“Switched at Birth” After the Summer Finale

I’m a fan of the ABC Family series Switched at Birth (In Praise of “Switched At Birth”). Now that the 10th and final summer episode has been shown I thought I’d share a few thoughts. (This first season has received an extended order of 22 more episodes, making a 32-episode first season.)

WARNING: I will be discussing events up to and including episode 10. Needless to say, that means that spoilers from this point forward are not only possible but likely inevitable.

You’ve been warned.

I really like this series. Of the ten episodes broadcast, nine have been strong. Episode 8, “Pandora’s Box” was definitely the weakest of this summer run—the pacing of the storytelling was off, and a lot of filler-type scenes were included to delay the inevitable reveal at the end of the episode. The creative powers that be (CPTB) could have done the same in Episode 10 “The Homecoming” but instead gave the reveal in the teaser and made it a through-line of the episode. This leads me to think that the CPTB knew that Episode 8 wasn’t exactly their best effort.

Characters

I love Bay, Daphne, Regina, Emmett, Kathryn, and Melody…in about that order. Except for Melody (not a regular, but a recurring character played by Marlee Matlin), this seems to be the core group with the ineffable chemistry thing that’s so important for shows. Not too surprisingly, these are the characters who are signing or learning how to sign and thus are connecting better with a larger set of characters.

John and Toby irritate me because they aren’t really putting forth any effort to learn signing beyond a few words they deem necessary. They still rely on the deaf characters to read their lips. It says a lot about who these characters are. My irritation with John actually goes further. His hair-trigger temper and sense of entitlement is irksome. It also makes for a good contrast to the other characters who have a firmer grasp on their emotions and social diplomacy.

My only complaint about any of the regular actors is a very mild one with Katie (Daphne) who I really love in the role. In the later episodes, her accent grew milder and sometimes slipped altogether. I realize that it must be a pain for Katie to concentrate on that in addition to the lines, signing, and blocking, but when Daphne starts sounding too much like the hearing characters, it takes away some of the magic.

Story

As I said before, except for the stumble that was episode 8, I have enjoyed how the story has been presented and evolved. One of the downsides of me having written for so long is that I can see a lot of plot points coming, but the CPTB have been better than most in tossing in elements that surprise me. The twist in episode 7, “The Stag Hunt”, where we learn not only that Regina knew that Daphne wasn’t her daughter (which was something I thought was a possibility) but that she’d been tracking Bay (which I didn’t anticipate) was marvelous.

Many hours were spent here at the Casa discussing what Regina’s secret to be. We came up with some doozies. That she’d tracked Bay never came up. Of course, then the CPTB bobbled the ball with episode 8, but them’s the breaks.

Something that’s been interesting is the contrast in the households. Since I was raised with Hispano culture, coming from NM, the “la familia” of the Vasquez home is familiar to me. It’s more about the “who we are” instead of “what they think”. The Kennishes, though pretty tight-knit, do care about how things appear. They certainly express their love for their children more materially. Do they love their kids less? That’s a question. It’s this contrast that helps fuel the fires the fans enjoy.

I’m not enjoying the plot device of Wilke. He’s the obvious instigator of storyline shenanigans. Personally, I’d have preferred if the CPTB had continued on with Liam. The complications he could have caused were more subtle and potentially more damaging.

Bay’s DNA-provider, Angelo, coming into her life isn’t surprising. Personally, I’d have liked to milk that for at least a full season or so. The mystery of “who is Angelo” would have been a nice thing to have in a plot pocket. Even so, sometimes these things are best to be dealt with early in order to allow the larger story to move on. Too many series get bogged down in their own cleverness.

I’m distracted by the actor who played Angelo Sorrento (Bay’s bio dad). He reminds me so much of a young Goran Visnjic that I’m constantly reminding myself that it isn’t Goran. I find Angelo a bit worrisome. It was too easy for me to guess what he’d be like in his first episode. I hope this isn’t the start of predictability.

The Future

With the order for 22 more 1st season episodes, there is a lot of room for the CPTB to play around with character and story arcs. I hope they are hard at work plotting them out before they start scripting…not just for season 1, but knowing where they are going for season 2, and the possibilities for season 3. As we’ve learned from those who do memorable TV, you need to know where your signposts are. Making up the story as you go is a recipe that reduces a standout show to the common.

That’s my fear with the early introduction of Angelo. With his entrance he seems to be, at best, an opportunist, or more formulaic, a grifter—someone who will use Bay’s and Regina’s lack of power to resist him to take advantage (or Daphne’s and Johns antagonism…pick your poison). Personally, I’d love it if, instead, he is actually a stand-up guy. Someone who’s “better” than John (as a man, not richer). That would rankle John a lot, especially knowing that Bay eats it up and he can’t buy his way out of it.

I’m not against Bay and Daphne having their own kind of sibling rivalry. I’m not sure fighting over Emmett is the way, but that’s so much better than tossing Wilke into the mix. Like I said, I think Liam would be a better-crafted plot device. Mostly, though, especially as they are still getting to know each other, I want to see Bay and Daphne grow to openly acknowledge they are “switch-ters” or some such. While they may fight, they also need to know that they are there for each other. This series revolves around them; if they become constant antagonists you might as well rename the show “Switched at One Tree OC, 67448” (or whatever).

It’s too easy to fall into the trope trap and become nothing more than yet another coming-of-age angsty soap. Switched at Birth‘s strength is that it’s still a family drama. If it can hold onto that, even though it’s harder to write and requires more discipline from the CPTB, then it will stand that much higher in the cable landscape.

As it stands now, I can offer up no better compliment to what the Switched at Birth CPTB have done than to say that I wish I’d been a part of writing it. So I credit them with serving up a show that surpasses my initial expectations. Not only have I continued to eagerly watch and discuss episodes, but I’ve spent a LOT of time speculating on what’s coming up. I can’t hardly wait until new episodes arrive.

Photo credits: ABC Family; Eric Hunt CC Attrib SA