evilolive

I want to think the show is doing this. But at this point, it's a generous interpretation. What we see onscreen is inconsistent. They have an opportunity with all the Adams Foster kids to write great stories showing their struggle to make good decisions given their challenges, but we don't see enough of their internal worlds so it's unsatisfying. Same with Stef and Lena. I wouldn't say Stef is unreasonably reckless but we're left to fill in too many gaps. Or the writers fill them in when they give interviews. It's the slow and irreversible decline of a once great show. Take Callie and Jude - when was the last time they mentioned Jude's therapist that he was going to for his selective mutism? What happened to Callie going to group after she came out of juvie? I used to love the extended scenes like the family meals around the kitchen table and school life. Now everything is just a vehicle to move the next bit of plot along. Take this latest pot storyline (pot was done SO well with Brandon, so I'm not convinced we really needed it). Jude asks Brandon about pot in the school corridor. Jude scores pot in the school corridor. All the business with the hashpipe. Jude and Noah get caught smoking. Jude gets led astray again by Noah at the fair. All done with very short scenes and minimal dialogue. I have so little idea about Jude's thought process right now (except his reaction to Noah's brief explanation about his mom gets it for him for his anxiety, and then the comment to Callie about it helping him do well on his test). The actors are doing their best but there's just not enough for them to work with. I think back to great scenes like when Jude wasn't talking and Callie came and told him that she'd seen Liam that day. At the time, it was a great storyline because it really showed how Callie and Jude both had too much to deal with too early, and were over-involved in each other's lives as a result. But also the closeness of their bond. They're still developing that thread - this season Callie didn't react when Jude yelled at at her and didn't back down on her decision to tell Noah's mom he'd been giving away his prescription. So I liked the contrast with Old Callie who thought she had to sacrifice herself and run away in order to *save Jude*. But somehow it gets lost when there's so little time for talking and the camera lingering on people's faces.

The link was the TV guide one you found: http://www.tvguide.com/news/the-fosters-summer-finale-peter-paige-interview-jesus-fate/ Haven't read the entire interview, just an excerpt posted on another site - also trying not to procrastinate :) Interesting. I wondered if that might be the case. In which case, I'm even less hopeful for an uptick in quality. It seems shortsighted to me. I don't keep track of ratings but I'm pretty sure ratings for The Fosters were better before they started sacrificing character work and family scenes and conversation for boring, events-driven storylines like the Kyle one. Link to the deleted scenes here Never mind Paige's interview statements, but the missing scenes are pretty detailed :P I don't care if Paige wants to talk about the characters on his show. I quite like reading the thoughts of the writers and the actors when they say things I agree with, LOL. It was obvious to me they're not setting up a addicted-to-pot type storyline for example, I didn't need Paige to tell me, but he can answer whatever questions he likes. What I object to is him choosing (or being pushed) to cut out interesting, important scenes in favour of lingering shots of incredibly dull events plus screentime being taken away from my favorite characters in setting them up. Case in point: Aaron (to Callie and Sophia): WOW, there are two of you! What does that clunky little exchange add to our knowledge of Callie, Sophia and Aaron? Precisely nothing. Then the stuff from Sophia about Aaron being hot - I mean, yawn. Yeah, I get it that Sophia worships/is fascinated by Callie and gets over-involved and goes on about all the boys who are interested in her being hot, so it is at least consistent with what we know about her. I also like the continuity that Callie doesn't respond, just like she didn't respond when Sophia went on about Brandon being hot, so we can draw our own conclusions about how it makes her feel. But it's a bit of a disservice to Sophia's character, in my opinion, to wheel her out for a fraction of an episode to be mistaken for Callie and subject her to a traumatizing experience into the bargain. Maybe they'll build on it in 4b, in which case, great. But where will they find the time? I fear this is true.

