GildedLily

I liked the initial set-up of Erica and Geoff last season when they went for a slushie and seemed to be establishing a friendship. I still really like when they have scenes together as I think actors have an easy and sweet rapport. Their two 1:1 scenes this season have worked for me (the Suddenly Seymour lyrics were surprisingly on point for a contrived tv duet) and I am waiting for the invevitable 80s power ballad moment when it all finally comes together. But it's dragged out too long and in the wrong ways. Erica should not be the pathetic girl who can't get a date and sits at home crying. That's not true to anything we've seen in prior seasons. Evy isn't a good rival, she's a cartoon character obstacle and I hated the scene where they were shushing each other. If the writers were set on this pairing, I would have much rather seen Erica serial dating every Mr. Wrong in Jenkintown (to the horror of Bev and Murray) before realizing Geoff was right in front of her. That's the story I thought we would get after their first solo scenes. That's what I thought the Rush kid was being used for in the Rush ep(nope). Instead we got Geoff being way too OTT about his adoration of her and now we have Erica way too OTT in her wallowing and Evy the contrived obstacle. Like I said, I like the actors together and the duet made me entirely too sappy but this story has to take a turn fast. I was hoping Barry in the Audrey 2 costume would inadvertently reveal all so that we'd get some movement but unfortunately no. That said, the costume was freaking awesome.

For those who like me have major Olympic fever, TSL has continued their series of amazingly comprehensive gymnast interviews with Chellsie Memmel and Sam Peszek. I love reliving their careers and also hearing what they are up to now. They have also confirmed an interview with 1996 Olympic US WAG head coach, Mary Lee Tracy is coming soon.

I like them too, I'm a sucker for the sweet. nerdy guy gets the girl TV trope. Maybe the next movie homage can be Pretty in Pink but with Duckie getting the girl. Also I remember thinking Haley was the weak link as Erica in S1 but she's really become one of my favorite parts of the show.

I actually don't think they'll go the statutory rape route with Brandon and Courtney as we've been there, done that with Danie. I suspect that at some point soon we'll get a throwaway line to the effect of "now that Brandon is 18...." Still doesn't mean this is a healthy match but that's a whole other issue- one that I think will be explored until the inevitable Callie/Brandon reveal at the end of the season screws up whatever romantic headway they're making with other people.

After hating the premiere and being lukewarm on last week, I did like this one. Mostly because the Jack plot is interesting, he's ingratiating himself into their lives and is obviously deeply troubled which could make for some good stuff. Liked that Jude was the one who got hostile and Callie was the one who softened when they found in the Moms' bed. That's not what we would have expected from them a short time ago. The Jack actor can act too, which is more than we can say for most of the temporary arc kids they bring on. That said, AJ finally made me feel something for him this week. That doesn't mean I need him to stay around but the arrest was a good scene. I was over the moon to have a break from Lexi. May she reign as Prexi offscreen (and take Emma and Haley). Jesus finding his dad in 20 minutes was ridiculous but perhaps better than dragging out scenes of Jesus looking for him. Don't like the friend, he feels like Vico/Vito (I forget) who crushed Brandon's hand 2.0. Was surprised they dug up Talya from the closet of Season 1. I am sure the reason for that will become clear to us later, I don't think its to reunite her and Brandon since his next love interest as already dropped out of the sky. Thought David Lambert played the awkwardness of "this is somebody that I used to sleep who I feel nothing for but it's still uncomfortable just because" in a real young adult way. Was also surprised it seems Mariana will play Juliet since they are hitting us so hard with the Brallie are star crossed lovers angle last week but I suppose there is still time for laryngitis, hijinks that get her and Mat stranded elsewhere on show night etc.... Cancer was done best by thritysomething a million years ago and no show since has lived up. But I am glad for more Annie Potts.

