Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Episode two starts with Daphne waking up in the guest house. She goes to the window as a smile spreads across her face. She looks out at the same pool she had admired not so many days ago. She looks happy to be alive and blessed to be in beautiful surroundings.
Then next scene we see Bay arrive to invite Daphne, Regina and Grandma over to the Big house for breakfast. Bay spouts on about popovers, jam and juice before realizing Daphne is holding a sugary cereal obviously one Bay is forbidden to eat. Bay who has everything is jealous of the freedom Daphne has in her world. Regina refuses the invite as well grandma heads out the door for work. Daphne accepts and hands the box of cereal to Regina before following Bay out the door. “What the hell are popovers,” Regina says to herself as the door closes.
Daphne’s eager arrival at the big house turns to frustration as everyone is talking at once and making jokes but they all seem unaware she had no idea what they are saying. I will insert here for the Kennish’s to be so gung ho about having their daughter around they are quite selfish. The idea of having a daughter to them is more one of possession; ah yes we found this child that we didn’t know was missing lets make her into mini us’. She supposedly has to want what they want or be who they want her to be but they are inconsiderate in other ways. They do not seem to see her as a person who had a life before she met them or someone used to living quite well without them.
Some time during breakfast the family invites Daphne, Regina and Grandma to the Thursday night barbecue they have each week. Daphne is excited at the process of something different as she volunteers to make her special brownies for the event. At one point it finally hits them that Daphne is not enjoying their conversation as much as they are when she makes a comment about Rhubarbs they have clearly been discussing for a while. Suddenly the light goes on in their head, Yes we are selfish, of course they just think we forgot she is deaf. It is a prime example of them getting ahead of themselves in dealing with Daphne who though is quite self sufficient she also needs some special attention. Toby who I have liked since the start makes a comment as he walks behind Daphne’s chair, “Its kinda like hanging out with grandpa.” This seems out of character for Toby. He has been the one to accept Daphne from day one.
Daphne excuses herself as Emmett arrives to pick her up for school on his motorcycle. The Kennish’s follow her outside to meet him. Emmett knows Dad Kennish from some sports thing and he tells Daphne who interprets for him. But despite this interaction they still don’t like that Daphne rides the motorcycle with Emmett. They briefly discuss Emmett and the motorcyle before Regina comes outside to tell Daphne its time they went off to school. The Kennish’s discuss the motorcyle riding and Daphne for a few boring moments outside before Bay and Toby go off to school. The parents decide they are going to find a way to keep Daphne from riding with Emmett. Again this is their way of trying to fix Daphne’s life even though her life is going along just find without their interference. The only they they have done so far to help that makes sense is to offer them a place to live. At this junction I am beginning to believe that supposed selfless act was one so they could keep an eye on Daphne and two because they think Regina is irresponsible with her money though they won’t say it. Why else would she needed a place to live right?
Emmett and Daphne at school is up next. Daphne complains about the disaster that was breakfast and Emmett listens to her view the best he can. He decides its all normal for hearing people.
Back at the Big House Mom returns from working out to argue with Dad about the attorney and the malpractice lawsuit they may or may not pursue. Mom, Catherine, I keep forgetting to add her name, is more concerned about the motorcycle than suing. Dad tells her she needs to go to talk to Regina about the motorcycle.
Immediately we are back at school where we see Liam with Bay. Bay is chattering about being grounded but that she wants to hang out with Liam. Liam reminds her they broke up and since Bay has not shared that she is not who she always thought she was then the conversation is moot. Liam walks away because he has no clue what to think of Bay anymore except that she is all about drama.
At the guest house, Catherine arrives to find Regina trying to get the wall paper off the wall. Now I do not think that remodeling is the first thing you do when you move in a new place; especially one that does not belong to you. You first take some time to get to know the place so it can lead you to the changes that should be made or maybe that is me. Catherine rambles on about Thursday’s barbecue even though she is appalled about Regina tearing apart her guest house. Regina accepts the barbecue invite before Catherine leaves to go complain to Dad.
