The Fosters – Mother’s Day

By starrymag | February 19, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

During her session, Stef’s therapist (Debra Christofferson) notices similarities between Tess’ (Kristen Ariza) relationship with Dean (Reggie Austin) and her own relationship with Mike (Danny Nucci). Stef (Teri Polo) feels guilty about hurting Mike and Brandon (David Lambert) and admits she didn’t have much support from her family when she came out. Her therapist tells her the shame she felt could be the cause of deep depression and anxiety and Stef begins to cry.

 

Jesus (Noah Centineo) is pleasantly surprised to find out his new paraprofessional is an attractive young woman named Pria (Sal Stowers). His guy friends make sexual comments about her, and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) overhears him join in. She tattles to Lena (Sherri Saum) that night and Lena is disappointed by Jesus’ behavior. Jesus says he can barely handle school as it is and asks for a different para—one who’s neither mean nor hot.

 

Ximena (Lisseth Chavez) gives Callie (Maia Mitchell) a necklace in order to thank her for everything she’s done for her and her family. Callie doesn’t have the heart to tell her she already wears her mom’s (Sadie Alexandru) locket all the time. Speaking of their mom, Jude (Hayden Byerly) asks if they can go visit their mom’s grave on mother’s day. Callie says they won’t have time between making brunch for Stef, Lena and Sharon (Annie Potts) but promises they can go another day. Jude is clearly disappointed.

 

That night, Callie has a dream that she goes downstairs to find her mom making her and Jude breakfast. Her mom asks her why she’s wearing her necklace, and she looks down and realizes it’s gone. Callie wakes up and clutches the pendant around her neck.

 

Sharon barges into the Adams Foster house, informing Stef and Lena of the wonderful conversation she had with Tess. Stef is surprised when Sharon tells her that Tess told her she was a lesbian and is even more surprised when Sharon says they’re going to a gay bar.

 

Lena tells Stef about needing to find another paraprofessional for Jesus despite Pria being smart and capable. Stef is upset at Lena’s unfair solution, saying if they allow double standards between girls and boys they’re being complicit. Sharon agrees, saying she raised Stef to be a feminist. Stef disputes this, telling Sharon she always made her feel like sex was shameful.

 

Lena admits to Jesus that she initially hired a man over Pria even though she was more qualified because she was afraid she would be a distraction in the classroom. She realizes she was sexist and discounted Jesus, assuming he couldn’t rise above locker room talk and act like the man they raised him to be. Lena tells him he needs to show Pria the respect she deserves.

 

Grace (Meg DeLacy) tells Brandon she made him her proxy in case she can’t make her own medical decisions. She doesn’t want her mom being that person because she doesn’t trust that she’ll follow her wishes if things go bad. Brandon confides in Callie about this, saying he doesn’t know if he could actually pull the plug if it came down to it. She encourages him to let Grace know how he really feels about the situation.

 

Logan (Christopher Meyer) tells Mariana about his parents splitting up. He’s frustrated that nobody’s telling him anything and notices his mom has been acting weird. Mariana tries to cheer him up by inviting him and Tess over for brunch the next day. Logan tells her that Sharon and his mom are going out dancing that night which makes Mariana suspicious. She confronts Lena about it and Lena is forced to admit that Tess is exploring her options. She tells her to keep it a secret from Logan since it’s none of their business.

 

Sharon, Tess, and Stef hit the gay bar. There’s immediate tension between Tess and Stef because Tess hasn’t told Dean about the fact she’s exploring her sexuality yet. Sharon acts as Tess’ wingman, finding her girls that look interesting. Stef gets irritated at Sharon’s heteronormative phrasing, such as when she tells Tess someone needs to be “the man” and initiate conversation. Tess and Sharon both get asked to dance, leaving Stef alone to sulk.

 

During brunch, Logan admits to Mariana that he thinks his dad is having an affair. He heard his mom on the phone talking about some girl named Laura and thinks he’s cheating with her. Mariana still seems to think that perhaps Tess is the one being unfaithful.

