S04.E04: Now For Then

[AmandaPanda]

Quote

Callie starts her senior project of photographing the outside of her and Jude's seven former foster homes. But, when an unexpected encounter with a former foster mother brings her inside, Callie decides to reach out to other people who have fostered her and is shocked to learn that a 17-year-old former foster brother has been convicted of murder. Stressed out by the hardships of supporting himself and Cortney, Brandon throws a house party and things take a turn for the worse. Stef and Lena offer to pay for an attorney to help get Gabe off of the sex offender registry, which is currently putting Lena's job at risk and causing friction between Mike and Ana.

[Scarlett45]

I'm glad they are focusing on Callie's past, and her emotional growth rather than that Braille drama. 

[Aliconehead]

I am also glad that they are moving away from Brallie. I am glad that Mike was not a douche with the ADA call. I was worried. 

[ShadowFacts]

Lena was being a pushover about Brandon's party.  Stef wasn't much better.  Alcohol that Lena saw (and tells underage Brandon "be responsible"), the kids inside drinking, and one of them driving home in their car.  WTF?  Super irresponsible parenting. 

Another WTF moment was Callie going upstairs and taking bunches of pictures in the bedroom after foster mother #1 excoriated her and told her to leave. 

I did like Jesus' scene with Gabe in his bedroom.  And poor Mariana.  What is she going to do?  They should involve a mental health professional but they are probably in short supply in that setting. 

[Perfect Xero]

"You ruined my life!"

"I'm going to take some pictures now."

"Oh sure, take all of the time that you need."

[JaggedLilPill]

That was....quite an episode.

I totally thought the ex-Foster mom was going to apologize to Callie, but it's more realistic that she didn't. She's in deep denial and doesn't want to admit that he son is a rapist so she blames Callie and Callie's existence in her family's life as the catalyst that blew them apart.

I was happy the second foster mom was nicer and much more gracious. Sad that they were going to keep Jude and Callie, but weren't allowed. Although I'm shaking my head at Callie's next crusade. Yes, it's admirable that she wants to help an old foster sibling whom she believes was falsely accused and I'm sure she wants to help the old foster mom out too since her husband is dead and the son is in juvenile detention, but this is the last thing Callie needs on her plate right now.

Loved Stef's line about the house not being a Target. Ugh, Brandon. Courtney was a little too woo-hoo in this episode, like they were trying extra hard to remind us that she's 21 and legally allowed to drink. I also knew she'd be getting served when that dude walked in that nobody knew. Of course that would happen....in the same episode where she's being a party girl and trying to pressure Brandon's underage sisters into drinking.

Speaking of pressure, I really hate where this Nick/Mariana story is going. Whether Nick's aware of it or not, he's being extremely emotionally manipulative. It makes me really uncomfortable actually. I know Mariana feels guilty because she kissed Mat while being with Nick, but it's not her responsibility. She told Nick what she needed to at the moment to get out of a dangerous life-threatening situation, and it worked. Nothing for her to feel guilty about. Sigh.

[ShadowFacts]

18 minutes ago, Perfect Xero said:

"You ruined my life!"

"I'm going to take some pictures now."

"Oh sure, take all of the time that you need."

That right there makes no sense to me.  Hard to believe the embittered woman would invite Callie in to begin with, but swallowing that, I don't buy she would let her and her friend roam the place, after insisting she ruined her life.  More like, she would call the cops. 

[Lady Calypso]

So, apparently Lena and Stef are just celebrating their first wedding anniversary in this episode. They got married in season 1. So we are supposed to believe that the first three seasons took place within a year. That...I don't accept that, writers. Ana and Lena couldn't have been pregnant in the time that they were. Lena was twenty weeks when she lost Frankie, and she only got pregnant at the very end of season 1. And Ana couldn't have gone from her admitting in group that she's pregnant without actually showing to being in the car accident a few episodes later and being in labour. Unless she went into labour two months into her pregnancy, I just don't buy it. Also, that would mean Brandon can't be eighteen, and Jude would have been thirteen when they met Stef and Lena. And that would mean the entirety of season 1 and the first half of season 2 would have either taken place from Sept-Dec (before the Christmas episode) or the kids go to school during the summer. 

