marc that a few "short-term cutbacks" will pay off down the road. The buyers assure her that they're very discreet but gossipmonger Suzuki St. Pierre gets wind of her financial crisis. The office cutbacks mean that instead of caviar and champagne, Willi has to make do with almonds and seltzer water. Marc reminds her that she wanted to make sacrifices.
Daniel lands an appointment for Molly with a prestigious doctor who's beginning a new clinical study that can offer a "small chance" of success. Molly wants a few days to think about it but Daniel insists they want to sign up. Daniel wants to celebrate his and Molly's future, but she asks if he's even read about some of the terrible side effects of the treatment plan. "There's only a 10 percent chance," she says, "and with my history, it's more like two percent." She insists, "There is no future. This, right now, is our future."
"I'm dying," she tells him but he refuses to give up on her. "I know how I want to live the rest of my life and it's not like this," she says.
Claire advises Betty how to prep for Victoria's party and warns her that they'll likely be a "topic" for the dinner party and they get the info from one of the maids. Betty is thrilled that the topic is "torture," because she's just read an article in the New Republic about that very subject.
Hilda is less than thrilled when Archie is the surprise guest at dinner. Ignacio and Elena thrill to Archie's stories, while Hilda is noticeably indifferent. Elena summons Ignacio and Justin to the kitchen to leave Hilda and Archie alone. Archie makes a joke and the two laugh over how awkward the set-up is. Hilda realizes that Archie just might be her type after all, and when he asks her out, she says yes.
When the auction house arrives to pick up Willi's things, Marc finds her on her bed, surrounded by the prized possessions she's planning to hand over. She laments that these things are not just "luxuries, these are who I am," but bites the bullet and sells them all.
Betty has a mishap with an appetizer at the dinner party -- a missing mushroom cap ends up on the prized painting Victoria unveils to the guests! To save Betty, Matt says he's to blame. Victoria still has harsh words for Betty, telling her, "I guess you bring out his... playful side."
Victoria insists that Betty sit apart from Matt at the dinner party. She issues another setback for Betty when she announces that the topic is not torture, but "The Future of Opera," and calls on Betty for her opinion. Betty falters, until she hits on the idea that "Opera is fashion." Her analysis is so winning that a writer asks to use it in his next column.
After dinner, Victoria rattles off Matt's attributes -- he went to Yale, he speaks three languages and plays the piano -- and asks Betty, "What exactly do the two of you have in common?" Victoria spells out the situation for her, "I hope you enjoyed your meal tonight, but I don't think we'll be seeing you again." Betty, who thought she'd impressed Victoria, is crushed.
Matt finds Betty getting her coat to leave and tells her not to worry about what his mother said. Victoria comes in to let him know that dessert is being served and Matt tells her, "I'm leaving with my girlfriend."
Daniel and Willi meet with the photographer to secure the deal. As they both write checks to cover their half of the fee, Daniel tells Willi that if she thinks he's always trying to "muscle her out," she's wrong. "Life is too short," he tells her, adding that Molly is determined to live life on her own terms, "Even if it kills her."
Willi swears she's going to do the same, telling Marc that she's going to live life to the fullest, saying she can live without furs, but not without her caviar and champagne.
Claire advises Betty that she's never going to win over Victoria and that she needs to stand her ground. The next time she sees Victoria, Betty tells her, "I'm not going anywhere."
Daniel tells Molly he's going to treasure every day they have together, whether it's playing in the snow or riding the subway all day, whatever she wants to do.
