S04.E11: To Repel Ghosts

[FormerMod-a1]

Bay is haunted by her breakup with Emmett and struggles to figure out where their relationship fell apart. Daphne's excitement about her new relationship with Mingo is hampered by her friends' opinion of him. John and Kathryn's new accountant has some bad news. Regina digs deeper into the story of Eric's ex-wife, and everyone is shocked by the news that someone is pregnant.

[bybrandy]

Wow, I didn't know how disconnected I was from this show until I watched this episode.  I didn't care about any of it.   I liked Bay and Travis being supportive of one another but um, not enough to watch to see if it develops into sex or not.  The rest?   I really, truly wasn't interested in a single story.   And while I would like to think this was just a bad first episode, most of these stories are starting rather than ending.   

[joanne3482]

UGH! Of course something's wrong with the Tobaby. She can't just be knocked up and scared but she's on the brink of having a Down Syndrome kid? Does this mean she'll abort and it will seem less bad because the kid has Down Syndrome even though all signs point to the fact that abortion would be a reasonable option here? Or is this the reason she goes back to England?

 

I don't want a Bay/Travis hookup. But I am glad Bay realized their relationship was floundering even before the Tank situation.  I honestly don't remember Travis and Marybeth breaking up. I hope Regina's boyfriend's kid ends up ratting them out by emailing his mom. I don't understand why all the college kids would be in lurve with Mingo so I don't care about Daphne's insecurity with him.  Had she said something along the lines of with him she doesn't have to be the leader or the deaf kid, she could just relax and have fun I could get behind that pairing. Otherwise I don't care about them either.  

 

I agree, though. It's just getting boring.  

[Eri]

I wasn't filled with excitement when I heard the series was starting up again and it still remains stagnant

 

To sum up my thoughts:

 

Bay - let's hope the angst only lasts a few more episodes and it's her road to recovery and self-esteem; I thought the opening scene was a dream but seeing several Emmetts signing at once was funny. I'm glad Travis was there for her, although I didn't think she needed to dance with the guy if she didn't want to - cringeworthy scene! Awkward moment between her and Melody - what she was hoping to accomplish from that conversation I've no idea. It's interesting that they brought up that her relationship with Emmett had been faltering  to an inevitable conclusion even before the Tank situation  - but that doesn't justify him making a class project out of her traumatic experience and acting as if it's no big deal. For that matter, why is he still justifying his actions despite admitting that he didn't handle the situation with Tank very well. All the more reason why the strings needed to be cut loose - let the immaturity ship sail into the horizon.

 

Daphne - Enjoyed her sticking up for Bay and willing to sever her friendship with Emmett; if he thinks it's a private matter then why bring it up? This whole thing with Mingo is just another "eye candy" subplot to deal with the troubles of "campus life" and I find it boring. It looks as though Daphne will be playing a mediator for several people this season - I am enjoying the Toby/Daphne interaction though.

 

Toby/Lily - Is it wrong that I was detached from this storyline? For weeks, the news of a pregnancy was discussed and I assumed to be either Lily or Regina but she's such a secondary character I felt no sympathy or care for the situation at all. Try again!

 

Regina - Where do I begin with this...Getting information out of your boyfriend's son? Conducting your own background check through cyberstalking? Threatening to turn him in? I get she has trust issues, but she could've just asked him or given him time to tell her on his own like he told her several times. The actor who played Eric performed well and he tugged at my emotional heartstrings more than the Lily debacle.

 

John/Kathryn - Baseball star, car wash entrepreneur, one-term senator, heart attack/marriage survivor...now on the verge of bankruptcy. How does he do it!? Oh and I still don't care for Kathryn's musical.

[KaveDweller]

UGH! Of course something's wrong with the Tobaby. She can't just be knocked up and scared but she's on the brink of having a Down Syndrome kid? Does this mean she'll abort and it will seem less bad because the kid has Down Syndrome even though all signs point to the fact that abortion would be a reasonable option here? Or is this the reason she goes back to England?