This show gives me a headache. I'm just going to move on from the obvious timeline issues. 

Surprise, AJ is going to Anchor Beach! The story of him and Callie going to all the foster homes was nice. I wish it was Jude, but I guess this was more Callie's story anyway. And the return of Aaron, and his return was not what I expected. Him and Callie are cool, so ok.

I love Mariana and Callie's relationship. It's so sisterly and loving. Plus, it led Mariana to the realization that she needed to get closure from Nick. I also like Brandon and Jesus' relationship. Plus, Brandon and Mariana get a scene together. It's been a while since they did.

Lena's nice in bringing Brandon stuff. She really doesn't need to. But I get it; my mom has done the exact same thing. Lena being soft on the drinking was not good parenting of her, but I think she knows she can't really stop him; if she handles it like Stef, Brandon might push her away too. 

Jesus having an episode without girlfriend drama is always the best. His scene with his father in the bedroom was really good. The puppy dog look he gave Gabe totally made them both break down.

I did get worried about Mike's involvement in this episode, especially with his concern over Gabe and Ana. But seeing that ending and Mike's look just as Gabe says that he's off? Good for Mike. Sure, it was really just to speed up the process so Ana could get away from Gabe, but I also think it was partially to help Jesus. They used to bond, so I'd like to think this wasn't just for Ana.

Cortney being served made me laugh a bit. She really does annoy me, and I didn't feel for her overhearing Brandon saying that Mason isn't his kid. Girl, you guys have been dating for a month, tops (according to this show). Relax. I think that there's a strong chance Eddie could take custody. Or, Cortney will just barely get custody and she'll leave Brandon to avoid any drama. 

Stef really should have busted that party, but I guess it didn't end up being a total disaster. 

Nick and Mariana's scene was good too.

[ShortyMac]

This episode fell so flat for me.

The only things I liked were Callie's plot, AJ being sweet to her and treating her right, Jesus and Gabe, the moms always, Stef, Lena, and Mariana in the beginning, and Callie and Mariana.

Stef's "This is a house, B. Not a Target" had me dying. Lena catching him with beer was funny, too. And Lena eating leftovers from dinner while Stef went snooping.

I don't like how Stef's and Lena's wedding anniversary was just thrown in there just to get them out of the house so they could catch the kids at the party.

AJ was so right about Callie needing to stop taking on other people's problems and focusing on herself for once.

I still hate Mike/Ana. Have never liked Ana and wish she would go away.

I'm glad Gabe is off the sex offender's list. 

****

This timeline is so screwed up. It should really be about 18 months since the pilot, not a year. It should be November since Stef said Jude is 14 (11/17). Lena's birthday should be August 30. Stef's and Lena's wedding anniversary would have already passed since Jude turned 13 after it in 01x16.

I officially give up.

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, ShadowFacts said:

And poor Mariana.  What is she going to do?  They should involve a mental health professional but they are probably in short supply in that setting. 

Yeah, I would think that before Mariana visited Steph and Lena would have asked one of the doctors how he'd react to news like that, or at least warned them it was coming.

34 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

That right there makes no sense to me.  Hard to believe the embittered woman would invite Callie in to begin with, but swallowing that, I don't buy she would let her and her friend roam the place, after insisting she ruined her life.  More like, she would call the cops. 

I can buy she'd invite her in, to give that false sense of security so that her final insult burned more. But then letting her take pictures made no sense. Although I did love how Callie was just all, "I'm sorry I came here too."

[LisaM]

I liked this episode and I have liked this season so far much more than the previous one. Really like the emphasis on Callie's examination of her former foster homes as well as Mariana's trauma. These are serious issues and are so much better than Brallie or the kids' more juvenile antics. I liked seeing Liam's mother although it made no sense that she would allow Callie to wander through the home after she verbally went off on her. 