Possible spoilers about deleted scenes ^^ I also read an interview with Peter Paige answering questions about the kids' poor decision-making and Stef and Lena's relationship. It's super-irritating when a showrunner needs to explain what's happening with his characters because important scenes have been cut. I want to make up my own mind based on what's happening on screen - can't do that without key pieces of information. They could have trimmed the sequence of the hoarder guy mistaking Sophia for Callie and other unnecessary action ramping up the tension at the fair. Whatever happened to Sophia as a person with an inner life and an actual relationship with her sister? I was happy to see her and then the only lines she had were about how much she looks like Callie and about how hot Aaron is. Speaking of Aaron, he's cute but what is his backstory? I just don't care because I have so little idea who he is. Same for Noah. Same for Kyle. I wish they'd never started up this subpar Serial-rip off storyline with Kyle in jail this season. Callie taking pictures of her old foster homes would have been way more compelling. It's everything but the kitchen sink with this show nowadays and much the worse for it. *Sigh* The character stuff and dialogue on this show used to be the best thing about it. Now half the time I feel like I'm watching The Vampire Diaries or Pretty Little Liars - not hating on those shows, but in S1-2 The Fosters was doing something different and refreshing. Back when Lena talked to Jude about not being wrong for painting his nails and Callie told Sophia's parents about her trying to commit suicide, this show was in a class of its own. Not any more.

I'm on board with this. Not something I particularly want to watch (I'd rather see him get a more rounded education and go to a conservatory later), but storywise preferable to him getting to go to Juilliard after they explicitly stated he wouldn't get to go. That's just cheating and in the past seasons The Fosters was above such shenanigans, or at least they used to be more artful about it.

Yes to all of this. I feel for Mariana as well, she had a traumatic experience that no one should have to go through. Still, Nick's illness getting worse coincided with Mariana deceiving him about the status of their relationship - she is responsible for her actions and they had a big impact on Nick. She was dismissive of Nick and misled him about her feelings when they were dating, then when he was in the hospital she continued to lie to him. Mariana has a tendency to be deceitful when it suits her, it's a character flaw. It won't. She got away with it at the time, and there's no way it can come out now. Lena spelled out her moral code in this episode - you do what you have to for the sake of your family, even if it means playing the system. It *could* come out that Monty let Jesus jump the waiting list for Anchor Beach when he came back from wrestling school. Lena said at the time Anchor Beach could lose its charter. I don't think that's likely to come out either - they drop storylines all the time. Or it could come out that Lena didn't speak up Brandon for the SAT thing, but that won't happen either. Brandon is the one living with the consequences, Lena is in the clear. Lena and Stef could BOTH be in trouble for filing for divorce to keep the house (another of Lena's bright ideas to protect her family by bending the rules) - but I'd be willing to bet on that secret not coming out either. These people get away with a lot, because they are the Lucky Ones. They don't get away with as much as the super-rich, but they know how to game the system and they get away with some pretty shady behaviour as a result. To my mind, it's the entire message of the show - it's fine to do whatever the hell you like as long as you're taking care of the people you count as family. I kind of wish that this would happen because it would be satisfying to see them get their just desserts, but it won't. More likely, they will both be rewarded for shady acts committed out of the noble desire to protect and promote the interests of their family. I would not be too surprised if, by the end of the series, the Adams Fosters will still be in that house and both Lena and Stef will have been promoted - Stef to detective and Lena to Principal of Anchor Beach. Or they could keep them in the exact place they started, which would still be a good outcome in this day and age.

I agree he's self-soothing and also with the person who said they want to like Noah but he's not the best influence on Jude. Jude is still feeling hurt about the break up with Connor and is vulnerable given his unsettled background and having been abused by his foster father. At the same time, he's a very smart kid and Callie's experiences have made him hypervigilant. He wouldn't have taken the drugs in the first place except it was an accident, then he found out he enjoyed it and rationalised that they helped him do well in his test. Recipe for disaster. Hopefully being caught by Stef and Lena means he'll be on the receiving end of some top-class parenting and he'll get what he needs. But I hope Jude won't have sex with his boyfriend for a while. He's been shown to be interested in sex and he does turn to his parents and his siblings for advice, which is good, so maybe when he's 15. A couple of people have said Jude's in 7th grade. Not to be picky, but he's in 8th grade. Babyfaced Connor gave tiny Judicorn the PSP in season 1 when Jude was 12, then Jude had his 13th birthday around November, also in season 1. Callie gave him the witch figurine for his birthday that he sold at the garage sale. The show is making an effort to show that Jude is growing up and season 4 seems to be moving a bit quicker. It's summertime in the show now, yes? So Jude will be 15 in a few months.

