Between the show's spring finale and its fall premiere, the show has jumped in time a few months. The show had concluded at prom and is now picking up again at the start of a new school year. This was an interesting stylistic choice because the falling out of the events of the finale was heavily anticipated and I was unsure of how the two things would mesh together. But my worries were somewhat dissolved with the explanation of Bay running away for the summer - which could prove beneficial to the storytelling as everyone else has worked out the issues and moved on while she has just ignored them until now.
Daphne's new storyline has the potential to be fantastic - how can a deaf person be integrated into a high stress hearing work environment? The scenes in this episode were just the introductions to this new place, so nothing shocking or poignant has really occurred yet (although the moment with the mirror was pretty darn great). My only concern with this story is that the show might abbreviate it to focus more on the budding romance between Daphne and her boss (played by Justin Bruening.) That pairing does come across as a little weird but I trust the show to handle this story with caution and maturity.
Kathryn's book has also been published and that ramifications of that between the rest of the cast also has a lot of potential that really wasn't too dipped into during this episode.
I was also a bit disappointed that there was no mention of the lawsuit - and what state it is in after the whole time jump thing - during this episode. The show's stars have teased in many current interviews that the lawsuit story will conclude during this run of episodes. It just probably would have been smart to have even a brief update somewhere in the hour.
While I do have my reservations about a few things that began here, this episode truly started to shine when Bay came across Emmett's message to her. That drama amped up during the wonderful Bay-Emmett confrontation scene which gave some good creative momentum going forward into the trial scene and than the courthouse marriage. The fact that Regina had to marry Angelo should prove to become very compelling to watch as everyone will have to deal with what the marriage actually means. Will Regina fall more in love with him? Will he now stay permanently? How will the Kennishes react?
Overall this was a satisfying opener to the series' final episodes of its first season. It teased whats to come while also dealing with some of the fallout from the spring finale. Those three closing scenes especially made this a very well-executed fall premiere and I'm intrigued to see where the show goes from here.
So what did everyone think of the premiere? Are you ready for the rest of the show's fall run? Share your thoughts in the comments.
