Switched at Birth - #317 "Girl With Death Mask (She Plays Alone)" ~ Episode Discussion

Slayerfan714 · 07-18-2014, 07:37 PM

"Girl With Death Mask (She Plays Alone)"

Air Date: July 21, 2014

Synopsis: John takes Bay and Daphne to Chicago to search for Bay's cousin and give Daphne a college tour, but the trip does not go well. Elsewhere, Kathryn tries to play matchmaker for two individuals.

Wes&FredFan · 07-20-2014, 11:23 AM

Not sure about this upcoming ep - hoping it's not just a filler.

ollibear · 07-20-2014, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wes&FredFan (View Post)

Not sure about this upcoming ep - hoping it's not just a filler.

What progress would you like to see being made Donna?

For instance, I know that I would love to see some significant progress for the deepening of Bay & Emmett's relationship in a variety of ways. But you don't ship them, like I do, so I am wondering what you are craving to see.

Is there something (some sort of progress for a character) that would make you feel the episode is worthwhile and not just filler?

bemmett4life · 07-20-2014, 11:53 AM

I definitely want that significant process for deepening of Bay and Emmett's relationship too!

Slayerfan714 · 07-20-2014, 05:07 PM

I'm curious about Bay's cousin. I am glad the show is exploring that they have extended family that they haven't met yet.

Wes&FredFan · 07-20-2014, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ollibear (View Post)

What progress would you like to see being made Donna? For instance, I know that I would love to see some significant progress for the deepening of Bay & Emmett's relationship in a variety of ways. But you don't ship them, like I do, so I am wondering what you are craving to see. Is there something (some sort of progress for a character) that would make you feel the episode is worthwhile and not just filler?

I want it to be more than just a road trip for John and the girls. Or for Daphne to be looking at a college in Chicago. For them to all go on a trip right after Angelo's death seems like it's the writer's desire to put that storyline behind them and move on, which is disappointing. Some storylines are pretty much just thrown randomly with little follow-up/lead-up and others are just discarded. How many storylines have we seen so far where it could have been interesting if they'd followed up on it ... only for that not to have happened? I think it would be great if we see something more important come out of it - perhaps Bay/Daphne actually bonding like switch-sters ... especially since they may, for all intents and purposes, go their separate ways with the start of college. These two girls lost somebody important to them - BOTH of them. John needs to talk to them as THEIR father (by blood or not) and tell him that he loves them both. If he doesn't, that would be disappointing.

I'd like to see John comfort them both as their father ... as the only one they've got now. Not, "Hey, let's go on a trip and look at a college." John knows that Bay didn't get into the college of her choice, so now he's having her come along while he shows a college to Daphne? IMO, it would make more sense for Daphne to go with John to look at the college and they could talk as father/daughter, and then Bay could stay with Regina. We could get some Regina/Bay scenes while they cope with Angelo's passing. Even better, perhaps bring Regina's mother back to help her daughter and granddaughter(s) cope with the loss.

If Angelo's death was merely the context for Bay and/or Daphne to go out of control and reckless for the rest of the season (we've already seen Daphne's reckless behavior ... don't need to see yet another example of that

), then it will be disappointing. I'd like to see more family scenes.

Whether or not Bay/Daphne have boyfriends (whomever they are), I was drawn to the show by the family dynamic. Not the ships. I'd like to see them remember some of those family ties.

Hope that makes sense.

ollibear · 07-20-2014, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wes&FredFan (View Post)

I want it to be more than just a road trip for John and the girls. Or for Daphne to be looking at a college in Chicago. For them to all go on a trip right after Angelo's death seems like it's the writer's desire to put that storyline behind them and move on, which is disappointing. Some storylines are pretty much just thrown randomly with little follow-up/lead-up and others are just discarded. How many storylines have we seen so far where it could have been interesting if they'd followed up on it ... only for that not to have happened? I think it would be great if we see something more important come out of it - perhaps Bay/Daphne actually bonding like switch-sters ... especially since they may, for all intents and purposes, go their separate ways with the start of college. These two girls lost somebody important to them - BOTH of them. John needs to talk to them as THEIR father (by blood or not) and tell him that he loves them both. If he doesn't, that would be disappointing.

