MovieChat Forums > Switched at Birth (2011) Discussion > Hating the Direction the show is going.....

Hating the Direction the show is going...

posted 8 years ago by Dislost15
10 replies | jump to latest

It doesn't feel genuine. Everything this season feels off. I'm supposed to buy that Bay became an amazing tattoo artist overseas. Not to mention all of the events that's HAPPENED.

They've made Emmett into some dark character.That doesn't feel like him at all. The progression is so off. It feels like we're getting a spoonfuls of PSAs, which is fine.. But they need to work.

Then, there's how they are depicting African Americans. If Mingo came in black face, then yes, the backlash would have been significant. Now sure.. You can't speak for everyone. Some people might have been offended by his tone of voice and costume, but his actions would not have created this much noise.

What are they doing to this show?

[–] MollieDanny 8 years ago

Dislost15 said:

It doesn't feel genuine. Everything this season feels off. I'm supposed to buy that Bay became an amazing tattoo artist overseas. Not to mention all of the events that's HAPPENED.

They've made Emmett into some dark character.That doesn't feel like him at all. The progression is so off. It feels like we're getting a spoonfuls of PSAs, which is fine.. But they need to work.

Then, there's how they are depicting African Americans. If Mingo came in black face, then yes, the backlash would have been significant. Now sure.. You can't speak for everyone. Some people might have been offended by his tone of voice and costume, but his actions would not have created this much noise.

What are they doing to this show?

I don't know what the writers are doing, but I do agree with your assessment on each issue.

Emmett is my connection to the show, from the beginning. For some reason, the writers have taken his from a typical young person who makes mistakes and tries to learn from them, to someone unrecognizable as a person.

It's not Emmett's depression that is causing the problem. Instead, the person Emmett became in Season 4 does not mesh with who he was in Seasons 1 through 3, or even who he is now, in Season 5.

Bay becoming a tattoo artist so quickly seems bizarre.

[–] jonnypenn84 8 years ago

Yeah the tattoo artist career so quickly really confused me.

[–] coolgit 8 years ago

There are some obvious behind the scene going on at SAB. Sean in my opinion became too popular compare to Daphne. Watch this from 17:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcSPRbXg4ck Sean's reaction.

[–] MollieDanny 8 years ago

coolgit said:

There are some obvious behind the scene going on at SAB. Sean in my opinion became too popular compare to Daphne. Watch this from 17:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcSPRbXg4ck Sean's reaction.

I watched the whole video, but I am not sure to what reaction you refer. I do believe Sean's costars (and even the producers and writers) resented his popularity. It was off-the-charts during the first 20 episodes. I suppose that is why Lizzy Weiss has been on a one-woman mission to annihilate his character ever since. As a producer, she should have been happy to have a popular character, but she wasn't.

What follows is all speculation, and it is mostly based on my interactions with Lizzy Weiss and other writers through Twitter and private messaging. It is also based on some harsh words that Ryan Lane's real-life mother said to me, when she tagged me, in comments on Instagram.

I did not think Emmett's character could drop any lower than what he did during Season 4, but Lizzy Weiss found away to make Emmett the true bottom of the barrel in the Season 5 premiere. The word "scum" came to my mind. I looked up the word on Urban Dictionary, and here's what it says:

It is hard to define the word, but it is basically used to describe someone so disgraceful that they are seen as the lowest form of life. "Worthlessness", "waste of skin", "dirt". "Nothing". Far worse than most other insults, where the victim is often just referred to as genetalia.

The fact that "scum" is a non-swear, and seen as perfectly acceptable English, makes it even more demeaning and offensive. If you are condemned as a .... or a ...., then you are simply being attacked with cliché profanity, used spontaneously and with no particular venom or thought. "Scum", however, is usually only used in exclusive conditions where it is the only word for the job, and makes the victim feel like the lowest of the low.

Lizzy Weiss's hatred of Sean Berdy knows no bounds, and so the character of Emmett was destroyed. It wasn't Emmett's depression. That is an interesting storyline for his character. But Emmett's groveling to Bay is what destroys him.

