S05.E22: Where The Heart Is

[Lady Calypso]

Quote

After a turbulent few days in Turks & Caicos, the family starts to question if the wedding will actually take place. The moms make a huge decision that will change the family forever.

[possibilities]

So... Callie, Jude, Mariana, and Brandon all go on to the spin-off? Only Lena, Stef, and Jesus don't? Did they say where Jesus would be living after the house was sold? Is he still going to build tree houses?

[ShortyMac]

BRALLIE WASN'T ENDGAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They FINALLY said what the anti crowd has said for years: it was a fling and it was a 99% chance they would have broken up. Callie was absolutely correct to choose Stef and Lena as adoptive parents.

***

This show helped me be more open-minded; I still consider myself a conservative, but I'm more 'live and let live' than I was before (causing me to clash with my ever-rigid mother).

Stef and Lena are everything. They are perfect and they are my TV mamas for life. Stef is a lot like my own mom and I so enjoyed watching Teri play her every episode. The kisses, hugs, winks, goofy faces, pet names...I ate it up. I will miss their beautiful house, especially the kitchen. Good thing I can go back and watch eps whenever I want. I love that Lorraine Toussaint played Lena's mom; Annie Potts was awesome, too. I loved Noah as Jesus way more than Jake. I saw myself in Callie; not believing she deserved love or good things or that her dreams or even entertaining the thought of planning a future were out of reach.

I will always be grateful.

[doLLish]

10 minutes ago, possibilities said:

So... Callie, Jude, Mariana, and Brandon all go on to the spin-off? Only Lena, Stef, and Jesus don't? Did they say where Jesus would be living after the house was sold? Is he still going to build tree houses?

This is exactly what I was thinking.

What exactly was the point off the spinoff if almost everyone is going to be back?? They could have still followed Stef and Lena and her political career. Jesus is the only one who's kind of in limbo and honestly he could stay or go at this point, no big deal either way. Did they just want to be rid of Stef and Lena??

I am VERY confused.

[ShortyMac]

6 minutes ago, doLLish said:

Did they just want to be rid of Stef and Lena??

I am VERY confused.

Honestly, most likely yes. Teri and Sherri were probably the highest-paid of the cast. $$$$ talks. I believe that the EPs sold them out and led fans on to believe that a Stef/Lena spin-off was a possibility, only to say, 'watch Good Trouble so we can get good ratings and maybe make Fosters reunion specials!' They don't want the lesbian couple anymore.

[KaveDweller]

11 minutes ago, doLLish said:

This is exactly what I was thinking.

What exactly was the point off the spinoff if almost everyone is going to be back?? They could have still followed Stef and Lena and her political career. Jesus is the only one who's kind of in limbo and honestly he could stay or go at this point, no big deal either way. Did they just want to be rid of Stef and Lena??

I am VERY confused.

I guess the point of the spin off is to

1. Rebrand it as a show about a group of young adults (that happen to be related), instead of being a family

2. Not have to have such a big regular cast they give raises to every season. I bet the actors playing Stef and Lena were making more than any of the teen actors, and they probably didn't want to keep doing that if they want to spend more time on the younger cast.  This way they can make them guest stars and only pay them for a couple episodes a season. And if Brandon and Jude are only recurring, that will also save some cash.

I really liked this as a finale. Liked them saying Callie and Brandon never would have worked, liked Callie picking a job in LA for Jude, liked Brandon going through with the wedding (although they are really young), and liked Marianna and Jesus deciding to travel together for a little. Everyone has an optimistic, but still open future.

[doLLish]

7 minutes ago, ShortyMac said:

Honestly, most likely yes. Teri and Sherri were probably the highest-paid of the cast. $$$$ talks. I believe that the EPs sold them out and led fans on to believe that a Stef/Lena spin-off was a possibility, only to say, 'watch Good Trouble so we can get good ratings and maybe make Fosters reunion specials!' They don't want the lesbian couple anymore.

Sucks.

I'm excited for the spinoff but I'm going to miss Stef and Lena terribly. They were the heartbeat of that show. I could done without a lot of the kids storylines if I could get more Stef and Lena. I would absolutely watch a spinoff with just them revolving around her political career.

7 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I guess the point of the spin off is to

1. Rebrand it as a show about a group of young adults (that happen to be related), instead of being a family

2. Not have to have such a big regular cast they give raises to every season. I bet the actors playing Stef and Lena were making more than any of the teen actors, and they probably didn't want to keep doing that if they want to spend more time on the younger cast.  This way they can make them guest stars and only pay them for a couple episodes a season. And if Brandon and Jude are only recurring, that will also save some cash.

