emmett bledsoe – Zakiya N. Jamal

Switched at Birth Recap: “Black and Gray”

Posted on February 17, 2015February 17, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Emotions were running high on this week’s episode of Switched at Birth. After Toby told Lily about what happened to Bay she had to report it to Melody who then reported it to the university. Now that it’s in the university’s hands every one who was at the party is called into questioning about the events of the night and it quickly becomes clear to everyone who’s involved in the incident.

Bay quickly realizes she can’t keep this under wraps anymore and she’s going to have to face what happened. After Daphne goes to Regina for advice about a “friend” who went through the same situation as Bay’s “friend” Regina realizes that they were both probably talking about Bay. Regina then goes to Kathryn for help and they both confront Bay to try and get answers and help her. Bay, however, doesn’t want to talk about it. Feeling guilty for putting Tank through this when she’s not really sure what happened makes her feel like maybe she made a mistake. However, she can’t help but like she was violated that night.

After Kathryn confesses to Bay that she was sexually assaulted as a teen and never told anyone, she tells Bay that only Bay knows how she feels. Bay then decides that she does want to talk to the Title IX coordinator at UKC who’s handling the case. Bay attempts to explain to the coordinator that she’s not really sure what happened that night and she doesn’t think Tank meant to hurt her. However, she did wake up feeling like something was wrong but she thinks Tank just made a mistake and that there’s a lot of factors to take in. Despite her best efforts Tank was still expelled from UKC making Bay feel even worse.

Meanwhile, because everyone found out Bay was the person who was sexually assaulted, she knew she had to tell Emmett what happened. However, when she tried to explain to him what happened Emmett didn’t want to hear it, only thinking that she cheated on him with Tank and not wanting to hear the whole story.

To help Bay, Daphne flies to L.A. to talk to Emmett and try to convince him to hear Bay out before passing judgement. Honestly, I understand why Emmett was mad but seeing as how he cheated twice (let us not forget that kiss with Daphne) I think he owes it to Bay to at least listen. Moving on, Daphne tells Emmett that Bay was raped (strong choice of words but we can deal with that later) and suddenly Emmett is listening. Good thing too since it seems he was on his way to hooking up with his new “friend”. That definitely would’ve made the situation 10 times worse.

When Daphne returns home Bay asks her how it went and in response Emmett walks in. Yay! Hopefully these too can work it out. If they break up again I don’t think my shipper heart can handle it.

Other Highlights:

John went to Toby’s apartment to confront Tank but found himself conflicted when Tank made on a good case for why he would never try to hurt Bay.
Bay began to doubt herself after reading so many comments online about herself, leading Regina to fight with Melody. Eventually Regina realizes it’s not Melody she’s really upset with and they quickly make up. Regina then decides to bring another sexual assault survivor/activist to talk to Bay, which does not end well. Both Bay and Kathryn were upset and Regina apologized for overstepping.
Travis feels guilty for not protecting Bay and gets into a fight with Mary Beth because although she’s sorry about what happened to Bay she believes Bay should’ve been more careful and responsible with her drinking.

My Thoughts:

A lot of things happened in this episode that I’m not sure I agree with. First, Daphne telling Emmett that Bay was raped was a lot. Yes I understand Bay was drunk and blacked out and obviously that’s a huge problem but no one really knows what happened that night. Not even Bay. Tank definitely made a mistake. He shouldn’t have slept with her when she was that drunk but I’m not sure I would jump to use “rape” when it’s such a sticky situation.

Additionally, Travis and Mary Beth’s fight bring up some real questions. I love Mary Beth and I kind of get what she’s saying but it also felt like victim shaming. Of course Bay drank too much but Bay was going through a tough time and she probably didn’t even realize how much she was drinking. Is it her fault that Tank chose to have sex with her when she was so wasted she couldn’t even remember it? Although I know Mary Beth didn’t mean it this way all I could think while she was speaking is this is why rapists don’t get charged and victims don’t want to come forward. Because people say they shouldn’t have been wearing that dress or drinking that much or be out so late. I had to take Travis’ side in this argument. Bay shouldn’t be blamed for what happened to her. Period.

Tonight’s episode looks like it’ll be intense. With everyone trapped inside by a storm, drama is sure to ensue. Hopefully Bay and Emmett come out on the other side, together. Check out the preview below.

Switched at Birth Recap: “We Were So Close That Nothing Stood Between Us”

Posted on January 28, 2015January 28, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

I truly believe the Switched at Birth writers hate Bay. Honestly. They just keep giving her these sucky situations and she’s never allowed to just be happy. It’s so frustrating and it makes me not want to watch the show anymore.

