On the last episode of Switched at Birth, we watched as Bay gave an interview to the representative from the Title IX office at UMKC and Tank was expelled for what happened at that party. Daphne also flew to California to talk to Emmett who was not responding to Bay when she tried to tell him what happened with Tank was more complicated than just that she cheated. This episode starts the fallout from what happened as well as involves Kathryn in more emotional storylines as her mother tells her of a problem and while Kathryn and Toby are trying to write the musical for “Batter Up” (The second book that Kathryn wrote).
The episode opens with Bay and Emmett going up to Bay’s room to talk about what happened, and Emmett thinks he is trying to protect Bay by telling her that they do not have to talk about what happened all over again. Bay insists that she wants to talk about it, but then Emmett says he loves her and that is all that matters to him. Daphne is home on fall break, and wakes up to Regina pouring her some coffee. Regina then tells Daphne that she is part owner after investing $50,000 in the coffee house.
In the main Kennish house, Kathryn and John are listening to a weather report about a severe thunderstorm that is set to hit their area. They also discuss Kathryn’s mother Bonnie visiting and Emmett and Bay spending all night in Bay’s room. John becomes concerned when he hears that Emmett and Bay have been up there all night, but Kathryn then reminds him that they had a lot to talk about. But yet, Emmett won’t talk about what happened to Bay and just wants to talk about apartments he found for them in Los Angeles. Bay again tells him that they need to talk about what happened, but all Emmett wants to do is talk about why Tank didn’t get arrested and how he wants to beat Tank with a baseball bat.
At the coffee house, Eric sends Will off to the movies with his babysitter and then he and Regina talk about how happy they are and how Will likes Regina. Then they kiss, when an unsuspecting Daphne walks in to surprise Regina wanting to see the coffee house. At the main Kennish house, Bonnie surprises Kathryn, John, and Bay (and Emmett) by bringing along her companion Lucille for the visit. They talk for a minute when Bay and Emmett come downstairs and find them all talking. Bonnie and Lucille, upon meeting Emmett, tell everyone that they have learned American Sign Language, and are able to sign to Emmett and their sign language impresses everyone especially Kathryn.
The rain from the storm starts while Regina and Daphne are at the coffee shop discussing whether or not Regina and Eric are in a relationship. Daphne talks about what happened with Wes and Regina, to which Regina says there was nothing more there than business when Nacho shows up. Seeing Nacho shocks Daphne and Regina, but they all tell Eric they only know each other from the old days. Nacho has agreed with Eric to get the coffee house’s wireless internet set up and to only be paid in cash. Meanwhile, John and Bay look for camping lanterns and candles in case the house loses power, but end up talking about how Emmett is handling this and Bay asks John if she should just let it go or tell him the truth. John tells her that she should tell Emmett the truth because he loves her, and not to underestimate what he can and can’t handle.
Kathryn, Lucille, and Bonnie are all in the kitchen talking about the chili recipe Lucille is making, when John comes in and says that Toby, Regina, and Daphne will not be home for dinner because of the storm. The conversation switches to baseball and how Lucille and Bonnie enjoy watching the Diamondbacks, and then to their trip to Napa which surprises Kathryn. Lucille and John talk about him hitting against Randy Johnson, to which Lucille tells John she was there, then when Bonnie believes she forgot her medication Lucille excuses herself to tell Bonnie that she packed it. John excuses himself to go “check on Kathryn” and they whisper about the two of them in the other room, and John tells Kathryn he thinks Bonnie is gay which shocks Kathryn.
At the coffee house Regina and Daphne talk about Nacho ratting them out to Eric and Daphne says that she doesn’t even know if Nacho knows how it all turned out. Regina wants to confront Nacho and while they are talking a tree comes through the window and almost hits them. Eric runs downstairs to check and make sure they are all ok and Nacho says that the power is out in the building.
The power is also out at the Kennish house, where Kathryn and John are talking about whether or not Bonnie is gay. Kathryn is convinced that John’s imagining all of this, but John then points out that Lucille packed some of Bonnie’s things and that they wanted to stay in the same room after he offered them separate rooms. He tells Kathryn he thinks she should talk to Bonnie, which makes her upset, because they never talk about those kinds of things.
As the skylights in the coffee house begin to break, Regina and Eric start to move the furniture away from the water leaking in so the furniture is not ruined. While they do that, Daphne sneaks off to go talk to Nacho about what happened after the construction site trashing. Nacho tells Daphne that he has left town but he sneaks back to see his daughter, and Daphne tells him about how Bay took the fall after Nacho probes her since he knew she was on probation. Daphne continues on telling Nacho about that the case was closed and that Bay wrecked the construction site on her own. Nacho seems relieved that there is no more warrant and he can come back to the area and get a real job, he also tells Daphne to tell her sister hey for him. Daphne says that since Bay did him a solid, if he wants to do her one back then to not tell anyone about it.
Emmett and Bay are setting the table for dinner when Emmett shows her a Photoshop of them that he did with the selfie he took in Hollywood. Kathryn then comes in and tells Emmett that Bay really missed him and they are all happy to have him back. Daphne is wiping down the tables when Nacho comes out and tells Regina and Daphne that the $75 he and Eric agreed to isn’t enough, and instead he wants $10,000 and threatens that if they don’t pay, he will go to the cops and tell them that Bay took the fall for Daphne.
