The Fosters – Engaged

By starrymag | September 4, 2017

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

The Adams Fosters discuss prom. Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) and the rest of the committee are looking for a venue, but Brandon (David Lambert) and Callie (Maia Mitchell) disappoint her by saying they’re probably not even going to the dance since their significant others are in college.

 

Lena (Sherri Saum) comes in, sharing the good news that she and Monte (Annika Marks) have convinced another board member to vote against privatization. Brandon breaks the news that Mike (Danny Nucci) and Ana’s (Alexandra Barreto) engagement party will have to be held that weekend. Jesus (Noah Centineo) asks if Emma (Amanda Leighton) can come, as its been a week since he’s seen her. Since its a family party, Stef (Teri Polo) says no girlfriends or boyfriends allowed. Mariana makes a joke about Emma being his fiance, which sends him storming off to his room.

 

Jesus asks Gabe (Brandon Quinn) if he’s planning on attending the party, but Gabe is convinced it would get awkward. Jesus tells Gabe that he should tell Ana he’s still in love with her before it’s too late.

 

Stef asks Lena how long they’re going to let Jesus think he’s engaged, but Lena thinks it’s good for him to have motivation to finish school even if they don’t necessarily agree with it. She also thinks some of it might be in Jesus’ head, as she can’t see Emma seriously agreeing to get engaged. Stef wants to find out for sure.

 

Taylor (Izabela Vidovic) and Jude (Hayden Byerly) hand out flyers about keeping Anchor Beach a charter. Taylor asks Jude when they get to start working for the video game company and Jude lies and says he hasn’t heard back from them yet. Mariana hands Aiden (Adam Kang) a pamphlet, but Aiden tells her about a cool new model for the new Anchor Beach.

 

Lena calls Emma into her office, not-so-subtly looking for a ring on her finger. She explains to Emma that she hasn’t been allowed at the house because of Jesus’ decision to go to the party. She reassures Emma it has nothing to do with her and that they’re so grateful she’s been a good influence on Jesus.

 

Callie interviews with UCSD. The admissions counsellor tells her that, while her essay about foster care was strong and moving, she would have a much better chance of getting into the university if she didn’t try to get into the art program. Instead, she should try a less-competitive major like psychology or social work. Callie gets even more upset when she runs into AJ (Tom Williamson), who is also there interviewing for the art school. AJ shows her his amazing portfolio and she, feeling inferior, she lies and says she’s applying to be a social work major.

 

Aaron (Elliot Fletcher) tells Callie she should consider social work. He’s all for art and thinks she’s super talented, but he also thinks she’d be great a great social worker and could really make a difference in the foster care system.

 

Noah (Kalama Epstein) tells Jude he’s not at all angry about his new video game gig. Jude is relieved and tells him about the company not wanting Taylor. Noah thinks that Jude should tell her he won’t do if if she doesn’t want him to—she’ll likely feel guilty for holding him back and encourage him to go for it without her.

 

Grace (Meg DeLacy) is helping Brandon prepare for the engagement party when he casually asks if she wants to go to prom with him. Excited since she has never been to one, she agrees, telling him to ask her when he’s ready. Later Mariana clarifies that she wants a prom-posal.

 

Mariana rants about the Anchor Beach Academy model while she, Ximena (Lisseth Chavez), and Callie paint posters for the college protest. Ximena seems distracted, and she finally breaks down and admits that her parents are putting everything in her name in case they get deported. No matter what, they want her and Poppy to stay in the US.

 

Lena tells Stef that she thinks the engagement is all in Jesus’ head. She also says she invited Emma to the engagement party, as she doesn’t want to risk Jesus getting off-track without her. When Emma arrives, she tells Jesus she’s not wearing the ring because she was worried about his moms seeing. Jesus assures her that the moms know about the engagement and don’t have a problem with it so she somewhat reluctantly slips it on.

 

Stef is crushed when Brandon informs her there won’t be any alcohol at the party, but Brandon tells her it’s her own fault for not helping him shop for party supplies. Gabe is also inconvenienced by this, getting himself some liquid courage from the garage before going back out of the party and having to face Ana’s parents and Mike.

