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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Dance Me to the End of Love

Switched at Birth took a very risky step with the Dance Episode, it was nearly nothing what most people expected, it was not a musical type of show nor it was really a regular drama story line with dancing scenes like “Footlose” or “Step Up” kind. There were, for sure, many surprises as well as some disappointments from the fan base. It was definitely sad that Constance Marie (Regina) didn’t have her own dance, knowing that she has a great background on dancing the fans were expecting a great dancing scene with her, but as we know, poor Constance was injured and could not dance during the shooting of the episode. I just hope she stays healthy until the end of the show, she seems to always being injured or sick while shooting..get this bad voodoo out of you Constance! 

Talking about dancing and stories, what was the point of Toby’s dance? So he was “free” from his dad but was it really that important to show a whole and weird dance of Toby? Also, we got that Travis could not learn how to dance from when Angelo and Toby was trying to teach him, yet we got another minute of screen time of him trying alone which could have been used to show us a better part of the story with or without dance in it. Another dance that did not catch much of the attentions was Marybeth and Travis slow dance. Yes, the story was really cute and so sweet words were exchanged but wasting screen time with that little slow dance seemed also unnecessary. While Daphne’s dream dance was understandable for the story of the show as we know, for this particular episode I found it also not too in accordance with the story of the episode itself but the last part of her being stressed out about her decision to become a doctor, yet it was really well done and very enjoyable to watch. Kudos for Katie Leclerc and David Castaneda they have some moves!! 

All the “unnecessary” dancing scene could have been substituted by one story I’m sure many would have loved to see, which was the Bay and Emmett spending time together while driving to, the 45minutes away, Las Vegas set or building the spinning art piece that Bay did. It was good to know that it did happen somehow with Bay’s lines but I’m sure that all the Bemmett fans would have loved this episode even more if the inevitable Bemmett chemistry were showed more on screen. And since we are talking about pairing chemistry, it may be just my opinion but I do not see the chemistry between Travis and Marybeth. They are both very nice actors and perform their roles brilliantly but the look, the touch, the tenderness of a couple is not showed on screen. It can be that the writers or directors are making them apart a little too much? I mean, they are dating for a while now and every scene that one of them is arriving or leaving, they don’t say “good bye” with a kiss or hug or any form of tenderness or carrying to the other? That is plain odd to see. Also, yes I’m a big Bemmett fan and I need to be to be writing to a blog made by Bemmett fans but I try to write about what I see on screen and there is no way I can see a chemistry between Bay and Tank. It is still not clear if that is on purpose since we do see that Bay is not really that into Tank. She seems comfortable for being in a relationship she wants to be in to try something different but not really because she has romantic feelings for him. The fact that she took her hand out of his shows perfectly she doesn’t care much for his touch, a big difference of when she was with Ty, Noah or Emmett. 

Now, if Tank and Bay are dating and Tank is also on the art class knowing that Bay has a problem with her hands and cannot do her art, why didn’t he offer to help her? Obviously he is not an art person, but remembering Noah was with Bay when she was struggling to get her art piece for her father, even though he didn’t know art, he was there for her, so where was Tank to help her with her inspirations or just moral support? Why Emmett helped her build the art piece and not Tank? My answer, simple, he doesn’t know Bay as well as Emmett does, and of course, in spite of Mandy, Emmett will always have that instinct to help Bay, even when she doesn’t ask for it (it just goes back to season 1 episode 6 when he just took her to look for Angelo’s car in a junk yard) and who is Bay to deny his help? Emmett knows how she is and what she likes and what kind of things and stories will make her happy, so as his romantic ways goes, he did top it all with the story of the rich guy who loved his wife so much that wanted to “build” her memory back to when they fell in love. I’m sure it was not just me who watched that scene and went back to their story. It felt that Emmett, in a way, was trying to bring Bay's memory back to when they were together, when they were happy or when they fell in love to each other back on season 1. If that wasn’t what the writers were going for..congratulations!! You guys made it even without knowing. If that was the meaning of that scene, congratulations!!! We LOVED it!!! And it made so much cuter, sweeter and romantic to see them dancing on that memory. But here it is again; if Bay was really into Tank why did she dream that Emmett was the rich romantic guy so in love with her, the wife, the Las Vegas showgirl? If she had deeper feelings for Tank she would have dreamed of her and Tank dancing, right? When you are in love with someone, can you imagine yourself dreaming about someone else? 

