The Fosters ended season 3 on several cliffhangers. It was a season filled with stupid moves by teenagers. The Adams-Foster clan has plenty of teens to go around. Beware the spoilers if you haven’t watched the entire season yet.
The storylines I especially enjoyed in season 3 were Callie’s (Maia Mitchell) interactions with Justina (Kelli Williams) and Rita (Rosie O’Donnell) over the question of privatizing foster care. I was happy that Callie finally realized how she was being used by Justina by the end of the season. However, her bravery in speaking the truth about Justina led to one of the major cliffhangers of the season. Justina reveals Callie and Brandon’s (David Lambert) past sexual activities. This could put several of the relationships in the Adams-Foster family in danger.
I thought Callie’s idea to create an app to help foster kids was a brilliant storyline. I loved that Mariana’s (Cierra Ramirez) geeky help made it possible.
I also thought the storyline about Stef’s (Teri Polo) breast cancer issues and her decision to get a double mastectomy was important. It was wonderful to have Stef’s mom Sharon (Annie Potts) there for much of that. (Sharon came with a boyfriend played by Rob Morrow. #eldersrock)
On the other hand, I thought the interactions between Stef and Lena (Sherri Saum) over the cancer scare and the double mastectomy were glossed over. There was very little talk between them about it, and what there was didn’t go deep. When it was all over Stef cut her hair, which I guess was supposed to be some sort of shorthand statement on how they were dealing with this huge issue in their lives.
Many of the storylines in season 3 of The Fosters dealt with the various attempts at finding love or a relationship among the teens. Mariana wavered between two guys. One of them was on the verge of destruction in the final seconds of the season.
Jude (Hayden Byerly) lost his boyfriend to a relocation, and a good friend to a beating by the same awful foster parent that Stef and Callie rescued him from in season 1. Jude began to think maybe God wanted him to like girls – another cliffhanger.
Brandon continued his bad decisions over women. He’s an expert at it. But he also wrote a rock opera based on Romeo and Juliet that allowed Cierra Ramirez and several other cast members to enact an entirely awesome musical episode. I do love musical episodes!
Jesus (Noah Centineo) doesn’t search for romance – he searches for his biological father Gabe (Brandon Quinn). This is not good for Gabe. Another cliffhanger in the season is whether Jesus is going to land his father in prison just by trying to get to know him.
Mariana and Jesus have been digging into the issue of their biological parents for two seasons now, but never once have either of them expressed any thoughts that anyone other that Stef and Lena are their real parents.
I know there are 5 teenagers in the Adams-Foster household, and only 2 adults. So most of the stories will involve teenagers. But I am getting a bit worn out on all the terrible teenaged mistakes and missteps this family has to go through. I want more of the relationship between Stef and Lena, and I don’t mean sex. I want them to interact more, talk more, try to figure out how to survive all these the teens in their lives. I want to see their bonds, their connection.
The teens are all looking, searching for love, identity, purpose. Stef and Lena have it. Their love and commitment is the glue holding all these people together. I want to see more of Stef and Lena’s loving relationship in action, I want to see its working parts. There is some of that, but not enough.
I know Freeform and The Fosters think their main demographic is the youth market. But surely I can’t be the only person over 50 who watches this show. It needs to be about more than teen angst. Give the grownups something to relate to.