I blame this thread for the loss of my Sunday. I played episode 1 at 2pm and finished episode 10 at 10pm.

I had caught part of an episode awhile back (the fund raiser) and thought ... Great another bickering teen show where everyone is entitled and self centered. Then I read this thread and figured I had missed out on a good show. This is a very good show.

I just finished the summer finale tonight it was another great episode. Emmett speaking to Bay was a very poignant moment. Frankly, I hated DW Moffett on Friday Night Lights, but he's great as John on this show. It's early, but I think he and Lea Thompson are a solid onscreen couple/parents.

Gilles Marini was an excellent choice to play Angelo, especially now that Brothers and Sisters is cancelled. I have to assume they will bring him back for the back half of the season.

The one thing that surprised me was how casual Bay was after Daphne proclaimed she wasn't giving up pursuing Emmett.

FYI, if you have Netflix, all 10 episodes are available for streaming. If you haven't seen the show yet, I highly recommend checking it out. You have alot of time to catch up since this won't return until at least Spring 2012.

Wow who knew anything good would ever air on ABC Family!?
I actually enjoyed this more than Parenthood. A nice mix of drama and heart and almost no typical teenage crap.

Wow, I'm shocked that you actually watched. Especially since you give pretty much no dramas a shot.

What convinced you to finally watch?

The glowing words in this thread made me give it a shot.
Also I love both Constance Marie and Lea Thompson.

I actually give almost all dramas a shot unless they are centered around relationships/romance or the so-called "problems" of the entitled American teenager
Not sure why you think I don't I admit that I drop them quickly if they are not at least very good

By djariya at 2011-09-13

Synopsis:



Episode 11 of 32

Yes, I kid you not. This show got a 32 episode 1st season order. However, 12 are going to air this cycle and the last 10 will probably air later in the summer.

Promo:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BZ6CmdsKMYg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Glad it's back. This was a huge surprise hit last summer. Well written show with some very good characters.

I thought this was one of those MTV reality shows. Guess not.

It's a really good drama. Only a few here including myself watched the 1st 10 episodes last summer and everyone was impressed how good it was.

Thanks for the clarification on the episode order. I knew that the series had been "renewed for 22 more episodes" but couldn't get a solid answer if the 22 was for the "entire season" or if it was really a 32-episode order (and if they would play all 22 episodes together or broken up).

I have to say I had mixed feelings on the show durring the first season. I went from hating several characters to liking them, but then hating others in the process. It will be interesting to a) see what they do w/ the 32 episodes and b) to see if ABC Family is testing the waters to offer other "hits" reach 32 episodes a season.

Yeah, then anticipate 3 DVD sets to make the "1st season"

Regarding the characters, I think Daphne turned from really likeable to really bitchy and selfish towards the tail end of the 1st half. I think Bay actually grew more likeable, especially after she started dating Emmett.

I wasn't even thinking about the DVD sets, yikes . But I guess since they are bare-bones (at least the first volume was) it's easier to skip especially when all the episodes are on Netflix.

That was my thoughts exactly about Daphne and Bay, but part of me in curious in retrospect if that was infact the plan of the writers. Initially I didn't care for Bay's brother (his name elludes me at the moment) and over the course of the season I started to like him. I really need to go back and watch Episode 10 again tonight as the more I think about the more fuzzy the details are, haha.

Pretty good episode. I didn't love it, but I was entertained.

Daphne is becoming a frustrating character. I get how her world was turned upside down, but I think she's being really mean and unfair to Regina. It's also annoying how she is so angry at Bay for "stealing" Emmett when they were never together in the 1st place. And then her getting annoyed and running off when Bay was sporting "I'm with the drummer T-Shirt" was so childish.

Despite that, there are some poignant moments with her. I thought the scene where she was interacting with Kathryn about having a movie night were nice. I do like how she's become friendly with her birth parents.

at that drunk who got pissed at Emmett for being the drummer on that band that sucks that promised free booze.

It's such a no-brainer that Daphne is eventually going to hook up with Wilke.

I'm not sure what the deal was with Kathryn tracking down that nurse. What was she trying to find out? I'm know she was the one who claimed responsibility for the screw up right? So what else did Kathryn want to know?

Great to have this show back. Switched and Parenthood are about the only quality family dramas left.

I thought it was an wonderful episode, although the parents tend to drag the show down a bit. The small moments between the young cast members make this show shine. Emmet calling Daphne over to translate and the little scene between Daphne & Bay that silently acknowledges that they are still sisters(almost), even though they are competing for just about everything.

I am willing to bet they still play out the Daphne is the winner and Bay is the loser paradigm. Bay is being set up for a messy breakup with Emmet.

That's what teenagers do

This was last year's biggest surprise for me. Something on ABC Family that was actually....good.
Nice to have it back.

I think she thought that Bay's dad was just paying the nurse to lie. So the fact that the nurse was telling the truth takes away her ability to dismiss Bay's real dad as some horrible person. I think they wanted an excuse to keep Bay away from her Dad.

I agree about Bay being much likable with Emmett. I also think Emmett is much likable now. I thought he was annoying and stalkerish before when he was pining for Daphne, but I absolutely fell in love with him when he started dating Bay. I don't think a show has ever made me like two previous unlikable characters before with a romance, but the way they fell in love was so adorable. I think they bring out the best in both of each other.

Daphne's become annoying. She needs to chill on the whining.

Other than that I enjoyed it. Glad it's back and glad it's getting a ridiculous OC-like first season order. It deserves it. I'm not used to shows get extended that actually deserve it.

By djariya at 2011-09-13

Synopsis:



Episode 12 of 32

Good episode, but Emmett's Mom was such a fucking bitch in this episode. I literally wanted to punch her and tell her to STFU when she was making fun of Bay. I get that she's mad that her son is failing a class and lying to her alot, but she handled the whole thing so immaturely.

It was nice to see Regina stand up for her.

I was trying to figure out where I've seen the actress who plays Simone. Then I recalled she played Gaby's bratty niece from a few years ago on Desperate Housewives. I wonder if that whole scene with her not paying the bar bill will come back into play again.

And man, that final scene with the Cops and Emmett was really frightening. I couldn't imagine what someone like him would feel in that situation.

Another great episode. The show could take the easy route and keep everything simple, but instead it finds new ways to be an intelligent show.

The ending started and ended abruptly, without any setup and it was one of the best scenes I have watched all season. Gripping ... and left me with a black screen and a WTF face.

I agree I think that's what made the final scene effective. We were exposed to it from the viewpoint of Emmett, who had no idea WTF was going on.

She also "helped" Tyler into his new life on The Vampire Diaries last season

I never thought an argument with no speech but just signing could be so riveting. That's quality writing and acting. Great show.

This show has exceeded all my expectations. Probably the closest thing to an 'Everwood' type show out right now, even if it's not quite at that level yet. My only gripe: the planking scenes felt like something an out-of-touch 45-year-old writer would put in there to "make it hip for the kids". The fad already feels dated (there have already been 5 or more of those stupid fads since like owling, tebowing, etc.) and it seemed out of character for someone like Bay to be into. Now if it was Toby planking, I could totally buy it.

Ohhh I forgot about that. Truly cringe worthy. I also agree with the Everwood comparison, but after the first couple season even Everwood wasn't as good as Everwood

Maybe when the episode was written, planking was still 'the in thing to do'.

By djariya at 2011-09-13

Synopsis:



Episode 13 of 32