 

I was actually expecting her to tell Daphne that she already had gotten an abortion in that final scene.  Which I thought was a nice surprise because most TV shows wouldn't show a character considering it, even if it made sense for a character.  

 

Regina should have just asked the boyfriend about the mother being alive instead of googling.  If he wouldn't answer directly then end it.  Now she is becoming an accomplice.  The guy hasn't been that great that he's worth the risk is he? And is she going to keep dating him or is she just not calling the cops?

 

I hope they don't have Travis and Bay hook up.  I'd be more interested in seeing her re-apply for art school or do something that's not about a guy.

[CleoCaesar]

I thought Lily had an abortion in the last scene too, before she dropped the DS bomb. Interesting twist. I suppose they could still go the abortion route, or they could go for a much more predictable "parents to be agonize for months, decide against abortion, and when the baby is born everyone inevitably calls the baby beautiful/a blessing/a special gift." I think Lily is incredibly annoying, so if they could dispense with her ASAP, that'd be great. 

 

"Tobaby." Heh.

Bay's problem in this episode: nonstop tears, painful heartbreak, full-on hallucinations. Daphne's problem in this episode: hot, popular, sexy guy shows interest in her, she worries that he doesn't, but turns out he does.

[tennisgurl]

Not a bad episode, exactly, but one that didn't really make me super pumped about the rest of the season.

 

I admit it, I almost giggled when Lily announced the baby had Downs. It was just so Lifetime special. Like, how many topics can we POSSIBLY squeeze into this show? 

 

Regina needs to deal with her issues. For realz. 

 

I like the Daphne/Toby scenes. I hope they focus more on their relationship. 

[Perfect Xero]

It tuns out that John's car wash was just another front for Heisenberg's meth operation.

 

I think that Bay's been getting in to the LSD laced garlic knots again.

 

Also, did I just forget something from the last batch of episodes? Why was Travis's arm in a sling?

[Anisky]

Is Bay having a full-on psychotic break? They're playing it like she's just upset about breaking up with Emmett and literally seeing him everywhere is just something she will get over with time, but guys, hallucinations are not a normal side-effect of difficult breakups! They are a symptom of schizophrenia, and Bay is at a common age of onset. I mean, I don't think this is where the plot line is going, but in real life what's happening to Bay would be a cause of much more concern than they show here.

 

I think Lily is going to have a miscarriage. I just don't see how else they could handle this story line. I don't think that the baby having Down's Syndrome would make her abortion seem "better" at all-- in fact I think, as far as issues tackled on an ABCF TV show, it would open a whole can of worms that there's no way they'd be able to address properly. I also call BS on liberal, agnostic Daphne not even seeming to consider, let alone raise, the possibility of abortion. After hearing the litany of reasons Lily could not handle having a baby right now, especially after she just described her pregnancy as (paraphrase) "it will never be okay again", how does that not come up as a possibility? I mean, okay, if it were Nikki, that would make sense, but as far as I can remember neither we nor Daphne have reason to think Lily is particularly religious and against abortion.

 

I also hate how they handled Bay's rape story line. We saw Bay experience very little trauma after being raped, which is only highlighted by how messed up she is over breaking up with her boyfriend a couple of episodes later. This breakup appears to be ten times more traumatic for Bay than having been raped. Can we say "trivializing"?? Not to mention, did we actually see Bay confidently proclaim that what happened to her wasn't her fault before this episode? As far as I remember she was still very confused and unsure and waffling, until this episode, when she brings it up purely as a reason to be mad at Emmett. So at this point, she's said that her being raped wasn't her fault only in relation to how it affected Emmett, and only while she was in the midst of saying extremely irrational things.

 

First Bay's rape was about Poor Tank, and now it's about Mean Emmett. At the end of the episode, she comes to the realization that her relationship with Emmett was ending with or without "what happened with Tank". The idea of this episode was that she was stuck on that, and had to get past it. Let me say that again.

 

In this episode, Bay learns that she was just using her rape as a way to distract herself from the truth about her breakup with Emmett.
 

What. The. ACTUAL. F*CK???
 

