Switched at Birth - Page 2

I thought they played it just perfect though; a fine and community service.   But I found the entire way it was handled to be incredibly well done; yes he got caught and was being punished - but it wasn't over the top, it wasn't turned into some brutal thing.   It was just the catalyst - and it reminded us that for all their differences, he and Bay have a real, natural kind of connection that can't be easily replicated.

Pulling off onscreen chemistry is difficult for actors, no matter their age or their skill; it can come off as false and fake way too easy.   But the performances here make you buy into Emmit & Bay on a very basic level; they are the artistically inclined dreamers of the show; when Bay is hurt, she retreats to her painting and Art and Music.   When Emmit is hurt, he retreats to his room to his bass filled music and to his art.   The two share a great connection that allows their moments to ring as incredibly real.   I like how you picked up the moment of Bay hearing "the truth" and realizing that while it wasn't her truth, the two of them could battle it out together - they both had reasons to be mad at the world.

Bay's admission to Daphne of "I don't know" when pressed on why it was important for Daphne to give a second chance to Angelo ended in a great moment that let Daphne inside Bay's head:  "It's because you hit the Bio-dad lottery".    She's not talking monetarily, she's talking about the kind of person her father is.   Bay had, at the beginning of the show used this claim as an act of rebellion that revealed the truth.   Her parents "didn't understand her", but she always knew that they loved her; really loved her.  And for all the pressure she felt from her father, she knew he loved her completely - she was able to feel mad because she was secure that no matter what, he'd always care for her.

With Angelo, her feet aren't as firm.   He's a guy who ran off with a questionable past.  And she's trying to figure out who she is: is she just the sum of her genetic parts, where there is a lot of Angelo in her?   Or is she the daughter raised by a family who loved her and instilled their ideas?   I thought that moment was so good because it was Bay's real admission that despite Daphne's thought that "she's had it easy" and took her friend/etc. that Bay is also dealing with her own very real struggles with who she is in this whole thing.

Daphne realizing that she had switched teams basically to be used; and rather then rail at the system, she took the high road:  I will be better then everyone else.   When she had the confrontation with Bay and Bay gave her the "bio-dad" spiel, she realized just then what a powerful resource she had at her disposal, and how she should be grateful for somethings that had gone her way - her scene between Daphne & Dad was fantastic; "I want you to coach me"..

Really great stuff last night.

I think what really paid off is how .... human they have made Emmit.  He's not an idealic "perfect" kid.   He has things about him that you admire, and the normal, typical 17 year old boy issues ;)   Of course the overly permissive dad is going to be appealing to him.   But Emmit is also really trying to figure out where things go forward from here.   Is he always going to be somewhat of an underachiever who lives the more artistic lifestyle?  Or does he want something else, what his mom wants for him?   That's going to be a real challenge going forward.

I agree on Angelo's crime being a bit too "by the book", then again, I'm not sure we know everything there is to know about that - but I do like it that it was the grandmother who turned him in; she viewed him as the manipulator, and that the story they heard about the crime was probably just the sugar-coated tip of the iceberg.

I think what was good was that while the grandmother was racist, she also had a lot of inner struggle about accepting her new grandchild, and she voiced a lot of the things that you know someone, somewhere in one of these families had to be feeling.   What was good was that it was a unifying factor in helping both families address the things about themselves that they didn't like, that they came to see some of those struggles in the way they look at the world - they had just committed to change.

I think what was also pointed in this wasn't that it was just about race - it was also about money and standards; Daphne had long been accepted in her community, but now that she had 'moved on up', the people she had left behind don't relate to her - just because of a change in her zip code.  She had now changed stratospheres on them, and they didn't see her as fitting it with them, associating negative traits with her they associated with all rich people.

In the end, these stereotypes by all sides were done in a way that wasn't overly overt or full of pressure, but they came off with some reality to them, simple moments that added up.   I think what was re-affirmed here was that the only people who really understand the struggle of a complete change of identity is Bay & Daphne.  And they slowly grasp that they are the only two people who can really relate to each other about what it is like to completely change who you are.  