This episode started with a high and then ended with a very low low. At the start of the episode Bay is excited about finally being off house arrest and is video chatting with Emmett to tell him so. But then Emmett surprises her with a visit and although it’s only for a couple days they promise to make it the best.

That’s short lived when Emmett starts talking about his great life in L.A. and his new found friendship with Skye. Bay begins to feel jealous and a little left behind since her life hasn’t changed at all. In an attempt to get on Emmett’s level, she takes him to see this fancy movie that she researched before. When Emmett calls her out on it she explains how she’s feeling and Emmett explains that he’s happy now. He shows some pictures of him in L.A. and up pops the one Skye took just before she kissed him. Oops.

Of course, Bay then asks if Skye likes Emmett. He tries to deny it but then admits that Skye did kiss him but he pulled away. Bay gets upset but then tries to play it cool like it’s not a big deal.

The next day they go to have a picnic in the park and everything hits the fan. Bay and Emmett end up having a huge fight. Bay is upset that Emmett didn’t tell her about the struggles he was going through. Emmett get’s mad that Bay is bothered by his friendship with Skye. He says she’s not allowed to be upset since it’s her fault that she’s not there with him. Seriously, Emmett? Really?

Bay tries to explain that she’s not even really mad about Skye, that it’s something else. Emmett says she’s just mad because he’s moved on and she hasn’t. Bay says that she’s still coming to L.A. as soon as her community service is done but Emmett doesn’t believe her. He says she changed the plan before, what’s to stop her from doing it again. Emmett then leaves, even though his flight doesn’t leave for another two hours.

Feeling upset and a little angry Bay decides to go to the party in Daphne’s dorm where she bumps into Tank. We don’t see these two again until the end of the episode where Bay wakes up naked, in bed with Tank, not remembering how she got there. Uh oh.

Meanwhile, Daphne is struggling with her chemistry class. Thinking she aced her midterm she actually ended up with a D due to a stupid mistake. Thinking about dropping the class, Regina visits Daphne’s professor and plays the “deaf card”. The professor isn’t having it and when Regina tells Daphne what she did Daphne is furious and they also have a huge fight.

Afterwards, Daphne visits her professor, prepared to drop the class when the professor stops her and explains why she did so bad. She lost 30 points on one section because of confusing too different chemistry terms that I don’t understand. The point is, the professor decided to give Daphne an extra credit assignment to help bring up her grade.

Excited, Daphne tells Josh (her interpreter, in case you forgot his name like I did) that she’s staying in the class. Josh tells her what we all already know, which is Regina is a boss mom and Daphne should be grateful. Realizing this, although she should’ve known already, Daphne apologizes to Regina and they make up and it’s happy ever after.

Until Daphne goes to the party and sees Josh who ends up leaving the party with another girl. Ouch. Sorry Daphne but you can’t get all the boys. Although let’s be honest, they’ll probably hook up before the end of this season.

Other highlights:

Toby got a little too comfortable and started saying no to jobs even though he’s broke, which led his parents to cut him off. Toby, although angry at first, quickly realized he needed to get his life together and decides to work with Kathryn on her musical.
John and Melody get into a showdown over Travis. John wants Travis to play baseball but Melody wants Travis to focus on school. Travis, being 19, gets to make his own choices and chooses baseball, which I personally think is a great idea.

Stay tuned for next week when things are going to get really serious and probably heart breaking. Did Tank rape Bay? Or is it just a misunderstanding? What will happen with Bemmett? Check out the preview for next week’s episode below and comment what you think will happen next.

Switched at Birth Recap: “I Lock The Door Upon Myself”

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

The Kennish-Vasquez children reunited in this episode, mending fences and giving apologies.

First, Toby apologized to Daphne for snapping at her in the first episode of this season (although personally I still think it was warranted). Although Daphne is happy for this reconciliation she’s now dealing with Bay’s hostility. Bay is finally realizing what it really means to be a convicted felon and she’s mad at Daphne for letting her take the fall but knows she can’t really be mad because it was her decision. Even so, Bay doesn’t want to spend any more time with Daphne than necessary.

Bay’s feelings are only worsened when she becomes a finalist for an art contest and realizes one of the questions on the application was, “Are you a convicted felon?” Getting upset, Toby, who’s on Bay duty that weekend, decides to help her cover up her ankle bracelet so the judge won’t know that Bay’s on house arrest when she comes to check out Bay’s art work. Of course, this plan doesn’t work out. Just when the judge is telling Bay she’ll definitely be in the showcase, the battery starts to die making it beep, giving her away.