Edited August 25, 2015 by Anisky

[LisaM]

 

I think Lily is going to have a miscarriage. I just don't see how else they could handle this story line. I don't think that the baby having Down's Syndrome would make her abortion seem "better" at all-- in fact I think, as far as issues tackled on an ABCF TV show, it would open a whole can of worms that there's no way they'd be able to address properly. I also call BS on liberal, agnostic Daphne not even seeming to consider, let alone raise, the possibility of abortion. After hearing the litany of reasons Lily could not handle having a baby right now, especially after she just described her pregnancy as (paraphrase) "it will never be okay again", how does that not come up as a possibility? I mean, okay, if it were Nikki, that would make sense, but as far as I can remember neither we nor Daphne have reason to think Lily is particularly religious and against abortion.

Agreed. I thought that Lily was going to tell Daphne that she had already had an abortion but I guess that would shut down the drama which will inevitably pour out over the next few episodes. Adding the Down's issue seemed to be unnecessary piling on. It also reminded me of the controversy in Ohio where there is a push to prohibit abortion in the case of Down's.

 

I was looking forward to the show coming back - mostly to fill a void on my dvr right now. It was comforting to see the familiar faces but the episode wasn't great. i agree with the poster above about Bay hallucinating all of the Emmetts. Wasn't it established that she has the same condition that killed Angelo? She might consider whether the hallucinations are related to that medical condition. The multiple Emmetts were an interesting way to keep the character in the show but his continue presence keeps reminding me of how insensitive he seemed during his breakup with Bay. I hope that she finds someone else quickly.

 

The Daphne/Mingo conflict was boring. I did, however, really like Daphne telling Emmett that she was siding with her sister and not with him. I hope that Mary Beth comes back soon -- I really like Travis and Mary Beth together.

 

John's financial problems seem like a manufactured way to invent a storyline for the parents -- although it would be interesting to see John/Kathryn more on the same level as Regina. Speaking of Regina, I liked the scene with Regina and Kathryn. Not thrilled that Regina is keeping Eric's secret; it's only a matter of time before the son contacts his mother via the internet.

[Primetimer]

Everyone's laying down hard truths all over town, and Sarah Beckham is here for it.

Read the story

[izabella]

I also hate how they handled Bay's rape story line. We saw Bay experience very little trauma after being raped, which is only highlighted by how messed up she is over breaking up with her boyfriend a couple of episodes later. This breakup appears to be ten times more traumatic for Bay than having been raped. Can we say "trivializing"?? Not to mention, did we actually see Bay confidently proclaim that what happened to her wasn't her fault before this episode? As far as I remember she was still very confused and unsure and waffling, until this episode, when she brings it up purely as a reason to be mad at Emmett. So at this point, she's said that her being raped wasn't her fault only in relation to how it affected Emmett, and only while she was in the midst of saying extremely irrational things.

 

This feeds into the idea that women falsely accuse someone of rape in order to hide their cheating on their boyfriends, and that the only trauma they experience is when their boyfriends find out they cheated.

Edited August 25, 2015 by izabella

[joanne3482]

I just don't see how else they could handle this story line. I don't think that the baby having Down's Syndrome would make her abortion seem "better" at all-- in fact I think, as far as issues tackled on an ABCF TV show, it would open a whole can of worms that there's no way they'd be able to address properly.

 

After I posted that I wondered if that was how they would make her getting an abortion more palatable I realized it would actually bother me more than if she just admitted that she's 24 and on the cusp of a new career path in a foreign country and this is the right option for her life right now. But yes they won't be able to address this properly just like they haven't addressed Bay's rape properly. 

[CleoCaesar]

I also hate how they handled Bay's rape story line. We saw Bay experience very little trauma after being raped

 

I'm in the camp that doesn't think Bay was raped, so the following is a devil's advocate argument. Why does she have to behave a certain way after the rape? What happened with Tank wasn't violent, wasn't something that mentally tortures her (she can barely remember it), and didn't have any long-lasting repercussions for Bay (unlike Tank) since this episode showed that Emmett and she were going to break up either way. I've heard a lot about how "there is no textbook behavior for rape victims". Why can't that be the case for Bay? Is it just mandatory to show her traumatized and unable to function? She might just not be.

