Though The Fosters first half did certainly present a lot of drama, it seemed balanced out with important issues which may not have been given their proper due, but were interesting. As of now though, while the show still presents new angles to old stories, and gives the spotlight to the disenfranchised or ignored, I must say the mix with the usual teen soap opera drama does take away from the program, in my opinion.
Topic 1: High School Drama – Mariana, Jesus, Brandon, Stef & Lena
Starting off with Mariana, post giving her panties to Chase, she has now become the joke of the school and is being bullied a little bit. Guys walk around with underwear in their back pocket, her locker gets stuffed with underwear, and Chase just laughs throughout this torment. Luckily though, the slightly heartbroken, Zach decides to present a comeuppance in the form of writing a bad review of Chase's performance in the play. Mind you though, a part of me thinks the birth of that review was written out of jealousy, or envy. Making it so it wasn't done for Mariana, but because of what he assumed Chase and her did.
Switching to her twin brother, he has made his goal of dropping a weight class, but Emma has gained one in the process and the two then had to wrestle for the right to compete. In this match, Jesus seemingly had the upper hand, but with a heartbroken look from Emma, he slips and though, you think, at first she may have used being a girl against him, it is the exact opposite. Leading her to be insulted because he saw her as a girl and went easy on her, and somehow, amongst this argument, a kiss is done, which is followed by another kiss when he apologizes to her for taking it easy on her, and perhaps the writing was on the wall for Jesus is talking about breaking up with Lexi to be with her.
Leading us to Brandon. With his new buddy Vic (?), he is ready to make some money and Vic seems like the type of delinquent Stef fears Callie is hanging around with. My how misdirected Stef is. Anyway, Vic does a trial run and is able to get Brandon a fake ID, and things seem a go! For, Brandon is not only on his way to making some money, but also has a friend ready, and willing, to help him forget about Callie no longer being a possibility. Thing is, during Vic taking Brandon drinking, to test out the ID, they find Dani at the bar. Which is a problem since she is Mike's sober buddy, though we're not sure if that is the only type of buddy she is. And, be it due to some type of jealousy, though I doubt it, and the fact Brandon is around this woman, Stef orchestrates a get together to know this woman.
What we learn is that she is 5 years sober, owns a business dealing with dog walking, and cleans up well. This doesn't stop Stef's questions, and Mike tries to make the best out of the situation. But, while Stef grills Dani, Lena decides to praise her invite, Timothy, like she raised him from birth. Her idea is that, rather than get an anonymous sperm donor, they just use Timothy, who is down. There are some issues though with this idea, one of them being the child's racial makeup. Seemingly, Lena wants a Black baby, but Stef was thinking of having a White guy impregnate her so it would look like her a bit. Lena isn't fully fond of the idea, and not just because she will be going through the process of pregnancy and essentially is the main one who wants the kid, but also because she doesn't want the kid to have to go through the bi-racial issues she did. For, even though she isn't her mother, the world still hasn't changed that drastically.
Topic 2: The Inability to Move Forward - Callie
As noted in the intro, we get to see some of the folks from Girls United. Cole makes a short appearance but, for the most part, Daphne and Kiara are the only people from Girls United we see. With their appearance comes 2 things. The first being a sub-plot about Daphne's struggles to get a job, post-juvie, and the struggles of her living independent, and then there is Kiara getting adopted. Now, Kiara getting adopted is a big deal, for not only is she an older kid in the foster system, but it has given Callie a dream. As we saw in the beginning, at least Callie and Brandon had some type of ambition for something, which was music, and this lead to their bond. But, for whatever reason, both have pushed music aside, but thankfully Callie has found a pursuit to replace it, that pursuit being photography since a photograph she took got Kiara adopted. So, in an effort to help other kids, she holds a photo session at Lena's school. Issue is, while this shoot is happening, "The Good Son" finds himself helping Vic steal all those Kindles the school just got, which Daphne is likely to get the blame for. And considering the stare down, and uncomfortable moment, between Daphne and Stef, like she was the one who arrested her, something may go down. But, before I say that, it all depends on Callie turning in Brandon for him possibly being involved in the theft.
