After a long hiatus we finally got to see our favorite Switched at Birth characters (well most of them) reunite in a Christmas special and it was great.
The show begins with the Kennish’s and Vasquez’s getting ready to celebrate Christmas together for the first time. Regina attempts to get out of it and convince Daphne to continue their annual tradition of ordering Chines food and going to the movies but Daphne’s not having it. Similarly, Kathryn is overjoyed about the holidays and is going all out driving Bay crazy.
The two families then go to their favorite pizza spot, Sal’s, that just reopened and Regina and Kathryn end up in a fight over the plans for Christmas day. Regina storms off in a huff and Daphne and Bay are left asking themselves what could life had been like if they were never switched at birth.
In classic fashion, they get to find out after splitting a garlic knot that takes them to an alternate universe. There Bay wakes up and realizes she’s deaf, living in Daphne’s childhood home with Regina and Angelo Jr. Meanwhile Daphne is living with the Kennish’s where Toby is now a goth musician, John is a stay at home dad and Daphne’s soccer coach, and Kathryn runs her own make-up line.
At first everything seems fine and dandy until, of course, it isn’t. Regina is still an alcoholic and John and Kathryn are on the brink of a divorce. Most importantly, there’s no Bemmett! Emmett only sees Bay (AU Daphne) as a friend.
Of course Daphne and Bay then become determined to mend the situation and return to Sal’s to get the magical garlic knot. Unfortunately for them Sal’s is closed but Sal is able to give them a recipe for the knots. He warns them that won’t solve their problem but of course the girls don’t listen.
In an elaborate scheme Daphne and Bay are able to get their two families together at the Kennish house and make the garlic knots. Of course, as Sal warned, splitting the garlic knot doesn’t fix the problem. However, at the big family reunion both Bay and Daphne realize how important their mother’s Christmas traditions are to them. We also got a nice Bemmett kiss there so that was plus.
After the girls become resigned to their new alternate universe they both decide to visit their “adoptive” mothers. Bay reaches out to Kathryn and brings her the same peanuts that her mother asked her to shell in the real world. Daphne visits Regina and tells her she can overcome her alcoholism and they decide to order Chinese food and watch movies.
The show then ends with the girls waking up and everything goes back to normal. Both girls then appreciate their mothers even more and the Kennish’s and Vasquez’s end by joining in for a Christmas carol.
Overall, the episode was great but there’s one thing I didn’t get. If Daphne was deaf in the AU why did she already know how to sign? Similarly, even Bay did get speech theory there’s no way she would’ve been able to speak that well just like Daphne isn’t able to. Okay, maybe she would be able to. I don’t really know for sure but that seems like a stretch.
More important than the episode itself, however, was the preview for the winter premiere which sadly won’t air until Jan. 6.
Even so, I’m super excited and can’t wait. I just hope they don’t break up Bemmett (again!). I’ll be furious. Check out the preview below and let me know what you think will happen next.
Zakiya N. Jamal 