[Bringonthedrama]

 I also call BS on liberal, agnostic Daphne not even seeming to consider, let alone raise, the possibility of abortion. After hearing the litany of reasons Lily could not handle having a baby right now, especially after she just described her pregnancy as (paraphrase) "it will never be okay again", how does that not come up as a possibility? I mean, okay, if it were Nikki, that would make sense, but as far as I can remember neither we nor Daphne have reason to think Lily is particularly religious and against abortion.

 

I also hate how they handled Bay's rape story line. We saw Bay experience very little trauma after being raped, which is only highlighted by how messed up she is over breaking up with her boyfriend a couple of episodes later. This breakup appears to be ten times more traumatic for Bay than having been raped. Can we say "trivializing"?? Not to mention, did we actually see Bay confidently proclaim that what happened to her wasn't her fault before this episode? As far as I remember she was still very confused and unsure and waffling, until this episode, when she brings it up purely as a reason to be mad at Emmett.

Daphne could just be one of the people in this world who are fine with the concept of abortion, but not when it involves their own close family. Having seen how she reacts to things, I don't doubt she could react to Lily considering abortion with, 'How dare you consider aborting my brother's child, my niece/nephew?! And without telling him?!'

 

I don't have a problem with Bay not acting traumatized because her memories of that night aren't clear - she can't seem to remember any feelings of fear, anger, or indifference while initially on the bed with Tank, or remember any reactions of discomfort/pain during the actual moments of rape. It would be a completely different story if she remembered being scared that he had her pinned down, ignoring anything she said, or if she woke up feeling sore/bruised internally and externally. Since Bay can't remember and didn't talk about feeling injuries, her hurt and anger like someone she thought of as a friend violated her trust and her body seems realistic. Her anger at Emmett's reaction and that he seems to not want to handle her feelings about what happened to her seems realistic, too. 

[ShadowFacts]

 

Regina - Where do I begin with this...Getting information out of your boyfriend's son? Conducting your own background check through cyberstalking? Threatening to turn him in? I get she has trust issues, but she could've just asked him or given him time to tell her on his own like he told her several times. The actor who played Eric performed well and he tugged at my emotional heartstrings more than the Lily debacle.

 

To be fair, the child brought it up and Regina would have been remiss not to follow up.  Finding public information on the internet doesn't feel like cyberstalking to me, and she already knew he had not told her who he really was and was not a reliable truth-teller.  So I don't fault her for investigating for herself.  She's going to go astray if she stays with the guy and does nothing.  The cat's out of the bag, the son is bound to either go looking for his mom at some point, or tell someone else. 

[morakot]

I don't have a problem with Bay not acting traumatized because her memories of that night aren't clear - she can't seem to remember any feelings of fear, anger, or indifference while initially on the bed with Tank, or remember any reactions of discomfort/pain during the actual moments of rape. It would be a completely different story if she remembered being scared that he had her pinned down, ignoring anything she said, or if she woke up feeling sore/bruised internally and externally.

 

Bay is obviously not Veronica Mars then -- who woke up without discomfort, pain, bruising or memory but knowing she had had sex with someone she couldn't remember and spent a whole season investigating and seeking revenge. Oh well -- glad that Bay is so easily over non-consensual sex now.

 

How pregnant is Toby's ex now anyway? I'm assuming she's in the first trimester or so when miscarriages can be common -- Kansas isn't a state that makes miscarriages illegal is it? ABC Family has a history of being open-minded about pregnancy and has shown pro-choice behavior - from contraception for minors (e.g. Fosters) to Plan B (Greek) to teen pregnancy without shame. I don't specifically recall a specific termination but I don't think it's necessarily impossible.

[bybrandy]

I'm telling you if  friend of mine was in that bathroom talking about how it was a terrible time, place, and that it would ruin her whole life, I would totally have at least asked if she'd considered all her options.  I mean it's fine that some people don't think abortion is an option but it would be addressed.   Add me to the group that would be more offended if she had an abortion because the baby had downs than if she had an abortion because she's 24 and Toby is directionless and she's in a foreign country and she isn't ready for a baby.