I liked seeing Mariana sleeping in the moms' bed following her trauma and definitely caught Stef's comment about how expensive their frequent celebratory dinners were. Curious to see if Gabe and Jesus form a relationship following the scene in Jesus' bedroom. So glad that Mike's call to the DA was a fake out; I'll admit to falling for it. 

Very interesting that Mariana could not bring herself to cut ties with Nick. 

Cannot stand Brandon/Cortney/baby drama and I would be thrilled if he won a scholarship to Juilliard and was never heard from again. I did like the brotherly banter between Brandon and Jesus about the bathroom. That felt very real.

On a shallow note, not in love with Stef's short hair. 

[Valny]

Run Brandon, run! She gave you an out, hightail it out of there!  You can always see it in his eyes that he's not that into this relationship. And I can't help it, the actress playing Cortney reminds so much of Lacey Chabet from Party of Five.

Glad Callie came clean to....I forgot his name,motorcycle guy from last week.  I guess he'll have a recurring role?

That was some dull party. And that was really gross what Cortney's friend said LOUDLY as they walked into the other room...something like is he(Brandon) a premature ejaculator?   Ugh, really?! STFU!

And I don't want to hear that Jesus will be taking "a dump" either! Although, it was funny he brought the toilet paper as a house warming gift.

 

Next week looks hysterical. Looks like a lighter ep.

[Perfect Xero]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

I also like Brandon and Jesus' relationship. Plus, Brandon and Mariana get a scene together. It's been a while since they did.

I'm pretty sure that it's some kind of rule that Brandon and Mariana only have scenes together when he's not living at the house, because the last time I remember them having scenes together was when he was living with Mike.

I would like it if Brandon and Jesus had more of a relationship, but they barely seem to even drift into the other's orbit. Actually the lack of any real look at the relationship between Brandon and either of the twins and that Callie and Jesus still probably couldn't even pick each other out of a police lineup is one of the things that really disappoints me about the show.

[Court]

I really enjoyed this episode. I could have done without the custody/Courtney stuff. She only invited one friend to her "party"?

Where exactly is Nick? A jail or a hospital?

If in a psychiatric hospital, there is zero way they would have allowed him to see Marianna so soon. When they would allow it, there would have been a therapist there! I understand why she wanted to see him but it being unsupervised and so soon really bothered me.

[possibilities]

I had totally forgotten that Callie and AJ were dating. I was hoping Aaron was going to be her new boyfriend. I know he's older, but it's only one year, right? Oh well. I find her relationship with AJ boring, but I don't want to see a love triangle, either.

I admit I bought the idea that Mike was sabotaging Gabe's hearing, and hated him intensely for a few minutes until I realized it was a fake out. I guess I'm pretty easy to sway, but I really hate his relationship with Anna and how he is with her in general. Everything about it is unhealthy. I found him more interesting when he was mostly there as Brandon's dad and occasional semi-step-dad to the other kids (especially Jesus, who seems to want a male adult to glom onto). He's so self-righteous with her, and he's not got much of a case to make for his supposedly superior grip on sobriety or good life choices. Not too long ago he was with Dani for godsake. And Brandon had to drive him home from Mariana's quincenera because he was drunk, so shut up, Mike.

Liam's mother was horrible.

The other foster mom was sweet, and the show is really being brutal about how bad the foster and "criminal justice" systems are. They probably couldn't tell Callie and Jude about Kyle's "special needs" but to tell them nothing is just callous as hell. The way that lack of money for competent (and not over-worked) legal representation completely skews the outcomes is a real problem, but I did not expect the show to go there. Good for them for trying to expose this, even though I'm sure they'll have Stef, or SuperCallie and Aaron's non-profit, save the day.

They really do miss a lot of opportunity to explore the sibling relationships. Callie and Mariana have a terrific one, notably. But the less said about Callie and Brandon the better, and they have backed way off on Callie/Jude since their adoptions. They haven't really been showing the bond between Mariana and Jesus that much anymore, either. They mostly have the kids in separate orbits, or filtered through their interactions with the moms. I wonder why.

