Switched At Birth - Episode 27 - Recap - The Declaration of Independence

In the twenty-seventh episode of Switched At Birth, “The Declaration of Independence,” Zarra & Bay catch a stranger slashing their street art, John finds out about Travis’ trouble at home, Daphne finds out about Chef Jeff & Melody’s one-night stand, Kathryn thinks Regina is in financial trouble, and Toby finds a new love interest.

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Bay & Zarra catch “Smak!” in Action:

Bay (Vanessa Marano) & her new best friend, Zarra (Tania Raymonde), headed to the “bad parts of town” again, only to find their street art pieces covered up with the tag, “SMAK!” (Someone by the name of “Smak” has been slashing all of the art pieces around town). They eventually caught him in the act at the end of the episode. Zarra scared him away with a paint scraper (which actually looked like a knife from afar):

Zarra: “You slash my piece one more time, I will mess you up!”

(In an effort to have photographic evidence of Smak slashing their art pieces, Bay borrowed Emmett’s SLR camera).... but nothing has changed between the two of them. They’re still broken up.

SMAK! tag on the wall

Travis at the Car Washing Business:

Travis (Ryan Lane) is one of Daphne’s deaf friends and classmates at Carlton High School. He also works for John Kennish (D.W. Moffett) at the car washing business. As soon as Melody (Marlee Matlin) dropped by the car wash, she let Daphne (Katie Leclerc) know that Travis has a crush on her. Daphne was flattered by this, but she had someone else on her mind—Chef Jeff, of course. Melody also mentioned that she’ll be hosting an open house at Carlton High School, so she invited John and Kathryn (Lea Thompson) to the school. Then, Kathryn offered to assist Melody with the open house event.

John later asked Melody for more information on Travis. John wanted to know why Travis never wants to go home to his family. Melody stated that Travis’ parents don’t sign, and that’s definitely an uncomfortable situation for him to go through on a daily basis. Kathryn & John wanted to ask Travis’ parents to learn the ASL language, so that they could communicate with their son.

Travis was supposed to go on a bowling date with Daphne in this episode, but she stood him up for Chef Jeff. In an effort to make Travis feel better, John took him to the batting cages.

Travis & John are on their way to the batting cages

Emmett recognizes Chef Jeff’s face:

Daphne took Emmett (Sean Berdy) to the restaurant before the night of their open house: she pointed out who her boss/crush is from afar. Emmett realized that Daphne’s boss is the same guy that slept with his mom, Melody.... but, he didn’t mention this to her. He actually asked Bay for some advice on whether or not to tell Daphne about Melody & Chef Jeff’s one-night stand. Bay advised him not to say anything... instead, Bay notified Daphne about Melody & Chef Jeff’s affair. The next day, Daphne demanded to know why Emmett had kept this secret to himself.... he didn’t want to upset her. Emmett telling Bay about Chef Jeff & Melody's one-night stand

Daphne’s restaurant catering food at Carlton High School:

Melody asked MAIZE, Daphne and Chef Jeff’s restaurant, to cater food for the open house night at Carlton High School. Chef Jeff didn’t realize Daphne was a student there (yet alone, a high school student) until Melody informed him.

Regina (Constance Marie) also picked up on why Daphne’s been wearing fancier clothes as of recently: to impress her boss. Regina warned Daphne that it isn’t a good idea because he’s her much older employer.

Chef Jeff (Justin Bruening) was surprised to see Daphne at the open house because he thought she was in college. He also felt guilty for trying to kiss her at the parking lot earlier in the week. This made no difference as they shared a long, passionate kiss at the end of the episode:

Daphne: “I need to know what’s going on.”

Chef Jeff: “You’re in high school.”

Daphne: “I want this.”

Oh god. Yet another boss/employee—older man/younger girl relationship. I just want writers to be more creative nowadays. These types of TV relationships are so cliche. Come on, writers. Get yo’ creativity flowin’! STAT! This relationship is BO-RING. I’m so tired of these “love triangle” relationships. (In this case, the love triangle would be Melody-Chef Jeff-Daphne).

Chef Jeff kissing Daphne

Regina puts Kathryn in her place:

Kathryn wanted Regina to be able to sign with Daphne again, so she asked Regina to see an orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Fuller (to check up on Regina’s sprained wrist). Kathryn thought Regina didn’t have enough money to see Dr. Fuller, so she confronted Regina about this. Regina mentioned that she has already seen Dr. Fuller, and if she was ever in financial trouble, Kathryn would be the first to know about it.

Bay makes a confession:

Bay confessed to John & Kathryn that she’s been doing street art long before she met Emmett—for the past two years, actually.... and she won’t ever stop doing street art because its her passion. Bay confessing her love of street art

Toby at the night jam:

Toby (Lucas Grabeel) attended Nikki’s night jam. (Nikki is the Christian girl that flirted with him in the previous episode). There was chemistry there (but, they haven’t kissed yet). I think they will be an official couple in two episodes from now. They’re cute together! They’re a MUCH better match than Toby and Simone.

The next episode airs Monday, 10/8, at 8pm ET on ABC Family. I can’t wait to see what happens next!