 

Gah I'm going to hate this story.   But hey it is an emotion which is more than I can say for the rest of the show.

[dgpolo]

 

Bay is obviously not Veronica Mars then

You are right, Bay is Bay with her history and family and Veronica Mars is Veronica Mars with her history and family. I think that is actually what the previous poster was trying to say. Everyone is different. Everyone reacts differently.

[Everleigh]

I feel like they wrote all that stuff about Bay and Emmett’s relationship being in trouble before the rape as an attempt to redeem Emmett’s character a bit.  He definitely took a hit in the likability department after he broke up with his girlfriend because she was raped and he made Bay's assault all about himself. Not to mention how cold and unattached he came off during the breakup, although I’m more inclined to chalk that up to bad acting because Sean Berdy is not very good. But I don’t care what the show says now, the rape was a major reason for him breaking up with her. He even wrote a screenplay about it where he implied she cheated and wasn't raped and said he couldn’t get past that. 

 

I found the scene between Bay and Melody kind of awkward. Bay has three parents of her own, she could have had that conversation with any one of them and it would have made a lot more sense than her crying to her ex-boyfriend’s mother about how horrible of a person he is. 

 

I love Bay so maybe I'm just insensitive but I think she’s being a little over dramatic about this Emmett stuff. It’s a breakup. Nobody died. I get replaying what went wrong in your head and even obsessing over things, but actually hallucinating multiple Emmetts and talking to another version of yourself is kind of crazy tbh.

Like someone previously mentioned, it’s jarring to see her this destroyed by her breakup when she didn’t have anywhere near this level of reaction to being raped by someone she trusted. I know she has no memory of the assault so I wouldn’t expect her to have flashbacks or even nightmares, but it still seems like she hasn’t really dealt with the assault and how it’s affecting her because she’s been so caught up on how it affects other people, mainly Tank and Emmett.

 

Totally called Lily being the character who is pregnant as soon as the storyline was teased but I admit I didn’t see the down syndrome thing coming until a couple of seconds before Lily said it and I was genuinely shocked once it occurred to me that’s where they were going. I hope this isn’t just another “issue” the show decided to tackle for the sake of being controversial and that they actually handle it with care.

 

Daphne was being kind of a snob with Mingo. I don’t like the guy much but if she thinks he’s too stupid for her then move on. And I don’t think I knew any of those trivia questions either because I suck at geography, so I guess I would disgust Daphne with my stupidity as well. I love that Daphne's major problem is that her boyfriend is too hot. Oh to be Daphne! I do have to admit I loved her response to Emmett though. I’m sure she’s going to come around and eventually forgive him, but it was nice to see her being so supportive and protective of Bay here.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Everleigh

[xman4802]

I know that the showrunners have teased the development and deepening of the Daphne/Bay sister connection...I do hope that they stick with that kind of storyline bc the rest of the storylines are just awful...where do I begin?  

 

First, is the best use that they can think of for Sean Berdy's character at this point in the series to appear in flashbacks, on video chat,  and as a figment of Bay's ostensibly traumatized imagination.  Uggh!  I would rather they drop Berdy to a guest star than to pursue this use of him as a character.  Like others have mentioned, I am also disturbed that Bay appears more traumatized by the break-up (although I wonder to what extent the trauma over the break-up is substitution given that she seems to be blaming the break-up partially on her rape) than she does by her trust being violated by someone she thought was a friend.  

 

The Kathryn/John money problems are a serious contrivance.  Even if John owes millions in back taxes, didn't Kathryn supposedly have a best selling book and an optioned musical?  I'd have to imagine that Kathryn's income at this point has gone from 0 financial contribution to the household when the series began to several million a year. While they may have to tighten their belts a bit, I have a hard time imagining (given Kathryn's supposedly successful career) that this tax issue (especially with a good lawyer who could plead malfeasance on the part of a previous accountant/tax attorney) could potentially sink them.  As someone mentioned upthread it seems like angst designed to give J/K something to do this season.  Once again, I'd like to see J/K and Regina parenting their children (even their now adult children) rather than involved in these ridiculous side stories.  

