Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Photo: Vanessa Marano at the Captain America Premiere

With three episodes to go before the first season finale, ABC Family’s Switched at Birth is about to get crazy. In tonight’s episode, the relationship between Bay Kennish (Vanessa Marano) and Emmett Bledsoe (Sean Berdy) is going to change forever — and, as a result, change the show as we know it.

Wetpaint Entertainment got the chance to talk to Vanessa and get the scoop on all the juicy storylines. It’s not just Bay and Emmett who are facing some serious drama in the next three episodes.

Wetpaint Entertainment: So something big goes down between Emmett and Bay tonight?

Vanessa Marano: Something huge, relationship-changing goes down between Emmett and Bay. Huge-huge, to the point where it changes things forever. It definitely is a "Whose side are you on?" "Are you on Bay's, or are you on Emmett's?" It's definitely Emmett's decision.

What brings us to that point?

They're coming off of Emmett feeling that Bay doesn't feel like the relationship's important. And he's very hurt about her communication with Ty (Blair Redford), and how serious she was with Ty. With everything he's going through with the divorce of his parents, I think he's feeling very much like an object rather than a human being, and seeing how close Bay and Ty actually were is making him feel like he's just a filler boyfriend. It's kind of just shoving all those emotions into the relationship with Bay, which isn't that great either.

But in the beginning of the episode, they make amends. She tells Emmett that she told Ty that they're dating. And pretty much all the way through the episode, things are running quite smoothly until the bitter end. And that's when Melody, who is played by Marlee Matlin, Emmett's mom, puts Bay in a position where she wants her to testify in court about who deserves custody over Emmett, which Emmett doesn't want her to take a part of at all. So Bay's put in a very awkward position about that and her decision has the possibility of changing things between the two of them. But it's how Emmett reacts to it that definitely changes the relationship.

Will the last episode focus very much on them and the big, show-changing event?

The next two episodes are affected by what happens in this episode greatly. Greatly affected. I would say both of them kind of almost center around it. I can't really tease what Bay's reaction is to everything right now, but, yeah, it was definitely fun to play. Bay's emotions are very different during episode 21 and episode 22.

It sounds really, really bad. But could it actually be good?

People will have to tune in to find out. The bottom line is that it's huge, and it's going to change the show.

What can we say about Daphne and Wilke?

I love that relationship so much. What her character brings out in him, I think, is so adorable. And what his character brings out in her, because she's so serious. They're a great little balancing act. Their relationship is going to change as well, but they've got a while coming up. Our finale is deaf prom. And as you know in many television shows, whenever the big dance episode comes, stuff goes down.

There's also a new kid, who seems to be an obstacle to their relationship.

Maybe not for long. The biggest problem with Wilke and Daphne is the fact that he doesn't know sign language. He hasn't really made an effort to learn. That doesn't mean that he won't eventually, but he hasn't. Meanwhile, we have this other kid who's so different from Daphne, who hates the world and hates everybody because of the lack of communication that he has at home. He's so different, but at the same time, he knows Daphne's world.

That's kind of what we were playing with a lot with the Bay/Emmett/Daphne triangle. They knew each other so well, and they loved each other so much. So it seemed natural that he would pick Daphne because he longed for her for so long, and they understood each other so well, but for whatever reason, Emmett picked Bay. He felt a different connection that he needed to nurture with Bay. But their ultimate struggle is the fact that she's learning sign [language], but there's only so much that she can understand. And I think that definitely puts a strain on a relationship as it potentially could with Wilke and Daphne and maybe lead Daphne towards the arms of a deaf character. Who knows which deaf character, hmm?

Is the trial still on everyone's mind?

The trial's always a slow move because they have yet to get to trial, and they've switched lawyers. That's more of a story line that's going to get resolved in the next eight episodes in the fall. But the young lawyer (Sam Page) is very prominent, not so much in episode 20, but episode 22. Sam Page (Craig Tebbe) and Lea Thompson (Kathryn Kennish)…

She's a happily married woman, right?

I'm not saying that it's from her side at all. I'm not even saying it's reciprocated. I'm just saying that there is a lot of scenes featuring the two of them.

Switched at Birth airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC Family.
