Switched at Birth - Season 2 Episode 20 - Recap - The Merrymakers

Switched at Birth - Season 2 Episode 20 - Recap - The Merrymakers

Just one week left! Here is the penultimate episode in ABC Family's second season of their hit drama Switched at Birth! Barely about the actual switch anymore, the show's second season has been all about what happens next, where these characters end up, and how the lives in their social community are affected by... well, everything! Two pairings finally smooch, two more finally become friends, and a few individuals become less terrible as people! Hooray!

The episode opens with us finding out that Angelo has won custody of his new daughter. Huh. That... was surprisingly easy. The baby's impending move-in has Bay headed back home to the Kennish house. The baby shows up, like, the next day. This show wastes no dang time! Baby has some cry time, and Regina helps shut it up. Apparently baby Bay calmed down at the sound of a vacuum, and new baby is the same in this regard. After a long day of baby raising, Regina plants a big ol' smooch on Angelo, and the two wake up later in bed without their clothes on. Finally, some closure on the romance plot! We've all known they were getting back together; it just took Angelo stealing a baby from a nice gay couple in order to see it happen. Yeesh.

Chip Coto, Scumbag Senator Supreme, sends veiled threats into Daphne's anxious mind. Daphne deals with it like a total brat and quits her internship. At the bachelorette party later, Nikki notices that Daphne seems upset and convinces her to open up. Daphne spills the beans, and Nikki goes off to call Chip, leaving a voicemail telling him off. The two then have to do some political espionage in order to get into Chip's office so they can delete the voicemail. They dupe a helpful janitor into helping them. Voicemail deleted, no problems, Nikki and Daphne have a little bonding moment... or so they thought. The next day, Chip sits at his desk, watching his PC screen intently, answering a cal from the head of security, and we all wond-- Okay, no. We know he's watching the security tapes from the break-in last night. The shot is dragged out like it's some big reveal but come on. anyway, Daphne's in big trouble ahead of next week's season finale!

Nikki's mom is coming over for wedding plans, making the trip all the way from middle class. She gets two steps in the door before Nikki starts a fight. Mom wants to have this big, extravagant wedding, but Nikki wants it simple. Kathryn tries to be open-minded, but she's concerned that Nikki's mom is taking it too far. After all, Toby and Nikki both have said over and over that they want a small, intimate wedding without lots of fuss. It eventually comes out that both moms are having the same doubts about their kids getting married. The same doubts as the audience and all of the other characters, too. The doubt that it is a good idea to get married at age eighteen to a person you literally just met like three months ago. Get it together, Toby and Nikki! Y'all should not get married!

Bay asks her papa Senator John Kennish about getting Ty to not be sent back to Afghanistan. John doesn't think it's ethical, but when Bay gets fussy, he's able to be convinced by Kathryn to give it a shot. John goes to visit Ty at the Army base, and discovers that Ty doesn't really want to be stationed close to home. He feels like he'd be abandoning his platoon, that he's be avoiding his commitment he made when he enlisted. John later tells Bay that there's nothing he could do to keep Ty home, but I suspect he is lying, that he is taking the burden of responsibility off of Ty. Now Ty can leave to answer the call of duty without Bay resenting him for it, and John bears the brunt of Bay's disappointment. It's the best moment I've seen with John in a long time. I usually hate this guy, as do my friends who watch the show, but I think now he's starting to develop a little. We're seeing a side of him that has to make hard choices as a father in order to do what's best for his family, and I'm glad for it.

Toby's bachelor party starts in a limo and doesn't go anywhere, because it comes out that Emmett doesn't think the wedding should happen. Then, Simone calls Toby with a minor bombshell of her own: She has chlamydia, which means Emmett and Toby might also have chlamydia! Oh boy. Travis is stuck at the club with a stripper to stall while Emmett and Toby spend the bachelor party at the free clinic getting tested for chlamydia. Toby finds out the test results won't be in until after the wedding (when he and Nikki are supposed to have sex for the first time) and he flips out a little. Emmett takes him to go tell Nikki the bad news. She seems to take it well, but we don't actually hear anything Toby says to her. I suspect he didn't bring up the chlamydia thing at all, but we'll have to wait until next week to find out for sure!

Travis reports back to Emmett on his budding romance with Mary Beth, which is three dates deep without any smooches. Travis wants to wait for a special moment because he's a dumb dweeb (in a cute way). At Nikki's bachelorette party, Mary Beth reveals to Bay that she's concerned Travis just doesn't like her. The two go to find Travis, since the boys are supposed to be partying for Toby nearby. The two girls get to the club just in time to see Travis dancing with some pretty lady! As we know, this is the stripper for Toby's bachelor party that Travis has been tasked with stalling. Mary Beth doesn't know this, though, and she storms off. Travis explains the situation to Bay, and he feels really bad. The next day, Travis walks up to Mary Beth's stand at the themepark where she works and puts a pair of dogtags on the counter. It's her brother's dogtags she lost a few episodes ago! Travis found them in the minigolf section for her. Mary Beth grabs him by the collar and pulls him in for their first kiss! Awwww! These two are the best couple on the show, with such minimal dysfunction that they scarcely fit in at all. It's delightful!

Lots of stuff this week! In lieu of massive plot movement, we get a lot of good little character moments this week. Next week's finale has a lot to wrap up, so the emotional content was nice to see this week. Hopefully, the finale will provide some much-needed payoff, but also this week was a solid piece of TV regardless. Check back in right here next week for our last recap of the season, and watch a preview for this episode below!