 

Which brings me to Regina.  I found her behavior odd in this episode and do not for a second believe that she would not have verified her beau's story before deciding to be an accomplice in a kidnapping.  I mean seriously, she's going to take his word that his ex is some kind of strung out irredeemable junkie?  

 

I know this is an ABC Family show but I would like to see the female leads go a few months without dating or a romantic interest.  Hence, I find the Daphne/Mingo relationship to be wholly uninteresting.  Furthermore, I attended an undergraduate institution that sends a disproportionately large number of students to medical school.  I would imagine that Daphne would have little time for dating and relationships if my experience with my fellow undergrad pre-med majors was any indication, at least not while she was negotiating her first year and the notoriously difficult core classes. 

 

And last but not least, they couldn't just make Lily pregnant, no they had to make her have a baby with Down's.  Like others involved I am surprised that a 24 year old woman in a foreign country just beginning her career and with no viable system of support would even consider having a baby Down's syndrome or not.  At the very least I would expect her to return to her home country (where I imagine the health care and parental leave policies are more generous) if she has decided that she is going to have this baby.  What I would find more interesting than what TPTB seem to be teasing is that Lily and Toby choose not to get back together but work through the difficult and challenging aspect of being co-parents to a child with Down's.  But it appears that this pregnancy is going to bring them back together as a couple and frankly I could care less. Lily was such a tertiary character and her scenes concerning her break-up with Toby,  her worry over both her pregnancy and the possibility of the child having Down's seem totally unearned.  

 

I will lurk around the boards and perhaps catch up with the show in re-runs but it looks like the show runners have burned and crashed their show.  I am hoping that Bay will get a happy ending for once and perhaps I'll stick around just a little longer to see where they go with her, but I am pessimistic given the turn that the show has taken this season.  

[xman4802]

Last thing....it just occurred to me that the show could totally cop out and have the child not be born with Down's, yet the possibility of the child having Down's will play out as angsty backdrop for much of the pregnancy. I think I'd hate that even more....

[CoolMom]

I'm telling you if  friend of mine was in that bathroom talking about how it was a terrible time, place, and that it would ruin her whole life, I would totally have at least asked if she'd considered all her options.  I mean it's fine that some people don't think abortion is an option but it would be addressed.   Add me to the group that would be more offended if she had an abortion because the baby had downs than if she had an abortion because she's 24 and Toby is directionless and she's in a foreign country and she isn't ready for a baby.

 

 

I agree 100%! While I personally wouldn't suggest abortion to anyone, it makes more sense that most young adults today would ask if their friend had considered the options.

 

This episode had my young teen and I wondering why we are still watching.

[izabella]

Last thing....it just occurred to me that the show could totally cop out and have the child not be born with Down's, yet the possibility of the child having Down's will play out as angsty backdrop for much of the pregnancy. I think I'd hate that even more....

 

I thought Lily said the test had confirmed the baby had Down's.

 

I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that information.  I was thinking Lily should get an abortion since she does not want to be a mother at this point, and then they threw the Down's thing in.  Was that supposed to make me not want her to get an abortion because it would be wrong?  It doesn't. 

[shmeep]

I'm not sure if this was ever explained, but I still down know why a British girl is fluent enough in ASL to teach American Deaf students. I guess I haven't been paying close attention for a while, but did she say she had a Deaf brother at some point? If so, and if her family is still in England, wouldn't it make more sense for her to be fluent in the language her brother actually uses?

Or did she have a brother with Down's Syndrome? She implied this in this episode and that seems completely new to me. Still, Down's isn't usually genetic and is far more common in older moms so I don't get this at all. Down's is a random chromosomal mix-up so having a sibling with it would almost never put someone at higher risk for passing it on to one's children. I find Lily confusing in general. I'm not saying it's impossible for Lily to have a baby with DS, but her reason for testing so early makes little sense.

