S04.E10: Collateral Damage

[evilolive]

Spoiler

So it turns out they cut key scenes including Brandon moving his stuff back home and Jesus agreeing to help Emma with her summer placement mentoring kids in robotics. Also one from earlier in the season where Jesus talks to Dana about having tanked his PSATs.

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.

Edited September 2, 2016 by evilolive
Typos and unnecessary repetition

[ShadowFacts]

4 hours ago, evilolive said:

  Reveal hidden contents

So it turns out they cut key scenes including Brandon moving his stuff back home and Jesus agreeing to help Emma with her summer placement mentoring kids in robotics. Also one from earlier in the season where Jesus talks to Dana about having tanked his PSATs.

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 agree with much of this.  It's another case of a good show being fixed when it isn't broken.  I'm definitely less interested in it than I was.  It will be hard for the show to back-pedal now, it will have to keep introducing one highly dramatic dangerous scenario after another.  I think that's what Freeform is all about now.

[North]

One thing I meant to comment on:

Callie/AJ/Aaron - none of them were particularly great in this episode.

AJ - I didn't like what he said, but I think it was more due to ignorance than being a hateful asshole.  He needs to be educated on trans issues clearly.

Aaron - was an asshole to AJ for the most part.  He treated AJ poorly simply because AJ is dating the girl he likes.

Callie - where do I begin?  She allowed Aaron to treat AJ badly without a word.  The only feelings she was concerned about were Aaron's.  She outed Aaron to AJ. In what way is that okay and she did it in order to shame AJ about his behaviour.   AJ was treating Aaron like just another guy.  Callie revealing that information makes it seem like he is not just another guy.  She's the one who made being trans an issue when it wasn't in any of AJ and Aaron's interactions before.

Edited September 2, 2016 by North

[possibilities]

2 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:

I also read an interview with Peter Paige answering questions about the kids' poor decision-making and Stef and Lena's relationship.

Link?

I agree that what's going on should be obvious from what airs, but I still want to read what he thinks about it.

[ShadowFacts]

I was quoting evilolive, I haven't seen the interview myself.

[possibilities]

OK: I did a search and found three Peter Paige interviews about this episode. There may be more, but I decided to be at least a little bit responsible and not spend the ENTIRE day procrastinating on what I'm supposed to be doing.

Here are the three I found, though:

http://popcitylife.com/2016/08/29/interview-peter-paige-fosters-4x10/

Among other things, he talks about "why the nail gun?" and includes spoilers for 4B; the most specific thing is with regard to what happens next for Nick (nothing I wouldn't have guessed). Mentions also that the network pushes them for more "events," which I think explains the show's change in tone from character to plot drama.

-----

http://www.tvguide.com/news/the-fosters-summer-finale-peter-paige-interview-jesus-fate/

I think this might be the article referred to upthread. Has spoilers, but again nothing I didn't guess myself, and nothing very detailed:

Jesus is not dead (but there will be real consequences from his head injury). The moms are still in love, despite their conflicts.

. Also, he says he sees Jude's behavior as typical teenage rebellion, not "a pot addiction story"-- that he just doesn't like being told what to do or who to see.  So hopefully that means we aren't going down the road to a "Reefer Madness" type story.  Honestly, I believe that. I mean, Callie has violated the rules in more dangerous ways (including when when "grounded") and just because Jude's smoking pot or seeing a forbidden boyfriend, doesn't mean he's going insane or is more out of control than any of the other kids, not really. Mariana is more of an addict right now, if you ask me. And when it comes to acting out with a forbidden boyfriend, Callie trumps Jude in that regard, in my opinion. Brandon does, too-- not only because he's as much at fault in the Callie-Brandon rule breaking as Callie was, but also because his relationship with Cortney is seriously crazy.