I'd like to see John comfort them both as their father ... as the only one they've got now. Not, "Hey, let's go on a trip and look at a college." John knows that Bay didn't get into the college of her choice, so now he's having her come along while he shows a college to Daphne? IMO, it would make more sense for Daphne to go with John to look at the college and they could talk as father/daughter, and then Bay could stay with Regina. We could get some Regina/Bay scenes while they cope with Angelo's passing. Even better, perhaps bring Regina's mother back to help her daughter and granddaughter(s) cope with the loss.

If Angelo's death was merely the context for Bay and/or Daphne to go out of control and reckless for the rest of the season (we've already seen Daphne's reckless behavior ... don't need to see yet another example of that

), then it will be disappointing. I'd like to see more family scenes.

Whether or not Bay/Daphne have boyfriends (whomever they are), I was drawn to the show by the family dynamic. Not the ships. I'd like to see them remember some of those family ties.

Hope that makes sense.

It makes total sense! I'll join you in hoping for all of that, too!

My primary concern is the development of Bay & Emmett's relationship, but I am interested in the family dynamics.

However, for me, John, Kathryn, Toby, Bay, Regina, and Daphne, by themselves, are not enough. That's the family, but I'm NOT satisfied, if that is ALL that there is.

I would love to see Emmett officially become a member of Bay's family, so the show could move beyond the "ships" and focus more on extended family dynamics. That would be my idea of perfection.

I want to see the relationship between Emmett and Bay as husband and wife. I want to see their relationships with their parents and their inlaws. I want to see their relationship with their siblings and their offspring. I want to see John, Kathryn, Regina, Melody, and Cameron as grandparents and how they relate to their grandchildren. I want to see Daphne as an aunt and Toby as an uncle. Now, THAT would be bliss for me.

It does feel as though a few storylines have been discarded before being adequately explored. Maybe the writers will return to some of them. Maybe they will decide some of them are better left unexplored.

Hopefully that will not be the case with Angelo's death, though.

My sense is that John may be a bumbling father in this episode, so your hope for him to have quality time with either daughter may be dashed. I guess we will find out tomorrow night.

If John does bungle this mission, I suppose it will provide him with an opportunity to grow as a father.

I actually hope that the writers keep Bay and Regina separated for the remainder of the season. I have no idea what they will do, but Regina has almost shunned Bay thus far. And I would like to see Bay take Angelo's death as a sign that she should return to embracing John and Kathryn as her parents. To me, it's time Bay says to Regina, "If you don't reach out to me, why should I keep reaching out to you?" And since I don't have the feeling that Regina IS ready to reach out to Bay, the remainder of this season doesn't seem like the right time for them to bond.

I would like to save the bonding of Bay and Regina for a huge arc in Season 4 or 5, after Bay has more fully entered adulthood.

Seems to me that Regina has some self-exploration to do, too, now.

When Regina told Bay, "I felt so guilty for not coming to get you. I had to pretend that you didn't exist so it wouldn't hurt so much. And then by the time I met you it was just, it was hard to undo all that," I think a lot of viewers focused on Regina's guilt.

But no one seems to understand why Regina would still be feeling guilty, when Bay isn't holding it against her any longer. Regina should be over the guilt.

But I don't think it is about the guilt for Regina. I don't think it has been about the guilt for a very long time. I think Regina stopped feeling guilty years and years before Bay ever discovered the switch.

To me, what is keeping Regina from bonding with Bay is that she truly has brainwashed herself to emotionally believe that Bay is NOT her daughter.

Regina told herself that Bay was NOT her daughter every second, every minute, every hour, every day, for years and years and years. And logically, she knows Bay is her daughter, but emotionally, Regina is brainwashed. She doesn't even seem to recognize that she programmed herself in this way.

And now, Regina cannot turn off that self-conditioning.

I do believe there is hope for the future, but it seems to me that something is going to have to happen to make Regina break out of the mold she has made for herself. She is caught in the habit of not feeling as though Bay is her daughter. And to break out of that habit, Regina is going to need to re-condition herself OR receive some kind of jolt to wake up.

Kathryn and John both still have some self-exploration to do, too. These characters truly are fascinating. I hope the writers do not go overboard with the guest stars in Season 4. I want to explore the core characters more fully. It feels like it is time.