ollibear

When you first posted this, back in mid-May, I don't think I fully comprehended what you meant. I identify with Emmett so closely that I see every scene through his eyes. Even if Emmett isn't a part of a certain storyline, I still see it through what his perspective would be, if he was involved. So when you said that you have problems with Emmett, I processed your comment at face value, but I didn't really understand what you meant.

I wasn't able to see Emmett's decision on the beach in a negative light, so I could not comprehend how Emmett and Daphne coming to an understanding would help repair some of the problems you have with him.

But I think I might have finally figured it out, during this hiatus.

When There Is My Heart aired in March, I believed Emmett had done the mature thing on the beach. In my mind, Bay had hurt him so many times over the last year, and he was in a good place with school. Why should Emmett jeapordize his schooling to support someone whose poor choices made her own life a mess? Bay had become too emotionally dependent on Emmett. Bay had lost her own direction. She forfeited her job in LA. She was no longer signed up for classes. Her felony conviction would make both of those things difficult to accomplish, at least without her parents' assistance.

What was Bay going to do all day, while Emmett was in classes?

To me, I understood why Emmett's feelings had shifted for Bay. She needed to get her own act together, especially before she made any big moves, or before they continued dating. It wasn't her 19 year old boyfriend's responsibility to do that for her. Emmett had enough on his plate, attending a school far from his home and community (and one that he had never been 100% sure was right for him). If Emmett was going to ask his parents to pay for such an expensive out-of-state college experience, then he needed to commit to it. Helping Bay regain what she lost after taking the fall for Daphne would be a huge distraction for Emmett, not to mention Bay's emotional state after being raped by Tank.

In my mind, Bay needs her parents right now, not a 19 year old boyfriend who is trying to stand on his own two feet for the first time in his life, and Emmett was smart to sense that.

But I think I might be the only one who felt that way. I don't think anyone else saw Emmett's decision in the way that I originally did.

Everyone has been so disappointed in Emmett, ever since the episode aired. So I have done a lot of soul searching to try to come to a place where Emmett is wrong in my mind. I have finally achieved it. It has taken me nearly 6 months to completely believe it, but I do.

I can now see Emmett as the giant LOSER everyone else in the universe recognizes him to be. I have joined the masses.

And now, I think I understand what you meant. It's probably not possible for the writers to ever realistically redeem Emmett for Bay. But Emmett could become more tolerable to the audience as a side character, if he reconnects with Daphne. Your comment makes sense to me.

The added bonus is that their connection might redeem Daphne in my eyes, too. I was beginning to feel that her character was lost to me forever, after she allowed Bay to take the fall for her.

Yesterday, I went back and watched the Carlton High School graduation episode again. I listened to Daphne's commencement speech in the episode And Life Begins Right Away.

Daphne still sees Emmett as her hero. The story she tells about an 8 year old Emmett standing up for her on the playground is beautiful.

When I look at Emmett through Daphne's eyes, I am able to like him again. Whereas, when I look at Emmett through Bay's eyes, I am disgusted by him.

Now that Emmett has cheated on Bay with her sworn enemy (and brother's girlfriend), and followed that up by abandoning Bay in the darkest hour of her rape, as she begs him with tears in her eyes not to do it, I do not believe Emmett can ever be someone Bay respects again. Bay completely trusted Emmett, and he cast her aside as if she means nothing to him.

How does anyone ever again trust someone who does that?

When I remember that Emmett even had the audacity to turn Bay's rape and sexual violation into a "major motion picture" complete with his new girlfriend as the director of photography (and his classmates and teachers as the audience), then I think it is safe to say Bay was right. Emmett is not the person Bay or any of us thought he was.

Emmett is cold, heartless, weak, and a liar, and those are kind words to describe the man Emmett has finally become.

To do something like that, especially to someone he once claimed to love, is inhumane.

Bay should be livid with Emmett. When Season 4B opens, Bay should hate Emmett with a passion, at least until her anger subsides at Emmett's violation. And then, once Bay's anger does subside, she should feel nothing but indifference for Emmett.

Emmett's words obviously never meant anything, and his actions tell Bay everything she needs to know about him.

To me, once upon a time, Emmett was a boy who made a big mistake in an emotionally charged situation and immediately regretted it, doing everything in his power to make amends.

Now, Emmett is a man who knowingly and callously rejected the one fragile person he convinced to trust him completely, at the moment when she needed him the most.

How does a person ever get over that?

Emmett will never be anything more than a despicable human being to Bay, because what he did was so dishonorable.

I don't think there's enough begging in the world that can make up for heartlessness like that, and it doesn't even seem like Emmett will see the error of his ways for months to come, if ever.

So as far as Bay is concerned, who cares about Emmett, really?

But the thing is that Daphne has almost sunk as low as Emmett, in her own way. Daphne is nearly as loathsome an individual as Emmett.

Emmett can still be a hero, in Daphne's eyes. Emmett is not so obviously beneath Daphne, as he is with Bay.

While the audience may not be able to suspend disbelief long enough to believe that Bay would ever again trust Emmett, we might be able to believe that Daphne would trust Emmett.

Daphne & Emmett are both flawed individuals. Unlike Bay & Emmett, neither of them is better than the other.

Plus, unlike Bay & Emmett, Daphne & Emmett actually have a good history, with some positive memories in it.

True, most of Daphne & Emmett's relationship occurred before the pilot episode aired, but we know Emmett has been good to Daphne in the past. He has treated her well and protected her. Emmett hasn't been an awful human being to Daphne, in the way that he has to Bay.

Daphne & Emmett have a long, beautiful friendship. If the writers explore that now, it might allow me to see Emmett as a human being again.

Emmett cannot be someone Bay respects anymore. The awful things Emmett has done obliterate any kindness he ever showed to Bay.

But I still believe Daphne could admire Emmett.