Great episode tonight.

Las Dos Fridas was the episode (#16) which was last week.   Tonight's is Protect Me From What I Want.

BTW, all the episode titles are taken from paintings.

Las Dos Fridas: (1939)

This week's:

1985, Jenny Holzer.

I can't remember a show that so nailed the inner fears of a high school kid.  Maybe Freaks & Geeks.  But the moment at the end was so well crafted that I didn't see it coming at all, in any way.. and when it did, it was rang so true that I was just completely floored at how well done it was.

In the beginning, Emmit learned that Bay's crush on Ty was serious.. and he seemed hurt; his interactions with her were taken aback.  And through the whole episode, the feeling was: is he jealous that he doesn't mean as much?  I had thought up until the last five minutes, I'd post how about that feeling of "I am the first and only"; but when he confessed that things between his divorced parents were really bad, and he was in fear that things between he & Bay could also "fall apart"  "do people fall out of love?   Will we just fall out of love?"   Total gut check.  Emmet is a kid struggling to come to terms with where he is now that his parents are apart - and apparently a feuding duo.   They both vie for his affection, but what he gets out of it is that love may not last, and knowing that Bay had been in love with someone else, and now isn't, he's worried about how nothing in his life seems permanent.. he's looking for that life preserver.

I thought it was surprisingly well done, and so well delivered by the two actors.   This show week after week has delivered more surprises and more solid drama then so many other shows on TV, but when it really works, it really works.   Some great moments this week, good references.   I did like the Crossroads reference (though I wish they had used 17th & Washington instead of 17th & Baltimore, which would have been the home to the real Crossroads Gallery & Theater).   But it was all good.   This show seems to improve it's scripting and has been amazingly solid through the whole run.

You mentioned a few plot points that came and went quickly but really worked.   The talk between John & Toby was very well done.. he sees so much of himself in Toby, he admires Toby's athletic talent, and he feels at odds because Toby doesn't want to do it.. doesn't want to use what John feels is one of those "one of a kind" talents.. but he's willing to try and back him in his music.  When he went to Toby later and said "we're going to go and see you" I thought that was a great beat.

You nailed it.  I thought about this as I've slogged through Gossip Girl this year.  The occasionally fun stories of backstabbing and scheming, it's so much harder - but more rewarding, to tell a story where a moment is a lot more real and heartwarming, frankly.  Her understanding of his situation, when she finally got it, meant a lot to the both of them.  It was a great bit of writing.

Which comes to the other moment I thought was really well done: when Bay told Daphne about her run-in with Simone "she's not someone you want as an enemy.. but she's also not someone you really want as a friend".   As she told the story of Simone using a fragile classmates interest in a boy to humiliate her, you could just see that type of character being who Simone is.   She plays all the sides, and eventually, Bay had to step in for her concern for Daphne and say: this is not the way you want to go.

Adam, you mirror a lot of my thoughts.    Bay's moment of saying: you're dad's with this person because they are fun and wild (and he's having some sort of midlife crisis) is cool, but it's not really good parenting.. and she knows that Emmet is someone who has real potential, he's not stupid - he's just really struggling to figure out what is going on with his life.   I find the difference between the situations to be subtle but really well played.   Bay & Daphne are the ones thrown into a wild soap opera situation, but their families have worked together cohesively, fighting at times, to try and do the right thing.  While their situation is unusual, their support system has made sure that both girls have the feeling of protection and a safety net.

But Emmet is in a much more traditional problem, parents who divorce and fight.  And for Emmet, that safety net that Bay & Daphne has is really at risk.   He exposed a lot of that last week "will we fall out of love?"  Still is one of the more haunting, strong moments in a series this year.   But this week, Emmet has fallen hard into the "fake it to make it".   The situation is bad, and even Emmet knows it is bad.   But he wants things to be normal, he wants to accept his new life, to move on and to be happy with it.   So, when he tells Daphne "But I'm Happy!" and she says "I don't know, you always look so miserable lately" it cut right to the situation.. Emmet IS miserable, but he WANTS to be happy, and he's willing to to try and fake it.. other people can be  happy this way, my dad is happy this way, why can't I be happy this way?