Edited August 27, 2015 by shmeep

[dmmetler]

I assume Lily is fluent in ASL vs BSL because the showrunners aren't aware (or are ignoring) that ASL, BSL and Auslan have far less overlap than American, British, and Australian English.

I also assume they went for DS rather than a genetic disability with the assumption that the audience knows what DS is, but would be less aware of, say, Fragile X syndrome, where a premutation passed to a daughter leads to a much higher chance of having the disease, and which can be tested for prenatally via amniocentesis. If Lily had a brother with DS, it's unlikely they would do an amnio on her at her age, but Fragile X would call for prenatal testing since she would have a very high probability of carrying the mutation. You'd still have the same level of drama as far as "should she go through with the pregnancy"-and I can't imagine there wouldn't be room to explain what Fragile X (or any other disease of the week) means just in dialogue.

[Anisky]

You are right, Bay is Bay with her history and family and Veronica Mars is Veronica Mars with her history and family. I think that is actually what the previous poster was trying to say. Everyone is different. Everyone reacts differently.

 

No. She's not, and they're not. Bay Kennish and Veronica Mars are not people. They are characters on a television show, whose history, family, experiences, thoughts, words, actions, etc, are all determined by writers for the television show.

 

You may think I'm trying to nitpick. I'm not. This distinction is incredibly important when criticizing and discussing how a television show is handling a charged story line, because ignoring this distinction leads to people thinking/saying things like this:

 

I'm in the camp that doesn't think Bay was raped, so the following is a devil's advocate argument. Why does she have to behave a certain way after the rape? What happened with Tank wasn't violent, wasn't something that mentally tortures her (she can barely remember it), and didn't have any long-lasting repercussions for Bay (unlike Tank) since this episode showed that Emmett and she were going to break up either way. I've heard a lot about how "there is no textbook behavior for rape victims". Why can't that be the case for Bay? Is it just mandatory to show her traumatized and unable to function? She might just not be.

 

Makes perfect sense when you're talking about a person. If an actual person had experienced what Bay had experienced and was acting the way Bay was, would I be claiming that she wasn't acting how she ought to? No, of course not. It's true that there's no textbook behavior for rape victims, and that people handle rape and sexual assault differently, and in a real-life case like Bay's it would be a good thing if she managed to move forward so much more easily than others in her position.

 

But Bay isn't a person who just had this terrible thing happen to her. She's a character, written by writers who made a purposeful choice that they wanted to tackle the issue of campus rape. If they were going to trivialize it and portray it in a way that makes it seem like less of a big deal to the actual people who experience it, and fosters this whole incredibly rape culture "Oh poor rapist who didn't really do anything wrong and now his life is ruined while the girl just shrugs it off and isn't really affected" narrative that is already way too prevalent in our society? Then they shouldn't have done the story line. That's not tackling the issue of campus rape. It's being part of the problem and actively bolstering a cultural climate that allows people to be raped and for the perpetrator to get away with it, either because the victim is too scared of how they'll be viewed if they come forward, or because people won't believe the victim / won't think it was actually that bad.

 

You say you don't think Bay was actually raped. Okay, I'll do the same thing as you and briefly suppose that's true. If the writers wanted to tackle the issue of campus rape, then why would they write a story line where Bay isn't actually raped, it is much milder than that, but people are calling it rape, and Tank was thrown out of college unfairly because of the belief that he raped her? What good does that do about the issue of campus rape? None. It just makes people who have watched Switched at Birth more likely to think that the women (and men) in real life who say they've been raped on college campuses are exaggerating their stories, or "just girls who had sex and then regretted it later and cried rape." That kind of thinking is incredibly common and incredibly harmful, especially since the best, most rigorous estimates say that only about 3% of rapes actually end in prosecution. Women and men who come forward who have been raped are often vilified, mocked, shamed, etc; and there is a huge stigma against them. If actual rape victims don't usually come forward, why would people who haven't actually been raped do so?? Logic suggests that that perception is completely off base, yet it is still widely believed and extremely damaging to the victims. 

