This weeks episode of 'Switched at Birth' was a bit off the beaten path. In true 'Butterfly Effect' style, the episode followed a what-if scenario. Moreover, the episode highlighted the idea that no matter what we choose, events will always play out the same.
The episode opens recapping the last episode, the highlight which is John collapsing and Regina rushing in to save him. Next we are thrown back about 14 years to when Bay and Daphne are 3 years old. Daphne gets a sickness which causes her to go deaf. Due to the illness, Regina discovers that Daphne isn't her biological daughter. She decides to contact the Kennish's.
John receives a phone call one morning informing him of everything. Of course, being the ill-tempered man that he is, John flips out and gets the lawyers involved. Both he and Kathryn decide that they need to be granted full custody of both girls.
After an intense court battle, the Kennish's are granted custody of both children mainly due to Regina's negative history with alcohol.
The episode now flashes forward to the present day, highlighting consistencies in the lives of the Kennish's, i.e. John is still an elected official, Kathryn is still a writer, Bay is still artistic, etc.
However, overall, things turned out a little differently. Daphne and Bay don't get along. Bay is the smart child and Daphne is the popular girl many have forgotten is deaf due to the C.I. she got at a young age.
Daphne gets caught skipping school to go shopping by her parents. They easily let her off the hook on the condition that she return the jacket and take Bay with her to the party.
The two of them go to the party. Bay ends up leaving early and meets Emmett for the first time. Since Daphne has had a C.I. for most of her life, no one in the family knows sign language. Their encounter is very adorable. He drives her home and they plan a second date.
Daphne ends up sleeping with some guy at a party and leaves feeling empty.
Bay also feels empty, feeling as though she doesn't really belong in the Kennish family. She enlists Emmitt's help to find her birth mother. The two of them find some papers and eventually an address. Bay convinces Daphne to come along to meet Regina. When they get to her house, Adriana informs the girls that Regina died.
The two visit the grave to find out Regina died on their birthday; leading viewers to believe that it was suicide.
The girls confront John and Kathryn which ends in a huge fight. The scene closes the same way the previous one did, John collapsing on the floor, only this time Regina isn't there to save him.
The episode ends with a shot of John in the hospital surrounded by Kathryn and Regina; he is grateful for Regina. This seems to suggest that the relationship between Regina and John is beginning to mend.
The following episodes are sure to be exciting.
Photo credit to ABC Family