Mariana needs to tell Nick the truth while he's still in the hospital and under supervision. But I understand why she panicked and didn't do it. I can sort of buy that maybe a very shitty hospital might allow the visit unsupervised, but I thought Nick's father had a lot of money so he'd be getting better than the shittiest of care.

I felt ambivalent about Jesus's bottomless sympathy for Gabe. I got why Gabe was freaked about the possibility of being incarcerated, and that he was traumatized by years of living with the label, but I wanted Jesus to be at least a little bit pissed off that Gabe would just walk away and let Lena get fired. But maybe Jesus didn't know about Lena's job. I can imagine the moms not telling the kids, hoping it would never have to happen.

Mariana seems to have no interest in Gabe, like Jesus has no interest in Anna.

Jude was absent but I didn't miss him.

I still like Callie's project. I thought it was weird that AJ didn't see the point in doing it. If he's a senior, he has to do one, too, right? I wonder if they'll show us what he's doing, or if he's just going to be Callie's side kick and not a character on his own.

Edited July 19, 2016 by possibilities

[izabella]

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

Mariana seems to have no interest in Gabe, like Jesus has no interest in Anna.

This is a really weird aspect of this show.  Why doesn't Jesus have any interest in Anna and her family?  Why is Mariana so interested in Anna and her family, and went to such great lengths for Anna, but has no desire to get to know her father?  It makes no sense to me.

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

They really do miss a lot of opportunity to explore the sibling relationships. Callie and Mariana have a terrific one, notably. But the less said about Callie and Brandon the better, and they have backed way off on Callie/Jude since their adoptions. They haven't really been showing the bond between Mariana and Jesus that much anymore, either. They mostly have the kids in separate orbits, or filtered through their interactions with the moms. I wonder why.

I think this is a product of the writers thinking they need to focus so much on outrageous drama and dating to keep us interested rather than the family and their relationships.  I think the writers are wrong about that, and it has hurt the show tremendously.

[angora]

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

I still like Callie's project. I thought it was weird that AJ didn't see the point in doing it. If he's a senior, he has to do one, too, right? I wonder if they'll show us what he's doing, or if he's just going to be Callie's side kick and not a character on his own.

I felt like it was more AJ trying to get Callie to open up about what the project meant for her personally, but he couched his questions in a way that seemed a little more removed.  As Callie was saying it was just about her senior project and wanting to keep on the surface of it - taking pictures but not talking to the former foster parents - AJ wanted her to recognize she could go deeper.  That's how I took it, anyway.  I understood where both kids were coming from, with Callie both keeping her distance to protect herself and her point that the project was about her, not the foster parents, and AJ wanting her to get the most she could out of it.  I really hope we see this plot continue over the half-season and doesn't all dovetail into the Kyle/legal issue storyline.

As soon as Aaron said he provide legal help to disadvantaged youth last episode, I knew that was how we'd see him again, but I figured it would be AJ getting in trouble over Mariana using his laptop for the Justina take-down.  Looks like it'll still be awkward from a Callie-AJ-Aaron perspective, although I hope it doesn't go as far as an outright triangle; I'm so sick of those.

Loved Callie and Mariana talking about Callie seeing her former foster mom and Mariana realizing she had to see Nick in order to move past him.  I understand why she didn't tell him the truth, but here's hoping she in turn tells SOMEBODY about what happened and they're able to come up with a plan for how to get Mariana out of this situation while making sure Nick has the support he needs once she breaks it off.

[ShadowFacts]

I think it isn't so out of the ordinary for Jesus and Mariana to have more interest in their same-sex bio parent.  Having roughly equal interest in both isn't necessarily how it works in even an intact family. 