 

If Bay wasn't raped in a story line where the writers expressly said that they wanted to explore campus rape, what is to be concluded but that the writers are trying to say that these campus rape reports are often exaggerated, and the  "so-called victims" are ten times less traumatized than they would be by a breakup, and so we shouldn't take them that seriously?

 

 

EDITED: Because 3% of rapes end in prosecution, not rape cases, which implies the rape was reported.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Anisky

[dgpolo]

 

No. She's not, and they're not. Bay Kennish and Veronica Mars are not people. They are characters on a television show, whose history, family, experiences, thoughts, words, actions, etc, are all determined by writers for the television show.

 

You may think I'm trying to nitpick. I'm not. This distinction is incredibly important when criticizing and discussing how a television show is handling a charged story line, because ignoring this distinction leads to people thinking/saying things like this:

I'm not disagreeing with what you are saying about how the writers are handling this story line. It is really letting down real life victims.

 

But... we just can't get too 'meta' about TV shows. Otherwise all of us here and the site itself should just pack up and leave. Yes, Bay and Veronica, and Regina and Daphne are all characters whose words and actions are dictated by writers. So do we come here and say, well the writers really wanted Daphne to date a bad boy this season but did they have to write him as being stupid, or the writers need to manipulate that conversation a little more so there's more reason for Regina to check him out on the site the writers made up for the show.

 

No, we talk about Daphne's history of bad choices or Regina's feelings about keeping her from her birth parents. We know in our heads that this was determined by writers but our feelings are that they are people, people whose actions we feel we know because of their histories, families, experiences etc., that we have experienced by watching the show. We feel that they have feelings, this is the actors as well as the writers, informing the characters we are reacting to, So, in this way, Bay is a person and Veronica is a person and the way they react to situations are different from each other and we react to them as people not as constructs.

 

Of course we can also discuss the writers and how well or how badly they are doing there job in presenting story lines that affect so many real life people.

[CleoCaesar]

Bay Kennish and Veronica Mars are not people. They are characters on a television show, whose history, family, experiences, thoughts, words, actions, etc, are all determined by writers for the television show.

 

Yeah...I think you're really splitting hairs here. One of the goals of realistic fiction is to mimic real life. I don't need characters to act out morality plays. This is a drama, not an Afterschool Special. Of course Veronica Mars and Bay are fictional characters, no one's disputing that. Why they should react the same to the issue of rape is beyond me.

[AmandaPanda]

How pregnant is Toby's ex now anyway? I'm assuming she's in the first trimester or so when miscarriages can be common -- Kansas isn't a state that makes miscarriages illegal is it? ABC Family has a history of being open-minded about pregnancy and has shown pro-choice behavior - from contraception for minors (e.g. Fosters) to Plan B (Greek) to teen pregnancy without shame. I don't specifically recall a specific termination but I don't think it's necessarily impossible.

 

It's not one yet, but it does have really tight rules. If you are even a day into week 20, you cannot legally get an abortion anywhere in the state. Since she's already had a test for Down syndrome, she's almost certainly toward the end of the first trimester. The more effective tests are done in the second trimester, so it's possible she's already passed the 20-week mark. Plus, there's also the fact that there is only one clinic in Kansas City that does abortions and it's only one day a week. Plus, you have to have done some pre-counseling or you'll get turned away for the mandatory 24-hour waiting period, which then becomes a week because of when the clinic does abortions.

 

*Note: I'm from Kansas City and have gone through this with a couple of my friends. 

[morakot]

Thanks for clarifying. I'm glad you were able to stand by your friends.

[Happycakez]

*sigh* here we go again with the endless rape discussion....

[Grandma Saracen]

Whoa, finally caught up to the current season!! 

I was really hoping for less Lily (and more Iris!), but looks like she'll be around awhile.

The tax story had me nodding off, Toby's "DJ at work" attitude was ridiculous.

Bay's hallucinations made me sad, and I'm glad her friends are standing by her. 

I think Regina and Eric have good chemistry (much more so than she had with Angelo), but I'm not terribly fond of the SL right now. 

Missed seeing Natalie and Mary Beth.