ABC Family update - Switched at Birth pilot and Secret Life season finale

Switched at Birth Pilot Review

One of us will watch just about anything that ABC Family airs, including Secret Life, and isn’t ashamed of it. Okay, she’s slightly ashamed, but she’s trying to get over it. Therefore, she obviously watched the pilot of Switched at Birth. If this is literally the first you’re hearing about the show, the title tells you just about everything about the show: the two main characters, Bay and Daphne, were switched at birth. Bay grew up privileged with two loving parents and a brother, while Daphne was raised by a single mom and grandmother. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff there. One of the more interesting and unique things about this show is the fact that Daphne is deaf. One of the bloggers is very interested in deaf culture, and is pretty excited to see it on television, even if it is watered down. And speaking of the deaf culture, we thought it was very interesting how Daphne became deaf from a meningitis infection when she was four. We hope that this causes conflict in later episodes, because we would probably enjoy the discussion; if Bay and Daphne hadn’t been switched, would Daphne still have become deaf? Would Bay have instead? We really hope that wasn’t just a one-time thought for the show.

However, we really didn’t like how fast the first four minutes of the episode were, covering eight weeks in their lives. We would’ve appreciated getting to know the girls and their families before finding out that Bay and Daphne were given to the wrong parents. As it was, we didn’t care for the sloppy introduction. We also wish the show had shown us how different Bay and her mom are, instead of having Bay repeatedly tell the audience.

We didn’t love the episode, but after hearing bad things about the pilot from a lot of other sources, we were pleasantly surprised. We do expect more from ABC Family now, however. In terms of quality, we want this show to be more like Pretty Little Liars, and right now, it’s leaning more towards Secret Life.

Episode Grade: C

Secret Life Season Finale

Speaking of which: oh Secret Life. How one (AND ONLY ONE) of us loves you so. Y’all, this episode was insane. We predicted it from the previews, but Adrian’s baby died. We would like to say first that having a baby die like that is horrible and we literally can’t imagine the kind of pain that Adrian, Ben, and their families must be going through, not to mention the pain felt by the people who actually go through that in real life. No one deserves that kind of hurt. That being said, the actor who plays Ben is a horrible fake crier. It needed to be mentioned. Also, this might sound horrible, but we’re kind of excited about what this development will mean for Adrian and Ben. They got married and moved in together because they were going to become parents. How are they going to deal with it now that they aren’t? Will they stay together or separate? Obviously, our money is on them separating, but probably not getting divorced; that wouldn’t fit with Secret Life’s image.

Episode Grade: B+

What were your thoughts on the Switched at Birth pilot and Secret Life season finale?

Characters Most in Need of Being Killed in a Horrible Fashion

Here is our list of characters that should be killed off their show. Whether it’s because we hate them or because they’re just plain useless, our TV screens would be a lot better off without having to show these characters:

• Aunt Jenna, The Vampire Diaries – Katherine is in the kitchen, chopping Uncle John’s fingers off, and you don’t notice? Horrible, useless guardian.
• Lauren Tanner, Make it or Break it – Honestly the worst human being on TV right now. I get that she IS the drama for the show, and therefore necessary, I really do. But when you’re HAPPY that a 16 year old girl’s mother died (because the girl kind of deserves that kind of misery)? Lauren Tanner needs to go.
• Henry and Alice, The Secret Life of the American Teenager – These two serve no purpose, except to tell the audience statistics about teen sex/pregnancy. A pop-up bubble would do the job just as well. Maybe even better.
• Mona, Pretty Little Liars – She’s mean to Lucas. She can go die.
• Everyone except Baze (and maybe Ryan), Life Unexpected – Baze is the only reason I’m going to watch this show in the fall. Lux is a whiny, ungrateful child, and Kate is a teenager living in a grown woman’s body. They are both bad people; Baze is too, but at least he can own up to it sometimes. Baze and Ryan both deserve better.
• Booth’s love interest, Bones – Stop it. Just let them be together already. After five seasons of will they/won’t they, we’re all sick of it. Give the audience two years of Booth and Bones being happy together and then end the show.
• Kate, White Collar – Oh wait, they did kill her off! Thank goodness!
• Derek, Grey’s Anatomy – I know many people would scream over this, but it the idea of Derek dying has its merits. What a whiner! And you can’t say it hasn’t been foreshadowed (premiere of season 5). And with most of our star players coupled up, it would free up the center of the show, Meredith Grey, to get back into the game. She took a back seat last season. Grey’s Anatomy was at its best before she was tied down. Bring back the drama.
• Vanessa, Gossip Girl – Time spent on Vanessa is wasted. We have a more interesting “nice girl,” Serena.
• Lily, How I Met Your Mother – No one should really die on this show. That’s not its tone. But if we were to pick a main character to snuff it, it would be her. Sometimes she is weird and sometimes she is a spoiled brat. The others are easier to describe. Her characterization is weak. And since they got rid of her cute red hair after season one, she looks fake.
• Artie, Glee – He’s boring. Well, maybe HE isn't boring, but his episodes and stories are. Every episode with him as a focus is a bummer. Plus, they give him lame songs. We can't even tell if he can sing.
• Kenny, South Park – Why did they stop killing him? That was a great gag. I miss it.

We’re not doing any reality shows because, well, that would be mean.