Switched At Birth -- Why Can't We Be Friends
The action once again focused on Bay's problems at Carlton with the nasty deaf girl, Natalie. Bay came to school and found she'd written something nasty on the outside of her locker. Not wanting to get the rep as a rat, Bay tried to cover it up, and Melody came and blamed her for defacing her own locker.
This episode reminded me of why I'm lukewarm to Melody at the best of times and hate her guts at the worst of times. It wasn't the way she dealt with Bay that made me want to smack her, it was the way she treated her supposed good friend Regina. Regina learned from yet another daughter that she's done permanent damage to her wrist and not only can't she sign anymore, she can't even do hair anymore. When she told Daphne and Melody, Melody accused her of making it up to get sympathy. Regina got disgusted by Melody and walked away from her saying she was no friend of hers. Hopefully, that decision will stick, because Melody is no real friend of Regina's. She treated Regina's daughter, Bay, like crap because she didn't like that Bay was dating Emmett and now she's treated Regina like crap because she no long can do sign language. She's one of the biggest bigots on this show.
Turns out she and Nasty Natalie are of the same mind and she's against the pilot program, as well. Emmett tells her Natalie defaced Bay's locker and reminds Melody she's supposed to be a guidance counselor at the school and needs to do something about the situation. Her solution is a retreat promoting tolerance of each other. It seems to work as Bay and Natalie ultimately agree to a truce. It's interesting the deaf people are treated unfairly and they turn around and are just as big of bigots as hearing people can be.
On the bright side for Bay, she meets a new student named Noah who also can hear. When he gets dizzy in front of her he confides in her he's got Meniere's Disease. It makes him dizzy and he's already lost 60% of his hearing in his right ear. His parents have sent him to Carlton to prepare him in case the time comes when he completely loses his hearing. Emmett sees Bay hanging out with Noah and being concerned for him and gets jealous. He wants to know why they're not together. It isn't still because of Simone; Bay says she's just got so much going on she just isn't ready. Because of that Emmett says he no longer wants to be friends with her because it hurts too much.
Daphne is upset that Regina will never be able to sign again. Noah actually gets her to see it from Regina's point of view. He talks about how Regina must feel that her body has turned against her and she has no control over it. He's actually telling her how he feels because of his disease, but doesn't mention to Daphne that he has Meniere's Disease. Later, Daphne finds Regina looking through a college catalog to take some classes. She explains that she's going to have to find a new career since she can't paint or do hair anymore.
Ivan, John's campaign manager, wants John to run a campaign that's very homogenized and doesn't really tell anyone what issues John stands for. Kathryn has a bit of trouble be slotted into the little woman supporting her husband role. They have her do a radio interview talking about recipes and she tries to get John's issues across about talking about the immigrant that gave her the recipe. Needless to say she majorly pissed when John calls her on the carpet and basically tells her to stick to the script.
Meanwhile, Toby gets to know Angelo's pregnant girlfriend, Lana. He gives her a ride and they get into a minor car accident. So he takes her to the doctor and sees her baby on the sonogram. When he learns Lana intends to give her baby up for adoption, he suggests Lana meeting the rest of her baby's family. I kept wondering if they kind of put the kibosh on Toby and Nikki to promote a romance between Toby and Lana.
