betty meets victoria but things do go as she expects. after a disastrous first meeting in which mrs. hartley mistakes betty for hired help, betty's determined to make a good impression at mrs. hartley's friday night shindig by going through what matt calls "the victoria hartley taste test" because of her criticism of matt's taste in girlfriends. through claire's advice, betty discovers that the topic to be discussed that night is torture, but thanks to victoria, who succeeds by separating both betty and matt by placing them at the opposite ends of the dining table, the topic has been switched to the future of opera. betty makes a nice save by drawing a parallel to fashion (complete with thoughts of these comparisons on the cover of "mode") and wows the guests.