I really liked this as a finale. Liked them saying Callie and Brandon never would have worked, liked Callie picking a job in LA for Jude, liked Brandon going through with the wedding (although they are really young), and liked Marianna and Jesus deciding to travel together for a little. Everyone has an optimistic, but still open future.

I also liked them saying Brallie would have never worked. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the rest. Really not sure how to feel.

[possibilities]

I liked Jesus and am really stung that they basically threw him under the bus when they ditched Lena and Stef. He was the one with a head injury and he was the one who's more of a blue collar person and both of those things come off as being undervalued in the way they just flat out didn't even bother to wrap up his story or talk about his future or include him in the rest of the siblings' move. They also made him kind of the only one who didn't make any powerful choices -- Emma decided to "be brave" and he just got left behind. It's like the show didn't consider that he could actually be mature enough to know who he is and be ready for adulthood, they just fulfilled what the character expressed all throughout the series, that no one respected him or really saw him as an equal.

And likewise, Lena and Stef were the reason I started watching, and stuck with it through all the missteps, and I will miss them a lot. I really hate that they became kind of an after thought to the teen dramas, more and more every season. I don't think the show would have gotten buzz in the beginning, if it hadn't had the sales angle of two moms. I think a lot of people who never watched anything on ABCFamily/Freeform tuned in who would not have tuned in without them, and that brought in a whole new viewership from the start.

It depresses me to think that the network couldn't support those 3 characters, but would have room for yet another show about generic youth in the big city coming of age and blah blah blah.

I wished also that they hadn't completely erased AJ's existence, and that they hadn't failed to give any follow up on Ximena and Poppy. I guess it was all budget cuts. I don't know. At least Mike got a good scene with Brandon.

But if we ignore all those criticisms, I did like a lot else about the finale. And I will very much miss the show. It did a lot of good and I loved so much about it. My disappointment with these choices doesn't negate that they also did a lot of things right. Some of the best representation for trans people, and for foster kids, and for lesbians, and DACA kids, while it lasted.

I liked what Mike said to Brandon, and I liked that Lena and Stef sold a "marriage is work but it's worth it" line at the ceremony. I like that Eliza's parents chilled out at least a little, and got more on board, once Eliza and Brandon stepped up. I wished Callie or Jude or someone had suggested that Younger Bro of Eliza (I can't remember his name) could talk to them, since they were in-laws now, and he was now part of their family. But I'm just going to pretend that happens later.

Edited June 7, 2018 by possibilities

[Scarlett45]

Awwww. This show had its problems but I will miss it. The first three seasons were the best. The Spin Off has potential in LA- perhaps Jesus will make guest appearances. 

[Lady Calypso]

For a proper ending, I think it was fairly decent. I did like a lot of it and am glad they got their three episodes to conclude at least this story. Too bad I have zero interest to watch Callie and Mariana try to find their way with appearances from Brandon and Jude. 

I am thoroughly pleased in the way they ended the Brallie romance for good. I like that they came to the conclusion that their romance would have fizzled out, while this way, they're still in each other's lives. I can work with this. I just hate that we got forced the Brallie stuff for the entire finale. 

Again, no interest in Mariana so thoroughly annoyed we got so much of her and Callie. We already got them for the spinoff! I didn't need to see them hog the finale like they've been doing most of the season! At least we got them both single, though they seem to be hinting at Jamie and Callie together. Which...nah, her brother is married to his sister.

Speaking of, though it felt rushed since they fit in their entire romance in three episodes, I'm glad we saw Eliza and Brandon choose each other and stand up for one another. I didn't think they'd get down the aisle, nor did I really care, but Brandon and Eliza did look happy during the ceremony. They have their issues, and both are still fairly young, but there's hope. Also, I'm glad for the Brandon/Mike scene. Poor guy has been shafted ever since they forced him into a romance with Ana. They also forgot about a whole lot of characters for the finale, like AJ and Ximena/Poppy, but I'm not that surprised. 

Emma/Jesus have their drama, but they officially break up for good. At least, for the moment, I can picture them staying apart. They stopped being the right fit and I never saw them as soulmates. Seeing the end with him driving that truck, I guess he is still going through with his treehouse building business. It IS oddly specific. And he gets to travel Europe with Mariana first. I'm guessing Emma took the job in India, after all? 

