Switched At Birth – Season 2 Episode 5 – Recap – The Acquired Inability to Escape

The recap of Switched At Birth – Season 2 Episode 5 – “The Acquired Inability to Escape.”

Episode 5 started off with Daphne (Katie Leclerc) telling Emmett (Sean Berdy) about her and Travis’ big kiss. This surprised Emmett because she has only dated hearing guys thus far: Liam, Wilke, and Chef Jeff. Later in the episode, Emmett spotted her speaking to Noah (Max Lloyd-Jones), and he signed to her, “See? Another hearing guy [you’re interested in].” In an effort to prove him wrong, Daphne scheduled a “date” with Travis (Ryan Lane)—they sold tacos from her food truck later that evening. By the way, I guess Daphne’s a “kiss and tell” kind of girl? Who knew?

Since Toby (Lucas Grabeel) is a senior in high school, it is now time for him to apply to colleges. His high school guidance counselor recommended Washington University, and he remembered that his grandfather—Bill—attended school there. But when Toby asked his grandpa for a recommendation, he just criticized Toby’s resume. Grandpa Bill and Toby’s dad/Bill’s son—John (D.W. Moffett)—don’t have a good father/son relationship, and John has done his best to keep his unsupportive father out of Toby, Daphne, and Bay’s lives. Bill’s the kind of guy who isn’t as supportive as John would like for him to be. Later in the episode, John had a long talk with Bill:

John: “You (Bill) can’t take credit for me! What I’ve done [i.e. playing baseball], I’ve done in spite of you.”

Then, Toby told John that he doesn’t want to go to college. At all. [We’ll learn more about what John has to say about this in the upcoming episodes].

Grandpa Bill

Regina (Constance Marie) interviewed for a receptionist position at a spa, but she didn’t get the job. (She had to quit her cosmetology business due to severe arthritis in her wrists). This caused Regina to act irrationally. She met up with Zayn (who we met in the previous episode) again at the bar, and had a couple drinks. Last season, she promised never to consume alcohol again; however, she broke that promise when she had a drink at the bar in this episode. Uh-oh! Now that Regina has fallen off the wagon, I think we’ll see an unstable side of Regina. I believe the viewers will see a lot more non-sober Regina in the upcoming episodes. Oh, and Regina & Zayn kissed! What will Angelo (Gilles Marini) think of this?

Zayn and Regina at the bar

As a result of adding the pilot program for hearing kids at Carlton School for the Deaf, the school itself was severely low on cash. The director of the drama club at Carlton quit his job because Principal Rose could not meet his salary expectations. Then, Kathryn (Lea Thompson) spoke to Principal Rose, and she agreed to become the newest director of the drama club—though only as a volunteer because Carlton is on a low budget. Also: Bay (Vanessa Marano) & Natalie are involved in this drama club, but Bay initially failed to let Natalie know that Kathryn is her mother. When Natalie finally figured out that Kathryn is one of Bay’s mothers, Bay said something about Kathryn that she regretted later on…. that she thinks her mom “doesn’t have a life of her own.” (Kathryn heard the whole thing, unfortunately). They talked about this matter at home, and Kathryn forgave Bay.

Kathryn accepting Bay's apology

In East Riverside, Travis & Daphne were robbed whilst they were selling tacos from her food truck. While Travis was secretly purchasing a rose for Daphne, two hearing guys took all the money that Travis & Daphne earned on the night. This is how the robbery went down: one of the guys flirted with Daphne whist the other knocked Daphne down, injured her, and then stole all the money in the process. Then, Travis came back to the food truck only to find Daphne crying on the floor. He felt so bad for Daphne and so angry with the two robbers that he skipped school the next day to hunt down those said guys at the same location. Daphne found him there later the next evening holding a baseball bat in his hands. Travis wanted to beat down the guys that hurt Daphne if or when they came back.

Daphne felt extremely vulnerable at this point because they were the targets of a hate crime. She felt that these two hearing guys targeted them because they are deaf.

This was a good episode. I still think there’s something fishy going on with Natalie. I don’t think she’s trustworthy. Will her and Bay’s newfound friendship last? Only time will tell.