---

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/29/fosters-summer-finale-peter-paige-interview

This one reflects in more detail about Mariana's problem, and describes what the real world rules are for SAT fraud. Also talks about the other characters and plot points. It sounds to me like the issue of the divorce tactic to tank the house sale is not going to be completely ignored, i.e. that story is not resolved (but he again reassures everyone that the problems between Stef and Lena are normal relationship challenges and not meant to imply they are not committed to each other). In a way, I like that the show does not subscribe to the idea that a healthy relationship is nothing but romantic bliss, and that long term relationships may never be devoid of challenges and conflicts. But I think people worry about the moms divorcing because it's hard to trust when the track record for tv lesbians getting to be happy is so unrelentingly dismal. So this question keeps coming up for people-- is the marriage really in trouble? Is this going to be yet another bait and switch show that hooks us in and then destroys what we came for? But I will take him at his word.

[North]

In terms of Lena's moral code, it's pretty much every character's moral code on this show.

She may be the one who verbalized it but they've all done something in line with it.

They all do what they have to do for family, be it blackmailing someone's birth father, taking your new foster brother and going to a former foster parent's house to save a brother, etc.

[Chewy101]

18 hours ago, Court said:

I'd be thrilled if we never saw Cortney again. 

Callie, Callie, Callie! I just want to shake some sense into that girl. She needs to stop being so impulsive.

Yep. Stef and Lena should have put her self sabotaging little butt in therapy the second they got her. Imagine how much she could have worked through in the past year with some help. It should be mandatory in the adoption  process.

[evilolive]

20 hours ago, possibilities said:

Link?

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 :)

Quote

Mentions also that the network pushes them for more "events," which I think explains the show's change in tone from character to plot drama.

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.

Quote

nothing I didn't guess myself, and nothing very detailed

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? 

Quote

It will be hard for the show to back-pedal now, it will have to keep introducing one highly dramatic dangerous scenario after another.

I fear this is true.

[IntoTheMystic]

Foster kids are conditioned to accept strangers every single day. They're expected to live with strangers and obey strangers.  It's not uncommon for foster kids to be impulsive and rash, either. Even though Callie's been adopted she's still incredibly damaged. My wife and I have had a flood of foster kids come and go from our lives and the one constant is that we encourage them to make themselves at home, view us as moms, and not to be uncomfortable even though it's the first time they've clapped eyes on us.

And this isn't out of the ordinary for Callie. This is exactly what she did in Season One when she tried to charm Aiden into taking her to Jude in his car. She didn't know Aiden, but Jude was more important than any danger or trouble she would get into.

Callie gets a pass on this one from me. She was worried about Mariana and that guy knew her description and was pretty convincing. Callie was also having a mental breakdown between worrying about Kyle, being confronted by the victim's grandson, mediating between Aaron and A.J., dealing with her feelings about Mike, breaking up with A.J., being threatened by Justine, and finding out that people were signing the other petition at the gate and no one was interested in Justice for Jack. She wanted to find Mariana since everything else was falling apart. Was it dumb? Sure. But she's been taught the exact opposite of 'stranger danger' by a system that claims to have her best interest at heart.

Edited September 4, 2016 by IntoTheMystic

[ShadowFacts]

4 hours ago, IntoTheMystic said:

Callie gets a pass on this one from me. She was worried about Mariana and that guy knew her description and was pretty convincing. Callie was also having a mental breakdown between worrying about Kyle, being confronted by the victim's grandson, mediating between Aaron and A.J., dealing with her feelings about Mike, breaking up with A.J., being threatened by Justine, and finding out that people were signing the other petition at the gate and no one was interested in Justice for Jack. She wanted to find Mariana since everything else was falling apart. Was it dumb? Sure. But she's been taught the exact opposite of 'stranger danger' by a system that claims to have her best interest at heart.

I see the point, and maybe it's my risk-averse nature, but the rash behavior is dangerous to her and others (Sophia this time).  She manages to survive and undoubtedly will again, but in the real world, luck runs out.  She will do better to learn other coping strategies and healthier ways to channel her drive to help people. 

[IntoTheMystic]

On 9/4/2016 at 8:11 AM, ShadowFacts said:

I see the point, and maybe it's my risk-averse nature, but the rash behavior is dangerous to her and others (Sophia this time).  She manages to survive and undoubtedly will again, but in the real world, luck runs out.  She will do better to learn other coping strategies and healthier ways to channel her drive to help people. 