Liam who is now done with Bay goes to the deaf school to find Daphne. He is still in the dark about the relationship between the two but he did hit it off with Daphne when he met her. The first person he sees is Emmett. Okay out of all the people at the school Emmett is the only one hanging at the entrance, right? Reluctantly, Emmett takes him to Daphne. Emmett delivers Liam to Daphne and lets her know if she needs him to take Liam Down then he can do it. I like Emmett he seems like the kinda of long suffering guy that really likes Daphne but will never tell her.
Liam reintroduces himself before Emmett walks away. Daphne remembers him of course and their exchange is very cute. Liam says he is not a stalker and it turns out her favorite restaurant is owned by Liam’s dad. Liam keeps apologizing for all his wrong comments. I like the chemistry with these too. Daphne likes Liam but Emmett is not as impressed because Liam is a rich football guy.
At the Big house, Bay is trying to get out of the house even though she is grounded. she is begging to go to the art store but Catherine says no so she goes to Regina for sympathy. Bay tells Regina she thinks her being at home for a week and its all wrong. Regina has no sympathy for her situation and tells her if it was her she would have been grounded for a month. Bay seems surprised the other woman was not on her side with this situation.
After the break, Regina asks Bay to help her with the painting in the guest house. Daphne shows up in the Big house kitchen looking for a mixer about the same time. What I hate about this shows is when they have so much going on at once we get this short scenes back to back with different characters and it seems all over the map and confusing time wise. Daphne roams the kitchen looking at all the fancy stuff and surprises Toby who now is all friendly and ready to harass his sister. He grabs her bowl as he starts eating the raw dough from the bowl. This is the moment Dad roams in the kitchen, he won’t help Daphne against Toby’s teasing because Dad insists Toby has a lot of making up to do on bugging his sister.
At the guest house bonding ensues with Regina and Bay who suddenly have all the same interests in Latina Art and they quote something from one of them. I believe the scene would have more effect if Regina had been more emotional about Bay all along. She has been standoffish and more concerned about how she feels about losing Daphne then about gaining a daughter herself. I know I said it last time but its still true to me. It just does not come across as genuine at this point because there has not been a real build up. Yes she has made comments but they have all been matter of fact like.Then she goes on to basically tell Bay she has a predisposition for being an alcoholic which I do believe is malarky. A person has to make their own choices it is wrong for this SHOW to preach you cannot help being an alcoholic its all in your blood.
Ty shows up with the mail at the guest house. Regina sees that there is something going on with Bay and Ty so she makes an excuse to go outside. Yes she can tell her daughter she should stay away from alcohol but gives her free rein when there is a boy in the house, makes a lot of sense. I do like Ty though he is cute, cool and Bay is smitten. They ramble on about junk mail, eggplants and painting before he leaves. Ty asked how much Regina is paying for the guest house and again Bay has the chance to tell him his connection to them but she does not.
The next scene is the grownups aka Kennish’s at the lawyers office trying to find out about pursuing the lawsuit which a few seconds later is them at the barbecue. Dad tries to show Daphne how to grill but Daphne is lost because he talks so fast. Mom, Catherine wants to talk to Regina again about the motorcycle but they start off by mentioning the lawsuit.
The discussion does not go well with Regina because they make it seem like its the worse thing for Daphne to be on a motorbike. Regina defends her claim because people don’t focus when driving these days. Catherine thinks Emmett’s lack of hearing makes him a risk. They are interrupted when Daphne tells them dinner is ready; she has no idea they are arguing or seems to not have noticed.
After the break, the dinner goes down hill fast. Catherine wants to say grace and Regina doesn’t want to but Daphne decides to lead. Daphne says grace with her hands and everyone tries to smile. Catherine asks Daphne is she can drive her to school but Regina breaks in with the real reason. Their is an argument and Regina leaves the table while Daphne reluctantly follows her.
Regina starts packing her stuff as soon as she is in the guest house. She uses what the Kennish’s said earlier about deaf people not driving to use in her argument as she speaks with Daphne. Regina seems immature a lot in this show. It’s like she takes the worse a person can show her and tells Daphne to make her see it as her point. I think she is manipulative. I really wonder what her secret is. Daphne is disappointed by Regina’s behavior.