Something happened in the spring of 2012, several months before your video clip was filmed. Sean Berdy and one of his costars (my guess is Constance Marie) had a falling out, and the costar hired a body guard for protection, whenever Sean Berdy would be on set. All of this happened during the filming of the episode with the female motorcycle biker. She was slated for a four episode arc, and suddenly, she was reduced to one episode, and Switched at Birth's season was reduced from 10 episodes to only 8 episodes.

Sean Berdy deleted his entire Twitter account for a few days during this time period. The motorcycle biker said in an interview that Sean Berdy had become ill, and she had to film her scenes with him and Daphne and Bay at the end of the entire season. So Episode 26, with her, was only partially filmed, and then, a month or so later, when Episode 30 finally wrapped, the producers went back and filmed the scenes at the motorcycle show.

Once Sean Berdy reinstated his Twitter account, he only followed his brother and his girlfriend. Then, he tried following others connected with Switched at Birth, but Lizzy Weiss would never follow him again, and eventually, he gave up and has only followed his brother (and occasionally his on-again-off-again girlfriend). He never followed anyone connected to the show again, and he has barely tweeted about the show, until this season.

Now that Sean Berdy is no longer a series regular, he has decided to be super involved in promoting the show. Switched at Birth completely fell apart from the moment Lizzy Weiss decided she hates Sean Berdy. It was never the same show after that moment again. It appears their last good moment together was the night that Sean filmed the scene with Vanessa at Blue River Road. Bay tells Emmett that he ripped the fabric apart, and Emmett tells Bay that he will wait until he can figure out how to glue it back together again. Lizzy Weiss liked Sean Berdy on that night, and she tweeted a picture with all three of them in Bay's light blue vehicle (The Thing). But after that moment, Lizzy never again had a kind word to say about Sean.

I really think something happened between Sean Berdy and Constance Marie. We'll probably never know, but she stopped following him on Twitter, and her tweets about him went from positive to negative. She never really had another scene with him, after that moment, and his character was supposed to be like a son to her character. Perhaps Sean thought her medical condition preventing her from signing was detrimental to the series. Maybe he thought she was faking it. I have wondered that myself. Constance Marie flirted with Sean Berdy so much on Twitter during the first 20 episodes that maybe Sean thought she was serious.

[–] Ratachooille 8 years ago

Lizzy Weiss's hatred of Sean Berdy knows no bounds, and so the character of Emmett was destroyed.

Wow, that is some vendetta she has against him. How did Lizzy became a producer on the show and get so powerful suddenly? And why did Sean bear it. I hope he gets another show soon and be the star and be hugely successful. Emmett is my favorite character on SAB and has always been winsome and I hate how he is being sidelined especially in this last season and given a terrible arc (the constant whining, apologizing left and right and OD-ing are so OOC).

BTW, I have never liked "Daphne" since season 1 and always thought the actress playing her looks way too old for the role and it shows. Even horribly thick make-up cannot hide the lines on her face.

"What time is sunrise?"
"When I open this door."

[–] Dislost15 8 years ago

Wow - this is amazing in a bad way. Why would someone singlehandedly ruin a show, which only makes everyone working on the show look bad?

So much for professionalism.

And I completely agree with your opinion of Daphne. I never liked her character.

[–] MollieDanny 8 years ago

Ratachooille said:

Wow, that is some vendetta she has against him. How did Lizzy became a producer on the show and get so powerful suddenly?

Lizzy Weiss imagined an idea for a TV show about two girls who were switched at birth and discovered the situation at the age of 15.

She pitched her idea to ABC Family. The heads of the network liked her idea, but they asked her to up the ante by bringing in some sort of diversity. Lizzy Weiss had once taken a Deaf theater class in college, so she pitched the idea that one of the girls would be Deaf. The network liked it, accepted her pitch, and gave her a TV show, and she became the showrunner.