Not a spoiler. For one thing, Mariana says "they're" not "you're getting a divorce". My guess is that they won't drag this losing the house storyline out for much longer and some hand-wavy legal loophole will mean they get to stay for the time being. Here's one scenario: Stef and Lena will get better paid jobs. They seem to be leading up to that sort of change. It solves a lot of story problems - Lena doesn't like Stef being a beat cop and they've laid the groundwork for her becoming a detective. As for Lena, she's had a lot of professional obstacles at Anchor Beach in the first three seasons. They've dialed back on that this season but it hasn't gone away. She could get the sack but more likely a better paid opportunity will come up and she'll be forced to take it for financial reasons. Maybe she gets a more stressfull and less fulfilling job as a principal of a big public school. They still get to keep the gorgeous Anchor Beach setting in play - school storylines with the kids could get more interesting if Lena's no longer there being the superhero vice principal. This show moves r e a l l y s l o w l y but there's been a lot of talk about Brandon and Callie as seniors getting ready to leave school. Career progression for both Stef and Lena opens up new possibilities and helps with ageing up the kids to give them slightly more adult storylines.

The promo is a fake out. Lena and Stef aren't getting a divorce, it's Lena's parents. And the set of that beautiful house isn't going anywhere, unless it burns down in the series finale.

So much this. Monte is making a big professional mistake trying to make up to Lena in this way. Really not happy with Lena for this. Mind you, she's already got one kid at Anchor Beach under false pretences (she cheated when she marked Jude's maths entrance exam), so what's one more? Praying it comes back to bite them both in the ass, except it will be the kids who suffer if Lena loses her job, especially if Stef is sick and can't work.

New interview about Jude and Connor in 3B. http://www.ibtimes.com/fosters-star-gavin-macintosh-previews-season-3b-premiere-will-jude-connor-breakup-2267498

Thanks for the information, karas, very interesting. I also read that the factors involved in developing BPD are 'heterogeneous and multivariate', which seems to me what we've been shown with Sophia. I didn't say "because" and to me it's not that simple. I love it when shows deal with serious topics in a sensitive way. The main theme of The Fosters is to show different models of relationships in families, and the effects that different experiences of parenting have on children. We see it with all the characters, with the adults as well as the young people. Sophia's storyline is interesting to me because it was handled very well. When I think about a show, I like to relate storylines to each other when it seems to me that the show runners are developing particular themes. I could have made a comparison to a lot of different situations we've seen on the show and it would have been valid. Jude not speaking was on my mind because I'd recently re-watched those episodes. I don't think the nature of Jude's symptoms were necessarily likely to be noticed and attract the right kind of help. The point of The Fosters, to me, is to show how it's often only thanks to a flukey set of circumstances that people get the help they need, when they need it. That storyline showed how lucky Jude was to be in a safe place. Had it happened in his previous foster home/school, with Callie in juvie, he could have gone for weeks without speaking and been overlooked. Yes, it is. I can relate to a lot of the situations in The Fosters because they resonate with experiences I've had and because it's amazingly well-written when it comes to showing that everyone is flawed and complex and muddling through.