 

I'm glad that this series is willing to show that many foster children can lose the ability to make good choices once all their choices have been stripped away. Callie and Jude both make dangerous and poor decisions.  Jude and his new marijuana adventure, the food under his bed that caused ants, and how easily his friends talked him into sneaking out, drinking, and then breaking into a house where they were shot at . . . he's a a lot like his sister as they've shared the same experience. It's devastating to go from a home with parents that you love only to be put into situations you have no control over. I think Callie wants to fix the world and the people around her because she still hasn't fixed herself and focusing on other stuff allows her to ignore her own pain for a while.

[Perfect Xero]

10 hours ago, IntoTheMystic said:

I'm glad that this series is willing to show that many foster children can lose the ability to make good choices once all their choices have been stripped away. Callie and Jude both make dangerous and poor decisions.  Jude and his new marijuana adventure, the food under his bed that caused ants, and how easily his friends talked him into sneaking out, drinking, and then breaking into a house where they were shot at . . . he's a a lot like his sister as they've shared the same experience. It's devastating to go from a home with parents that you love only to be put into situations you have no control over. I think Callie wants to fix the world and the people around her because she still hasn't fixed herself and focusing on other stuff allows her to ignore her own pain for a while.

Are there any characters on this show who don't make dangerous and poor choices though? It's hard for me to think that they're making a point about foster kids when Stef does things as reckless and stupid as any of the kids in spite of being presented as a responsible adult.

[evilolive]

Quote

I'm glad that this series is willing to show that many foster children can lose the ability to make good choices once all their choices have been stripped away.

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.

[North]

I watched the Stef/Lena integrity scene and was struck by a few things:

-Stef is not wrong to want to do the right thing.

-Lena is not wrong to want to limit the effect on the family and trying to find a different way to do the right thing.

-I think Lena's own moments of compromised integrity (Jude, Brandon) weigh on her.

-The main problem with it being a matter of integrity for Stef is that she is vulnerable to Detective Grey because she compromised her integrity for Mike.  She's picking and choosing when integrity matters.

-Remember when Lena quit because she wanted to defend Jude?  Stef gave her a hard time for putting him before the rest of the family.

Edited September 7, 2016 by North

[izabella]

They amped up the drama to 11.  I don't like it at all - too much drama and trauma.  Every time I watch this show, I feel like Mariana overdosing on Jesus's drugs.  I was planning to quit the show when I saw Sophia, because it was obvious she was only there to look like Callie so she could be mistaken for her by creepy guy - if she had been killed, I'd have been out.  I may still be out. 

[ShadowFacts]

On 9/7/2016 at 7:45 AM, North said:

-The main problem with it being a matter of integrity for Stef is that she is vulnerable to Detective Grey because she compromised her integrity for Mike.  She's picking and choosing when integrity matters.

True, and she has had other lapses like didn't she use Callie's biological father's marital transgression against him?  But if she is having an awakening now, at least that's forward progress.  She will be setting a good example, at least about thinking through one's actions as to future consequences (and collateral damage) that the kids definitely need.

23 hours ago, izabella said:

They amped up the drama to 11.  I don't like it at all - too much drama and trauma.  Every time I watch this show, I feel like Mariana overdosing on Jesus's drugs.  I was planning to quit the show when I saw Sophia, because it was obvious she was only there to look like Callie so she could be mistaken for her by creepy guy - if she had been killed, I'd have been out.  I may still be out. 

Me too.  I'd hate to actually drop yet another show of the few I watch, but I don't know if I can sustain interest in this until January.  By the time Switched at Birth returns, it will have been gone so long I won't remember what last happened. 

[maraleia]

A reminder that this is the way Freeform works. There's always a season A & B that air about four months apart.

[North]

1 hour ago, ShadowFacts said:

True, and she has had other lapses like didn't she use Callie's biological father's marital transgression against him?  But if she is having an awakening now, at least that's forward progress.  She will be setting a good example, at least about thinking through one's actions as to future consequences (and collateral damage) that the kids definitely need.

The only problem is she has also agreed to go along with the shady business of filing for a fake divorce to get out of a legit house sale.

She's picking and choosing when integrity applys.

