S02.E07: The Longest Day

[Eeksquire]

 

It makes me wonder how good of parents the Quinns have really been to her. At the very least, they've spoiled her rotten, that's for sure.

I don't know that I would describe Sophia as "spoiled", though it seems to be a common descriptor on the forum.  She absolutely has a lot of material comforts, but watching the interactions between her and her parents, it seems like she has the "status"-y materials goods rather than necessarily the material goods that she'd choose left to her own devices.  Yes, she has a horse, which is something a lot of girls would love to have, but as she points out, it's not really that fun when you're then pushed to compete and your riding is never good enough unless you're winning ribbons.

 

Sophia just strikes me as a sad kid - one who is maybe thought of by her parents as a status symbol rather than a person.  Everything she does has to "line up" - good grades, private school, horse show/riding ribbons, everything, in short, designed to make her parents look good rather than make her happy.  I think that's,  in part, why she's so drawn to Callie - in Sophia's eyes, Callie has made decisions for herself and done what she wanted with no one around to tell her that she's rude or disappointing or not living up to her potential.  

[LisaM]

Sophia doesn't strike me as a "spoiled, rich kid" either -- and I have known plenty. She strikes me as a sad, overachiever who has been pushed to excel by her parents and who doesn't seem to have any joy in her life. She went to Barcelona but didn't seem to enjoy it. She rides in horse competitions but doesn't seem to take real pleasure in it. I also wonder whether she has any friends - she hasn't mentioned any so far.

[alexvillage]

Sophia seems to be idealizing and idolizing Callie, while romanticizing the struggles Callie had to go through, like all that happened to her is somehow "awesome".

And yes, she seems sad and without a purpose. I have met people like her too. I just hope the writers deal well with this.

[GildedLily]

I would be all right with an open adoption for Callie if not for Robert's shadiness about this whole thing. If he'd just been upfront with her about not being sure that he wants to sign away his rights, instead of making excuses to delay the process while he works to get into her affections and lays groundwork for a legal fight, all the while assuring her that he'll sign the paperwork so she can be adopted like she wants...Callie's had the rug pulled out from her enough times already. She deserves honesty, and he's not giving her that. In his own way, he's being as ignorant of the fact that Callie is a person, not a possession, as Sophia is. But Sophia is like 14 years old and quite spoiled. Robert is an adult who should know better.

I don't see it like that. I think Robert had every intention of signing the papers but wanted to see Callie first. Fair enough. Now he's starting to see her as a person (and a daughter) who looks just like his other child, reminiscing about his lost first love (who the show has made really clear was the love of his life) that he shares this child with, and all of the sudden it's not as easy as I'll just sign her over. I don't think we're supposed to be see him as being intentionally shady but struggling and waffling in a difficult situation.

 

Really, I have no problem if he doesn't sign at all given that he never got a choice in whether to parent her (as compared with Donald who admitted he had been a crappy parent to them) as long as he's open to letting her maintain close relationships with the Fosters. And then if Callie wanted to make a choice to formalize things with L&S when she's 18 (which is like in 18 months or less) and can make an informed decision a little further removed from the trauma of six foster home, rape, juvy, running away, falling in love with her foster brother and finding out she had a different father, then I'll be happy for her (even as a Brallie fan) then.

Edited August 4, 2014 by GildedLily

[possibilities]

I re-watched the episode and I take back my earlier opinion about Mariana not necessarily having a race-based reason for saying things would be more natural for that other girl on dance team. I think I just didn't want her to be that way. It seemed really blatant on re-watch.

[teenj12]

I have to admit, Marianna's racially suggestive comments threw me for a loop. I mean for a girl who grew up in a multi-ethnic and accepting home,...I think it was bad writing. On the flipside, Marianna has always been the niave, semi-ignorant/immature one of the bunch, so I guess it could have just been her immaturity guiding what she said, and not necessarily that she actually believed the stuff she was suggesting.