A Quick Recap of 'Switched at Birth' Season 3, Which Was Basically The Nuttiest One Yet

Publish date: 2024-06-15

Remember how at about the midway point of Secret Life of The American Teenager, the writers threw all sense of reality out the window and basically just went with whatever plot point they happened to pull out of a hat that week? If Switched at Birth isn't careful, it's going to be the next ABC Family show to suffer that fate. Season 3 proved itself to be the most dramatic season yet, and basically made everyone hate Daphne's guts. If you're wondering why, you probably have some catching up to do. If you're way behind and need to find out what happened in Season 3A, read this and check back in with me. If you need a recap of Switched At Birth Season 3b, however, you've come to the right place.

Spoiler: A lot happened. So much happened, in fact, that if you're really into the show, you should probably catch up on Netflix when you have the chance. All of the episodes are uploaded now, by the way! Go, ABC Family.

The season kicks off in Bay and Daphne's senior year, and throughout the season, a lot of senior year things are going on — SATs, applying to colleges, freaking out about what happens after graduation, etc — and much of the plot springs from that theme. The season ends with the girls' graduation, and the outcome is exactly the opposite of what we all expected.

Ready? Stick with me here, because I am about to blow your mind with how much happened last season:

At the Beginning of Season 3b...

Toby's in Iceland and Bay and Emmett are getting back together. Yep, Bay — who has spent episodes and episodes wondering how it is possible that someone could cheat on someone else — has cheated on Tank, and now she must deal with the consequences, including but not limited to needing a morning after pill. She ends up breaking up with Tank, which breaks his heart and leads to many drunken nights. (Poor Tank! He's such a lovable teddy bear. But he deserves better, and fingers crossed that next season he'll find it.)

Oh, and Angelo is officially living with Regina and Daphne.

Then Everyone Starts Freaking Out About the Future

Bay wants to go to the Pratt Institute, but she is heartbreakingly rejected. (It's OK, Bay, Pam from The Office didn't do so hot at Pratt, so maybe you're saving yourself the trouble.) Daphne, who gets a paying job at the clinic (which unfortunately effectively ends her relationship with Campbell), is feeling a little better about med school now that John and Katherine have offered to pay for her education. Damn, it must be good to be a Kennish.

Also, Toby is back from Iceland, and he's now decided he's the next Calvin Harris and begins pursuing a career as an EDM DJ... and the hot British teacher who lives upstairs. Nikki who?

And As for the Adults...

John is basically nonexistent this season, except to provide commentary, throw money at problems, and occasionally assert his masculinity. Katherine is working on getting her baseball-themed Fifty Shades of Grey novel off the ground, and ends up becoming friends with Sarah Lazar (the villain from the first season who published a book about the switch before Katherine could) over wine. And in Regina's world, the East Riverside project is still going on, and she ends up buying a gun to protect her from the residents who threaten her and vandalize her design office.

Then, Tragedy Strikes

After admitting to Daphne he's suffering a financial hardship, Angelo has a brain aneurysm while driving and dies. His death is hard on the entire family, and sends Bay to Chicago to meet Angelo's cousin... who turns out to be a douchebag. But he does disclose that Angelo's sister also died of an aneurysm when she was 18 — so it's genetic. Later, she has an MRI done and finds out she is genetically inclined toward aneurysms.

And Daphne Basically Goes Off the Rails

Blaming Regina for making Angelo stress enough for his aneurysm to rupture, her grief makes her lash out. Suddenly, she's doing cocaine, getting drunk on the regular, and even contributes to the vandalism of Regina's project. Eventually, she gets fired from the clinic and gets in trouble for violating her probation... and jail now seems unavoidable.

And Finally, in the Finale...

...the girls graduate. Bay's decided to go to California with Emmett and work in a museum until she picks an art school she'd like to attend — and she's using part of Angelo's life insurance cash out to do it. Meanwhile, Daphne isn't making plans for her future, because she's pretty sure she's going to jail. She goes to turn herself in after graduation, but at the police station, Bay takes the rap for her... and Daphne totally lets her.

Images: Eric McCandless/ABC Family; Giphy (2)

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