[ShadowFacts]

16 minutes ago, North said:

The only problem is she has also agreed to go along with the shady business of filing for a fake divorce to get out of a legit house sale.

She's picking and choosing when integrity applys.

She is, but chronologically speaking, she made the choice to call Internal Affairs after the fake divorce filing, so it is forward progress, maybe.  I wonder if when she finds out about what Brandon did, she will connect her and Lena's rule-breaking and rule-skirting with the things that Brandon and the rest of the kids do.  That would interest me.  It seems an obvious way for the writers to go, but maybe not.

26 minutes ago, maraleia said:

A reminder that this is the way Freeform works. There's always a season A & B that air about four months apart.

Right, but in the case of Switched at Birth I think it's been more like a year this time.  Lots of shows go 10 or more months between seasons I realize, but I never like that long a wait.  With The Fosters there's the wait plus the decline in quality which has me kind of meh about returning.  Though here I am talking about it.

[North]

13 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

She is, but chronologically speaking, she made the choice to call Internal Affairs after the fake divorce filing, so it is forward progress, maybe.  I wonder if when she finds out about what Brandon did, she will connect her and Lena's rule-breaking and rule-skirting with the things that Brandon and the rest of the kids do.  That would interest me.  It seems an obvious way for the writers to go, but maybe not.

I agree it would be interesting, but I don't think that's where they're going.

I think it's just another little argument for Lena and Stef to have to add drama to their relationship.

[rue721]

On 8/29/2016 at 10:08 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Not that I want Jesus to be permanently injured, but it's a type of storyline that isn't explored. If there is a disability/permanent injury, it's either established before the series, or it's a paralysis storyline. But honestly, I'm just going to expect that they'll keep him in the hospital for a few scenes and then he heals at home before he's back to normal. I do think NC could handle this type of storyline, though. 

Honestly, I'm not that interested in a storyline about Jesus dealing with an injury or even a disability, because he's already had to deal with similar stuff, like accepting his ADD. This season, I really liked that it turned out he was gifted in robotics and was a real help to the team. Academic success was a new thing for him, and I'm more interested in seeing where that goes than to see him struggle to keep up, yet again.

That said, NC is doing a fantastic job as Jesus, and I'm sure he'll handle next season's storylines well (whatever they are).

Also, I actually wonder if Mariana gets a "disability" storyline next season, too. Her meltdown at the music festival was strange (hallucinations are a pretty extreme symptom!), and it was also strange that she was stealing Jesus's pills to go to a music festival in the first place. I mean, to me, that's starting to look like a pretty serious mental health problem. Hallucinations even make me wonder about psychosis, stuff like that.

But maybe they're just going for the dramz and Mariana is never going to hallucinate again. *shrug*

On 8/30/2016 at 5:33 PM, evilolive said:

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.

I think that's pretty harsh. Mariana can be deceitful, but when it comes to Nick, I think she actually did the right thing by saying what she had to say in order to stay safe. The kid pulled a gun on her and nearly shot himself in the head; her fear of (and for) him is rational and understandable. I don't think she "owes" him the truth about how she feels about him/their relationship when being truthful could easily get her (or him) killed.

Also, I'm not sure that what she said about wanting to stay with him and about caring about him was really JUST lies. It's a very confusing situation. Mariana's feelings seem to be very confusing and bewildering, too. She actually did want to be with him and did care quite a bit about him before his meltdown, and everything changed very fast -- within a day. Also, Mariana in particular would probably find it pretty easy to empathize with Nick's terror that she'll abandon him, that nobody loves him, and that he's all alone. I also think that it's got to be difficult to turn your back on someone once he's literally cried in your arms. I think she went to visit him for her own complicated reasons, and that she couldn't bring herself to actually break up with him for her own complicated reasons, too -- not solely for his sake. I don't think she wants to be with him or anything, but I don't think she's entirely ready to let go of him, either.

On 8/30/2016 at 6:26 PM, buckboard said:

The scene where Noah offers pot to Jude and Jude, although he knows he's not supposed to, seems unable to say no to pot and then walks away with Noah, almost as if he is already stoned.  It seemed like a scene out of the cult classic "Reefer Madness."

