‘Switched at Birth’ season 2 spoilers: Creator explains sign language-only episode

On Monday night, “Switched at Birth” is doing something that is both extremely admirable as well as extremely bold: airing an episode that is told entirely via the use of American Sign Language (ASL). Given that there has always been a presence of deaf characters on the show, the opportunity has always been there for this sort of story to be told; however, it is not an easy thing to pull off, given the need for extra interpreters, people on set, and just trying to figure out a way to tell a story that will appeal universally.

In speaking about this unconventional episode in an interview with TVLine, executive producer Lizzy Weiss explained that the idea first came about from a suggestion by ABC Family, and also said that it was really the actors with full hearing on the show who were the most nervous about pulling this off:

“They were really nervous at first because before any of them knew what the story was going to be, they assumed it would just mean a lot more signing for them. As it turns out, it wasn’t more signing for them. The story we ended up telling is more a story about deaf students, so most of the signing in the episode is by people who are fluent already. We have some scenes, of course, with the parents, but less than normal because it’s a one-story episode. It’s the first time we’ve ever done an episode in which there’s only an A-story. We don’t cut away to a parent story or to one of the girls having a different story or to a Toby story. It’s just the story of the kids trying to save the school.”

Weiss said that there are no plans to do a follow-up to this episode in the second half of season 2, though the producers and the writers are open to trying something again down the road if the story calls for it. For now, their primary interest is coming up with ways to make the show feel fresh.

How much do you admire “Switched at Birth” for taking on a challenge of this variety? If you want to read some more news related to the show, you can do so over here.

Photo: ABC Family