In the Big house, Bay confronts Catherine with the whole if you don’t like Regina then maybe you don’t like me because I come from her spill. Bay leaves of course despite being grounded, though she does tell Toby who is in the garage playing his guitar.
Grandma confronts Regina after Daphne leaves and tells her that she needs to make things work. Regina thinks she has to defend her territory or basically all the work she has put into raising Daphne.
Bay shows up at Ty’s looking for a “lookout” so she can do some tagging as she destresses. He is more than willing to help. He realizes right away its just a way for them to get to spend some time together because he compares it to his lame attempt earlier when he dropped off the mail at the guest house.
Liam and Daphne are at the music store in the next scene. I assume that she called him to meet her because it never tells us how they met up. This type of editing is used a lot in the tv dramas the similar situations are used back to back to show us the comparisons like a search online for finding a product. They discuss lip reading, music and why its not all that easy to figure out what people are saying when you cannot hear them.
Back to Bay and Ty where we find them getting ready to put up the poster on a wall that already has graffiti. I am totally convinced the art that Bay likes the best is by Ty though he does not confess to it at all. “This is the strangest first date I ever been on,” Ty says at one point.
At the music store Daphne illustrates how its a headache to read lips its a cute scene. She has Liam put on heads phones while she talks to him then has him try to repeat what she has said back to her. Liam fails miserably.
Then to the parents talking …..blah blah blah….are we doing the right thing. Bay is our child, Daphne was raised by Regina…blah blah blah.Dad wants to get a lawyer involved to make things legal for Daphne. but how would they deal if Regina did the same I wonder….too much dialogue about stuff we already know.
Outside the record store they met up with Liam’s friends and they are jerks. They make fun of a deaf kid they knew as youngsters and Daphne is irritated. Daphne shows them some sign language but gives them the wrong sign for what they wanted. Emmett who must have been watching calls Daphne who then excuses herself to leave as Liam sees his friends have not helped his case at all.
Bay and Ty say goodbye after putting up the poster. Ty tells Bay its good to have people fighting over her when he has no one on his side. They discuss painting with motivation, fate and life and then kiss.
Daphne and Bay arrive at the house at the same time. They talk briefly though nothing bonding but they are both teens and in a similar situation so I guess that is the point. They say good night after a few seconds.
Bay tries to sneak in the window but Dad is there and he catches her. He agrees with her that the dinner had been a disaster. Bay thinks its all her fault because of the blood test she initiated. Dad makes some random statement about daughters but tells Bay not to tell Catherine he caught her coming in the house. Oh yes another bonding moment.
In the guest house, Regina wants to talk to Daphne. They chat generally about the situation and Regina promises to be less difficult.
In the morning Regina goes over to the Big house and Dad confesses he caught Bay coming in last night. He admits, though not modestly, that if he can’t keep up with one daughter how can he deal with two. Regina also confesses that she had resisted Daphne riding the motorcycle for a while. She also says she wished she had help with Daphne before and is glad for help in a small way.
The kids show up a few seconds later. Daphne finally explains she needs them basically to remember she is deaf and she is not able to always keep up with their talking. Mom apologizes before she hugs her. Emmett arrives just then to pick her up and Mom just rambles about not being okay with the motorcycle. Regina sets her straight on the issue. She says they need to respect her decision to let Daphne ride with Emmett. The kids leave right away. Regina emphasizes that she does not want to be involved in a lawsuit. They try to convince her but because she leaves. Catherine and Dad think she is hiding something.
Okay so this is the third time I have seen this episode on television. I was torn as to whether I was going to do a recap. I liked the episode as far as it goes but there was no big push to make this effort until today. I happen to have the time and so here it is. I give the episode a solid 5 because if not for the cutsy couple stuff I probably wouldn’t be that inclined to watch it tonight. I am still enjoying Vanessa Marano’s performance as Bay as well as Ty, Daphne and Liam. I hope Toby finds some even footing on his character soon and I doubt I will ever be gung ho for any of the parents. I will just take things week by week.

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