What also made us a little happier between Emmett and Bay was that she was signing with her left hand. She didn’t care to try hard to sign for Daphne on the previous episode, but she was making sure to sign enough signs so Emmett could understand her. Emmett knows how to read her lips, he did it for a long time when they started dating, so signing was not really that necessary for her, yet she did it for him, and so far only him. 

Talking about trying hard to please someone else, what happened to John? Better yet, lets all give a BIG “Thanks” to Renzo. He just waltzes (or better yet, tap dances) into the Kennishes lives and put tem upside down and took everyone from the boring routine to, what seems to be, the happiest family in the world! Renzo really snapped on John opening his eyes to what he is losing by being a stubborn and who’s to say that instead of making John even angrier it just approach the both of them into a friendship or at least a great acceptance of the new reality and new friends. John family dinner idea was the sweetest and most perfect thing of the episode. The idea of changing or adapting so he could have the love of his life back was the perfect ending for this mind-changing episode. 

This season the writers are giving us a moral test or life lesson on each episode, no doubt of it. Yes, the dynamic of the stories are slower and we are still stuck on plots that started last season and up to now we have no switch or ending of them which is causing some bad reactions from the fans and of course this episode was not done to solve or end these plots either but while the story is slow, the messages on the lines the writers are delivering to us are just amazing. This episode, for those who didn’t get it, was about fighting for what you believe, what are the values of your life, what do you really love or really want for you and your life? It took one story of a African-american doctor to clear it up for the rest of the characters, even though his scene was just with Daphne and seems that the story was just for her problems and dilemma, but if you really look into it, see how Travis needed to learn how to dance so he could give Marybeth a happy relationship? Well, Travis had to overcome his deafness that makes him struggles to be able to dance so he could give to the one he loves the life she wants (or he thought she did). Marybeth also needed to change to adapt her life so she could fit into his life, meaning she wanted to be with him so bad that her values of entertainment (just as an example)of watching a movie is not as important as it used to be so she could with Travis. Daphne, of course, if she really wants to become a doctor, she will have to work twice as hard and make as much adjustments as necessary to succeed, but nothing can stop her if that is what she really wants to. Bay said herself and my previous episode review I also mentioned, there are people who can paint with different parts of the body, she just need to work hard and make adjustments and find another way to do her art. That was also showed when Emmett shows her how. She was living in a box and not thinking outside of it, she wanted to just paint her memory, well, first, as Emmett said, who said it needed to be her memory and not someone else’s? Second, who said it needed to be painted? If she wanted that much and that is all she really cares for, she couldn’t let it get to her and install in her brain, and that’s what Emmett did for her, open her mind, work hard, find another way, like the doctor said. Lastly, the writers show the same message when John’s first plan didn’t work out. He didn’t give up, he found another way, he adapt himself as needed to get what he wanted most in his life, his wife back. She is his most precious value and if he wanted her really bad, than he will work hard, change as necessary, adapt and believe in himself to make it happen. Do you see it now? Can these writers be more special than that? IMPOSSIBLE! 

Breaking the mood of this review, I just wanted to comment on the scene when Travis is learning how to dance with Toby and Angelo, it was out of doubt, the funniest scene in the whole SAB life, I mean up to this 59th episode. Really great coordination of directing, writing and acting of course..”dance is like making love” was the best line Angelo could deliver in all his romantic French accent. 

Lastly, I couldn’t forget to mention the crew who pulled some key elements to the episode, like the Las Vegas street, thank you to the set designer, it really did create magic! The music coordinator who select the songs that was so in tune with the story and the scenes making them even more meaningful and enjoyable! And again the amazing work of Courtney Stern did with all the costumes and wardrobe. Pulling off a 50s Las Vegas Showgirl for Bay and a Broadway tap-dancer for Kathryn was amazing, not to mention, Renzo, Travis and Emmett dancing suites.



How bad do you want it? Do you believe in yourself? And what do you wan the most in your life?

Next episode is the special episode with numerous dancing scenes; let’s see what we will get from these amazing producers and writers that keep us hooked every week!

Here it the promo for episode 9 (next monday)


Time to re-watch last Monday's episode. If you do not have abcfamily app or dvr or hulu, you can try this link: http://www.zzstream.li/2014/03/switched-at-birth-s3-e8-dance-me-to-the-end-of-love.html We do NOT endorse or support the website or its content and strongly advise you to get your abcfamily app or register with a secure website endorsed by ABC Channel.

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