Stef/Lena had some great moments, but unfortunately, the show has stopped making them a priority long ago. It's a shame we didn't get more with them, but at least they dedicated a good part to them. 

Ok, I gotta say, after the last two seasons of a Jude I haven't liked at all, they really did his character right by this finale. I LOVED his scene with Stef/Lena/Callie when he was confessing about missing home. For a split second, I saw younger Jude in him and I cherished that moment. If we get Jude in the spinoff, I want more of this Jude, not sex-crazed rebellious Jude. 

I did like the ending a lot. I figured they'd sell the house. I'm not thrilled with Lena going into politics because I love her as the principal, despite having not seen her actually do the job, but I guess they wanted to go down that route. 

Overall, a satisfying ending to the rocky series. Since I'm waiting for the hook that'll get me to watch more than the pilot of the spinoff, this is goodbye for now. 

[tennisgurl]

I thought that was a good ending, and I enjoyed how they wrapped things up for the family as they were for the last five seasons, but, most importantly, THE END OF BRALLIE! Oh my God that felt amazing! 

Seriously, I am so glad they ended that relationship, finally, and we got a definitive ending for them as a romantic possibility. Them finally realizing everything that I've been saying since day one, and being happy to be family, and not boyfriend/girlfriend, it was everything I wanted. Slam that door shut, now and forever! I am doing an actual victory dance, I am so freaking happy.

On other notes, I liked finding out that Jude was struggling in school, and him sharing that with his family, the house being sold, Brandon's wedding, and while Lena getting into politics is pretty random, it works out pretty well. The endings that everyone got were nice too, with things being open to change, but optimistic for the future. 

I will miss Stef and Lena so much. They have been the rock of this show the whole series, and the reason I've stuck around through some very rocky arcs. I will miss the lovely relationship they have, and I hope they show up from time to time in the spin-off. 

I really wish Jesus was coming to the spin-off as well, it sucks that he is the only kid not going. It seems unfair that he is getting screwed over yet again, especially as he has had so many terrible things happen to him lately. Maybe they could get a minor budget increase,and he can join his siblings? I hope he can at least guest a few times, and we can see him having a bright future of some kind. It also sucks that AJ has just been written out of the show, its really annoying, as I liked him so much, and he really was a part of the family. 

Its been rocky and frustrating at times, but I've really liked this show, and its emphasis on so many people and on so many issues have been touching and real, even with all my jokes about every episode being a Very Special Episode. It gave faces to the stories that people hear on the news, and makes them human, and I think thats wonderful. I dont know how excited I am about the spin off, but I will probably give it a try, especially without the dark specter of Brallie following us. And if nothing else, we always have the good times here.

Edited June 7, 2018 by tennisgurl

[gesundheit]

I loved that. Basically course-corrected part II, quite beautifully. And we got a full flashback montage of Stef and Lena! So many tears. Oh and the spinoff isn't going to be Callie/Mariana/Brandon/Jude. It's just going to be Callie and Mariana, with occasional guest appearances by everyone else in the family. (I probably won't watch, honestly, except for Moms visits.)

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, gesundheit said:

the spinoff isn't going to be Callie/Mariana/Brandon/Jude. It's just going to be Callie and Mariana, with occasional guest appearances by everyone else in the family

Thanks for clarifying that.

They did set Older Bro of Eliza in LA, too. So I suspect he will also be around. I wonder if they will have Younger Bro show up also. Maybe he will go live with Stef and Lena in rebellion. Heh.

[SnarkEnthusiast]

It also gave me pause that Brandon/Callie was resolved by saying basically "We're always gonna be into each other but we'd break up horribly so might as well choose the family I guess." I'm sorry, what? no no no. put that shit to bed in the most figurative way possible. Even something corny like "I knew we were meant to be in each others' lives, we just didn't understand how at first," or something. But I guess they married him off to a rando to quell the incest question once and for all before the spinoff.

Why is Wyatt exclusively Mariana's toy now? He was a great character before they brought him back as a pothead. So he just hangs around waiting for Mariana to decide she's bored enough to have sex with him? For years? He always had a much stronger chemistry and believable relationship with Callie imo.

Jude's plot went nowhere and I still don't understand the point of throwing in the new young foster kid, who was a sweetheart of an actor saddled with a huge turd of a downer plot for no purpose.