The judge then leaves and Bay is devastated. Bay’s day only get’s worse when she doesn’t get to the charger fast enough and the battery actually dies. Luckily for Bay, her corrections officer let’s her off the hook and just gives her a new charger. Also, the officer tells Bay her ankle bracelet should be back on in a few hours which means she has a few hours to kill before she has to go back home.

Meanwhile, Daphne and her fellow deaf students are getting pranked by hearing kids in the worst way. Their bathroom was flooded and now they all have to share one bathroom. When Daphne confronts Mingo, the guy who’s responsible, she ends up agreeing to a dorm triathlon to get access to their bathroom rather than having to go to another building.

With the stakes set they enter into competition and Mingo cheats the first round by bringing in his friends from the lacrosse team to help them win tug of war. Daphne confronts Mingo but he says there weren’t any rules against it. Following Mingo’s theory Daphne calls John to help them win the next contest. While playing John realizes Travis has a great throwing arm and decides to help coach him.

For the last leg in the triathlon, Daphne’s roommate, Iris, helps out my giving advice from her own experience in mud racing. Iris had been feeling left out because she’s the only hearing kid in her dorm and although she’s good at signing she was having trouble keeping up. Daphne promises to be a better roommate and with Iris’ help they’re able to beat Mingo (who will probably become Daphne’s next love interest, of course).

By the end of the competition Bay and Toby show up. Bay at first wanted to apologize to Daphne for the way she treated her but after seeing Daphne having so much fun Bay changes her mind. Taking a chance Daphne throws mud at Bay leading to a mud fight between the three siblings. Nothing says reconciliation like a mud war.

In L.A. Emmett made a new friend, Skye, who tries to help out by bringing him to set with her while filming. Things don’t go as planned when Emmett is shafted to work at the food cart and opens a bag of chips right when they start rolling. After such a sucky day Skye takes Emmett to the set of Psycho and apologizes for letting him be treated that way. They both agree to stand up for themselves in the future and Skye kisses Emmett but he thankfully pulls away. He tells her he has a girlfriend and apparently she has a boyfriend as well. Someone should let Skye know that she probably shouldn’t be going around kissing people then.

Regina was missing Angelo hard in this episode and I just wanted to give her a hug. She ended up hooking up with Eric (Coffee Shop Guy) but it just ended up making her miss Angelo more. Poor Regina.

Next week’s episode looks way more drama filled and I’m praying nothing bad happens to Bay but I know it will because obviously the writers hate her. Check out the preview below.

Switched at Birth Recap: “Bracing The Waves”

Posted on January 16, 2015January 16, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

This episode broke my Bemmett heart. Again. Throughout the episode Bay and Emmett attempted to video chat but things kept getting in Bay’s way. First, it was every one having their cell phones taken away during lunch because of Bay’s unfortunate sandwich/heroin incident. Then after a fight with Tess, Tess stomps on Bay’s phone, destroying it. Did I mention I don’t really like Tess, because I don’t.

Even so, Bay and Emmett’s texts were cute and I like that Bay feels it’s her job to make sure Emmett stays in L.A. and pursues his dream even though it hurts her. It still makes me mad that Bay is going through this while Daphne’s biggest ordeal is how she’s going to pass her Chemistry class.

Speaking of which, Daphne struggled at the start of her Chemistry class when she was running late and showed up to class in sweats which was a no no to her professor. She also got reprimanded by one of her classmates for signing with Josh too much and Josh kept picking and choosing what he would sign for Daphne, making her furious.

Daphne then landed herself in a study group with the same girl that was “distracted” by her signing. After going to one study session with the group, the other members in the group get frustrated because they have to keep slowing down so Josh can interpret for Daphne. Daphne and Josh then catches the group meeting without her. Josh then gets angry, defending Daphne and telling the group they can suck it. This only makes Daphne more angry because she doesn’t need Josh to fight her battles. She then inadvertently fires him which is crazy since she needs him if she wants to pass her chemistry class.

After working with her roommate to try and learn how to better read lips so she can understand the chemistry terms, Daphne quickly realizes she needs Josh. Lucky for her Josh shows up to her next class anyway and with advance notes, no less. Later, when Josh and Daphne are studying outside the same girl that didn’t want to study with Daphne now asks Daphne to rejoin their study group because she has advance notes. Although Daphne knows that’s the only reason they’re letting her in she realizes she needs them more than they need her and takes them up on their offer, making them promise to slow down for her. Therefore, once again, everything works out perfectly for Daphne.

