Friday, March 16, 2012

Switched at Birth: Emmett & Simone Feel Guilty...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

"I'm not sure you should have writer's block when you've actually lived the story." This statement really made me think. As someone who has done a decent amount of writing about my personal life, it's not that I don't know what should happen next in a section, per se, but sometimes I stop to think about how a story should be told or what I should take out or leave in. So, I don't know that Kathryn was really suffering from "writer's block" in that moment so much as an editor's challenge of sorts. Anyway, that's still just a minute point. Let's look at a more ongoing problem... poor Daphne feels short-changed yet again, realizing more and more what she missed out on by having a struggling single parent instead of an upperclass upbringing. And, who could blame her? While there's no doubt that she loves Regina, it's hitting her harder and harder that life isn't fair. And that sucks. What's another unfair thing? What Emmett and Simone did to Bay and Toby. And this episode was just full of double entendres that go over the heads of the Kennish siblings, particularly Bay. While it seems right now that both Emmett and Simone will keep quiet about their intimate night, it only takes one of them to crack before both Kennishes will know. Plus, now that Wilke is in the loop, he's got to keep it quiet from his girlfriend and his best friend as well. I was originally thinking that Emmett may indeed end up staying silent about it, but there are too many people involved now for this to stay a secret...

Switched at Birth "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" (S01E21): Emmett goes to Bay's and apologizes for yelling at her over the phone, saying that he doesn't want to lose her. [we know that he's just feeling guilty after sleeping with Simone.] He asks her to a birthday dinner, just the two of them. [but we don't actually see this date.] Later, when the couple is making out, Emmett keeps flashing back to what happened with Simone, and Bay begs him to tell her what's going on. [think he'll tell her about Simone?]

Daphne wants to get Emmett an Italian movie poster for his birthday, but Bay says that they should make a deaf horror film of their own, because Emmett and Daphne wrote a script long ago. [ha! remember writing movie scripts with your friends when you were eight or ten years old? that was fun!] The whole family gets involved, with Toby doing the music, John getting the costumes, Kathryn getting props, providing food, and bringing in a makeup artist, and Regina doing hair. [Kathryn really outdoes herself, if you ask me!] Bay tries to borrow some AV equipment at school, but Simone already has it checked out. Luckily, because Simone is also full of guilt, she lends the camera and whatnot to Bay without a fuss. [I don't like that Bay was even told who had it checked out, as she shouldn't have that information as someone who isn't even qualified to use such equipment!]

But, when they start filming, they run into problems, as nobody there has worked this type of camera before. [of course!] So, Toby calls Simone to help. [and, full of guilt, she comes.] Simone proves to be useful, even utilizing a stroller to get rolling shots. [why do the Kennishes still have a stroller??] While this is going on, Kathryn and Regina go to Angelo's old apartment to meet with a PI to go through some of the things the felon left there. [I was hoping they'd find something juicier than an old phone and some photos!] Back at the set, Wilke uses Simone's phone as a
ABC Family / Eric McCandless
prop and realizes what happened between her and Emmett when he sees the text she left up. Melody also learns that "something happened" when Emmett tells her that he "made a mistake with another girl." While Wilke is shocked and angry at Simone (who just tells him to "let it go"), Melody tells Emmett that he doesn't need to tell Bay if it'll only make things worse. [how do you feel about Melody encouraging her son to possibly keep this from his girlfriend? I can't say I'm a fan. Of course, I was surprised that he admitted any of it to his mother in the first place...]

Speaking of making things worse, Regina has to leave AGAIN when she's offered a shift at the salon. Daphne feels short-changed, but there's nothing she can do about it, other than letting it add to her realization that she missed out on an amazing childhood - earlier in the episode she learned that the Kennishes have an aviary (never used because Bay didn't like the idea of "putting birds in jail") and Toby and Bay put handprints in the cement - memories that could/should be hers. [that sucks. I've felt bad enough not having the vacation memories that friends had as children... I can't imagine how likely I'd be to kill myself if I found out that I should have gotten those same opportunities!] When Regina returns, filming is over. Daphne asks Regina why she was never told about the switch, and Regina says that she couldn't handle telling the story. [...and now it makes sense why Regina doesn't want to write about it, either.] This isn't Daphne's only disappointment, though. In continuing to teach Wilke some ASL (like raising your eyebrows to indicate a question and putting the main topic of the sentence first), he just doesn't seem to care much, completely ignoring that it is Daphne's primary means of communication. [this kid is killing me. I also thought he could have been more attuned to Daphne's sadness when filming wrapped.] Luckily, Daphne seems to be able to put it all behind her in a scene where she and Regina use the Kennish pool for the first time. [I guess this was a good way to end that storyline? Though it seemed a little forced when you think about Adriana's earlier comments regarding using the luxury they have available...] 

And, onto our final plotline... Kathryn again asks Regina again if she'll write part of the book, but she says that the answer will always be "no." [awww...] Kathryn gets the first chapter of Sarah's book, and after great hesitation, decides to read it. [I couldn't believe her wavering on this! I can't imagine not wanting to know what I'm up against!] She becomes furious at John when she learns that Sarah knew about the miscarriage the Kennishes suffered between Toby and Bay/Daphne. [awww. sad. and geez... they must have wanted their children REALLY close together!] John had always claimed that he and Sarah only talked sports, so Kathryn can't believe that he'd share something so private with Sarah. [I've never been a fan of Sarah, but now I'm really a hater.] This whole situation leads Kathryn to apologize to Regina for trying to tell her story, as she now knows what it feels like for someone else to share it. Turns out, this was just the push Regina needed, as she'd rather have her own perspective published if her dirty laundry will be out there anyway! [well, this pretty much closes this up for a while. At least, until Regina's writing turns out to suck and need serious editing...]


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice summary

sophiemarine said...

Thankyou :-)