I'm a Brallie person and even I was surprised by this. The last thing I expected if they went through on having Callie adopted was for the showrunners to the very next day give an interview proclaiming Brallie star-crossed lovers. "We have to continue to cross those stars." It reads almost like the adoption is just a roadblock/latest crossed stars for Brandon & Callie rather than the relationship being an obstacle to the adoption. They are really never picking a lane on this. Never. The Pretty Little Liars will probably long have their issues with A resolved but Brandon and Callie will be giving each other tortured looks in Season 5. And like a sucker, I'll keep watching because they won't close the damn door on this pairing. Which I guess is their whole point.

Agree with truthaboutluv. If they wanted to end Callie's adoption saga and Brallie once and for all, she would have gotten adopted at the end of S1 with Jude after the whole "Am I hurting you?" exchange between Brandon and Callie. That felt final. Or even possibly once Robert withdrew his custody bid last season. But this? Sex literally immediately followed by the adoption is just the biggest of cliffhangers. However people feel about them as a couple, no one who has ever watched a family drama/teen soap can believe this is going to stay secret or that the adoption is a long term happy ending. Brallie fans got the unambiguous steamy love scene and I Love Yous exchanged ; people who wanted Callie adopted got the warm and fuzzy final family finale scene. The show runners are banking that the entire audience returns for 3B to see what they do next with this mess. The problem is now that both the adoption and sex cards are played, there's no more carrots to throw at the different segments of their fan base. Though I expect it will take the entirety of next season, they eventually have to decide if they somehow unwind this adoption or continue the show with the squicky elephant of legal siblings who have had sex and can never be believable platonic relatives hanging over it.

Why thank you for the shoutout truthaboutluv. Unsurprisingly, I despised this ep. Before I delve into the Brallie adoption lunacy, I will just say preliminarily this episode had WAY too much going on. Stef & Lena marriage troubles plus formerly racist brother returns plus cancer scare plus post Brallie sex plus Jonnor cliffhanger plus Mariana/Mat plus adoption day plus Callie taking on the foster system. Ridiculous for one 42 minute episode. It felt disjointed and crazy and nothing got the level of attention it deserved. Oh and they squeezed in new Jesus. Brilliant. I already dislike him because they shoehorned him in to this crap finale. But I don't think I can possibly like Jesus at this point. And nothing on the hit and run we've been talking about all season? Not that I minded but why did we even have to introduce AJ if it is storyline was going to putter out around ep 7. I guess they'll pick up on it in 3b with the other 84,000 story threads. I'll probably care even less than I do now. Two weeks ago, I said I wanted a resolution to Brallie vs adoption or Brandon vs a family thing they keep going back to it. And whatever that resolution was, fine. If I didn't get my couple because an adoption cut foreclosed that possibility, I was good with saying goodbye to the show. I like Mariana but not enough to watch a show for her. The problem is the writers made a super sharp turn with Brallie sex and then immediately made another a sharp turn with the adoption. That's not picking a lane and sticking to it. That's driving all over the road, writers. So now, here we are at the end of 3B, and Brallie has gotten together finally after three seasons and Callie is adopted finally after three seasons. So really nothing is resolved, it's just at a higher level of messiness. Obviously, they're going back to this huge secret next season because Brallie solemnly vowed to never tell everyone which of course only means everyone will end up finding out in extreme dramatic fashion. So now they've royally aggravated the shippers with this finale after the mother of all shipper baiting in the penultimate ep, and in 3B, they'll be aggravating the people who just want Brallie to die and her to be an Adams-Foster when every episode in 3B comes back to this sex secret. Which, sorry everyone, it will. (Plus no mention of a condom on a super sex consequences heavy show? I'm scared). I'm kind of intrigued to watch the mess play out but it's also just getting annoying. The writers got scared of their own shadow with Brallie and this episode confirmed they literally have no idea what their long game is. And it's hard to invest in a show when you can feel that. I know a lot of Stef and Lena fans are seeing the adoption as some big win for them/happy ending. But I don't get that. Their daughter had sex with their son. At the very least, Brandon is in love with Callie and on some level, I think she loves him or is at least deeply attached to him in the most non-sibling way. So I see no winners in this family from that situation and a lot of hurt and confusion on the horizon. And even if you loathe Brallie, I'm confused as to how anyone can see this adoption as a healthy, long term functional thing for this entire family given where the writers veered with Brandon and Callie last ep. Also, at this point, the more mature, less shipper-y part of me wants Brandon to move to Julliard and far away from Callie for his own sanity. She really gave zero thought to him in this ep and it seemed almost cruel. And I get there's a ton more at stake for her (although not really since she's now a Quinn heiress). But watching her yo-yo with him here, I want to stay with you forever.... I would have never . . .I love you . . . we can never tell . .. no Your Honor, there's nothing romantic going on. She didn't need to be adopted or need to have sex with him at this point, she needs therapy and to take Robert up on paying for college. Maybe an all-women's college. Still, I can't ever totally give up on the chemistry between David and Maia and like a sucker, I'll be here for at least the first few eps in January for that. See you guys then.

