‘Switched at Birth’ Season 5 Premiere Review: A Promising Beginning to the End

By the end of season 4 of Switched at Birth, things were highly unsettled for Daphne, Bay and company. The two had taken off to China for the summer after Bay got stuck in a love triangle with Emmett and Travis. Meanwhile, Daphne and Mingo had cut ties, Eric and his son left for Atlanta, and Toby and Lily added a third to their family. When the fifth and final season picks up, we catch up with all these characters and welcome some more drama. Does the season 5 premiere episode, “The Call,” live up to the anticipation? Find out in BuddyTV’s review below.

Bonding for Bay and Daphne

China had a major impact on Daphne and Bay’s relationship in a positive way. The episode sets up how these two developed an even stronger bond while overseas when a deadly mosquito bite infects Bay and Daphne rushes her to get her medical attention. She survives, and both of them are much closer from the incident, even getting matching tattoos.

One effect of Bay’s illness is her new mindset. She now wants to make every day of her life count for something and even convinces Daphne that the two should spend an entire year in this foreign country, living life to the fullest. While parts of this whole trip come off pretty cliched, they still play out in the same heartwarming sense that the show is known for. The reasons and practicality of their trip extension just have to be overlooked because what it does for both of their characters makes it worth it.

Catching up with Old Friends

What the season 5 premiere episode does well is give us all the details we wanted about the characters we’ve been missing most. It’s delightful to see how close Bay and Daphne have become. When they return from their escapade to China, the two are just as supportive of each other as they were on their trip and work together to solve both of their dramatic personal lives. Still, it wouldn’t be Switched at Birth without the drama, so things don’t stay on the up and up for too long.

Meanwhile, things with John and Kathryn have finally reached a point that we can get behind. After a drama-filled season 4 for this couple, it’s finally begun to settle down. Instead of focusing on their marital troubles, it seems that season 5 will instead explore the dynamic of their professional relationship. Kathryn has become the Director of Athletic Advancement at UMKC, putting her in charge of her husband and now being the one he has to go through in order to get things done. We can only imagine the kind of workplace hostility that could seep into their home life and we can’t wait for it.

Setting up Final Story Arcs

Without giving too much away, the best part of this season premiere is the interesting twists the show is starting to take in its final episodes. Certain characters are left in shocking new circumstances that have us begging for more. Relationships blossom and change in dynamics, success meets some, failure meets others and so much more is clearly in store for this final season.

All in all, this may have been one of Switched at Birth‘s strongest season openers. It had a little bit of everything you could want in a balance that wasn’t off-putting. We got our cheesy moments, a bit of some fan-favorite couples and just the right amount of drama to start wrapping up these characters’ stories.

What are you most excited to see in the Switched at Birth season 5 premiere? Tell us in the comments below!

Switched at Birth‘s fifth and final season premieres Tuesday, January 31 at 9/8c on Freeform.

(Image courtesy of Freeform)(Source News)