The Fosters – Dirty Laundry

By starrymag | April 3, 2017

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Lena (Sherri Saum) feels like she should quit her job in solidarity to Monte (Annika Marks)—Drew (Jared Ward) had no problem throwing her under the bus, and she fears she’ll be next. Stef (Teri Polo) disagrees since Drew now has everything he wants. Plus, Lena loves Anchor Beach and shouldn’t give up without a fight.

 

Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) visits Gabe’s (Brandon Quinn) house. He’s moving, having just got a job in Lake Tahoe. She tells him about the treehouse she and Jesus (Noah Centineo) want to build. Later, Gabe visits Ana (Alexandra Barreto), confessing that he got evicted from his house. He wants to help Mariana and Jesus but doesn’t feel like he’s in any position to do so. He begs Ana to talk to them for him, and she promises she will. Mike (Danny Nucci) walks in on the two hugging. Ana feels bad about Gabe not being able to stay and help the twins. She suggests to Mike that he temporarily rent the one-bedroom apartment next door though she is supposed to move in the next week.

 

At breakfast, the kids complain about the lack of food in the house. Jude (Hayden Byerly) wants to decorate his friend’s locker for her birthday, but Lena reminds him the school considers that “defacing property.” Brandon (David Lambert) wants to give Jesus his room permanently and move into the garage, and Stef and Lena promise to talk about it. Stef tells Callie (Maia Mitchell) there was an opening in the court schedule and her trial date is now next week.

 

Bullies place a dildo on the chair of Jude’s desk, teasing him about Lena hosting sex ed class.

 

Drew apologizes to Lena for what happened with Monte, promising he wasn’t gunning for her job. She politely says she’s excited to work with someone with an education background again, offering to take some paperwork home.

 

Callie updates Aaron (Elliot Fletcher) on Kyle’s case. She proposes talking to Vanessa’s ex-husband to discredit her as a witness for Troy. She can’t tell her lawyers about any of this, so Aaron offers to talk to the ex on the way back from his dad’s birthday dinner. He invites her to come along, and after some convincing, Lena agrees to let her go with him and spend the night.

 

Jesus and Emma (Amanda Leighton) start making out, but Emma wants medical permission before they have sex—she’s too afraid of hurting him. Jesus bluntly asks Lena to call the doctor and ask if he can have intercourse, and she reluctantly agrees. Obviously stressed, she texts Stef, asking when she is going to be home.

 

Aaron introduces Callie to his mom (Stacy Edwards), dad (David Rees Snell), and brother Evan (Gus Kamp). It seems to be going well until Aaron’s mom refers to Aaron as Allison. Callie looks at the pictures on the mantel; all the photos of Aaron are before his transition. Aaron and Callie sit down to talk. Callie tells Aaron that she and AJ broke up and admits she hopes she gets a plea deal. She doesn’t think she can handle people saying awful things about her during a trial.

 

Jude and Noah (Kalama Epstein) sneak into Anchor Beach to decorate Taylor’s locker. While there, Jude breaks into his teacher’s files in order to see what he got on this history test. Jude got a B+, but the kid that bullied him got a D-. He gets the bright idea to hang up copies of the bully’s test on all the lockers as payback. Noah doesn’t approve, telling Jude he’s a loser for stooping to his level.

 

During dinner, Aaron’s parents make some digs about his transition and ex-girlfriend. Aaron gets his dad a first edition golf book for his birthday, but he barely acknowledges it. Evan notices Aaron’s tattoo, causing their dad to make a snide comment about him constantly mutilating his body. This is the last straw for Callie, who tells him that surgery is not mutilation and Aaron just wanted to make who he is on the inside match on the outside. Aaron’s mom puts an end to the rant, serving cake and telling everyone to get along.

 

That night, Callie goes into Aaron’s bedroom, saying she’ll leave with him if he wants to go. Instead, he gets mad at her for going off on his parents. She says she was just defending him since he wasn’t sticking up for himself, but that’s not what Aaron wanted. Though he doesn’t love the way they treat him, he still loves his family and wants them in his life.