As for showing more sibling one-on-one interactions, I think what they show us is probably more than what many/most teen siblings actually do.  I'm only judging from my own family of origin and my kids' relationships, but the Adams Foster kids are generally "nicer" for want of a better descriptor than what I would expect.  Lots of kids really prefer their friends' company and tolerate their siblings a lot of the time.  That's over-generalizing for sure, but I think this fictional family is portrayed as having very strong connections that lots of families don't.  In other words, it's pretty idealized.  (Or else my family is more dysfunctional than I think!)

[MaryHedwig]

What happened to Ana's baby? Did we ever figure out who the father was?

[Perfect Xero]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

They really do miss a lot of opportunity to explore the sibling relationships. Callie and Mariana have a terrific one, notably. But the less said about Callie and Brandon the better, and they have backed way off on Callie/Jude since their adoptions. They haven't really been showing the bond between Mariana and Jesus that much anymore, either. They mostly have the kids in separate orbits, or filtered through their interactions with the moms. I wonder why.

It's funny because Mariana and Brandon keep getting involved in the same things (She was "managing" the bad for a while, they did the play togehter, she's dating the only friend Brandon seems to have), and yet they still don't actually do all that much together.

3 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:

I think it isn't so out of the ordinary for Jesus and Mariana to have more interest in their same-sex bio parent.  Having roughly equal interest in both isn't necessarily how it works in even an intact family. 

As for showing more sibling one-on-one interactions, I think what they show us is probably more than what many/most teen siblings actually do.  I'm only judging from my own family of origin and my kids' relationships, but the Adams Foster kids are generally "nicer" for want of a better descriptor than what I would expect.  Lots of kids really prefer their friends' company and tolerate their siblings a lot of the time.  That's over-generalizing for sure, but I think this fictional family is portrayed as having very strong connections that lots of families don't.  In other words, it's pretty idealized.  (Or else my family is more dysfunctional than I think!)

That's the thing, Brandon and Jesus don't have any friends from school either. They basically have no relationships outside the family beyond their romantic interests. The only guy friends that either of them have made during the series are both guys who ended up being more involved with Mariana and her storylines.

39 minutes ago, MaryHedwig said:

What happened to Ana's baby? Did we ever figure out who the father was?

I don't believe so.

[Glade]

I did love Callie's story this episode, what she said to that delusional abusive woman and then taking those pictures in her old bedroom were so powerful.  And I love what she's going to do for her former foster brother!  It's a fucking travesty that children are sentenced to life in prison in our country. These are the kinds of stories I want to see.  Though Jude's absence was strongly felt.  And I will say the final scene between Callie and AJ kind of threw me.  It's true, rape isn't about sex and Callie doesn't need to feel like a victim...but a discussion of sexual boundaries is totally healthy, and considering what happened with Wyatt, it kind of does make sense.  She didn't have panic attacks/flashbacks with Brandon, but does that really mean it will never happen again? 

That attorney must charge like 4,000$ an hour?  Because it was less then a day between his being hired and the hearing.   It seems like a weak plot device to explain why Gabe will be around doing work on the house for awhile.  But I did love those scenes between him and Jesus, so much!  I really thought for a moment that Mike was going to sabotage Gabe's chances, but I'm so glad he didn't, he and Ana do seem good for each other, now. 

Lena's so great!  I can't stand Stef and her sarcastic, arrogant bullshit.  I also wish they would mix and match the siblings more.

Yes, Marriana needs to tell Nick right now that they aren't a couple anymore.  In the psych hospital, he has the support to come to terms with it and lying won't help.  It's also really sad that Nick is still on the show as a character while for instance Connor and Wyatt are seemingly gone for good. 

Edited July 19, 2016 by Glade

[izabella]

17 hours ago, LisaM said:

On a shallow note, not in love with Stef's short hair. 

I'm not feeling it, either.  I especially hate her hair when she's wearing the police uniform.  Maybe because the uniform is a bit bulky (despite how tailored it is on the show!), she ends up looking like a pinhead.  I think Teri is gorgeous, but that hairstyle does not do her justice.

Edited July 19, 2016 by izabella

[Lake Desire]

Parents spying on the kids... this show is really the liberal version of 7th Heaven.