But no matter how much you fake it, it just can't turn around and be real for Emmet.  And he is hurt mostly in the small reveals that he's desperate for his mom & dad to get back together, or at least get along.   I think this entire plot has been played with big themes and gestures and really subtle moments that give you insight into someone without actually bluntly telling you.   Very well played, and the contrast has been great. 

Bay's concern may screw up her relationship for a while, but it was the risk she knew she had to take.. because no matter how much it may hurt Emmet now, she wants better things for him.  And you're right, the scene between the two was the moment where I think she earned a lot of respect from Melody.   Melody knew how easy it would have been for Bay to go along with "wild and free" lifestyle that Emmet was having, that part of it had to appeal to the inner artist of Bay.   But it was a big sign to say: I'm willing to sacrifice something I value, his faith in me, because I care about his outcome a great deal.. and when she told Melody "it's because I care for him", I think it dawned on Melody that this wasn't a situation where Bay was stepping in to grab something from Daphne, as she had intoned before, but a relationship that was built on a lot of commonalities, and that Bay was being both brave and showing a real big gesture of concern for her son.   Great scene.

The last scene I wanted to mention was the "Occupy Buckner" moment :)   No, it wasn't that, but it was a moment where Daphne felt as though: how is it that X can have so much and Y can have so little?   And how is it that an outside sponsorship group like this would come to a high end prep school and throw them scoreboards and more funding and small, public schools struggled?   I have to say, part of this worked because here in Kansas City over the last six months we've had a real fight over this.. all of the public high schools in KC, MO are now uncredited, and it's ranked as one of the bottom five school districts in America.   It's bad enough that the city had to take over the schools and is now offering to bus kids up to 40 minutes to outside schools to make sure their diploma has meaning.   At the same time, a few local private schools have absolutely boomed and their level of national attention is big... as well as funding.   So, that contrast re-presented on the show may be a coincidence (and I'm sure it is) but the timing could not have been better.   I enjoyed that storyline a great deal.   Daphne had been burned by Simone, but the outcome wasn't that Simone had made her life miserable and she'd deal, the outcome was that she had options.. and that she wanted to commit to those.   I have a gut feeling this is going to end up in a fairly contrived storyline (at some point the two schools will play each other) but I'll deal.

Really enjoyed it last night.  And you're right, the fight in the art gallery was some classic material.

The final moments went from a fantastic, great moment on the basketball court, which managed to make something that I thought would be really "blah" into something pretty cool (her turning off the hearing aids and us hearing the world as she does) to something that was just a punch in the gut.. of course Emmet feels betrayed - his world is falling apart, and he doesn't feel as though anyone is there for him.  He was hurt by Bay because he thought she meddled when he asked her not to.   As he moves past it, he'll realize what a bad position she was put in, and I think he's going to regret what happened.   Kids do stupid things out of anger, spite and loneliness.  As much as Simone is a true "bitchy" character, we also got to see that she has some personal regret about the kind of person she is, and maybe some of what Ty is telling her is sinking in.

When Daphne explained why her doing well was so important, and how she viewed herself, for John it was so different from his experience.  I waited for part of him to see her as a Clemente, Robinson, etc. type character: her journey wasn't just one for herself, she felt the pressure of her community to do well, to represent them well.  I thought that was a great moment.

My one caveat:  I realize this is TV and I called this happening for a while, and that's OK it went well.. but I wish this show would get geography better.. Mission Hills (Kansas), and Carlton (most likely also Kansas) would not be playing in Springfield (Missouri) a state tournament :)

But I can put that nitpick aside.. the girl who plays Daphne probably won't get recognized for any awards, but her performance as well as the performance of the actress who plays Bay, has been sensational throughout the entire run.