In a plot that feels plucked from the most recent season of ABC’s Desperate Housewives, ABC Family’s Switched at Birth tells the tale of teenage girls who learn they went home with the wrong families when they were first born. Bay (the refreshingly toned down Vanessa Marano) is an affluent, artistic teen growing up in a gated community, attending private school, and generally getting ahead in life when her blood type assignment in biology class has her confused about her own genetics. Somehow she convinces her parents (Lea Thompson and D.W. Moffett) to take her to a blood testing facility to get to the bottom of her “magical” blood type results. And it is all downhill from there. Well, at least according to Bay. And anyone who’s not your typical ABC Family audience.
See, even though Bay is the one who wanted to know, she seems extremely put off by what follows. She pouts; she grumbles; she doesn’t even try to get to know this girl who is, effectively, her new sister. She rebels in the way only an upper middle class kid would, and at times, she’s even a little bit racist. It’s probably not intentional, but the ignorant have just as much to learn. But do you know where she gets it from? She learns it from watching you, Mr. and (mostly) Mrs. Kennish!
We’re just going to say it now: in the world of "Team This" versus "Team That," we can’t help but feel like this pilot draws a very heavy-handed dividing line between the two families and the two girls. Every viewer will automatically attach more emotionally to one based around personal experiences and upbringing and that will put them at odds with the other. It’s petty; it’s childish; and it is the kind of stuff ABC Family is made of. In the simplest of storytelling, there has to be a hero(ine) and a villain(ess), right? Or at least a princess and her evil step-something-or-other. And in the Switched at Birth pilot, at least for LA TV Insider Examiner, it is clear that fair-haired Daphne (Katie Leclerc) is the underdog for whom you should root, while Bay is the (at least this time metaphorical) pot-stirrer for whom you (or at least, we) will probably root against.
Want a photo sneak peek of Switched at Birth? Click here.
Once the Kennishes learn their biological kid is out there somewhere, they need to know her. No, wait, that’s not really strong enough: they need to take over her parenting. After all, they live on “the right side of town” and can provide her with ample opportunities, including private schooling and to pay for cochlear implants (Daphne is deaf, having lost her hearing after a bout with meningitis as a baby, and so far the show has done a decent job at integrating the sign language, even if some of the other "lessons" that come along with the rarely-seen-on-TV situation are more forced).
Throughout all of this, though, Daphne is like a bright light, a fresh breath of air. She’s eager, fresh-faced, and excited to embrace these new people and this new challenge in a way that almost speaks as a nice metaphor for newcomer Leclerc’s own reaction to this crazy industry we call entertainment. Leclerc is the girl-next-door, the next Rachel McAdams, and from minute one you want to know more about her. She literally radiates on screen, and you can't help but get sucked up into her own brand of optimism; she is going to have a bright future; Switched at Birth is only the start!
It’s probably a good thing Daphne is so easy-going because while both girls’ lives have been up-ended by the news that they have other parents out there, hers is the one that’s most physically uprooted. She enrolls in a new school, one that is not specifically designed for deaf kids, and she moves into a new home. She even begins to form a (slightly flirtatious, but hopefully that was just nervousness) bond with her brother Toby (Lucas Grabeel) and an almost immediate respect for her new dad. It is also great to see Moffett's softer side here as a sweet, sensitive, and caring dad in Switched at Birth, coming off his turn in Friday Night Lights as a jerky, and at times abusive, football father.
For a pilot, Switched at Birth does a solid job of covering all of its bases and is technically very strong. It addresses each and every concern a viewer might have, including but not limited to why the issue of the kids’ true relations never came up before, the fact that it was Bay who kick-started everything and then ran from it; and the question of whether or not the girls would have turned out the same had they never been switched at all. The pilot packs a wallop; there is a lot of information in a very short amount of time. It means well, just like its characters, but it is hard not to judge the show itself when the characters begin to judge each other. And it is hard to see where the conflict will come all season long when the pilot ends on such a vibe of togetherness.
Daphne’s mother Regina (Constance Marie) comes under the most fire there. For being a single mother, for living in a lower income area, for having issues with alcoholism when she was younger. The response she offers the stereotypical prejudgment of both herself and her daughter is as the mature audience’s would be: she is a bit angered, but not nearly appalled by the ignorance. She has come to expect it, and she puts a guard up because of it. Hopefully the way these people are now thrust into each other’s lives will start to tear down the walls-- and the ignorance.
Of course because this is ABC Family, and a show aimed at the tween and teen audience itself, there will be ample relationship melodrama, too. If you’re a fan of their programming, you will be a fan of this show. It is a perfect fit on the network, but that being said it is most certainly a very specific niche. Early moments like when Bay breaks up with her prep school (might be closeted) boyfriend, and he goes on to have a smiley exchange with Daphne feel a bit contrived, but it is Daphne’s “like a big brother” friend and her motorcycle-driving deaf BFF (Sean Berdy) who catch Bay’s eye and might offer the most potential. They swamped parents; it’s only a matter of time before they swap guys, too, right?
Switched at Birth premieres on ABC Family on June 6th at 8pm.
Want more television news and coverage? Follow LA TV Insider Examiner on Twitter!
Comments