[MLE]

like others have said, I just can't get over mariana being allowed to visit Nick. That just rings so unbelievable.

[tennisgurl]

Oh Mariana. Lying to Nick is not going to help at all, on any level. Talk to your moms about this! Or his doctors? Or anyone!

I did like this episode, especially everything with Callie. I like focusing on her issues and her past, and I loved the scene between her and the second, nice foster mom. Although, Callie REALLY does not need anything project, even if she feels awful about what happened to her former foster brother. Granted, what happened to him was awful, and I like when the show takes the opportunity to talk about issues like this, especially when it comes to kids and the criminal justice system, but she has way too much going on already to try to take on a whole new system, while she is still dealing with her foster care revolution, and her personal problems. 

I wish we had gotten more of the anniversary stuff between Stef and Lena. Kind of seems like we wasted some nice couple time between them. I would rather watch that then spying on the kids. 

Good on you Mike! I still feel kind of weird about Mike and Anna, but they seem to work for now. 

Courtney gets on my last nerve. Girl, you have been dating this 18 year old kid for a couple weeks, and you already live together. Do you blame him for not wanting to immediately be daddy to her baby? I just find the whole relationship really weird. Yeah, 18 and 21 are not that far apart year wise, but a lot of maturing happens between 18 and 21, especially considering Courtney is living an adult life, raising a kid. It just weirds me out, especially with Brandon's history with Dani. I just am not into it.  

[Eeksquire]

Quote

I had totally forgotten that Callie and AJ were dating. I was hoping Aaron was going to be her new boyfriend. I know he's older, but it's only one year, right? Oh well. I find her relationship with AJ boring, but I don't want to see a love triangle, either.

If Aaron is in law school, then he's at least 22.  I don't think any law student with half a brain would date a high school student, even if she were 18.  Of course, on this show, a 21 year old with a child is living with Brandon, so I guess anything's possible, but that one would be too far for me.  I'd like to see her with AJ, whose character seems to be having both age appropriate and not unreasonably crazy dramatic storylines at the moment.

[ShadowFacts]

4 hours ago, Eeksquire said:

If Aaron is in law school, then he's at least 22.  I don't think any law student with half a brain would date a high school student, even if she were 18.  Of course, on this show, a 21 year old with a child is living with Brandon, so I guess anything's possible, but that one would be too far for me.  I'd like to see her with AJ, whose character seems to be having both age appropriate and not unreasonably crazy dramatic storylines at the moment.

I could be wrong, but I  think when they first met he said something about he's in college on an accelerated bachelor's/law degree track.  If I got that right, he may be younger than 22, possibly only 19 or 20. 

Edited August 12, 2016 by ShadowFacts

[Eeksquire]

Now that you say that, I think you're right, but even still.  When I was in law school, there was a pervasive sense of "Do not do anything that you wouldn't want to explain to a character and fitness board after passing the bar" and dating a high schooler would definitely fit in that category.

[ShadowFacts]

6 hours ago, Eeksquire said:

Now that you say that, I think you're right, but even still.  When I was in law school, there was a pervasive sense of "Do not do anything that you wouldn't want to explain to a character and fitness board after passing the bar" and dating a high schooler would definitely fit in that category.

Agreed, and I think the reason they did make him younger and in the bachelor's part of the degree was to sidestep that a bit, while still having a character with some connection to the law (pretty weak one at that).  They could have had her go to legal aid or an innocence project (or maybe his mother mentioned that she tried that, my memory fails), but it seems like they wanted to throw in a romance possibility, too.  Of course.

[ChocButterfly]

So, Brandon cannot afford to buy his own toilet paper and tooth paste, but he has money to buy all that stuff for a party?? What a smoocher!! And he wants to be treated like an adult, idiot!! I was right there with Staff, and I'm pissed at Lena fir enabling that man child. Plus, really, they really should've broken up that party. Lena is so permissive!!

Edited October 4, 2016 by ChocButterfly