#221 “Departure of Summer" ~ Episode Discussion ~ Season 2 finale
 

Here we are guys. Finale time! It's been a blast watching the second season with you all! :hug: After this, season three!

Thanks for the new thread, Alyssa! Looks like bravery will be required from all three of the Kennish kids.

i hope the cliff hanger is better than all the other ones!

I hope Daphne gets a better storyline next season.. This Coto one has been pretty boring, and I don't think much is going to come from her confession. Coto will be outed & John will save the day..

thanks for the new thread.

I look at this storyline deeper than that. I think this will change everything for Daphne. No one will think of her as the "good girl" anymore or "perfect," and she won't think of herself as the "good girl" either. Her character was already a little more understanding and deeper because of what happened with Chef Jeff, but if this whole thing with Coto causes Parker to get hurt, Daphne will feel tremendous guilt.

I could see this whole Coto thing causing Daphne to mature in ways she never has. It has the potential to change her character and the way she reacts to things. Daphne could come out of this experience drastically different. And I am not so sure she won't face legal ramifications.

Plus, I love the whole political espionage thing. It's exciting for me. Coto is a real villain. He is sinister. And people like him can be found all over the world, wherever there is money or power for the taking. Daphne is a little young to confront someone like this, but this situation is not atypical. Think about all of the unsavory types of people poor Monica Lewinsky found herself surrounded by when that whole Zippergate scandal broke.

Monday night's episode (Departure of Summer) may mark a real change for Daphne's character.

Whoa, this is season finale already? Wow, times go fast.. :lol:

:nod: I agree. I think it would be naive on both Daphne and the show's part to assume John could just get her out of it and in order to move Daphne forward as a character, she can't get out of it.

I think it will change things for her in terms of self-esteem and how other people see her. Even after Chef Jeff, Daphne still had a bit of halo glow to her, but after this, she might not.

I keep going back to 1x14 when Kathryn told Bay that Bay had previous offenses while Daphne didn't have any. Now she will. At first it will be difficult, but like Amy said, it will force Daphne to mature in ways she might not have and it will add layers and build character.

excited for this one!

:yay: Finale time.

As for the points about Daphne, I would kind of have to agree with the poster looking for something better next season. The Coto plotline and the Jeff angle swallowed up Daphne's character between two guys who were really no good for her. I love Daphne just like Bay and others so i'm never looking for any character to be brought down a few notches. Noone is perfect but i root for the goodness of characters, and for me, there is no such thing as 'too good'. I personally was a bit bored and not interested by some of that drama.

I root for the goodness of characters, too, but I, personally, would rather see characters who are human, who are real. As you said, no one is perfect, and, to me, Daphne was in danger of being a one-dimensional "perfect" character at the beginning of Season 1A. I am glad that the writers have shown her to be human.

I do not want to watch a story about a character who starts out good, never falls victim to temptation, never makes a mistake, and never learns a better way. In my stories, I want to see growth of the human spirit. That's what is helpful to me. That's the story that has meaning to me. It is not about wanting a character to be brought down a few notches. For me, it is about growing with the character.

Plus, if there is no such thing as "too good" then every character would behave in a God-like manner. Would there even be a story? Even the Bible shares stories about people who make mistakes.

EDITED TO ADD: There are women, in this world, whose lives are swallowed up for years at a time by guys who are no good for them. I am hoping, really hoping, that Daphne regains her footing, so she does not continue to fall victim to this type of man. I am rooting for Daphne to gain the strength to choose relationships, to choose friendships, with people who add something positive to her life, not with people who will bring her down. I think back to the Daphne who sought a friendship with Simone in Season 1B and feel that her experiences with men continue to be very much in keeping with her character, as she has been presented.

Despite not being a Bay/Ty fan, I'm glad that he didn't actually cheat. Having yet another guy cheat on Bay would've just had me hate the writers.

Finally, a Ty/Daphne scene. He has better chemistry with Daphne than with Bay imo.

The Angelo/baby storyline resolution just pisses me off for reasons I'm not even sure of.

Ugh, now we're stuck with bore fest Nikki. :( I had such hope after the wedding was canceled only to have them elope.

This episode was actually pretty good more than I thought from previous episodes.

Bay/Ty I kind of figured Ty would make Bay think he cheated in order to let her go. But I think that was a cowerdly way of doing it. I think he should of just broke up with her.


Bay/Emmett. I figured that they would drawl parraells to what Emmett did by having Bay ask "why did you cheat"etc.... I think this season tugged at my heart because to me it was a conversation that needed to happened and even at Toby's wedding the way Emmett was looking at Bay you can see the connection in his eyes filled with regret.


Angelo I am glad he decided to put Abby needs in front of his own by realizing that he couldnt undo the past with Abby. But I am glad that he was still able to visit with her on schedule days.


Daphne well this is the first time I really I didnt care too much about her storyline.

This finale was really good. Can't wait until January next year!

