Switched at Birth Season 4 Episode 5 Review: At the First Clear Word
Samantha McAllister
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On Switched at Birth Season 4 Episode 5, we dealt with the very serious subject of rape; though we are going to start off with the lighter stories first before jumping into the main storyline of the night.
I was totally with Daphne when she rolled her eyes at what Vimla had to say because I was doing the same thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Daphne wanting to know if she could do a side project, but no Vimla has to be a complete brat about things and try to take control of the group.
It seems as though they have forgotten they get advanced notes thanks to Daphne so maybe they should treat her with a little more respect.
Daphne being nervous about going to Marillo's house was pretty spot on – the woman is a little on the scary side. Josh trying to reassure Daphne she is going to be OK was really sweet and just makes me fall in love with Josh even more. Can he please smile more often?
Trust me Dumbo, you don't need the feather to fly. You'll be fine.
Josh
If there was any doubt about how much of a genius Marillo ism tonight proved it to all the doubters. How could these girls not realize they were part of an experiment? It was not at all shocking they all failed the experiment by not working together and instead working solo.
Thanks to Marillo's experiment, Daphne and Vimla are on better terms and we can only hope it continues. They can't continue to work against each other or else they will fail.
Eric is really starting to grow on me and I am down for him getting together with Regina. I will always miss Angelo, but I think in time Regina and Eric could really work out. He seems like a great guy with a good head on his shoulders and would be able to deal with Regina's hot headed personality. It doesn't hurt Eric is also a great father who doesn't let his kid quit – just stop it Eric.
Toby really should have stuck to his guns and not taken money from Lily – he needs to learn how to be an adult and take care of his own problems. I get Lily just wanted to help, but instead she should be there to support Toby and the decisions he chooses to make.
Did anyone else want to shake some sense into John and Kathryn when they were offering Toby money? You guys just cut him off and tried to make him be more independent and here you are offering him money because you don't want him to lose Lily. Toby is trying hard to be an adult and instead of throwing money at his problems; they all need to back him up and reassure him he is doing the right thing with his career.
Now onto the big storyline of the night; Bay possibly being raped. We all knew this story was coming based off the ending of Switched at Birth Season 4 Episode 4. I have to say Tank's nonchalant attitude towards the drunken night was extremely upsetting. The fact is clear he was lucid enough to remember the night and remember they used protection yet he went ahead and had sex with Bay even though she was far gone.
We actually didn't hear the word rape until 25 minutes into the episode, but it was a powerful moment for Bay. It doesn't come as a surprise Bay would not see what happened to her as rape because she wants to believe the best in Tank. Seeing the tears in Bay's eyes as her mind raced just about killed me.
Bay: Tess has a boyfriend, a pretty serious one, I think she loves him a lot. But I guess last night she got really drunk, like smashed, and when she woke up this morning she found that she had, had sex with someone else but she doesn't remember it; nothing, black-out. Does that found as cheating? I mean does she have to tell her boyfriend?
Regina: Well that's awful.
Bay: That she cheated.
Regina: That she was raped.
Bay confronting Tank about what happened was heartbreaking. Tank clearly doesn't think what he did was wrong and he tries to justify himself by saying Bay was kissing him. If he was truly a friend to Bay he should have stopped what was happening and realized Bay was so drunk she wasn't in her right mind. As much as I love Tank, I am on Bay's side and feel she was taken advantage of.
By episode's end Toby tried to make sense of what happened with Bay by getting Lily's opinion on the matter and Bay confided in Daphne about what happened to her. Listening to Bay re-counting the night, it is clear Bay feels as though she was violated and I am happy Daphne told her she needs to go with her gut feeling.
This was a beautifully written episode and next week it's clear we are going to get a continuation of what happened to Bay and the decision she makes.
What did you think of tonight's episode?
You still have time to catch up, go watch Switched at Birth online now via TV Fanatic.
Samantha McAllister was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in November 2018.
