Review: Switched at Birth

Summary:

Bay Kennish (Vanessa Marano) is an artistic teenager being raised by her stay-at-home mom Kathryn (Lea Thompson) and former professional baseball player father John (D. W. Moffett), in the wealthy neighborhood Mission Hills, Kansas, along with her brother Toby (Lucas Grabeel). After studying blood types in school, Bay begins to wonder why her blood type does not match her parents’. The family gets genetic testing done and confirms that Bay is not biologically related to them. They discover that the hospital mistakenly switched her with another newborn, Daphne Vasquez (Katie Leclerc), a deaf teen living with her struggling single mother Regina (Constance Marie) and Puerto Rican grandmother (Ivonne Coll) in a working class neighborhood in Riverside, Missouri. A case of meningitis caused Daphne to lose her hearing as a child so she attends Carlton, a school for the Deaf, where she plays basketball and learns to sign.

When the two families meet, the girls struggle with their identities as Bay relates to Regina’s artistic abilities and Daphne is drawn to John’s athletic skills, as well as the family’s friendly demeanor. The Kennishes learn that Regina is facing financial woes and propose the Vasquezes move into their guest home. The new living situation forces the girls, along with both families, to understand their differences and embrace their similarities. Kathryn wants to bond with Daphne as her mother and unintentionally alienates Bay, whereas Regina is fighting Kathryn’s influence on Daphne and though she sometimes bonds with Bay, she doesn’t want to switch children.

Oscar winning actress and Deaf advocate Marlee Matlin plays a friend of Regina’s and the mother of Emmett (Sean Berdy), Daphne’s best friend and school-mate.

(Source: Wikipedia)

General Information:

Created by: Lizzy Weiss
Genre: Family drama
No. of seasons: 1
No. of episodes: 22
Origin: United State
Original run: June 6, 2011 – present

Review:

I have to mention that I’m not a fan of family drama, but Switched at birth made me change my mind. The story talks about more than the usual teenage drama as you’ve read in the summery. That part got me interested in the show to be honest! Also, there is something about the storyline that just makes it so original. So if you’re in a mood for something different and interesting check this show out!