After the all-ASL episode with the uprising at Carlton, I noticed many in the Deaf community were critical of Lizzy Weiss on Twitter. These people speaking out felt that Lizzy Weiss should have included a Deaf director, Deaf writers, etc., if she wanted to tell the Deaf story. I defended her right as an artist to bring to life the story. She started following me on Twitter and continued to follow me for more than two years. But one day, I tweeted that I missed Sean Berdy's presence, because he is my connection on the show, and she unfollowed me within minutes of that Tweet.

A few month later, when it was announced that the show had been cancelled, I tweeted that I felt her decision to exclude Sean Berdy had killed the show, and within minutes, she had blocked me on Twitter.

It was odd that she blocked me, because my tweet was polite. I am still blocked by her (under that name) to this day. Right after Lizzy Weiss blocked me, the head of the Sean Berdy Group of Fans sent me a private message. Lizzy Weiss had sent the fan group a private message stating that she could not believe any true fan of the show would re-tweet Sean Berdy's letter to fans, when he did not even thank the producers for giving him this opportunity. (He did thank the fans.)

The head of the Sean Berdy Group asked for my help in crafting a response to Lizzy Weiss. I didn't offer any suggestions, though, because she had already drafted a nice response where she said that she had no idea what had transpired between Lizzy Weiss and Sean Berdy, so as to not take sides, she just re-tweeted everything either of them tweeted. The next day, Lizzy Weiss had unfollowed the Sean Berdy Group of fans and never did offer a response or an explanation as to why.

Sean Berdy's letter to fans was not negative. All he said was that he could tell the show was coming to an end, based on the storyline that the writers had chosen. Vanessa Marano had just given an interview the week before, where she had said that the writers were wrapping up everyone's storylines this season and bringing the characters full circle. How is that any different? I do not understand why Lizzy Weiss took offense to Sean Berdy's letter, but she sure did.

And why did Sean bear it. I hope he gets another show soon and be the star and be hugely successful. Emmett is my favorite character on SAB and has always been winsome and I hate how he is being sidelined especially in this last season and given a terrible arc (the constant whining, apologizing left and right and OD-ing are so OOC).

I hope he gets another show soon, too. I have never seen an actor who can convey emotion as well as Sean Berdy can. I need to see him on screen or on the stage. He was receiving all sorts of positive press from the New York Times and other national publications, and after their falling out, Lizzy Weiss refused to promote any of it in interviews or through social media. She did everything in her power to kill his rising star. It killed her show, too. I hope Sean Berdy can overcome the damage Lizzy Weiss did to him.

Depression can hit anyone, but to make the choice to give the character of Emmett depression, after everything he had said and done in Season 4, offers little hope for redemption of his character, in these last 10 episodes. Emmett will be coping with a monster of a problem. He will not have time to survive that and redeem himself, too.

For fans like me, that is sad.

[–] Ratachooille 8 years ago

Thanks for the reply. I really enjoyed reading your posts. So much I know now about the behind-the-scenes concerning Sean.

Lizzy Weiss imagined an idea for a TV show about two girls who were switched at birth and discovered the situation at the age of 15.

Thanks for the clarification. So SAB's her show right from the start. And Sean is at her mercy.

Btw, has the shooting of all 10 episodes finished?

A few month later, when it was announced that the show had been cancelled, I tweeted that I felt her decision to exclude Sean Berdy had killed the show, and within minutes, she had blocked me on Twitter.

It was odd that she blocked me, because my tweet was polite. I am still blocked by her (under that name) to this day. Right after Lizzy Weiss blocked me, the head of the Sean Berdy Group of Fans sent me a private message. Lizzy Weiss had sent the fan group a private message stating that she could not believe any true fan of the show would re-tweet Sean Berdy's letter to fans, when he did not even thank the producers for giving him this opportunity. (He did thank the fans.)

The head of the Sean Berdy Group asked for my help in crafting a response to Lizzy Weiss. I didn't offer any suggestions, though, because she had already drafted a nice response where she said that she had no idea what had transpired between Lizzy Weiss and Sean Berdy, so as to not take sides, she just re-tweeted everything either of them tweeted. The next day, Lizzy Weiss had unfollowed the Sean Berdy Group of fans and never did offer a response or an explanation as to why.

