Quick Take: Switched at Birth, "The Persistence of Memory"
Bay hunts for her lost father, Daphne almost burns down a school, and Toby continues to be sketchy.
Review: Switched at Birth, "The Persistence of Memory"
(S0106) We first find Bay trying to do artful things to a picture of a pregnant Regina leaning up against a car. As she is playing around with the pixels and colors, she notices a piece of paper in the car window. She zooms in with what must be an image editing program of the future because you can clearly see the words. Did I mention the tiny piece of paper is in the background of the picture? It’s not pixilated or blurry in the least once it is enlarged. Where can I download this program?
Daphne decides to hone her cooking skills so she enrolls in a cooking class at Bay’s hoity-toity private school, Buckner Hall. When the camera panned around the kitchen it looked like the stage for The Next Food Network Star. Just like I drooled over the science lab, I envied this kitchen too. It could have been because I was hungry... but I digress. The kids in the class aren’t very nice to Daphne -- whispering behind her back, pointing, giving her the stink eye. Well that was just one girl named Clover. I wonder if her friend was named Crimson? Daphne’s partner catches Clover’s stink-eye and overall snotty disposition and tells her to mind their own beeswax. Later on, Daphne doesn’t hear the timer go off and her food begins to burn. Her partner has conveniently stepped away to talk with the teacher, who doesn’t seem to notice that the room is about to catch fire. Only when the fire alarms start to blare do they look over with extreme shock that smoke is billowing right behind them. I have some experience with burning food and it has a fairly recognizable smell. I guess the conversation about his failing grades was just too engrossing.
Meanwhile, Bay and Emmett try to locate her dad’s car with help from the blur proof picture. They find nothing of course but then Emmett remembers that some of Regina’s stuff is in their garage and a clue to her father’s identity could be there. They rifle through the junk and Bay finds Daphne’s birth certificate which is technically hers. I didn’t lose you, did I? And her father’s name is on it, of course. Mystery solved, Scooby!
Bay’s brother Toby has gotten quite sketchy and creepy since the last episode. Demanding money from Bay and grabbing her arm when she refuses to give him any is quite out of character for him. Near the end of the episode Toby goes into stealth mode to sneak into the school and steal a Chemistry test for his friend. It’s very low-budget Mission Impossible-esque and that could have helped him successfully steal the test. You’d think that as rich as his school is they could at least invest in security guards or alarm systems. That was almost too easy. This is why I kept my tests locked and booby trapped in the janitor’s closet when I taught 8th grade. But methinks there will be a catch later on in regards to the stolen exam.
The next day Daphne decides she is not going to let the snooty girls get to her. She returns to class bringing her teacher chocolate mousse petit fours as an apology for almost burning down her class. As a teacher, I kind of wish all my students had brought me food every time they almost injured themselves doing a lab experiment because they didn’t listen to instructions. That’s a great apology. The stink-eye girl intensely stares at Daphne through the whole chocolate transaction so Daphne turns around and delivers this zinger: “I’d offer you some but you might catch being deaf.” Yeah Daphne, you go! Now pass me one of those mousse squares.
Overall I thought it was a good episode with some touching moments. My only eyebrow raising concern was the fact that Bay and Daphne are suddenly friends now. A few episodes back they essentially hated each other because each was dating a boy the other had feelings for or had a past connection with. Maybe it was a subtle shift in the universe that caused it. Or maybe the writers decided to forgo the tension. Or they could simply be teenage girls. Who knows? Another noteworthy observation: the word “ass” is uttered approximately four times in this episode while “hell” and “damn” are used only once. Is it just me or is ABC Family getting edgier with their scripted prime time dramas? I guess we’ll have to tune in next week to see how far they will push the censor envelope.
I often wondered about the edgy factor while watching ABC Family's Greek. Certainly a family-friendly show about frats and sororities if there ever was one, but still did involve drinking and premarital sex and the occasional cuss word, etc.
i really dont like any one of these shows