[Perfect Xero]

The fact that the same episode that seemed to definitively end the possibility of 'incest' between Brandon and Callie also featured Callie hooking up with Brandon's new Brother-In=Law is probably the most Fosters thing ever.

Date outside of the family, kids, but you know, date as close to being in the family as you can possibly get.

[SnarkEnthusiast]

5 hours ago, Perfect Xero said:

The fact that the same episode that seemed to definitively end the possibility of 'incest' between Brandon and Callie also featured Callie hooking up with Brandon's new Brother-In=Law is probably the most Fosters thing ever.

Date outside of the family, kids, but you know, date as close to being in the family as you can possibly get.

exactly! I can't believe The Fosters survived because the whole thing was basically a giant shiptease for incest. Even outside of the Brandon thing, they always had Callie succumb to undeniable chemistry with...someone else tangentially in the family.

And the fact that the other siblings wound up dating each other's exes/BFFs. Because dating someone who has either had sex with or knows about the sex life of your sibling totally isn't weird. Keep it socially acceptable by staying one degree removed! lol

[ShortyMac]

Not to mention that Mike and Ana are married, too...

[Perfect Xero]

Am I the only one who thinks that when they were doing all the flashbacks on the beach, they should have flashed to Jake T Austin as Jesus moments and then come back to a confused looking Noah Centineo?

[SnarkEnthusiast]

5 hours ago, Perfect Xero said:

Am I the only one who thinks that when they were doing all the flashbacks on the beach, they should have flashed to Jake T Austin as Jesus moments and then come back to a confused looking Noah Centineo?

This made me laugh out loud! That would have been awesome. But knowing how petty Jake is, they probably couldn't do it for legal reasons or something because he would complain.

Speaking of petty, it's annoying that we were denied cute flashbacks of Jude/Connor because of Hayden and Gavin's dumb beef. Forget that religious pothead, Connor was Jude's main ship and OTP imo.

[KaveDweller]

8 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

Not to mention that Mike and Ana are married, too...

And she's having his kid. So Brandon's half-sibling and Marianna/Jesus's half sibling.

But it's really no more incestuous than a lot of soap operas.

23 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

It also gave me pause that Brandon/Callie was resolved by saying basically "We're always gonna be into each other but we'd break up horribly so might as well choose the family I guess." I'm sorry, what? no no no. put that shit to bed in the most figurative way possible. Even something corny like "I knew we were meant to be in each others' lives, we just didn't understand how at first," or something. 

I didn't really take it as them saying they were still into each other, just that they had a connection. But maybe I was watching it optimistically.

[Black Knight]

On 6/8/2018 at 11:50 AM, Perfect Xero said:

Am I the only one who thinks that when they were doing all the flashbacks on the beach, they should have flashed to Jake T Austin as Jesus moments and then come back to a confused looking Noah Centineo?

Sherri Saum used to be on One Life to Live, which pulled exactly that with OriginalBlair (who was Asian) and NuBlair (who was white and southern), so yeah, you'd think she could have mentioned it to TPTB. Granted Saum wasn't on OLTL at the exact time that they did that sequence, but it's famous in the soap world for the hilarity of that moment. I'm sure she heard about it while working there or on her previous soap Sunset Beach.

[alexvillage]

On 6/6/2018 at 10:33 PM, possibilities said:

I liked Jesus and am really stung that they basically threw him under the bus when they ditched Lena and Stef. He was the one with a head injury and he was the one who's more of a blue collar person and both of those things come off as being undervalued in the way they just flat out didn't even bother to wrap up his story or talk about his future or include him in the rest of the siblings' move.

I agree. He was the more mature of them all, knowing who he is and what he can do.

Fome more things I hated about this show, something that happens in most/all shows where characters start in their teens and move on into adulthood: they always need to have a glass of alcohol in their hands. There has never been a character then just refuses to drink, not because they can't but because some adults don't drink. But TV adults, MUST DRINK ALCOHOL!

I also thought that the last episodes showed the characters older but still acting like teenagers. I always thought that the writers gave too much adult drama to teens, and they kind of proved my theory when they aged the characters but it didn't really make much of a difference in the life drama. If they hadn't told us that they had fast forward 4 or 5 years, I would have thought it was just the next day/month in their lives.

[Sesquipedalia]

I finally watched the last three eps on Netflix. I was grateful for a few more hours with the Fosters, but the graduation episode made for a much better series finale. 

The time jump was not convincing at all! This was one of the few teen dramas I've seen where the twenty-something actors actually seemed like teens. I'm not buying them as college grads.