Moving on, the parents are dealing with their on stuff. Kathryn is trying to have her book be made into a movie but it becomes clear that the producer is really just fishing for money when he askes John if he could chip in for the budget. Disappointed Kathryn worries her book will never become a movie but after talking to Renzo she’s convinced making the book into a musical would be a better idea.

Meanwhile Regina returns to East Riverside to drop off Bay for her community service. While there she knocks off one of the lights on someone’s motorcycle who turns out to be building a new coffee shop in East Riverside. Regina and Eric (aka Coffee Shop Guy) hit it off until one of Regina’s former friends, now enemy, sees Regina and gives her hell. Not wanting to enter East River Side on the wrong foot Eric decides to cut ties with Regina.

Regina, always a fighter, refuses to be deterred and convinces Eric to let her help him fix up his coffee shop so he can open it for business and get a lot of customers. She hopes by helping him she can also show East Riverside she’s on their side. Let’s see how that turns out.

There was no Toby in this episode and barely any Emmett. Hopefully we’ll get to see more of the boys soon. Check out the promo for next week’s episode below and try not to freak out over the potential Emmett-cheating-again thing. It’s totally not going to happen. I think.

Switched at Birth Recap: “And It Cannot Be Changed”

Posted on January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

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This episode infuriated me to no end. Just all of it, every second. I hated it.

The episode begins right after Bay stupidly takes the blame for Daphne and Bay goes to Emmett’s house to try explain but he’s not really having it, and rightfully so. They had plans, how could she do this? Meanwhile, Daphne’s at the Kennish’s house telling all the parents about what happened and John is over the moon with the idea.

The thing that makes me so mad about this is although Regina and Kathryn are kind of against it at first they are easily persuaded into believing this is a good thing. Daphne is not punished for her actions. She doesn’t get reprimanded for allowing Bay to take the fall for her. This is a huge deal and no one really seems concerned.

The episode then jumps forward 10 weeks when everyone is getting ready to start college (except Bay but she was never going to college anyway). At first everyone seems to have accepted Bay’s decision and is cool with it. She’s put on house arrest and has to serve community service.

However, both Toby and Emmett are mad at Daphne for letting Bay take the fall for her. Toby is more vocal about his anger but Emmett keeps it in until later.

Melody has opened up her upper education deaf program and both Natalie and Travis will be attending. Meanwhile Daphne and Emmett are preparing to leave for college. Daphne starts wondering if she should really go to Gallaudet, especially after Toby calls her out for just living her life while Bay has to suffer for her mistakes. Emmett also struggles with the idea of leaving for L.A. without Bay by his side.

Bay is able to convince Emmett to go to L.A. and she’ll be with him for Christmas as soon as her probation is over. However, that plan is dashed when after accidentally passing a inmate some hidden heroin she’s slapped with another 100 days of probation. Ouch!

This great injustice leads Emmett to confront Daphne and tell her what we were all thinking: she messed up. Emmett then tells her she can never forgive her for what she did and letting Bay take the fall. The heroin situation also forces Bay to realize how serious what she did was. She realizes she will always be seen as a criminal now even though she wasn’t the one who committed the crime.

While Bay’s dealing with the consequences of her actions, Daphne, after deciding not to go to Gallaudet, has to find a interpreter who’s also fluent in chemistry for her to take the chemistry class she needs for pre-med at UKC. Of course what should be an impossible task becomes easy for her when she learns her new roommate has a cousin who has two deaf parents and used to be pre-med.

The show has to pretend they’re actually giving Daphne a challenge though, so at first he’s completely against the idea, telling her he hates the pre-med program and the professor. However, Daphne is able to persuade him after giving him a heart felt speech about her struggles in the past year and how he should want a deaf person to become a doctor to help people like his parents. He then agrees and all is right in Daphne’s world, as usual.

Back to Bay; after a heartfelt speech from Melody, Emmett found the courage to go to L.A. without Bay, which sucks for Bay and the Bemmett ship but is good for Emmett. After having to say goodbye to her boyfriend with no guarantee on when she can reunite with him Bay is fairly in a terrible mood. When Daphne pays her visit, Bay is thoroughly pissed off and doesn’t want to talk to her and asks her to leave. You go, Bay!

