S05.E20: Meet The Fosters

[Lady Calypso]

Quote

The Adams Fosters come together for some major celebrations, set one year after the spring finale. 

[Scarlett45]

Robert Grant (father To Eliza) hasn’t aged a day since his time on Queer as Folk! Lol 

My fear is that Jude was raped and is now on PrEP due to fear of contracting HIV. Would his grades be slipping like that if it was just an unprotected consentaual hookup ?(or the condom broke)

[BookThief]

In case it's driving anyone else crazy, Eliza's brother, the guy they're trying to hook up with Callie, was Matty McKibben on Awkward.

[KaveDweller]

31 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Robert Grant (father To Eliza) hasn’t aged a day since his time on Queer as Folk! Lol 

My fear is that Jude was raped and is now on PrEP due to fear of contracting HIV. Would his grades be slipping like that if it was just an unprotected consentaual hookup ?(or the condom broke)

Interesting speculation. I was thinking he had just gotten really into drinking/partying and his grades slipping  and the PrEP were two side effects of the same cause. But your idea is much more dramatic, so probably correct for this show. They don't have much time to resolve it though. 

Eliza's parents seem pretty awful.

[Scarlett45]

20 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Interesting speculation. I was thinking he had just gotten really into drinking/partying and his grades slipping  and the PrEP were two side effects of the same cause. But your idea is much more dramatic, so probably correct for this show. They don't have much time to resolve it though. 

Eliza's parents seem pretty awful.

Ah alcohol! I hadn’t thought of that. But you’re probably right, it’s normal college “ish” and he’s taking PrEP as a precaution. 

Go to class Jude!! You can still have fun and get good grades. 

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, BookThief said:

In case it's driving anyone else crazy, Eliza's brother, the guy they're trying to hook up with Callie, was Matty McKibben on Awkward.

Thank you! I knew I'd seen him before, but I couldn't figure out where.

I'm depressed that they've brought up the "Braillie" crap again. I was really hoping that was over.

Jesus getting freaked out about Emma applying for that job bothered me. Sometimes you just apply to a job as an exercise. But it still also does seem like she wasn't really communicating with him, and did have ambivalence about her choice, so in the end he was right, but for the wrong reason.

I thought PrEP was just because Jude was screwing around and not using protection, so it was a precautionary measure. I noticed it sounded like he and Callie both went to USC (did I hear that correctly?), so it's sort of interesting that they didn't really seem to have stayed in touch much, if she was surprised by what a mess he is.

Emily's parents are horrible. [eta: is her name Eliza?]

I'm not opposed to pre-nups, but you don't spring it on someone at the last minute, much like you don't suddenly change who officiates. Seems like no one is really communicating about anything. It's sad that Brandon is so willing to throw his moms under the  bus, and Emily is so willing to go along with it.

Aaron came across sleazy and gross to me.

I know it's typical that people in their 20s are not always reliable about keeping their commitments, but I feel for Jesus, who seems to be more willing and able than Emma or Wyatt to know what they want to do and actually follow through on it. It's a great quality to have, and I hope he finds people who are stable enough to actually commit and not flake on him.

If Mariana and Mat were on the outs, why was Mat there?

I like the new foster kid.

Despite everyone being super-annoying, I actually liked the episode and wished it wasn't all almost over.

Edited June 5, 2018 by possibilities

[izabella]

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

If Mariana and Mat were on the outs, why was Mat there?

Is he Brandon's Best Man for the wedding?

[KaveDweller]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

Thank you! I knew I'd seen him before, but I couldn't figure out where.

I'm depressed that they've brought up the "Braillie" crap again. I was really hoping that was over.

Jesus getting freaked out about Emma applying for that job bothered me. Sometimes you just apply to a job as an exercise. But it still also does seem like she wasn't really communicating with him, and did have ambivalence about her choice, so in the end he was right, but for the wrong reason.

I thought PrEP was just because Jude was screwing around and not using protection, so it was a precautionary measure. I noticed it sounded like he and Callie both went to USC (did I hear that correctly?), so it's sort of interesting that they didn't really seem to have stayed in touch much, if she was surprised by what a mess he is.

Callies went to University of San Diego, Jude is at UCLA.

Is Emma pregnant or was that a fake out and she was just talking about the job?

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

Callies went to University of San Diego, Jude is at UCLA.

So I got them both wrong! Thanks for clarifying.

Either the Emma thing was a fake out, and it was just the job, or it's a double fake out and next episode we'll find out that it's both the job and she's pregnant.

They seemed to relish baiting us all episode: what is Brandon's fiancee sick over having to tell the moms? Are Aaron and Callie back together? Are Mat and Mariana back together? What is Emma hiding from Jesus? I don't really know why they think those kinds of misdirects are so amusing, but it seemed pretty clear they felt they were doing that on purpose. Does everything need to be suspenseful and have a twist these days?

[marceline]

I made it through 15 minutes then kind of just couldn't take the exposition dump anymore. I may let this show run itself out then come back and bingewatch it.