Meanwhile, Kathryn and Bonnie discuss what is going on with Bonnie. Kathryn has finally potentially accepted that her mother might be gay, when Bonnie tells Kathryn that instead Lucille has helped her and that Bonnie has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease which shocks Kathryn. Kathryn starts to deny that it is in fact what is going on, but Bonnie tells her that the doctors have done all kind of testing and that they ruled out anything else. Kathryn still refuses to believe what her mother is telling her and walks away upset.
Back at the coffee house, Daphne and Regina discuss whether or not Nacho will get paid off and how that will happen when they have no power. Bay looks for Emmett and finds him writing to his advisor at USC that he wants to withdraw for the semester and go back when Bay can go with him. She tells him that if he is going to do that, then he needs to listen to her about what happened. While they are talking, John, Kathryn, Bonnie, and Lucille discuss how long Bonnie has had Alzheimer’s disease. Kathryn tells Bonnie that she wants Bonnie to move from Scottsdale to Kansas City. Bonnie and Lucille tell John and Kathryn about their plans to move to France and open a Bed and Breakfast. These plans make Kathryn angry, because she doesn’t think that Bonnie should be so far away and storms out of the room.
At the coffee house, Regina finds Eric trying to call Will and when Regina asks Eric for the money in the safe, he asks her for the truth and Regina tries to beat around the bush, but then tells Eric that Nacho is blackmailing her. She says she doesn’t want him involved, but he says he’s getting involved anyway. Eric walks out of the office to confront Nacho who tries to tell him that the Wi-Fi is all good, but the power is out and he can’t fix that. Eric and Nacho get in each other’s faces, and then Eric pushes Nacho down and tells him that no one shakes him down. Eric shows Nacho an old gang tattoo from his past and they share a moment, then tells Nacho that if he messes with Regina and Daphne again he won’t be safe anywhere. The scene ends with Eric paying Nacho for the Wi-Fi and then giving him a little extra for his daughter, leaving Daphne and Regina shocked.
Bonnie tries to talk to Kathryn and finds her crying and staring out the window. Bonnie tells Kathryn that there is nothing they can do; she can only take medicine to keep the Alzheimer’s from coming. She also tells Kathryn that she wants to do some of the things she’s always wanted to do and that she won’t be on her own. They discuss Lucille and Bonnie tells Kathryn that she will always have Lucille and that Lucille is her companion. She tells Kathryn that she will be fine, but Kathryn is still visibly upset by what is going on and falls into her mother’s arms weeping.
The next thing we see is Bay and Emmett talking and Bay at the conclusion of what she has to tell Emmett which makes him visibly angry. He then tries to trap Bay when she says that he’s been in the situation where he was drunk and made stupid choices. That causes them into get into a huge fight when Emmett says that he doesn’t understand what she was doing in bed with Tank in the first place. He then makes the assumption that it had to do with the fight they had the last time he was in town.
Emmett storms out and then Bay follows him begging him to listen outside in the rain, and it looks like they might be breaking up again as Bay stands there looking rejected as Emmett leaves. Regina and Eric talk about what happened between him and Nacho. He shows Regina the tattoo he showed Nacho and tells her about how he got Nacho to leave. Then, as the storm is leaving, Daphne tells Eric thank you for helping them and Kathryn talks to Lucille about Bonnie and Kathryn thanks her for being Bonnie’s companion.
The episode ends with Daphne crying because it’s hard for her to see Regina with someone else, and they talk about how the coffee house looks. Then, Will and the babysitter return from the mall and Will tells Eric, Regina, and Daphne about all the samples he got from the ice cream man at the mall since it was all going to melt anyway. Eric tells Daphne not to be a stranger and Regina and Eric share a kiss. Will and Daphne smile, and Will tells Eric that he doesn’t want to leave. And at the Kennish house, John who holds her as she cries about what happened with Emmett while thinking she has lost him forever finds Bay.
Reflection on this episode:
This episode confronts a lot of hard to deal with issues, both with Kathryn and Bonnie, and also Bay and Emmett. It can be hard in both situations to deal with something like they have had to deal with, however, it helps to tell those you love about it. When faced with a situation like Bay was faced with, it is easy for the person who feels badly about it like they are the "victim" to think they are ok. Each person is different, and Bay and Kathryn were in similar situations but had different reactions to it, which is also very common.
Having not known anyone in a situation similar to Kathryn and Bonnie though, it is hard to say what would be the "right" reaction or the "wrong" one, but there definitely was some empathy there when Kathryn was crying. It is a sad situation and we want to see our parents as people who never have issues and it can be hard to deal with something like hearing a parent has a health problem like Alzheimer's.
As far as Bay and Emmett, Bay was right for telling him and he seemed like he was not ready to listen even though he told her to listen. Then, he turned it around and tried to get her to say that she wasn't raped but that she chose to sleep with Tank. That was very unfair, and hopefully once he calms down, he will be able to really listen and they can fix their problems.