I dunno, if I were a teenage kid volunteering to collect signatures, and my boyfriend showed up asking if I wanted to smoke a joint and fool around, I probably would have taken my boyfriend up on his offer, too. I mean, Jude is a good kid, but he's not a saint.

[Lady Calypso]

8 hours ago, rue721 said:

Also, I actually wonder if Mariana gets a "disability" storyline next season, too. Her meltdown at the music festival was strange (hallucinations are a pretty extreme symptom!), and it was also strange that she was stealing Jesus's pills to go to a music festival in the first place. I mean, to me, that's starting to look like a pretty serious mental health problem. Hallucinations even make me wonder about psychosis, stuff like that.

I don't know much about taking so many ADHD pills, especially mixed with alcohol, but I decided to look that side of it up and I believe what was happening was that Mariana was having an overdose which was causing paranoia, which I think caused the hallucination. I've been learning recently that overdosing doesn't just mean that your heart stops. The person can apparently still be conscious during the overdose. 

It's definitely extreme, but I imagine seeing Nick was the result of paranoia, as she was already freaking out about him, and paranoia's a symptom of the overdose. She definitely needs to still be checked out and treated accordingly for the overdose as well as the addiction to the pills. I do imagine when the show comes back, we'll see Stef and Lena trying to care for both Mariana and Jesus, as both are still in danger. 

8 hours ago, rue721 said:

Honestly, I'm not that interested in a storyline about Jesus dealing with an injury or even a disability, because he's already had to deal with similar stuff, like accepting his ADD. This season, I really liked that it turned out he was gifted in robotics and was a real help to the team. Academic success was a new thing for him, and I'm more interested in seeing where that goes than to see him struggle to keep up, yet again.

 

I wish we got more about Jesus' ADHD, but we've gotten very little. Usually, when his ADHD comes up, it has to do with other people (except that one time it was a spark for his wrestling storyline). I do love that he's gifted in robotics and we see a genuine interest in something different, though. I just think that they shouldn't sweep a TBI under the rug. A lot of shows do it because they don't want to deal with the lasting consequences, and I think this show could benefit from following through. They could do a simple personality change, which would really suck because I like Jesus the way he is but the part of the brain that he injured does involve personality, so it's possible that they go that route. Or they could open the second half of season 4 to parallel Jesus' 'prank' on his family when they first saw him after the surgery; only this time, he's not faking his speech problem. It could go either way. All I want is for them to follow through and not drop the issue like they dropped the Brandon Can't Play Piano Professionally storyline. 

[alexvillage]

Soooo

I binged on Netflix and I am exhausted with all the plots. There is too much going on and at the same time nothing is really explained.

I will not even try to go character by character but I think they are just making it very hard for me to care about most of them. I don't even remember how the storylines for each character began - or maybe that is the problem, too many storylines for each one of them and they are all inconsistent with how they dealt with their issues in the previous story, so I am kind of annoyed by that.

I also think that they are lost with Callie. I can understand the hardships someone with Callie's background would experience when trying to be an actual part of a "forever family" but she acts like a very conscientious adult one moment, just to mess things up in a terrible way the next. And there are way too many temper tantrums in this show. I liked it better when it was a more realistic view of teenagers. Right now they are left to make adult decisions when they should be having counseling for (insert problem of the episode)

I do have a problem with the actress playing Callie. I think there is too much on her and she cannot deliver. And and don't see her having any chemistry with any of the other actors. Even the new Jesus was easier for me to watch then Callie these last 10 episodes.

And if someone is making a list of how many unethical/unethical bordering criminal plots they are throwing in just one family I would love to see it. Not to mention how nobody seems to care about very strong prescription medication, blood levels, follow ups, and general parenting of children who take prescription medication for ADHD ("oh, the refill didn't arrive? I will check" - then doesn't) 

[Ikki]

I felt bad for Brandon when he found out he wouldn't be going to Julliard, and I hate Brandon. I was actually excited for him when he got in because one, it would mean him getting the hell out of that town, and two, I work in education and get genuinely excited for kids achieving their dreams, especially related to colleges and such.

Stupid show, getting me to feel empathy for Brandon.