[Aliconehead]

Callie went to University of California San Diego,  not University of San Diego, I thought.  Which I remember thinking was odd since UCSD does not have a law school while USD does.

[izabella]

Callie seemed to have grown into a super uptight, humorless woman with a huge chip on her shoulder.  Woe to anyone who tries to get near her, not that they'd want to considering how unpleasant she is.

Mariana is just awful, too.  Seems to have learned nothing, and is just plain selfish and insensitive.  I guess she always has been, but she's an adult now so it's worse because she should know better.  Instead, she's worse.

Lena and Stef are sweet, so yay there.  That was about the only thing I liked, though I was relieved Brandon actually fell in love with someone else.  Maybe.

Edited June 5, 2018 by izabella

[Lady Calypso]

So, I quickly watched this episode before the second part starts tonight. 

There was a WHOLE LOT of exposition. It was very, very clunky, especially in that first scene.

So, Emma/Jesus are together....well, until the end where they break up. I'm going to say that break-up doesn't last throughout the entire three-parter, as much as I'd prefer it. I do like Emma, but have found her and Jesus to be more incompatible since Jesus' brain injury. When his TBI was still new, it did seem like Emma was rethinking her long-term choices with Jesus. I honestly hoped that they would end, but them breaking up in this episode makes me certain that they'll get back together. Hell, watch THEM get married at the end of the third part of this finale. 

Wow, Callie's a pretentious law student, isn't she? No surprise that she judges people who don't think like her, but I was hoping she'd grow out of it. She was somewhat more chill as a teenager, but now she has a permanent stick up her ass. Her attitude toward Eliza's brother was pretty shitty. She didn't even know him and the first comment she made to his job was a snide one. I did chuckle at Aaron asking her when she had sex last, only because she seemed to go from one extreme (dating guy after guy and getting in over her head) to swearing off guys completely and throwing herself so much in her career that it turned her into a serious and unpleasant person. 

Same with Mariana, with her selfishness, but I'm glad Jesus spoke out. I needed some hope that Mariana had changed in the five year time jump, but it's clear I'm going to have to think long and hard about watching the spin-off. It really seems like a no-go for me because Mariana's the exact same person she's always been, and Callie is pretty pretentious.

Brandon/Eliza is clearly heading nowhere good. I want to like Eliza, but we literally just met her and all we know is that her parents are snobby and old-fashioned. I don't think Eliza's the worst person ever, but we've barely had any time and I think they are hinting about her just being a result of Brandon's loss over losing Grace. It is a shame for her listening to her god awful parents, but I'm guessing this is as inconvenient for her as Callie thinks it is for Brandon. Eliza doesn't seem to like her parents, but I totally see Brandon's assessment about Eliza being shy. 

Seriously, though, this show is bringing up Brallie again, which pisses me off. They're siblings; can we get over it, already? I'm just annoyed at Callie's attitude toward Eliza. I get being concerned and I also get Callie maybe thinking that Brandon/Eliza aren't compatible; Callie is acting like a jealous ex. They need to tone that shit down ten thousand notches. 

I guess I can only hope that if Brandon and Eliza do end their relationship, Eliza gets her own happy ending. Yet, I don't want it to be Brandon breaking things off and Eliza agreeing because she didn't feel it was right either. Don't completely dismiss their relationship, show.

So, Jude is taking HIV prevention pills. I'm guessing, with him flunking out of school, he's just partying a lot and probably having a lot of sex, so he's taking precautions.

Stef and Lena were great, so at least there's that.

[xman4802]

Really quickly I agree way too much exposition.  Callie seems to have exacerbated some of her judgemental and joyless nature to become almost insufferable.  She also seems, dare I say it, just not a particularly nice person.  Mariana appears to have not grown at all.  I have a hard time understanding how 4 years away from home at the competitive MIT would not have allowed her to gain some perspective.  I have, for the record always found her characterization a bit off. Most women I know with a knack for STEM oriented academics and the guts to fight through that male dominated world are for lack of a better term more sensible than Mariana has been portrayed.  The Brandon-Eliza thing just seems to be setting up all kinds of red flags.  I also don't really believe that Brandon would form a relationship, much less marry someone who obviously does not respect where he is coming from.  Once again, it seems so off character.  As for Jude...unless he is majoring in a hardcore STEM field, getting a 2.0 is hardly that difficult in any college major.  You literally have to not go to class and not turn in any assignments to receive below a C.  I seem to recall that Donald, his father is an alcoholic right?  These things tend to be hereditary.  I am wondering if they are going the Jude substance abuse route or if they are just showing a Jude who is partying too much and having too much fun to do well in school.  Lastly, as someone familiar with PREP I just want to mention that if Jude were raped he would be on PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) which would be a 30 day course of the same meds that those who are HIV positive take.  Since he is on PREP (pre-exposure prophylaxis, which is a two drug regimen and not prescribed to those who are HIV +) then I am assuming that he is doing it as a medical precaution.  Also he is correct, the CDC does recommend that sexually active gay/bi men not in a monogamous partnership with another HIV negative person take PREP.  Given that a lot of teens and parents watch this show, I am going to assume this was the show's attempt at a PSA to bring more awareness to PREP as an additional arsenal to fight HIV.  I also found the disappearance of Poppy and Ximena to be interesting. They were such a large part of the universe with the older sister attached to Callie and the younger to Mariana.  Of course, relationships change, but one of my complaints about the show is that the women (I guess they were girls at the beginning of the show)  characters always seem to be engaged vis a vis their relationships with boys.  So seeing some of the female bonding from the final season carry over into this time jump would have been nice especially since it appeared some genuine friendships were occurring.  It'll be interesting to see where they are going with this. 