Overall, as far as the script and the acting goes the show was fairly well done. I just hate seeing Bay suffer for this when she didn’t do anything while Daphne continues to get everything handed to her. She was grounded and all the parents seemed to just accept that what Bay did made sense. I understand they both could of got in trouble if they confessed that Bay lied but she still wouldn’t be in as much trouble as she is now. Also, as Toby pointed out Bay could’ve got serious time for Daphne’s crimes and it’s lucky she didn’t.

I just wish for once Daphne would get punished for all the things she does. Even when she got probation for the Chip Coto thing, it wasn’t as bad as what Bay is going through now. I just hate that the Switched at Birth writers just won’t let Bay be happy. Honestly, if this doesn’t get better soon I’m not sure I want to keep watching.

Switched at Birth Recap: “Yuletide Fortune Tellers”

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

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.

Switched at Birth Recap: “Girl on the Cliff”

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

This episode was everything I needed and more. Daphne finally got her intervention and it actually worked … by the end of the episode.

The episode began with Daphne being confronted by Bay, the Kennish’s, and Regina and everything that she’s done wrong has finally been brought to light. I still can’t believe she said she barely touched Bay. Lies they tell.

Thankfully, all the parents recognize that Daphne is headed down a very bad path and although John is upset that Regina knew Daphne had done drugs and was working with Chip Coto, with the help of Kathryn they’re able to work with Regina and stay on a united front.

At school Emmett is set on giving Bay the perfect prom by pulling out all the stops, including making a rose out of newspaper crosswords and campaigning for him and Bay to be prom king and queen. Although the effort was really cute Bay wasn’t that excited to be queen but eventually accepted the nomination just to make Emmett happy.

Of course despite all of Emmett’s efforts something goes wrong. The principal announces that all girls have to wear dresses and all guys have to wear suits. Natalie’s girlfriend is greatly offended by this because she doesn’t wear dresses and so she and Natalie are not going to prom.

After talking to Regina, Bay decides to take a stand against the administration and decides to go to prom in a suit and so does Mary Beth, Natalie, and Natalie’s girlfriend. Although this was a great idea and I’m proud of Bay for taking a stand for her friend the chaperone at prom (the same one who I didn’t like from the start when he said some girls would kill to be prom queen) was absolutely against it and even said some very disrespectful things that honestly he should get in trouble for.

Though they were refused entrance into the regular prom Bay and Co. recreated an awesome prom outside. Also in a great moment before hand Emmett admitted that he was trying to make the perfect prom for Bay since the last one (when he told her he cheated) was so terrible. Although he was upset that things didn’t go exactly as he wanted them to it all worked out in the end and they had a great night.

Daphne on the other hand was having a really rough time. She was grounded so she couldn’t go to prom which she supposedly didn’t really care about but in reality she was probably really upset about that. From there she went back to the clinic where she decided to steal some Oxycodone from the medicine cabinet.

She gets busted and although she begs and pleads Doctor Jay fires her. On top of that a camera caught Nacho at the construction site for the East Riverside project and Regina confronts Daphne where it’s finally revealed that she was there as well and also did damage.

Regina is livid and rightfully so and tears Daphne a new one. Daphne then lies and says she has to go to the clinic but obviously that’s not true. Regina later realizes this and becomes stressed about where Daphne could have gone. Kathryn finds her sitting on a curb in tears and Daphne finally admits that the real reason she’s been acting like such a brat is because she feels guilty for not getting to really know Angelo when she had the chance.

With that breakthrough Daphne is comforted by Kathryn and Regina and thankfully it seems she now headed down a better path. Even so, if Wes chooses to tell the police about Nacho being at the construction site Daphne may very well end up arrested. We shall see how ABC Family will let this play out.

Besides that Toby and Tank had a little disagreement about Toby DJing a party for Tank’s former frat. In the end although Toby did go to the party he apologizes to Tank, telling him he should’ve had his back. They agree to move on and all is well with the roommates.

Next episode is the finale and I can’t wait to see what will happen but I’m also sad for the oncoming hiatus. However it has to happen. Check out the preview below.

Switched at Birth Recap: “Love Among Ruins”

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Switched at Birth has finally returned and with a bang, no less. If you haven’t watched the episode (shame on you; it’s Wednesday) then stop right here because there will be spoilers.

First, Regina has to deal with the fact that she’s now a target because of her the East Riverside project even though she quit her job with Wes. She tries to keep the brick through the window incident under wraps or at least make it seem like it’s less of a big deal than it really it is but of course the truth eventually comes out (as it always does).

