Good Trouble – Parental Guidance Suggested

By: Marnie Faith

Prior to the mama’s arrival, Callie (Maia Mitchell) is shown to be frantically scrubbing the Coterie, ensuring it’s presentable for her mum’s who are understandably anxious to see the communal living space their babies have found themselves calling home. Whilst she makes herself busy bleaching the toilets, Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) looks on fondly as Alice (Sherri Cola) wallpapers hers and Callie’s bedroom. It’s clear that she has a talent for giving orders. Between telling Alice where the wallpaper has bubbled and telling the delivery men where to put the remnants of her retail therapy, she seems more than happy to take a supervisory role over the operation of making the place look presentable.

There’s a calm before the storm vibe present before the moms arrive. Callie has assured her respective secrets with Gael (Tommy Martinez) and Malika (Zuri Adele) will be kept under wraps. For Gael, it’s assuring that their relationship will be kept a secret, whilst Malika swears by not mentioning the fact that Callie is clerking the Jamal Thompson case. However, before the elevator can even reach the Coterie, things go awry. A fire marshal beats Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena’s elevator upstairs, demanding to see the owner of the Coterie as it’s been anonymously tipped to be one big fire hazard. Cue Stef and Lena’s (Sherri Saum) entrance exactly when he’s asking why the fire exit door signs aren’t lit, and it’s clear that their trip to LA isn’t going to be as smooth sailing as initially planned. From there on, Callie accidentally reveals the fact that Mariana has been getting home at 3am, and it looks to be every woman for herself.

In preparation for Stef and Lena’s arrival, viewers are given a greater insight into the depths of Callie and Gael’s relationship. What started off as casual sex has clearly turned into something a lot deeper than the pair originally anticipated. The night before her moms arrive, Callie is seen to be taking her usual residency in Gael’s loft only this time things appear a lot deeper than just hooking up. A scene of the pair in the bath, sharing an intimate moment in which Gael ponders whether Callie has ever been scared she won’t reach her full potential suggests that feelings are developing at a rapid pace. As well as this, we also see the pair in bed together. Of course, their pillow talk was always destined to be greater than surface level small talk. Gael questions Callie on her experience in foster care, to which she admits that without Stef and Lena adopting her she’s doubtful that she’d still be around. 

Back to the moms showing up at the Coterie and things don’t get much better from the minute they step foot inside. The sisters embark on a tour of the place. Lena marvels for a second at how grand the foyer is before they decide to head into the bathroom in order to avoid the continued presence of the angry fire marshal. They aren’t afforded any opportunities to save their good impression though as soon as they enter a young girl falls out one of the shower cubicles with Dennis (Josh Pence) right behind her. Having just assured their moms that they know everyone who live in the Coterie, Callie and Mariana attempt to play along with this by introducing Stef and Lena to Aria, the naked girl currently stood in front of them. Though Dennis attempts to play damage control by introducing himself to the moms, Stef instantly switches to the defensive, refusing to even shake his hand.

As some form of apology, Aria (Kira Kosarin) offers them all some of the cookies she earlier prepared. The mamas quickly take her up on the offer, blissfully unaware that they’ve just eaten cannabis cookies. Their visit was never going to be simple, after all. Now moved to Callie and Mariana’s loft, the parents marvel for a second at how much they’ve made the space their own – thanks to Mariana’s credit card. Whilst Mariana is raveling off the latest drama that occurred at the Coterie (Alice’s meltdown over the toilet paper, Dennis’ ambition to be a rockstar, Gael and Bryan being in a casual relationship) Callie is desperately willing this trip to somehow improve. I bet she didn’t anticipate the saving grace coming in the form of edibles turning Stef and Lena into unfiltered, high as a kite versions of their usual stoic selves.

