S02.E12: Over Under

[LeGrandElephant]

I guess it makes sense. I always thought of the trip to the hospital as more about dealing with the physical injuries from doing something like slitting their wrists, and the psychological treatment coming after that. With no physical injuries at all, I'm not sure it would occur to me to rush her to the hospital. I don't think we can blame her parents if they don't know what to do either - this is totally out of nowhere for them, they didn't see what happened, she's not injured, and she didn't really seem all that upset. She did admit at the end there that she feels like killing herself, so I assume they're not going to brush it under the rug, but I don't blame them for taking her home and not knowing quite what to do. 

 

I know we should feel compassionate for her being suicidal, but blaming Callie's not forgiving her for her suicide was a pretty manipulative and horrible thing to do. If she had actually died Callie would have felt guilty forever. She didn't die, but she still basically tried to blackmail Callie into forgiving her. It will make Callie treat her like eggshells but it won't make Callie trust her. 

[possibilities]

I agree that Sophia's behavior is manipulative and terrible, and not going to endear her to Callie.

[Perfect Xero]

I don't know if it would have occurred to me to take Sophia straight to the hospital. I probably would have thought of taking her home, talking to her myself, and then immediately calling around for a shrink to take her to. Maybe even calling one of those hotlines and asking them what to do. Is straight to the hospital really what you're supposed to do?

 

I agree, most people wouldn't know to take her straight to a hospital.

[wagthedog]

Much as I was not a fan of the whole "long lost bio dad" story, I think the show has done a pretty good job of making both sides relateable. While I think Callie should stay with Stef and Lena, I can totally feel for Robert Quinn (and Sophia for that matter). I can understand why Robert Quinn changed his mind. Also, thank you show for not including homophobia among his reasons. It's really just a case of he got this life changing news and he wants a relationship with his daughter. That's something worth fighting for. And obviously Lena and Stef also have a relationship with Callie that is worth fighting for. Each side feels like they are best for Callie. Ironic, this kid who couldn't find a home, now has two loving families desperate to have her and yet her situation remains unstable. I hope Robert does eventually come to see that he can have a relationship with Callie after she is adopted by the Fosters and that Callie is open to it (which she probably would be if he back off a bit).

 

As far as Sophia goes, yeah, she's been manipulative, but it's in the setting of mental illness so I find it pretty forgivable. She needs treatment and understanding. Not judgment. But from Callie's perspective Sophia is a meddling brat so it's understandable that Callie isn't having it right now.

 

Maybe I missed something that was delved into at some point, but I'm not clear on whether the full extent of Sophia's illness is known to her parents. When they all spoke after the car accident Sophia caused, the Quinn's seemed quite willing to believe Sophia just wasn't paying attention. But after Callie explained what actually happened demeanor between the three Quinn's suggested to me (or maybe I saw what I wanted to see) that there was some history and awareness on the part of the parents.

 

The Quinn's seem nice enough. Maybe a bit distant. Sophia definitely seems lonely. I don't know a lot about mental illness but I'm under the impression it can be genetic and that highly stressful situations can sometimes cause the mental illness to assert itself in more obvious ways.

 

On unrelated notes, Jesus' girlfriend, WTH?

 

Mariana and her teammate forming their own dance team in accordance with the rules? Seems like a bit of a cheat, but since I"m ok with the outcome, I'm ok with fanwanking it.

 

Ana pregnant? Is Mike the dad? While it feels a little soapy, I still give the show credit for finding new ways to keep the characters off balance. I'm curious to see how this impacts Jesus and Mariana.

 

Even though I thought Stef chose the wrong tactic when she went to Mrs Quinn, I still love that Stef and Lena are such fierce advocates for their kids.

Edited January 25, 2015 by wagthedog

[rachel1496]

 Emotionally, Callie may see it as "the Fosters v. the Quinns" but legally it's a matter between Robert and the State of California in which S&L have no rights and no standing to claim Callie.  And as a sidenote, Stef's little visit to the Quinns to try to coerce Robert into signing the papers was probably fairly solid grounds for the Quinns to try to have her immediately removed from the Fosters home for interfering with the case/trying to impinge on Robert's rights and to have their foster license revoked. Foster parents can't just show up at bio parents' homes to ask to adopt- that's a huge no and foster parents know that. Stef as a cop and a longtime foster parent should have seen the potential problem there or I wish they had at least touched on it. 

 

The whole Fosters vs. Quinns situation feels wrong to me and I think you just perfectly explained why. The show is treating it like a custody battle between two biological parents.  Robert was never found to be an unfit parent and Callie was never removed from his care so I feel like if Robert expressed an interest in raising Callie she would be at the Quinn's in the blink of an eye. The show never really adresses it but Lena and Stef do get money from the state to cover Callie's expenses and I can't see many overextended and underfunded government agencies continuing to pay for a kid that has a willing and capable biological parent waiting in the wings.  It sounds crass but that's the reality, or at least it is here.

[izabella]

Ugh Sophia. I know that the entire world is all about you but could you give a little thought to the people you could've harmed with your little stunt? Not just physically but the emotional damage done to the person who could've killed you?

 

I was so annoyed by that.  Sophia probably gave that driver a heart attack when she stepped into the street like that, and if they had hit her?  Wow, no one can just brush off something like that as though they'd hit a squirrel.  Hell, I'd feel terrible if I'd hit a squirrel.