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Switched at Birth returned from its long midseason hiatus this week and jumped right into the relationship drama.  Bay and Emmett hit a bit of a rough patch in the midseason premiere.  Not only is there a fairly significant communication barrier between this couple, but Daphne has also been hit by the jealousy bug and seems rather determined to claim Emmett for herself.  Bay and Emmett will be hitting another obstacle in the January 10 episode, when Marlee Matlin returns as Emmetts mother, Melody, and lets her disapproval of their relationship be known.

We recently chatted with Switched at Births creator and showrunner Lizzy Weiss, who helped shed some light on Bay and Emmetts relationship woes, why Daphne is feeling jealous and whether there might be a chance for romance between Daphne and Wilkie.

Bay and Emmett: “It’s inherently challenging to date someone so different from you Lizzy explained. You have a serious language barrier – Bay is not just trying to learn [ASL] as fast as she can and she’s doing great, but she’s not fluent – and Emmett can’t read lips perfectly.  So [until Bay becomes fluent] that’s always going to be a challenge.  Melody is going to put up some roadblocks as well.  Like any mother, she’s protective of her son if she foresaw challenges and would want to have her child to avoid that and avoid pain.  We do a lot this season with Emmett’s family.  We meet his dad this season – his parents are going through a divorce and like any kid of divorced parents, it’s very much a struggle for him.

Daphnes Pursuit of Emmett:  Is Daphne pursuing Emmett because she genuine has feelings for him or because shes jealous that Bay has started dating her best friend?  We put that question to Lizzy Weiss, who said “I think it’s all of that.  I think as he pointed out to her – or accused her of – in the finale, he’s a security blanket.  They do have a bond that Bay and Emmett will never have, which is true.  Whether or not that needs to be love remains to be seen.  Daphne is going through a lot and, as she said in episode 9, [hes] the one thing she could always count on so she clung to it.  But she’s going to have to figure out this season: how hard do I fight?  [She also needs to consider] is this really the right way to get emotionally what I need?”

Daphne and Wilkie: Switched at Birth fans might have noticed a sweet bonding moment between Daphne and Wilkie in the midseason premiere, which led us to ask Lizzy whether theres a chance for a relationship between them.  She teased: “Well that’s something that they have different perspectives on and we play with.  We take time with that relationship.  There’s a lot of Wilkie in this season.”

Whats Next for Toby: Lizzy couldnt tell us very much, but she did manage to drop a relationship hint for Toby. We know that “He gets more time with his band. We have more of him singing and we have a lot of fun with the Toby/Wilkie friendship.” But Lizzy also told me that Toby will get a love interest [this season].

Familial Relationships: Of course, romantic relationships arent the only problematic relationships on Switched at Birth.  I made a point to ask Lizzy about the mother-daughter relationships, especially since it seems like Kathryn has made more of an effort to reach out to Daphne than Regina has with Bay.  She said: “Yes, I would say that Kathryn makes an effort, but there’s still a hesitancy there and Lea [Thompson] and I have talked a lot about this and Lea feels strongly that [Kathryn] has a much deeper bond with Bay than with Daphne.  Even though Daphne is her biological daughter, there’s the added distancing element of her daughter being deaf, which is still so new to her and the language is still so new to her, so it’s not quite as natural with Daphne.  She does make an effort, but she’s not as quite as natural a mom as she is with Bay.  And that’s a real choice Lea has made.  [As for] Regina, I would agree in the last season she and Bay barely had any scenes together, except for the one where Bay found out the truth and felt so betrayed.  This season, both Regina and Bay mutually make more of an effort to get to know each other.”

Dont miss an all new episode of Switched at Birth on Tuesday, January 10 at 8:00 pm ET on ABC Family.

Weather and ice permitting, its hoped a commemorative party will be ashore at Cape Denison on Thursday, January 12, 100 years to the day that Mawson and a small team of men first set up camp to overnight ashore.

The party plans to lay a time capsule and raise the Australian flag near Mawsons wooden huts to mark the groundbreaking 1911-14 expedition.

The Adelaide-based geologist and his men landed in sunny weather but were only able to take ashore one boatload of supplies before a blizzard set in and they were forced back to the ship.

Australian National University historian Tom Griffiths, who is aboard the Aurora Australis, said that despite continuing bad weather, Mawson determined they would camp on January 12 and within three weeks they had built the two sturdy huts that stand to this day.

Professor Griffiths said Mawson soon realised they had landed in one of the windiest places on the planet at sea level, with harsh katabatic winds regularly blowing at speed off the polar plateau.

Mawson and 17 other men overwintered in the huts after the Aurora left to drop another overwintering team further west before returning to Australia.

When winter was over, teams left on sledges to explore the new land.

Mawson was the lone survivor of the far eastern sledging journey after young British army officer Belgrave Ninnis fell down a crevasse and Swiss expeditioner Xavier Mertz succumbed to illness and exhaustion on the gruelling return journey.

Mawson made it back to the huts after a month-long, lone journey in appalling conditions and had to spend another winter on the ice with a relief party after missing the returned Aurora by only hours.

Professor Griffiths told AAP that Mawsons story of survival against the odds was overwhelmed at the time by the global outpouring of grief over the deaths of British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his party on their return from the South Pole.

He said the public became captivated by the tragedy of Scotts expedition while Mawson returned alive, making his story less newsworthy.

Prof Griffiths said Australians did not know enough about Mawsons ordeal or the achievements of his expedition which put scientific and geographic exploration ahead of the race for the pole.

He said just as Australians remember the landing at Gallipoli in 1915 as a critical moment in Australian identity, Mawsons landing at Cape Denison should also be remembered as the act of a new nation with new-found nationalism following federation.

Kirstie Alley believes that altering her choice of partners will improve her love life.

The 60-year-old actress is currently single and ready to mingle after shedding 100lbs of weight last year.

Alley admits that she has not made the best choices in terms of romantic relationships in the past.

She is determined to change her habits in 2012.

[I usually go for] psychos [and] players. Im thinking ugly men might be the solution, Alley said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Im talking about butt ugly. Because I go for really handsome men and I think butt ugly would be appreciative.

Although Alley is concerned about her love life, she is looking forward to her upcoming January 12 birthday.

The actress knows exactly what she wants for her birthday.
I want an Aston Martin and a tattoo, she told Ellen.

Kirstie has been divorced twice in the past.

She has spoken previously about her desire to establish a fulfilling amorous affair.

For me, its all about love, Alley told People magazine last autumn.

What Im looking for is someone who loves me deeply and is madly in love with me, for me. I wasnt looking for the right thing before… I want someone who has my back.