Bay and Emmett work together to combat Matthew's blackmail threat and make an unexpected discovery. Daphne gets a big opportunity at the clinic but worries about how it affects Campbell. Kathryn enjoys the perks of being the author of a highly-anticipated book, until someone from her past threatens its publication.
Switched at Birth definitely had its work cut out when it decided it wanted to tell us Matthew's side of the story. We are suppose to feel a little bit more sympathy towards him even after all the bad stuff he has done in the past two episodes. It's a tightrope none of us were expecting the show to walk. It would be so much easier to let Matthew be the bad guy doing all of this as a way of getting back at Emmett for turning him in for slashing tires. That's the least amount of backstory necessary to tell this story. Emmett and Bay are our sympathetic lead duo. I at least applaud the show for going the extra mile by doubling down on this story. But it's also a really weird feeling the show is making us feel towards Matthew. I'm intrigued to see what direction it's heading towards. But Matthew is also a very little part of this story. It's largely Emmett and Bay making that initial discovery and then Bay talking with Natalie about it. Honestly, I did forget that Natalie was a lesbian. But as it slowly came back to me, it made it a really poignant moment for her to be saying those things. Emmett and Bay don't want to let him off the hook but perhaps everyone just needs to move past it. I don't know. Like I said, it's a very weird thing that the show is doing that I'm not that certain about.On top of all of that, Bay also had to break up with Tank as well as deal with her parents knowing she took the morning after pill. It was painful to watch as she broke up with him and then John lecturing him by mistake. The show really made us care about Tank in the first half of the season. I'm not sure I ever really enjoyed him and Bay as a couple but they were a really great pairing. Like Bay says, she does really value his friendship and they did fight a lot. However, that doesn't excuse her cheating. She should feel terrible for what she did - but at least she has something new to move on with. Tank is left alone and devastated.
And then, there's Daphne who gets a paid promotion at the clinic which forces conflict with Campbell. It's a very abrupt and awkward end to that pairing. I would love it if Daphne was in a story where she wasn't all focused about being with a guy. Her life at the clinic was dividing her attention anyway. On one hand was her newfound love for the medical profession and on the other was the love triangle between her, Campbell and Jorge. I just love it that Jorge is now just gone from that environment. Personally, I'm much more interested in a story about a young deaf professional trying to operate in a real, high-stakes job. That's the direction I think the show is going for by the close of this episode. However, I also don't think the show is saying goodbye to Campbell permanently either - mostly because of love for RJ Mitte.
Some more thoughts:
- "Like a Snowball Down a Mountain" was written by James Stoteraux & Chad Fiveash and directed by Melanie Mayron.
- I miss Lucas Grabeel a ton but his trip to Iceland has forced the show to tighten the wheels on the rest of its stories. And that is much appreciated.
- Kathryn was basically just asking for that lawsuit by calling the Sarah Lazar character in her book Tara Mazar. Come on, Kathryn! I still don't really care for this story at all. But it at least feels like it knows it's heading to something.
- Regina with a gun. That's just not gonna be a good thing at all. But I really like Angelo slowly learning how to sign.
- Emmett: "I think we just planned our first heist."