Wow, sounds like an impulsive person who doesn't take views or criticism well. And who doesn't give a hoot on how that actually reflects on her.

He was receiving all sorts of positive press from the New York Times and other national publications, and after their falling out, Lizzy Weiss refused to promote any of it in interviews or through social media. She did everything in her power to kill his rising star.

Un-be-lie-va-ble.

I think that is just too cruel and to do that to such a young person too... I can only imagine how stressful it must have been for Sean on set with her around. [*shakes head*]

I hope he gets another show soon, too. I have never seen an actor who can convey emotion as well as Sean Berdy can.

omg, same here. Sean's an amazing actor.

Depression can hit anyone, but to make the choice to give the character of Emmett depression, after everything he had said and done in Season 4, offers little hope for redemption of his character, in these last 10 episodes.

So agree. I don't know if you are a Bemmet fan, but I am and I hope that theirs is the end game, because Emmett needs Bay (his ray of sunshine) especially now and she could be his redemption. I mean they were so perfect together in Season One and I feel Bay has always loved him best. Also his character (with aimlessness, depression, suicide attempt, etc.) has already hit rock bottom the very first episode this season so could it get any worse? And if the series finale ends with Bemmet, then I am ok. If not or if Emmett gets a s****y ending, then I guess I know now who to blame.

"What time is sunrise?"
"When I open this door."

[–] coolgit 8 years ago

I watched the whole video, but I am not sure to what reaction you refer.

Just after 17:30 Vanessa turned to say something about Sean, after the interviewer was jesting, and Sean looked at Vanessa with a fake smile and walked away.

Sean Berdy and one of his costars (my guess is Constance Marie) had a falling out, and the costar hired a body guard for protection, whenever Sean Berdy would be on set.

Seriously, how do you know this? Hiring a bodyguard is extreme. Why Constance? She's old enough to look after herself.

All of this happened during the filming of the episode with the female motorcycle biker. She was slated for a four episode arc, and suddenly, she was reduced to one episode,

The actress Ashley Fiolek? Yeah i remember her and thought more deaf characters = cool. 1 Episode was like urrgghhh, that's all.

Thanks god i don't use twitter. Too much hassle and causes many problems.

[–] MollieDanny 8 years ago

coolgit said:

Just after 17:30 Vanessa turned to say something about Sean, after the interviewer was jesting, and Sean looked at Vanessa with a fake smile and walked away.

That is what happened. You are right.

I re-watched the scene several times in quick succession, and there's no other way to interpret it. I think that I missed it the first time, because I am usually expecting the cast and crew to be rude and disrespectful to him, not vice versa. I am always on the lookout for that.

But in this moment, Vanessa Marano appears to offer him a sincere smile, and Sean Berdy pretty much ignores her. He has a smile plastered on his face, but it is obvious that it is not for her. He doesn't seem to care about her at all, in that moment.

I will say that I have seen other footage of this event, and Sean Berdy does give Katie Leclerc and Vanessa Marano what appears to be sincere hugs, when they first run into each other on the red carpet. Whereas, Lucas Grabeel walked by Katie, without acknowledging her, but maybe they'd already greeted each other earlier. Sean didn't seem to interact with Constance Marie, who must have been behind him, as he walked towards Vanessa and Katie, or at least Sean did not do so on camera:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyXRbJgsbDo&spfreload=10

Over the years, I have wondered if Vanessa Marano had a crush on Sean Berdy, when they first started working together. They seemed to get along in those early days, but he became serious with his girlfriend quickly, and Vanessa Marano started throwing shade at Sean Berdy every time she was interviewed.

For every single interview I have ever watched (and I watched as many as I could find), Sean Berdy has always been highly complimentary of Vanessa Marano. He sings her praises every chance that he gets. As a fan, I so wish she would have done the same for him. Much of my enthusiasm for the show has been killed by Vanessa Marano's negative attitude towards Sean Berdy. I will always wonder if that is because she originally had a crush on him, and he was uninterested in her.

