Switched at Birth - Season 3 Episode 2 - Your Body is a Battleground - Recap
Switched at Birth - Season 3 Episode 2 - Your Body is a Battleground - Recap
ABC Family has a special brand of teen-oriented drama, and few other networks manage to have such a wide array of shows all aimed at the same audience while still feeling distinct. Switched at Birth, like most shows on the channel, has a simple concept at its core, but has moved far past it to show us the vast array of ripples that continue to form out from the central event: The hospital mix-up that lead to the swapping of two families' newborn daughters. Three seasons in, the show isn't even about their switch anymore. That was resolved long ago, and now the show is about how these people have had their lives affected (for better and for worse) by one simple mistake.
Since last week's drunken promise, Bay is having regrets agreeing to play sportsball for the new athletic competitions team (field hockey, okay, it's field hockey), since she's not really all that sporty. Bay and Toby (the over-eager coach of the squad) come into conflict a few times, since there's not enough players to let Bay sit out. This has Toby looking into which of the new students might be a good fit, and Daphne's newfound enemy Sharee is apparently a superb athlete. Daphne makes a wager with Sharee, over one-on-one basketball. If Daphne wins, Sharee joins field hockey. If Sharee wins, Daphne drives her to school every day. It's a close game, but Sharee pulls the win. Impressed by Daphne's skills, however, Sharee shows up for field hockey practice anyway!
Bay's fratty art partner Tank didn't have any time to do his drawing of Bay while being busy taking care of her dumb drunk self last episode. Bay's drawing of Tank gets shot down by the instructor as boring, but Tank's lazy abstraction gets him canned. Bay comes clean about why Tank didn't do a proper drawing, and he gets another shot at it. Over their next drawing sessions, Bay starts to see a new side of Tank and I think she's about to get all smoochy up on his face because man he is a nice dude! Anyway, they both get good marks on their redone drawings.
Kathryn Kennish (Lea Thompson) has been taking dance classes in secret, but as is typical of Switched at Birth, secrets don't last long. The characters are pretty open with one another, and usually they realize almost immediately that honesty is the best policy. So, Kathryn's dance buddy Renzo answers her phone while they're at class, and instead of a sitcom dodge, Mama Kennish just comes clean to her husband John right away and sets up a dinner to introduce her new friend. This seems like poor foresight on her part, since her hubby is a hyper-conservative senator and her pal Renzo is a flamboyantly gay dancer. That's actually not as big an issue as I thought it'd be. The real problem comes up when Renzo spills the beans on Kathryn's lie from last episode. Kathryn agrees to start being more open, telling John about her dance classes and her visits with a psychiatrist. I'm sure this will come up again, since John is a doofy meat-head who is mean to his family (and everyone else) all the time!
Daphne's community service flirtation with pre-med Campbell (RJ Mitte) continues, the two finding common ground in their respective disabilities. The other folks at the clinic where the two are volunteering keep calling for Daphne to answer phones, forgetting she's deaf, and when Campbell answers the phone, his slight speech impediment confuses callers. They get a skater at the clinic with a busted wrist, but the guy leaves before the doc can have a chat about the bloodwork. Turns out sk8rboi has daibetes, and when Daphne and Campbell track him down to let him know, he's already aware and doesn't want to be bothered with it. Campbell asks him for a favor, to come talk to the doctor so Daphne won't get fired, and the guy agrees. Daphne doesn't know about this part of the chat, since Campbell was facing away from her. It's pretty cute, actually. Except... The next day at the clinic, Campbell's girlfriend comes to visit him. Sad trombone sound! Aw, poor Daphne!
Regina is feeling the pressure from running her new business and from being coerced (by her mom) into doing unpaid interior design work for a distant relative. She gets really annoyed once it turns out she'll be designing two rooms, but Daphne reminds her that no budget interior design was how the two of them had done it before they had money and lived in the rich neighborhood. Regina dives back into the dumpster for some scrap metal, searching for that kitschy look that will inspire her.
There's one little hanging thread from last episode that gets touched on in this one: The mystery of who is slashing tires at Carlton. Since only deaf kids are getting their air drained, everyone suspects it must be one of the new students, the delinquents! But, Emmett does some accidental detective work and finds the slasher in a very distinctive hooded sweatshirt. Later, hanging with his usual pals, he notices one of the girls, a deaf student, putting on that very same hoodie! Oh geez! Scandalous! Could it really be one of the deaf students framing one of the hearing newcomers to their school, sewing dischord and strife?
This was another good episode, with a few twists and all of the things that I still love about this show. I liked the little wrench in Daphne's romance, and I really like the depth we're seeing in Bay's new crush. Tank, like most of the characters on this show, is far more than he seems at first. I'm excited for next week, and for the remainder of the season! Check out the preview below.