Surprisingly, however, Katherine and John actually support Regina rather than badger her for not telling them the truth about the brick through her window. Instead they tell her they support her choices and thinks that she shouldn’t let anyone stop her from her dream of fixing East Riverside. For the first time in a long time I actually like John. And then he ruined the feeling later on in the episode but we’ll get to that later.

After talking to the Kennish’s, Regina decides to get her job back and continue on with the project at the dismay of Daphne who just confronted the vandalists, telling them off and letting them know Regina didn’t even work for Wes anymore. Oops.

Another shocking moment was Daphne confiding in Angelo. In the mid-season finale we saw a little bit of a relationship forming between the two but this really sealed the deal. Daphne asks Angelo to do two things for her: first, he needs to learn how to sign and second, she asked him to move in.

And then this happened:

What a cute little family. Here’s to hoping it lasts.

Moving on, the major point of the episode (obviously) was the reuniting of Bemmett. Finally.

These two love sick teens were a little too eager to get back together and seemingly forgot about using protection leading Bay to have to take the morning after pill. From the looks of it, it was not enjoyable. The pill, not the reuniting.

However, in the words of Daphne I cannot picture Bay and Emmett as teen parents so I think Bay did what she had to do and I’m proud of her for recognizing she made a mistake and quickly rectifying it.

What she didn’t rectify, though, was her relationship status with Tank. Of course Bay felt terribly guilty for cheating on him, especially knowing what it feels like to be cheated on, which is why she knew she had to be honest with Tank and break up with him. Still, once Tank revealed that he quit his frat Bay found it very difficult to get the words out.

After having a little fight with Emmett and looking through what I’m going to now refer to as her “Emmett Box” Bay realized that even though she and Emmett didn’t handle things well she still wanted to be with him (yes!) and that she had to break up with Tank. Eventually (aka probably next episode).

Now why John lost points with me towards the episode is because he went to use Bay’s computer to look up the weather and saw her last Google search was “Where to buy the morning after pill?” First of all, John obviously can’t spell “weather”. Secondly, I do believe it truly was an accident but by the looks of the preview for the next episode John is going to do what he always does and just jump to a conclusion that will ultimately be wrong and cause more problems. And truthfully I think I’m just always looking for reasons not to like John.

While Bay was trying to figure out how to get out of one relationship and into a new (old?) one, Emmett was dealing with his Matthew problem. Matthew wasn’t playing around when he said he’d tell the whole school, as he printed out screen shots of conversations Emmett had with “Mandy” and threw them all around the school.

Melody, being the smart mother she is, quickly realizes that Emmett is hiding something and it’s not good. Emmett eventually confesses that “Mandy” wasn’t real and it had all been a prank set up by Matthew. Emmett felt stupid for being played but Melody informed him that he shouldn’t be embarrassed and that he had been cyberbullied. Go Melody!

After agreeing to tell the principal about it Matthew confronts Emmett reminding him of a “picture” Emmett sent “Mandy”. If I had to guess I’d say it was picture of Emmett’s private area but that’s just a guess. Either way Matthew spooked Emmett so much that when asked if what Melody said was true Emmett denied it saying it was all just a joke.

Melody was furious, and rightly so. However, as angry as she may have been with Emmett she was even more angry with Matthew who she knew was messing with her son.

Yeah, things got intense. Sadly, Melody then got suspended.

It’s not right, it’s not fair, and I seriously hope something happens to Matthew because he’s the absolute worst. Here’s to hoping Melody gets reinstated ASAP and Regina doesn’t get hurt in the next episode. Check out the preview below.

That’s all for now. Until next week SAB fans.

Source for photos/GIFs: ABCFamily and Tumblr

Switched at Birth 3X11 Recap

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

So far this episode has been my favorite of all the ABCFamily spring finales I’ve seen this season. Here’s the recap. Beware the spoilers!

First, Toby is all distraught and sad because he realizes that he and Nikki are really going to get a divorce but he truly doesn’t want to because he loves her and “wants to be with her.” That being said he comes up with this crazy idea to just go run off and follow her even though he knows that’s not something he really wants to do.

Katherine, being the wise mom that she is, gives some advice that she should have given her past self way back when. If you start sacrificing the things you want for someone else eventually you’ll come to resent them. She’s able to convince Toby that what he’s doing is crazy so Toby decides not to follow Nikki but instead to take a trip to Ice Land for some crazy reason. Hopefully he remembered to bring a jacket.

Daphne has finally made her choice and she’s officially dating Campbell. To bad she forgot to let Jorge know. He quickly found out the truth, however, when he walked in on them making out.