 

Brandon hounds Stef about moving into the garage, and she tells him he can earn the privilege of living out there by helping out around the house. She gives him the grocery list and her credit card in order to buy food the next morning. Lena tells Stef the doctor cleared Jesus for sexual activity. Stef is worried that passing this information along will seem like condoning it, but Lena is more worried about him having it in an unsafe place if they say no, especially in his condition. She thinks that, since the kids are getting older, they should think about relaxing the rules.

 

Callie runs into Aaron’s mom while getting a glass of water. She apologizes for arguing at dinner. Aaron’s mom confides in Callie, saying Aaron’s transition has been hard for her. She lost someone to go clothes shopping with and give boyfriend or girlfriend advice too. She’s especially upset that she won’t get to teach a daughter about raising grandchildren. She also feels guilty for putting Aaron in dresses and signing him up for ballet when he was little—she must have accidentally made his life so hard. She feels like she doesn’t know the person sleeping in her child’s old room, but Callie assures her that Aaron is still the same person he has always been. Callie tells her that Aaron loves his family so much. Aaron’s mom assures Callie that they’re trying to accept him, but she wishes Aaron hadn’t done something so permanent.

 

Callie goes to Aaron’s room to apologize for the way she acted at dinner, and the two kiss. The next morning, she goes out and buys coffee and donuts for everyone. She also prints out a picture of Aaron post-transition, and Aaron’s mom proudly displays it on the mantel.

 

Lena awkwardly talks to Jesus and Emma about guidelines for sexual activity. Because of Jesus’ condition, they can’t do anything too strenuous or acrobatic. Jesus also needs to be on the bottom. Lena lifts the no closed doors rule because of his injuries, although she clarifies she’s not condoning or encouraging anything. They immediately take advantage of this new freedom, but Jesus is having trouble performing. Emma suggests that maybe his antidepressants are interfering with his sex drive.

 

Mariana visits Mike’s apartment in order to play with Isabella. Ana tells her that Gabe won’t be able to help with the treehouse because of his job status, giving her Gabe’s new number. Mike doesn’t want to see Gabe struggling, but he also doesn’t want to risk taking steps backward with their own complicated family relationship. Ana is understanding but still obviously disappointed.

 

Jude and Noah sneak into Anchor Beach Saturday morning in order to rip down the tests Jude hung up. They hear Drew coming and duck into a classroom to hide. They overhear him giving a tour of the school to someone who wants to convert it from charter to private.

 

Brandon does a less-than-stellar job with the grocery shopping. He lost the list, so he winged it, which resulted in two bags of marshmallows and no chicken. Lena sends him back to the store for only chicken, threatening to turn the garage into a meditation room. Mariana tells Lena that Gabe is homeless, asking if he can move into the garage. She’s really hoping the answer is yes, as she already gave him permission.

 

Aaron and Callie stop at Vanessa’s ex-husband’s house on their way home. Aaron reports back to Callie, confirming her suspicions: Vanessa was having an affair with Troy and would have done anything for him. The ex volunteers to talk to the police or lawyers. Callie tells Aaron that his strength when it comes to his family inspired her to go to trial instead of taking a plea deal. Aaron says it’s okay if what happened between them was just a road trip thing, but Callie kisses him in response.

 

Mariana begs Lena to let Gabe stay with them, but Lena needs to talk to Stef first. Brandon is upset he might not get to move in after all, especially when he realizes how badly Jesus wants Gabe to help him with the treehouse. Jesus examines the side effects of his medication on the pill bottle, and they all celebrate that he can read again.

 

Jesus ransacks his room, looking for the letter Emma wrote him. Brandon brings Jesus’ pill up, lying and saying he hasn’t seen the letter lately. Jesus thanks Brandon for giving him his room and helping him with rehab. Once Brandon leaves, Jesus spits out his pill.

 

That night, Lena gets passive aggressive with Stef for not helping around the house more. Stef is upset with Lena too, as she seems to be making all the decisions without her. The tense situation quickly diffuses when they sit down and talk. Stef apologizes for the burden falling on her shoulders, and Lena appreciates the extra hours Stef is working. Stef promises to help out more, saying she thinks the kids can chip in more as well. She volunteers to sort the laundry. While sorting the dirty clothes, Stef finds Emma’s letter in Brandon’s pocket.