Interesting. I wasn't discounting Sophia's chemical imbalance, I just didn't mention it. I tend to be more interested in the psychosocial factors in storylines like these. That say something about me, I guess. You seem to be saying that environmental factors play no part in the development of personality disorders. I may be reading too much into it, but if that's the case, then I think we're watching a different show! I want to be clear though, I wasn't trying to assign blame to Robert for Sophia's illness. These things are really complicated and overall I think The Fosters does a pretty good job of showing the nuances. It manages to tread a very fine line between criticising systemic problems of society and showing the need for foster kids (and all kids) to take opportunities to develop the skills necessary for living a good life, despite terrible things that have happened in their pasts. Sophia is a very interesting character to me because we were shown from the moment she was introduced that she was in a lot of pain and no one around her was aware of it. She was hardly aware of it herself. She had no way of articulating her suffering. Contrast that with Jude who was able to say, "I already hurt" when Callie warned him not to get too close to the Fosters. When he was struggling with anxiety and stopped speaking, people close to him (Connor, his teacher at Anchor Beach) picked up on it very quickly. In his family, he got the space and therapeutic help to deal with it before it went too far. I'm not saying the situation with Sophia is the same, they are different people, but it's interesting to contrast the two situations. By the time we met Sophia she was already in a state of crisis - and her parents had never noticed how on the edge she was, or any of her teachers at her expensive private school. She was being hothoused and she was just supposed to be able to deal with the pressure. But kids can only deal with that kind of academic pressure if they have the love and connection at home. Sophia's mom and dad obviously love their daughter and were doing the best for her in line with their inherited world view and their own limitations as people. But they are very disconnected from each other. Fortunately, Sophia survived her suicide attempt and her parents are in a social and financial position to get her the best help available. But actually, to really help her in the long run, they also need to work on getting closer as family, and not just on getting her medication right. So that's why it's step in the right direction for Robert to realise that he can't just "fix" his own unhappiness by throwing money at Callie and forcing her to come and live with him. Yeah, so, it's complicated. People are individuals, and the show does a good job of showing how things operate on different levels. I would have been interested to have seen more development of Jesus and the complexities of his ADHD, but I guess that got dropped for some reason and now the actor is leaving the show.

I'm glad Callie's storyline with her birth father was resolved so well. It was interesting how it played out. At the start of the season, Sophia wished they could adopt Callie which came from a very immature and entitled place. Sophia's childish wish was mirrored in how Robert's character was revealed over time. Like his dad before him, he repeatedly showed entitlement/insensitivity towards his family even though his heart was in the right place. At the end of the season, he finally grew up and separated from his dad. In the end, he did the right thing for both his daughters. He's not trying to impose himself on Callie but letting her choose for herself and make space for him in her life. Sophia's no longer a miserable show pony, but is now getting the space and understanding she needs to be herself. Loved Jude's storyline - I didn't think Connor's dad's change of heart was far-fetched. It's frustrating not getting to see more of Connor coming out but, at this point, Adam's had a few days to digest the news. His reaction to Lena's words seemed to me like the final realisation that he can't control his son, however hard he tries. From his behaviour, I think Adam may have suspected/guessed Connor's orientation before he even met Jude. We saw him externalise his fears by projecting onto Jude - he thinks Jude's gay/Jude's got to be kept away so as not to corrupt his son etc. But if Connor is, in fact, straight, that makes no sense. The only way it makes sense is if Adam already thinks Connor might be questioning his sexuality. The controlling behaviour we've seen over the course of the show comes out of Adam's wish for Connor to be "normal" and the fear that he's already out of his parental control. The "spanking" and forbidding him to see the kid with the two lesbian moms is his last-ditch attempt to impose his will on his son. Poor Connor. Thank goodness for Lena, who's done a pretty amazing job this season of protecting Connor as well as Jude. I have not much to say about the other storylines, but predict it will be Ana who dies in the crash and the baby will go to her grandparents. Stef and Lena are in no place for a new baby. Ugh, Monte. Please go away and Lena can finally be school principal, as she deserves.

This is a really good point. Nothing to add, just agreeing. And also speaking as someone who is blown away by Jude/Connor and Stef/Lena. I'm looking forward to the season finale this week. The Fosters is fantastic at the moment. I don't care about every storyline but I care about pretty much every character at the moment, which is quite something given the size of the cast. I really hope Lena doesn't cheat on Stef. I'll be upset! And I'm dying for Jude and Connor to have an honest face to face conversation, however brief, no more cliffhangers about who is/is not gay and who does/doesn't like who in "that" way. What am I saying? This is the Fosters. There'll be at least 3 Shocking Twists before the end. And oh my God, Brandon, please go to Idlewild already. I've loved the stuff with Brandon and his dad recently, but the band storyline needs to end. Nothing against the kids, they're fine, but the music stuff is so, so boring.