'Switched at Birth' season 5 episode 5 spoilers: Special episode to follow three African-American students dealing with racism on campus
The students protest inside the university until their concerns about racism are taken seriously by the administration on the upcoming episode of Freeform's "Switched at Birth" season 5.
Titled "Occupy Truth," next week's hour is a special episode as it follows the points of view of three African-American students as racial tensions on campus continue to escalate. According to the official synopsis, the Black Student Union decides to take a stand against the university administration until their voices are heard. Told in three chapters through the perspectives of Chris, Iris, and Sharee, the students attempt to handle their emotions in different ways.
Chris (guest star Sam Adegoke) is torn between standing with his friends as a sign of solidarity and wanting to attend an upcoming game. Iris (guest star Sharon Pierre-Louis), on the other hand, is determined to continue her hunger strike until the students who made the racist display outside the Black Student Union are expelled. Unfortunately, she later realizes that her commitment has serious repercussions on her health. Sharee (guest star Bianca Bethune) is tasked to gather more signatures and encourage students to join the protest, but she gets caught up with her own personal problems.
Following a long hiatus, "Switched at Birth" returned to the small screen at the end of last month and is now inching closer to its finale. The Freeform drama's current season premiered over a year after its last installment ended, something that was quite difficult for fans and showrunner Lizzy Weiss. In a recent interview, Weiss shared her thoughts about the show's 15-month break.
"Well, to be honest, it was definitely frustrating," she said. "It was a lot longer than we anticipated and we were bummed for the fans that they had to wait so long in between seasons," she went on to say.
Weiss added that although the series has been shortened, the cast still hopes that this season's campus racism storyline will grab viewers' attention and raise awareness about the issue.
The fifth and final season of "Switched at Birth" airs every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET on Freeform.