"I don't mind those stories so much - particularly because with GU it was another side of the fostering program, which was what the show is/was all about at the outset. And Callie is the main character, so her life is what the show will tend to focus on." I like those stories too very much. Maybe a little too much GU lately especially this ridiculous Brooke girl. My only point was that they shift the focus from the core nucleus of the family far more than the Brandom/Callie romance which is hugely tied to the family and it's effect on the adoption. But shifting focus isn't necessarily a bad thing and like you said, it's essentially Callie's show. Anyone who thinks it's something else is forgetting what network they are watching.

I don't know- I just don't see as a big disaster for structure and core of the show. Callie and Brandon has been part of the core of show since the pilot whether or not people wanted to see or acknowledge that. It was pretty much telegraphed with laser beams when they looked at each other in the pilot that there was an attraction that would probably be acted on at some point that would derail her long-term placement with this family. The show dragged it out too long, yes, because the writers seemed scared to upset both the segment of the audience who loved them and the segment of the audience who found them to be wrong. I think things like the huge focus on GU girls and the addition of the Quinns who came with their own stories like Sophia's issues that had literally nothing to do with the Fosters other than a tenuous connection through Callie at all were more of an upset to the structure of the show and took focus out of the house. The fallout of Brandon and Callie's night gives the show a ton of material for the family to deal with. Jude, Mariana, Stef, Lena are all affected. Hugely so. It's an umbrella story within the family almost. I don't think she just transitions into being his girlfriend easily. I expect this to be hard for everyone for more than one episode. And I'm looking forward to seeing that play out as much as I'm looking forward to seeing how Brandon and Callie navigate their own relationship now that it's more than a forbidden stolen kiss thing.

As a "rabid" Brallie shipper, I can assure that a love child is the last thing I want and think that would be least interesting of all the interesting things that can play out in the aftermath of their night. Plus how many pregnancy scares can we have really? I am sincerely hoping that when we get their afterglow scene promoed in next ep, the camera quickly pans to a condom wrapper on the nigtstand.

Yeah I don't really see that as a big deal. People kiss and flirt with other people when their heart is elsewhere all the time, especially at her age. AJ came onto her, she liked the attention, he's cute, he's not Stef and Lena's kid, it made for some drama for a few eps etc. I think the show made a point of hammering home that she didn't have strong feelings when she told the GU girls..."it's not like Brandon, I'm not in love with him." And then again tonight when she felt the need to downplay it to Brandon. Even her relationship with Wyatt, which to me always felt like something she used as a shield to keep her from Brandon, seemed way more consequential than this AJ non-thing. Also agree with blackrose that Stef and Lena handled this terribly from the start and whatever drama plays out they basically asked for when they told two teenagers repress your attraction, you're siblings now and thought it would work long-term. I wish the show hadn't dragged it out/dropped it quite so long and that it had been dealt with post last summer's finale kiss. Are people really still wanting her adopted after this? I don't see how the show could possibly go there now. That wasn't just some making out by the fire, fade to black, romantic music implied sex that could be brushed under the rug or rewritten. That was full blown, passionate thrusting and rolling around (the likes of which I don't recall on ABCF before) and it seemed like a very deliberate choice on the part of the directors and or showrunners.

