ollibear

AJ only appeared in one episode, the alternate universe Christmas special called Yuletide Fortune Tellers, at the end of Season 3. His character was Angelo, Jr., and he was Regina and Angelo's son, born only a year or two after Bay, if Bay had never been switched at the hospital.

That episode aired in December of 2014, right after Bay took the fall for Daphne on their high school graduation day. The episode appears to take place on Christmas 2013 more than 2014, though, because Emmett and Daphne are not yet in college, and Bay is not yet on probation for a felony, as she was in the "real" December 2014.

Lizzy Weiss tweeted that their Christmas special doesn't fit with any timeline, and she is right. In the episode, Bay and Emmett are back together, as a couple, and Angelo has already died, but Daphne is not yet spinning out of control with Nacho.

AJ was utterly charming and adorable. I immediately wanted him to be a real character on the TV series. I wanted Bay to have a brother like AJ. The writers severely dropped the ball with writing for Bay and Toby's connection. It was phenomenal in Season 1A, 1B, and 1C, and then, Season 2 came along and the writers threw away Bay and Toby's relationship.

At first, I thought that it would be a meaty story between the two characters. Bay is obviously hurt when Toby chooses Nikki over Bay, and he does it consciously. When Bay pushes the issue, Toby even tells Bay with blunt words that Nikki comes first now, and he and Bay no longer share that kind of bond.

Of course, with Bay's insecurity over being switched, I thought the writers would refer back to these moments, but they never do. Bay seems to accept everything Toby tells her and moves on with her life, without letting any of it bother her.

In later episodes, Bay does NOT follow Toby's example, because she obviously puts her family ahead of her romantic partner. Toby never offers Bay any sort of apology for drawing a clear line to let Bay know her place in his life, although Toby does express a bit of regret that he wasn't there to support Bay more during the fallout after her drunken night with Tank.

Since Toby's relationship with Bay was such a disappointment for me, especially after being so promising in the beginning, I really latched onto AJ. I wanted Bay to have a brother with a full biological connection. Although it's not fair to Toby, in my mind, I thought maybe a biological brother would stand by Bay more than wimpy, childish Toby did.

I thought Toby was cooler than who he turned out to be. The writers emasculated him after Season 1. Toby was cheated on by Simone, treated like he was disposable by Nikki, and walked over like a doormat by Lily. Toby should have stuck with Simone, because her love for him was true. But Toby didn't even have the strength to do that. I do like how Toby stood up to Bay about refusing to abort his son. Maybe a child will be good for Toby.

Teo was only in a couple of episodes at the beginning of Season 2. Lizzy Weiss had tweeted that a character named Teo was going to "rock Bay's world" before the season aired. Teo was a hearing student going through the pilot program at Calrlton with Bay. He and Bay struck up a friendship and flirted a bit, and then, he was gone and replaced by Noah at the Tolerance Retreat. I guess Noah is the character who ended up "rocking Bay's world" instead. Although, I don't really see that. Noah and Bay never amounted to much as a couple. Noah was far more interested in Daphne.

There was never any explanation as to what happened to Teo or why he wasn't at Melody's Tolerance Retreat with the other students. He just disappeared off the face of the "Switched at Birth" earth. Noah disappeared, too, not long after Teo, but at least with Noah, we got to hear Daphne say that he returned to Canada with his family.

Garrett is the very handsome man who is friends with Travis. He works on a loading dock, and Bay wants to date Garrett after she returns from Mexico (and following her breakup with Emmett). Daphne tells Bay that Garrett is a player, and Bay says she can roll with that. On their first date, Bay runs into Tank, while she is kissing Garrett. After Bay bolts, Travis tells Garrett that Bay was raped by Tank, so Garrett won't pressure Bay for sex. Bay is upset with Travis for telling Garrett her private situation. Travis says he was just trying to help Bay, but he already had feelings for her, and it's obvious that he didn't want Bay sleeping with Garrett.

Anyway, Bay doesn't let Travis get in her way with Garrett.

Bay decides to stay all night with Garrett at the end of episode 4x18 "The Accommodations of Desire," after Garrett explains that he is a novice, when it comes to having sex with someone who has gone through what Bay has. That statement is enough to give Bay the confidence she needs to move forward with her sexuality.

I'm a Bay & Emmett fan for life, too. In a perfect world, the writers would have actually written a story for them as a couple, at least once during the five seasons. But we will never get that.

Bay & Emmett reunite under the stars in Episode 3x11. Then, Bay deals with her guilt over cheating on Tank, before getting back together with Emmett at the end of 3x12. In the next episode 3x13, Emmett deals with Matthew's continued bullying. In 3x14, Bay and Emmett finally tell people they are back together and actually share a moment together, where Emmett tells Bay how much she means to him. Then, in the next three episodes, 3x15, 3x16, and 3x17, Bay is dealing with Angelo's death. There's one moment where Emmett gives Bay a very brief hug, but that (and finding Angelo's living will) encompass Emmett's only function or role in those three episodes.

Then, Bay chooses to disrespect Emmett by having dinner with Tank and his dad, instead of celebrating Emmett's acceptance to Gallaudet with him. Then, Bay refuses to tell Emmett about her potential to develop aneurysms at senior skip day, despite the fact that she is worried sick about it, and has shared the whole situation with Tank.

Then, Bay is oblivious to Emmett's desire to make up for their first prom, by giving her the most special night ever at their second prom. Emmett is able to listen to Bay and give her a night that means something to her, but it has little to do with what he had dreamed about giving to her.

And then, in the very next episode, Bay takes the fall for Daphne without discussing anything with Emmett beforehand, and their relationship as I dreamed of it is gone. Emmett goes off to college without Bay, and everyone knows what happens after that.

We never got to see Bay and Emmett as a real couple, during their second relationship. We only got to see glimpses of them falling apart.

If that's all that the writers were going to do with Emmett's character, then, I feel they should have killed him.

Watching Bay not trust Emmett, after she said that she had forgiven him for cheating, was painful. It makes me feel as though the writers are saying that true forgiveness does not exist in the world. Bay could not get past Emmett's original betrayal. I believe she gave it her best try, though.

If Bay could not be happy with Emmett the second time, if the writers were determined to not allow viewers to see any scenes of Bay & Emmett happy and working together as a couple, then yeah, I wish that they had killed off Emmett's character in the middle of Season 2, right after the uprising at Carlton.

We could have seen Bay try to reconnect with Ty, after Emmett's death. That would have been more interesting to watch, especially since Ty has new insight into the subject of death as a soldier. Mary Beth and Bay could have been closer, because they both lost someone dear to them. Bay could have been especially fearful of Ty's redeployment, even more so than she already was. Daphne could have felt guilty for ignoring Emmett, since the switch was discovered. Melody and Cameron could have been pained because of their divorce and its effect on Emmett before his death. Bay could have wished that she would have let Emmett know she still loved him.

It could have been a really good story, much better than the shallow story we got with Angelo's death.

Have you rewatched the episodes where Bay & Ty finally have a sexual relationship? That's where I stopped liking Ty. I enjoyed Ty in Season 1A, before he deployed the first time. When Ty returned, he never connected with Bay on more than a physical level. Perhaps he could have done so, if he was comforting her after Emmett's death.