What was the point of Corey? I get that they're trying to show how Steph and Lena have moved forward since their children left home, but it was hard to get invested in a character shown mostly on a phone screen. If they couldn't take that kid on location for whatever reason, they should have scrapped that story line.

Another thing that seemed pointless was them moving out of the house. I like the idea of Lena running for office, but why couldn't it just be in the same district where they lived? I want to be able to picture the family coming together for holidays and events at that house. Seeing them move made me too sad for no reason.

I loved the flashbacks. They even showed part of my all-time favorite scene from the show, the one from Mariana's quinceanera. 

All in all, I'm feeling very sentimental about saying goodbye to the Fosters. I watched solely because of Steph and Lena, and I'm thankful to the series for portraying such a wonderful lesbian couple. I want to be them, and I want them to be my moms. I will miss them!

[KSenniaV]

I felt like this 3-parter finale was a mistake. I didn't believe 6 years had passed. None of the kids looked any older and it was just so jarring. I marathoned the last part of season 5, yesterday, and watched the last two this morning. It was really hard to be invested in anything cos there wasn't enough time to get to know anyone. I didn't like Eliza, the little that we saw of her and I totally didn't care if they got married or not. She resembles Talia in looks, I think, and I thought Talia was the very worst of Brandon's former girlfriends. It was especially jarring going from the death of what's her name to this brand new girl we've never even heard of before. And then there was the new foster kid. Were we supposed to care about him? He was cute and all but he barely got any screen time. I also hated that they sold the house. The final walk through of the empty house was the saddest part of the show. I also hated that Callie decided to take a clerkship with a conservative judge just so she could be closer to a guy. A guy who looks twice her age and is totally icky. I was totally into the idea of Callie becoming a lawyer and fighting for justice as a law student, but I have zero interest in watching her hook up with seedy conservative men and start working for the people that she spent most of season 5 working against. I have no interest in the spinoff now at all. It feels like they decided to cut out everything that made this show different and good so they could turn it into another generic CW type teen show. I loved this show right up to the graduation, and so I'm just going to pretend the 3-parter didn't happen. 

[KaveDweller]

4 hours ago, KSenniaV said:

I also hated that Callie decided to take a clerkship with a conservative judge just so she could be closer to a guy. A guy who looks twice her age and is totally icky. I was totally into the idea of Callie becoming a lawyer and fighting for justice as a law student, but I have zero interest in watching her hook up with seedy conservative men and start working for the people that she spent most of season 5 working against.

I thought they made it pretty clear she took the job in LA to be closer to Jude. Hearing him talk about being miserable at school is when she changed her mind.

Of course, this is a bit silly, since we know Jude won't be in the spin off.

[possibilities]

And we also know that the dude will be.

[bybrandy]

  Just watched these 3 episodes back to back.   Any reason they couldn't have shoehorned in an AJ update or an update on the Mike/Anna baby.   Brandon: "Sorry I'm late, I was just catching up with Dad and Anna...  guy little... hmmmm is cute."    I mean seriously, I don't know why this bugs me but if you introduce an offscreen baby and don't introduce its name I got a little nuts.   

 Poor Jude doesn't have a sibling to not tell Mariana is his best friend.   I'm not sure why they needed to add Corey when now I will just worry that his mom stays sober.  I don't need to worry about that for a character I've spent 7 minutes about, but no apparently the show wanted me to waste time on that rather than hearing what AJ had been up to, or the name of Mike and Anna's kid.    Good luck Corey, but I'm not going to hold my breath about ever getting another update about you again.  

[Scarlett45]

On 8/14/2018 at 6:37 PM, KaveDweller said:

Of course, this is a bit silly, since we know Jude won't be in the spin off.

Wait what?! Jude won’t be in the spin off?

[possibilities]

What I heard is that only Mariana, Callie, and older bro of Brandon's wife are regulars, but the other Fosters will make guest appearances.

[GinnyMars]

Although given Noah Centineo's new "heartthrob" status, I imagine they're gonna try their hardest to bring him back at least for the pilot... Hook all those new fans of his!

[KaveDweller]

On 9/2/2018 at 3:31 PM, Scarlett45 said:

Wait what?! Jude won’t be in the spin off?

Not as a regular, no. He may make guest appearances, but the producers were a bit cagey when asked about how often guest appearances like that would happen. They talked about how they had a large cast on the new show that they had to focus on.