Leaving us with Jesus having to breakup with Lexi, Brandon's fall from grace, Lena's baby matter, and the future of the people from Girls United to look forward to.
Topic 1: High School Drama – Mariana, Jesus, Brandon, Stef & Lena
Starting off with Mariana, post giving her panties to Chase, she has now become the joke of the school and is being bullied a little bit. Guys walk around with underwear in their back pocket, her locker gets stuffed with underwear, and Chase just laughs throughout this torment. Luckily though, the slightly heartbroken, Zach decides to present a comeuppance in the form of writing a bad review of Chase's performance in the play. Mind you though, a part of me thinks the birth of that review was written out of jealousy, or envy. Making it so it wasn't done for Mariana, but because of what he assumed Chase and her did.
Switching to her twin brother, he has made his goal of dropping a weight class, but Emma has gained one in the process and the two then had to wrestle for the right to compete. In this match, Jesus seemingly had the upper hand, but with a heartbroken look from Emma, he slips and though, you think, at first she may have used being a girl against him, it is the exact opposite. Leading her to be insulted because he saw her as a girl and went easy on her, and somehow, amongst this argument, a kiss is done, which is followed by another kiss when he apologizes to her for taking it easy on her, and perhaps the writing was on the wall for Jesus is talking about breaking up with Lexi to be with her.
Leading us to Brandon. With his new buddy Vic (?), he is ready to make some money and Vic seems like the type of delinquent Stef fears Callie is hanging around with. My how misdirected Stef is. Anyway, Vic does a trial run and is able to get Brandon a fake ID, and things seem a go! For, Brandon is not only on his way to making some money, but also has a friend ready, and willing, to help him forget about Callie no longer being a possibility. Thing is, during Vic taking Brandon drinking, to test out the ID, they find Dani at the bar. Which is a problem since she is Mike's sober buddy, though we're not sure if that is the only type of buddy she is. And, be it due to some type of jealousy, though I doubt it, and the fact Brandon is around this woman, Stef orchestrates a get together to know this woman.
What we learn is that she is 5 years sober, owns a business dealing with dog walking, and cleans up well. This doesn't stop Stef's questions, and Mike tries to make the best out of the situation. But, while Stef grills Dani, Lena decides to praise her invite, Timothy, like she raised him from birth. Her idea is that, rather than get an anonymous sperm donor, they just use Timothy, who is down. There are some issues though with this idea, one of them being the child's racial makeup. Seemingly, Lena wants a Black baby, but Stef was thinking of having a White guy impregnate her so it would look like her a bit. Lena isn't fully fond of the idea, and not just because she will be going through the process of pregnancy and essentially is the main one who wants the kid, but also because she doesn't want the kid to have to go through the bi-racial issues she did. For, even though she isn't her mother, the world still hasn't changed that drastically.
Topic 2: The Inability to Move Forward - Callie
As noted in the intro, we get to see some of the folks from Girls United. Cole makes a short appearance but, for the most part, Daphne and Kiara are the only people from Girls United we see. With their appearance comes 2 things. The first being a sub-plot about Daphne's struggles to get a job, post-juvie, and the struggles of her living independent, and then there is Kiara getting adopted. Now, Kiara getting adopted is a big deal, for not only is she an older kid in the foster system, but it has given Callie a dream. As we saw in the beginning, at least Callie and Brandon had some type of ambition for something, which was music, and this lead to their bond. But, for whatever reason, both have pushed music aside, but thankfully Callie has found a pursuit to replace it, that pursuit being photography since a photograph she took got Kiara adopted. So, in an effort to help other kids, she holds a photo session at Lena's school. Issue is, while this shoot is happening, "The Good Son" finds himself helping Vic steal all those Kindles the school just got, which Daphne is likely to get the blame for. And considering the stare down, and uncomfortable moment, between Daphne and Stef, like she was the one who arrested her, something may go down. But, before I say that, it all depends on Callie turning in Brandon for him possibly being involved in the theft.
Leaving us with Jesus having to breakup with Lexi, Brandon's fall from grace, Lena's baby matter, and the future of the people from Girls United to look forward to.