 

Mariana and Logan’s conversation is interrupted by Jude asking if they can open presents. They all pitched in to get Sharon a star named after her. Mariana got Stef and Lena pomegranate-scented lotion, Callie framed a picture she sneakily took of the two of them, Brandon bought them flowers, and Jude gives them personalized coffee mugs and chocolate. Sharon gives them a meditation retreat.

 

Jesus messed up, thinking the brunch was their gift. He did; however, finish his essay about an experience that impacted him the most. Instead of writing about his TBI, he wrote about his moms. The essay is a beautiful tribute to everything Stef and Lena have done for them, and by the end everyone is crying. Lena tearfully says that all the kids opened their hearts bigger than they ever thought possible. Hearing the speech, Callie has a change of heart and asks Jude if he wants to go to the cemetery later.

 

Grace’s mom (Nia Peeples) storms over the Adams Foster house. She finds out that Grace made him her proxy and is furious. She tells Brandon that last time Grace got sick, she didn’t want any more chemo and just wanted to give up. However, since she wasn’t old enough to make the choice, her mom forced her to go through treatment that bought her six more years. During those six years, new treatments popped up—treatments that could very well save her life. Her mom says that what Grace wants may not always be what’s best for her.

 

Later at the hospital, Brandon overhears Grace telling her mom the real reason she doesn’t want her to be her proxy. She knows she won’t see it as respecting Grace’s wishes—she’ll see it as giving up on her. She knows her mom will never forgive herself for letting Grace go and constantly wondering if she should have made her keep fighting. With this new information, Brandon decides to accept the role of proxy and Grace is grateful.

 

Once Grace’s mom leaves, Mariana barges into the living room, threatening to tell Logan the truth about his mom. Sharon follows closely behind, saying how rude it is to leaves guests outside alone. Stef gets stressed and can’t handle it, fleeing up the stairs.

 

Sharon follows Stef into the bedroom and sees her taking medication. Sharon tells Stef not to blame her illness on the fact she didn’t know she was gay. Stef never talked to her and only wanted her father’s approval. Stef shoots back that Sharon didn’t support her after she did come out but apparently that’s all changed with Tess. Sharon tells Stef it was different in her situation—Mike was her son-in-law, and she cared about his feelings. Stef gets hysterical, saying she cared about Mike, too. She says she tried hard to be straight and begins hyperventilating.

 

Sharon realizes she’s having a panic attack and jumps into action. She makes Stef touch four things, name three things she hears, two things she smells, and one thing she can taste. Stef says she can only taste fear. After Stef calms down, the two talk. Sharon reveals that she used to have panic attacks when she was around the same age as Stef. Nobody can truly know the experience unless they’ve been through it and Sharon says she’ll always be there for Stef.

 

Lena tells Tess that Mariana has put the pieces together and threatened to tell Logan if she doesn’t. Later that day, Tess comes over and tells Mariana that if she tells Logan something she knows nothing about, she’ll make sure Logan wants nothing to do with her.

 

At their mom’s grave, Jude realizes that the cemeteries are for the living to remember the people they loved. Going every day would be a constant reminder of what they’ve lost, kind of like Callie wearing their mom’s necklace every day. Just then, Donald (Jamie McShane) shows up carrying flowers. They get to talking, and he analyzes the dream Callie had about her mom. Donald says in his prison therapy group, they would talk about what dreams could mean. Perhaps because she had this one, she’s looking for permission to take the necklace off. Donald’s girlfriend Natalie (Cara Pifko) walks over to them. She reveals that Donald has shown her many pictures of them and talks about them often. She invites the two of them to join them for dinner next weekend.

 

That night, Stef and Lena see Callie putting on the necklace Ximena gave her. They ask her how she feels about meeting Donald’s girlfriend and she says she’s genuinely okay. They’ve all been sad long enough and she can remember her mom without literally wearing her grief around her neck. Sharon yells for them to go outside and the whole family engages in a dance party.