 

Stef sees Emma wearing the ring and panics, trying to draw Lena’s attention to it in the least-smooth way possible. Lena finally gives up trying to interpret her hand-gestures and drags her into the kitchen, throwing him and Callie into a conversation and letting it slip that Callie also applied for art school. Embarrassed, Callie tells AJ she’s not as good as him and that she only has three pieces for her portfolio done. AJ asks to see her work and Callie nervously shows him. He compliments them, telling her not to give up on what she really wants just because it’s hard. He believes she can make a difference through her art as well as social work. He sees her protest poster and, after Callie explains that they’re blocking a speaker, asks if she wants backup. In the kitchen, Stef sneaks wine from the fridge and tells Lena about Emma wearing the ring. She thinks they should ask Emma soon what exactly the ring means.

 

Jesus encourages Gabe to tell Ana he’s still in love with her. Gabe finally gets the courage to talk to Ana, and Brandon sees the two talking and laughing together and gets suspicious. To make matters worse, he hears Ana’s parents wondering if they made a mistake pushing Gabe out of Ana’s life while Mariana and Jesus take an awkward family picture with the two of them.

 

Instead of a traditional toast, Brandon and Grace sing a song in honor of Mike and Ana. In the middle of their performance, Jesus tells Emma soon everyone will be attending something like this for the two of them. This freaks Emma out, and she excuses herself inside. After Brandon’s toast, Mariana and Jesus make a speech. Jesus says he never expected to have a relationship with either of this birth parents but found that it is never too late, hinting at Gabe to make his move. Brandon roughly pulls Jesus aside and rips into him for trying to sabotage his dad’s relationship.

 

Lena comes inside and finds Emma on the couch by herself. Emma breaks down in tears, saying she wants Jesus to get better and go back to school but she’s not ready to be engaged. Lena apologizes for putting the burden of Jesus’ recovery on Emma, realizing she should have talked to her. Emma is relieved that Jesus’ moms don’t want them to get married either, confiding that she thinks most of it is in Jesus’ head. Lena promises to talk to him and gives Emma a hug. Lena tells Stef she thinks her mom was right—they shouldn’t be indulging Jesus. Stef tells Lena they’re going to figure it out together.

 

Things go from bad to worse when Brandon sees Ana and Gabe go into the garage together. Gabe asks Ana why she cried when she told him she was marrying Mike and Ana tells him about what Jesus said about Gabe having feelings for her. Gabe asks Ana if there’s a way they could still be together, telling her the regrets he has about not finding her and being a family immediately after he got out of prison. Ana says she dreamed of him saying that for the longest time but that it’s too late now—she loves Mike and can’t wait to marry him. Brandon, who is snooping through the door, smiles when he hears this.

 

Emma goes to Jesus’ room and gives him the ring back, saying she can’t wear it if he thinks it’s an engagement ring. She doesn’t want to break up but feels they’re too young to get married and doesn’t want him going back to school only to appease her. Jesus loses it, saying if that’s how she feels maybe they should break up. After all, he’s not a charity case and can survive without her. Mariana comes in, telling Jesus he does need Emma since she’s been so supportive and stuck by his side the whole time. Jesus demands that Mariana stay out of it and tells Emma that if she doesn’t want him forever, he doesn’t want her at all. Mariana consoles Emma, who is crying on the porch. She knows Jesus didn’t mean what he said and will get better eventually but is tired of waiting around for that to happen. Mariana says she misses the old Jesus too.

 

Stef talks to Callie about the protest the next day. Although she’s proud of her for taking a stand, she wants to make sure Callie knows participating could hurt her chances of getting accepted into the school. Stef warns her that protests have been getting violent lately, as people often take advantage of emotionally charged situations. She makes Callie promise to make the right call if things start getting out of hand.

 

Mariana and Jesus hang up flyers around the school. Jesus says Nick’s dad doesn’t even care about privatization, he just wants revenge for Nick. He goes to see the school model, and Drew finds it broken a little later. Furious, he calls Lena into the school and tells her that when he checked the security cameras, he saw that her kids were the last ones in the building.

 

Jude finally tells Taylor the truth about the gaming company, but it backfires spectacularly. Instead of giving him her blessing to work without her, she hints that she doesn’t want him working with it either.

 

Brandon handcuffs himself to Grace’s bed, asking her to prom via a marker message on his naked chest. This makes for an awkward moment when Grace’s mom walks in. Grace is amused and tells Brandon yes, but Grace’s mom says Grace has no business having a boyfriend or going to prom.

 

AJ shows up to protest with Callie and Ximena, which Aaron sees from his spectator position. The protest gets especially heated when someone on the other side yells at Ximena to go back to Mexico.

 

Jesus goes to the garage to talk to Gabe, but finds all his stuff gone and a goodbye note.