Yeah the b/e convo was a long time coming. Glad ty didnt cheat but it was really ccowardly. Shes not a child and i feel like he always treats her like one.

I wish he would of just told her, I don't want you to come and I think we should break up. Yeah she would of been hurt but it would of been a little better.

Yeah breaking up with her in a normal way would have done the trick

I totally adored Adriana this episode! :love:

Loved Angelo and Daphne and Jace tonight. :lol: How weird. Usually I never like them.

Didn't really care for the wedding stuff, but it ended nicely I though.

Don't get me started on Bay/Ty... :mad:

Ty totally could've handled it better. I think Bay's taking the relationship so seriously (willing to go to Germany for him) probably just freaked him out a bit. She was moving way faster than him imo and I think he was looking for a quick way to slow it down. If he hadn't been shipping out in 3 days, I have faith that he could've handled it better.

He does have a bad habit of keeping things from people till the last minute though.

Weird too since he was the one who said ilu and shenever did. Or did she tonight? I was kind of distracted

This was a much better finale than 2A for me.

Of course Toby & Nikki eloped. I liked the scene in the kitchen with all the siblings standing up for Toby. I probably myself would not have gotten married at 18, but at some point, you do need to let your children live their own life, and I do think they are good for each other at this point in their lives. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. Hopefully Toby & Nikki will make it though. I will root for them.

Nikki's mom. :lol: "Just have sex."

And:

"She's not getting married or committing a felony. It's a win." :lmao:

Sometimes I think the Kennishes just want to go on a long vacation away from their children. Poor J&K.

Ballsy move for Daphne. We'll see where this takes her next season. Jace, I still don't like you, but whatever. You had a bit of redemption not wanting Daphne to take the fall, but I still think she can do wayyy better than you.

I was glad Bay mentioned the street art program (even if it was in Berlin). And yay to college talk!

Obviously it would have been better for Ty to tell Bay his real reasons and ended it because her thinking he cheated is hurtful, but I am glad it got Bay finally asking Emmett why he cheated on her. Poor girl.

Tonight for me was "eh" - I'm glad that Ty didn't cheat. Ty's facing imminent/possible death, and he thought he was freeing Bay by having her be angry with him just in case he died. Cowardly, but it will come out next season, I'm sure, in an accidental manner. I really hope we get Bay single next season ... she really needs to just chill and enjoy life before going off to college. Not dating for a while may be good for her. Interesting scene where she basically tells Emmett that she has since had sex with Ty. At least Emmett didn't say anything negative about it - not that he really had room to talk. I thought it was an important conversation, because a girl who's been through that twice probably is going to have some serious self-esteem issues and would have to ask the first one who did it to her why. I only wish that Emmett had given a better answer except "it was stupid." Not an excuse, but an actual reason.

I would've preferred a long-distance storyline with Ty/Bay since many men and women have such relationships with their military loved ones. It's tough on the stateside wife/partner, but it's workable. Don't ship them, but it's better than this "letting her think he cheated before going off to war" SL.

I'm wondering if we're even gonna see MB much.

Why did the finale yet again pertain to a cheating storyline and Angelo's baby? :shrug:

Yeah i wish we had gotten more than 'it was stupid' like really come on. Hopefully that will still come

So Toby/Nikki are basically going to be Naley? :lol: Either way they were cute, I've been one of the few people that liked them I feel like

Emmett/Bay :love: Now can Wilke just come back? That way this show will be perfect


Also, Angelo finally made the first not-selfish decision, even though it was underlying selfish since he can't be free to do wtv he wants and that's basically why he gave up the baby. Can he go away. Please

I LOVE Toby/Nikki.

Up until it was revealed that they eloped, I was SO PISSED, thinking the writers chickened out on a daring love story. I was convinced they had turned Toby Nikki into typical self-obsessed teens who only care about sex, not committment.

Thankfully, Toby/Nikki told their cynical, selfish parents to TAKE YOUR PEACOCKS AND SHOVE IT! Brilliant writing!

Emmett's rehearsal dinner toast was EPIC! I love him even more.

Bay and Daphne coming to their brother's defense was equally MAMMOTH.

Best sequence of dialogue of the night:

Nikki's mom: The next 10 years of your life are all about change.
Kathyrn: Exactly, exploring, finding yourselves.
Bay: What if they want to do that together?
Toby: Thank you.
John: Be together. Just don't make it legally binding. That way when it doesn't work out, no harm no foul.
Bay: Listen to you guys. All you can see is failure.
Nikki: I know. What are you doing?
Daphne: These guys really love each other.

I've mentioned this before. I hate our culture. It treats marriage and committment like a disease to be avoided, when in reality, it's the cure for what ails us.

If more people behaved like Toby and Nikki, we would have ...
- No Angelo out-of-wedlock baby dramas
- No Simone STDs
- No boyfriends cheating on Bay
- No losing your job after sleeping with your boss like Daphne or Senators impregnating their interns.

Fewer broken hearts, broken bodies, and broken dreams, in other words.