THIS. I have never understood why people were still championing adoption as the be all and end all of Callie's life after the 2A finale where she called Robert Dad and shortly thereafter told Brandon she loved him and kissed him. It was clear then that (i) she had two families that loved her very much no matter what the legal status and (ii) that she and Brandon could never have a healthy sibling relationship so adoption needed to go off the table. The way I see it, she is always going to be Jude's beloved sister. Jude is always going to be the sun and the moon for her. Nothing is changing that, their history predates the Fosters by a lot. Nothing is changing the lovely bond she's developed with Mariana. And I think after some initial drama re Brallie sex, Stef and Lena will continue to love her very much and she'll have her role in that family and meaningful relationship with both of them, especially Stef. My perception is admittedly skewed as a fan of David and Maia's chemistry from the beginning but I see this as finally freeing the Callie and Brandon characters from the limbo of adoption vs. romance and opening up new possible stories for everyone. Which really needed to happen.

I love Brallie. Ive waited for this since the pilot. It's delightful when as a shipper you get what you've been waiting for. I jumped on my bed and clapped. But instead of going on for a paragraph about how HOT that love scene was (since I know most of you lovely Fosters fans don't feel the same), I will say that it was a little odd that rape victim Callie jumped right in like that and had what looked like passionate, confident, GOOD sex for her first post rape experience/first real time. I get that this was supposed to be pent up for a long time, I get that she really trusts him but even a little "Are you sure?" from Brandon and her telling him she was ready would have really been a good thing given How much time we spent on her rape. I am extremely happy the show seemed to pick a lane as I said it needed to last week. Even if there is angst and drama next week, I don't see how they can possibly go back from that and try to have S/L adopt her now. Also, as an attorney, I really don't think Robert wouldn't have to adopt his biological child or foster her. He'd have to petition the courts to reinstate the rights which presumably he terminated voluntarily in the last finale. Which with his money and connections could likely happen fairly quickly relative to your average bio parent.

As probably the lone Brallie shipper here, that promo made me so very happy. I'm sorry, they hooked me in the pilot and I've never been able to get past it and see them as siblings. At the same time, I fear that it could turn out to be like last summers cliffhanger where they threw the Brallie fans a bone, royally aggravated other fans, promoted the sh*t out of it in promos and social media and ultimately went mostly nowhere. I think it's time for the show to decide though if she's getting adopted and the Brallie door is foreclosed or if they're going to do an actual romance beyond stolen kisses, brooding looks and adoption melodrama. If it's the former, I'm happy to gain back a Monday hour and wish you all well in enjoying the rest of the run. That's okay. I have season 1 on iTunes when I want to see my couple. But the adoption limbo that we've been in since 1B needs to end. I feel like no fan was happy in S2. The Brallie shippers got nothing significant in the way of their relationship as they had barely any scenes (and we got nothing characters like Lou taking up time only to disappear) and those who wanted a signed and sealed adoption were annoyed as one implausible roadblock after another was created to forestall the adoption and keep Brallie shippers from jumping ship on the show (which many did anyway). The writers need to stop being scared of alienating part of the fan base because when you try to please everyone, you please no one. Resolution and Callie's story moving forward. One way or another. That's what I want from the next 2 eps. I am curious though, after this ep with their interviews and the finale scene where he's back at GU and then the promo (assuming it's not a dream or fake out), do people still want to see them end up siblings? Can that work? Not being facetious, genuinely curious to hear the other side of this.