[luckyroll3]

Just realized in the second episode that Mariana said Mat gave her crabs.  LMAO!  She really hasn't changed at all. Who the hell says something like that at the dinner table, especially in front of guests.  And she's still inserting herself in other people's business that has nothing to do with her.  Telling Jesus about Emma's job offer was so out of line, as usual.

[MaryHedwig]

41 minutes ago, xman4802 said:

I also found the disappearance of Poppy and Ximena to be interesting.

...as well as the disappearance of AJ.

 

23 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

Telling Jesus about Emma's job offer was so out of line, as usual.

Why did Mariana tell him about Emma's job offer and not about Emma's pregnancy? That is what Mariana and Emma were talking about, right?

Edited June 6, 2018 by MaryHedwig

[luckyroll3]

33 minutes ago, MaryHedwig said:

...as well as the disappearance of AJ.

I'm still salty about this.  While watching last night's episode I was actually on the actor's instagram page to remind myself of his gorgeousness....

34 minutes ago, MaryHedwig said:

Why did Mariana tell him about Emma's job offer and not about Emma's pregnancy? That is what Mariana and Emma were talking about, right?

If Emma is pregnant, I totally missed that!  Then again, I don't always pay attention while watching this show (as mentioned above).

[Scarlett45]

2 hours ago, xman4802 said:

Lastly, as someone familiar with PREP I just want to mention that if Jude were raped he would be on PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) which would be a 30 day course of the same meds that those who are HIV positive take.  Since he is on PREP (pre-exposure prophylaxis, which is a two drug regimen and not prescribed to those who are HIV +) then I am assuming that he is doing it as a medical precaution.  Also he is correct, the CDC does recommend that sexually active gay/bi men not in a monogamous partnership with another HIV negative person take PREP. 

Thank you for the clarification!

[SnarkEnthusiast]

This show really needs to decide where it stands on incest. (A sentence I'd never thought I'd type.)

The original forbidden love premise was creepy enough (especially with Callie's past trauma) and was only barely justifiable by the fact that they were impulsive teens who had just met. So they hooked up when they were 16/17 and it's been what, five years including the jump? So they've supposedly had a platonic sibling relationship for five years and suddenly it's romantic again? Gross. The writers need to catch on that characters going from platonic to romantic based on the narrative/stress/jealousy etc. is NOT the same thing as going from LEGAL SIBLING to romantic. That is (hopefully) not a social dynamic that exists, much less a teen writing trope.  You don't grapple with realizing you want to bang your sibling based on the drama of the week.

When Stef said, "And when Callie gets married we'll be Momzillas!" I thought, "Not if you're the only set of parents."

The wardrobe department trying to age up scrawny Jude to pass as a college kid by putting him in a bulky plaid blazer and khakis makes me laugh, especially after he spent the last three seasons being "14" while visibly growing two feet. Where does he go to college, 1972?  

Edited June 6, 2018 by SnarkEnthusiast

[tennisgurl]

Why oh why is the show coming back to the Brailie thing? It was creepy enough when Brandon and Callie were hooking up when they were teenagers and she was his foster sister, but its a million times worse now that they've been legal siblings for years now, and call the same people mom! Its super weird, and if the show is going to go down that horrible road, it makes me wish the show had just stopped last season! They've been writing them as siblings for a few seasons now, so making them become a couple now would be beyond messed up.

Really, this suffered from the same issues a lot of shows do after a time jump do. Most of the characters still act like they did when we last saw them, despite being supposedly years older, or they act worse than they did last time. Mariana is just flighty, Callie is pretentious, and Brandon seems to be rushing into this relationship as a way to still deal with Grace. At least thats better than being with someone to avoid his creepy incest feelings for his sister. Thats all kind of just what they were doing last season, but its more annoying because they're supposed to be older. 

Are they doing a substance abuse thing with Jude? Well, at least that would be something somewhat interesting for him to do, and it would be in character, as its already established his dad was an alcoholic, which can be hereditary, and he has a history of smoking pot to deal with issues and avoid reality. 

Steff and Lena are still on point though, and thats a good reason to keep watching though, so it looks like I will be continuing this wild ride for the near future.