Talk about awkward. Daphne then explained that Campbell’s the one she wants to be with and Jorge said he understood but asked her to limit the PDA and soon she’d be gone anyway so no worries.

Sadly, for Jorge Daphne has now decided that she wants to be doctor and plans on staying at the clinic after her community service is over. It was not a good day for Jorge. However, when Daphne runs into one of the guys who robbed her food truck she begins to question if she’s really up for this doctor job. If those are the kinds of people she’s going to have to help will she be willing to save their lives?

Her first instinct was absolutely not and went so far as to ask Angelo for a job at his new restaurant. Later, however, her attacker came back in struggling from drug withdrawal and she agreed to help him. She even volunteered. She then realized that people are still people no matter what crappy thing they’d done and she was willing to put her anger and fear aside to help save a life. Go Daphne!

The Vasquez women were all about facing their fears this episode as Regina stands up to her boss and tries to help the people of East Riverside by ensuring they get the money they deserve. Wes of course quickly catches onto what she’s doing and fires her and tells her she has to return her car and the $50,000 he gave her for her business. He also promises to give the residents of East Riverside hell and to blame their troubles all on Regina.

Obviously the residents of East Riverside were not happy about any of this and threw a brick threw the window of Regina’s business, K&D, that had a sign taped to it that said, “Stay out of East Riverside.” We’ll just have to wait until next season to see what happens with that.

Katherine’s book was leaked and she accused Renzo of committing the crime. This led Renzo to let her know his world does not revolve around her and all her issues, and he actually has a friend who’s going through chemo that’s been his main focus.

After talking it out Renzo forgives Katherine for the accusation and tells her that she shouldn’t be afraid of one bad critique of her book and keep trying new adventures. In the end it turns out it was actually her publisher who leaked the book for publicity. And it worked. Good job Katherine!

Lastly, and I’m sure what almost everyone is most excited about, the reunion of Bemmett. As I suggested in my last recap Emmett was indeed being catfished. He didn’t listen to Bay when she told him the photo was stolen and instead accused her of meddling. Bay couldn’t just let it go however, and with the help of Tank, did a reverse image search where she found that “Maddy” was actually a girl who attended a high school close by.

Bay and Tank decided to stake out the school to try to talk to the girl. While waiting Bay and Tank get into another fight about his fraternity because although Tank is now safe from being black balled Bay can’t understand how his friends could’ve not stood up for him. The only reason Tank was able to stay was because his coach vouched for him. Tank of course is upset that Bay is still talking bad about his frat and doesn’t get why she can’t just be supportive. This leads Tank to storming out of the car leaving Bay to deal with the Emmett issue.

After waiting around a while she sees “Mandy” and questions her about why she’s lying to Emmett. First it comes out that the girl isn’t even deaf and that she has no idea who Emmett is and has never spoken to him. Bay is about to leave, feelings embarrassed about calling this girl out when the girl says she has a deaf cousin that might know Emmett. Of course, it’s Matthew.

Realizing what has happened Bay immediately texts Emmett trying to warn him but unfortunately Emmett has been acting like a jerk lately and got his phone taken away so he didn’t get any of Bay’s messages. He therefore goes to the park expecting Mandy but instead opens a picnic basket with a catfish inside and out walks Matthew with a video camera saying, “Gotcha!” Of course, Emmett is furious (rightfully so) and fights Matthew. Matthew then beats up Emmett, leaving him wounded on the ground.

Hours laters Bay shows up to the park, thanks to Travis’ info, and finds Emmett sitting on a rock, hurt. She is of course concerned and asks what happened and he tells her the whole story, admitting that she was right and that he’s so embarrassed. Bay tells him that Matthew is sick and a jerk, it doesn’t matter, and that everyone loves Emmett.

Emmett then asks if she’s including in that list of people that loves him. Bay doesn’t answer and instead reminds him that he came out to the park to be with a different girl. Emmett then reveals that it wasn’t the same as what he had with Bay and that he’s just been trying to find that again with someone else but hasn’t been able to.

Which is when Bay finally admits:

Insert all the feels.

This love revelation then led to the Bemmett sex scene that fans have been waiting for since season one. Now of course fans have to wait until June 16 to see what happens next.

Obviously there’s a lot of things that need to be addressed. First of all, Bay and Tank did not officially break up. In fact, Tank actually dropped out of his frat, essentially for her. Therefore Bay committed the same crime that Emmett did which made them break up in the first place. I guess we’ve come full circle?