Stef finds herself joining in with Dennis’ improv class, seeing this as her opportunity to express her dissatisfaction towards him sleeping with a much younger woman. It seems even Lena’s previous minute meditation wasn’t enough to prevent Stef switching from mom to human trafficking detective eventually. Whilst she’s having the time of her life accidentally-on-purpose ruining the improv scenes she partakes in, Davia (Emma Hunton) laughs at how stoned Aria’s cookies have gotten her. It’s then that the penny finally drops for Callie and Mariana – their moms are well and truly high. Meanwhile, Lena turns into a carefree, more ethereal version of herself. She marvels at the fact she can see a Buffalo in Gael’s artwork and spends some time studying the color of the sky up on the roof. Eventually, she finds herself in Malika’s loft, staring at a photo of Elizabeth Eckford. Upon encountering this photo, Lena is taken back to a memory of a recent campaigning event in which she encountered a conservative, racist individual whilst trying to gain signatures. The personified version of Donald Trump supporter trolls online begins spouting hate towards the Black Lives Matter movement, deems her as “you people” and of course just had to get the “libtards” insult in there. He goes on to spit in Lena’s face before storming off away from her.

Finally coming down from the effects of their cookies, Stef excuses herself to the bathroom where she once again encounters Dennis. It’s here that we finally learn more about him as a person. Though previously one of the least developed members of the Coterie, it turns out that he intended for it to be this way. Stef apologizes for her behavior towards him, offering the fact that “I used to be a detective in human trafficking, so when I see an older man with a younger girl it kind of sets me off. Or, you know, it could just be me having a hard time letting go, accepting that they don’t need us anymore. Someday…if you have kids, maybe you’ll understand.” Whether it be the lingering effects of the weed or Stef just really wanting to clear the air, it was noble of her to admit the fact that she was struggling without the girls at home whilst offering an olive branch for Dennis.

Following suit and taking the olive branch, Dennis finally opens up about himself. He reveals the fact he’s glad that everyone in the Coterie is too self-obsessed to question him about his previous life before living there because it’s one of pain and bad memories. He recalls how he used to have a big job, a wife and a son – a true white picket fence life; arguably the furthest thing from the sort of life Dennis would seem to accept. He then reveals that his son, Jacob, died at just six years old and everything else seemed to fall apart in succession. He tells Stef the reason he continues to keep Aria around is not for any twisted purposes she may have first assumed, but because it helps him forget about the fact that Jacob’s birthday is coming up. For him, sleeping around is a way to cope and keep his mind off things. 

The following day, cannabis firmly out of everyone’s system, the residents and mamas decide to prepare a big sit down dinner to celebrate the eventual success of their visit. Lena finds herself bonding with Malika, telling her how brave she finds her for being able to face the activist posters she hangs in her loft daily and they continue to bond over their passion for social anthropology. Davia seizes the dinner as her opportunity to quiz Gael on his stance with Bryan (Michael Galante), due to the fact he was shown to be in Davia’s loft the night before crying over the fact he really does care for Gael but he appears to have eyes only for Callie. Dennis and Aria are invited to join the banquet and Mariana eventually rocks the boat by exposing Callie and Gael’s relationship. Basically, the dinner went as well as it could with so many bold personalities around one table.

Things only continue to get worse from there – Sandra Thompson (Nicki Micheaux) turns up unannounced to get shirts from Malika. Callie reveals the fact Mariana is $20,000 in debt. Both the sisters reveal the fact they hate their jobs. Stef and Lena admit how much they miss their daughters, before assuring the pair they’ll always be there to comfort them when it feels like their worlds are falling apart. In true Coterie fashion, they eventually wind up on the roof to dip their toes in the pool, drink some wine and put the world to rights. Lena discloses her racial abuse encounter, Stef advises Callie to come clean of her relationship with Malika to the  Mariana is reminded that buying things won’t fill the void.

The girls convince Lena to stay in the running for State Assembly, reminding her that if Elizabeth Eckford can withstand racist mobs she isn’t allowed to succumb to political pressures. The end of the episode even hears Callie echo the words of her episode one self, “We’re Adams-Fosters and we don’t give up. Our mama’s taught us that.” Eventually, all becomes well in their worlds and Good Trouble has reminded us that it doesn’t matter how much your world is falling apart, sometimes all you need is a hug from your mom.