Switched at Birth Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Loved much of the finale, particularly Daphne's graduation speech. Strongly disagreed with the ending. While it made sense thematically, it just seems like an artificial engine for drama. I've got to believe it will come out eventually, and it just ties both characters up with court proceedings.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Season 4 starts in January, picking up where the summer cliffhanger left off, with Bay confessing to Daphne's crime to preserve Daphne's chances at med school.

But tonight, we got a Christmas special that seemed to exist outside the show's normal continuity. Angelo seems to have already passed away, but none of the consequences of that moment seem to have transpired yet -- or perhaps they've already happened and been long since resolved. Daphne isn't angry at Regina, Toby isn't sporting facial hair, and no mention of the pending legal battle.

Most shows couldn't get away with two takeoffs on It's a Wonderful Life, and I don't think this one was quite as powerful as John's vision of what would have happened if Regina had come forward about the switch. But because the very nature of the switched at birth scenario inspires "what if?" questions, the show was able to pull it off without repeating itself. Regina learning about the switch and the switch itself are both crucial turning points in everybody's lives, but as we see undoing them each has very different consequences.

After all of the drama of the summer run, it was nice to have a quieter story, with quieter moments of revelation. It succeeded at what the show excelled at in its earlier seasons, which is a character-driven story without a lot of artificial drama. And it served as a true Christmas story, because it was about being selfless and appreciating what you have. The whole blended family is more than the sum of its parts. These characters have deepened and been pushed to grow by this crucible of an experience. And while the episode didn't overemphasize the differences, finding moments where the characters we know shined through under vastly different circumstances, it was nice to have a reminder of just how far they'd come.