Seriously, how do you know this? Hiring a bodyguard is extreme. Why Constance? She's old enough to look after herself.

When Switched at Birth was first cancelled, I was looking at pictures on Instagram, and Jack Jason (the ASL Master) posted a sweet picture of Ryan Lane and Vanessa Marano curled up in a chair together. At the time, I was feeling heartbroken over the cancellation, so I commented a personal plea. I asked Jack Jason to take pity on fans, like me, who might be heartbroken over the way that Bay & Emmett's story had ended, and to not rub our noses in the fact that Vanessa Marano and Ryan Lane are such good friends behind the scenes.

It was a stupid thing for me to say. I regret it.

At the time, I was feeling sad over the cancellation of the show, and Jack Jason's picture of Ryan Lane and Vanessa Marano was painful to see. It made me realize that I would never see Bay & Emmett share all of the special moments I dreamed for them.

My comment was polite. All I did was ask Jack Jason to take pity on the fans who were hurting over Bay & Emmett's storyline. As soon as I had posted it, though, Ryan Lane's mother began attacking me. At first, I did not realize who she was, but when I clicked on her account, it was obvious she is his mother.

She was vicious to me, too. Another friend of Ryan Lane's (a photographer) joined her in the attack. And then, a third account joined in the discussion. That one appeared to be a new account called "Insider Info" or something like that. It didn't have any pictures posted, and whoever was using that name chose to tell me the back story about Sean Berdy.

He or she said Sean had done something on set in the spring of 2012 and one of his co-stars requested a body guard whenever he had a scene with her now. He or she also added that one of the producers wanted to fire Sean after that incident, but that the producer was not allowed by ABC Family to do so.

All three people (Ryan Lane's mother, this photographer friend who appears to be a housemate of Ryan Lane, and this Insider Info "mystery" person) raked Sean Berdy over the coals. They talked about him in the most disparaging way possible and ripped him to shreds. They seemed angry that fans like him.

A lot of their comments were deleted. I am not sure if Jack Jason deleted them or if they went back and deleted their comments themselves. The last time I checked, though, some of the comments were still there. I copy and pasted all of them into a Google Document and made some screenshots, before they were deleted. They were all three so hostile.

I am the one guessing that the co-star is Constance Marie. She stopped following Sean Berdy on Twitter, and she stopped tweeting about him, other than to throw him some shade, too. She is the cast's most vocal Twitter user, and in her Tweets, she stopped promoting Sean Berdy and started promoting Ryan Lane. Also, she never had another one-on-one scene with Emmett, after he cheated on Bay in Season 1, and he was supposed to be like a son to her character. Regina has barely seen Emmett in four years now. I truly miss the closeness between their characters. It would have been wonderful to see a scene where Regina was kind to Emmett, after he had cheated on Bay. She has completely ignored him.

The actress Ashley Fiolek? Yeah i remember her and thought more deaf characters = cool. 1 Episode was like urrgghhh, that's all.

Yes, we were cheated out of so much. In Season 1-C, that's the one that premiered at the time of that Red Carpet book launch event, we were supposed to have 10 episodes, and it was reduced to eight. Ashley Fiolek was supposed to appear in four episodes, and she was reduced to one. Her character was supposed to have this whole story arc with Emmett. God, I would have loved to have seen that story. We barely saw Emmett in Season 1-C. Bay was off with Zarra, and Daphne was off with Chef Jeff. Emmett barely appeared, and he had been the heart of the show in Seasons 1A and 1B. Sean Berdy is Deaf and his character Emmett feels authentic, in a way that Katie Leclerc's Daphne never will. I wanted to see more Emmett, and the writers used to tweet to me that they wanted to write more for his character, but now, I believe someone was holding them back and keeping them from doing so. That decision killed the show. It really did. All of the fan support dried up, when Sean Berdy's character Emmett was destroyed and then sidelined.