But really, as much as I love Bemmett and am happy to see them together will this last? Because Bay is obviously going to feel guilty about what happened, especially when she finds out what Tank did. Tank is one of the good ones and she messed up and she’s going to have to acknowledge that.

Also how will Emmett take it? Will he just be so happy to have Bay back that he won’t care that once again he’s involved in a cheating scandal? And what will everyone else think? The Kennishs loved Tank and everyone knows how much it hurt Bay when Emmett cheated on her. I can’t see everyone just saying, “Oh, yeah that’s fine. Just get back together.”

Only time will tell. Until next season, let all the Bemmett shippers rejoice.

Sources for photos/GIFs: Tumblr, ABCFamily

Switched at Birth 3X10 Recap

Posted on March 20, 2014March 20, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Pranks, make-ups, fights, more make-ups, and some identity crises. That about sums up the last episode of Switched at Birth. If you haven’t watched yet (although really you should have by now) this is your spoiler alert. Here we go.

Matthew, the guy who slashed the tires of the deaf students at Carlton, returns from his suspension and is suspiciously ready to reconcile with Emmett. I’ll get to the suspiciousness about that later. In that same scene, Emmet tells Bay about his plan to get his internet girlfriend, Mandy, a framed photo of one of the pictures she took. Trying to be a good friend Bay volunteers to take it to her friend Logan to get it well done and put together.

Unfortunately for Bay her act of good friendship leads her to make a tough choice when it comes out that Mandy’s photo isn’t actually her’s but she plagiarized it. Now Bay has to figure out how to tell Emmet that his girlfriend is a lying liar who lies. He’s probably not going to take it well but here’s to hoping it’ll end in some Bemmett loving.

Daphne is still trying to figure out which hot guy she’s going to be with this season. It’s obvious to Katherine (and really everyone else) that it’s Campbell she wants to be with but “for some reason” she just can’t see it. It’s probably because he’s in a wheelchair but Daphne struggles to believe that because how could she, who has a handicap, possibly be bothered by someone else’s.

It quickly becomes evident that this is the case, however, when she goes on a date with Campbell and she tries to help him get over the curb and they’re not let into a bar because of his chair. This leads the two to have a fight and eventually Daphne accepts that there’s a lot of stuff she doesn’t understand about Campbell being in a chair and she does feel sorry for him. In a very smooth way, Campbell makes it clear to her that it’s okay and they can work it out.

Get it Campbell!

Regina’s still dealing with the hot mess that is the buy out of East Riverside. Thinking that she’s doing the owner of one of her favorite taco places a favor, she actually ends up helping her boss buy the place at a much smaller cost than it’s real value. Oops. Besides that, because she was so busy doing her work she missed her daughters’ last field hockey game of the season. Regina starts to wonder if all the benefits she’s receiving from her new job or worth the sacrifices and her integrity. (It’s not.)

The big Carlton versus Buckner game went as expected (Carlton lost). What was unexpected is the prank war that came of it. Buckner started it by trashing the Carlton front steps and Bay and Tank retaliated by defacing the Buckner statue. Nothing brings a couple back together like a big prank. Although they then had a fight because Bay didn’t want to have sex but then got back together when Tank apologized. Yay! This couple is very up and down.

Despite Carlton’s loss, Sharee was able to get scouted by a university which could possibly lead to a field hockey scholarship, all thanks to Toby. Speaking of Toby, it seems the other Kennish will be a getting a divorce. His wife, Nikki, finally made an appearance only to say that she loves the mission work she’s doing and plans to continue to do work . . . in Africa.

Surprise indeed. She wants Toby to come but Toby loves his work in the U.S. of A. Recognizing that it would be difficult to stay married while living on two different continents, these two won’t be married for much longer. As much as I didn’t want it to be true this couple was never really meant to last. I hope Toby finds someone though.

Next week is the spring finale and it looks like it’s going to be a doozy filled with lots of drama, fights, and romance. I can’t wait. Check out the promo:

Now before I leave you guys until next week, let’s go back to the suspicious Matthew thing. Here’s my theory: Matthew doesn’t forgive Emmett. He never did. Instead he came up with this insane idea to create this fake profile for some girl named Mandy, found Emmett online, and started chatting with him, making Emmett fall for her. Then Matthew is going to wait until they “meet up” and tell Emmett the truth, that all of it was a lie, and then beat the crap out of him. In summary, Emmett got catfished and Matthew is a jerk. We shall see on Monday.

If you have your own predictions about the finale next week or just want to say hi, leave a comment below.

Sources for photos/GIFs: Tumblr, ABCFamily