The Fosters – Telling

By starrymag | August 14, 2017

By: Taylor Gates

 

Ximena (Lisseth Chavez) invites Callie (Maia Mitchell) to a fundraiser party they’re throwing for the roller derby team. She only asks that she doesn’t bring Mariana (Cierra Ramirez)—she doesn’t want her showing up with Poppy (Nandy Martin) since there will be drinking. A student (Nick Fink) approaches Callie, asking her to sign a petition demanding that the school cancel a hateful, anti-immigration speaker on campus. Callie tells him she doesn’t actually go to college there and walks away.

 

Stef (Teri Polo) goes to the LGBT center to talk to a kid named Andy (Reid Miller) who was sexually assaulted by a man he was staying with. Andy refuses to talk, saying the man treated him better than his own parents did. Stef gives him her card, telling him to call any time he wants, but Andy doesn’t seem very inclined. Stef asks Cole (Tom Phelan) to see if anyone else at the center could identify the perpetrator.

 

Stef sees Joe Gray (Alex Skuby) in the hallway, lighting into him for cutting a deal with Molloy (Chad Todhunter) so he wouldn’t testify on Kyle’s behalf. Gray tells her she needs to let things go, but she says she won’t until Molloy is off the streets and no longer hurting kids.

 

Lena (Sherri Saum) opens the door to find Tess (Kristen Ariza) and Dean (Reggie Austin). They give her a bottle of wine to thank her for dinner and invite the family over for a barbecue in return. Lena is hesitant, but Mariana eagerly accepts the invitation of their behalf, clearly wanting to spend more time with Logan (Christopher Meyer). Seeing that Logan is about to go for a jog, she lies and says she’s a runner too, much to Lena and Callie’s amusement.

 

Callie asks Mariana if she’s been hanging out with Poppy. Mariana lies and says they found each other through Twitter and went to the movies together. She says didn’t tell Callie because she didn’t think she would want her hanging out with her mentor’s little sister, but Callie says she’s fine with it.

 

Brandon (David Lambert) plays in the backyard with Mason (Benjamin Freitas) and he and Cortney (Denyse Tontz) catch up. Cortney tells him they made her bar manager at the Smokehouse and Brandon reveals he’s seeing Grace (Meg DeLacy). Cortney apologizes for the things she said to him last time they saw each other, but he says he deserved them. She tells Brandon that Grace is lucky to have such a nice guy.

 

Stef and Lena have a tense conversation about their new neighbors. Stef calls Lena out on her dislike of Tess, reminding her she practically bit her head off when she helped them with an educational plan for Jesus (Noah Centineo). Lena tells Stef he’s barely gotten out of bed and that he’s depressed from being stuck in the house—a big reason why they’re definitely not going to let him drop out. Lena argues that switching up his meds might be wiping him out and doing more harm than good. She wants to think about other options like a gluten-free diet or experimental electric current therapy, but Stef disagrees. Lena is tired of Stef shutting down everything she says, and they’re interrupted by Stef getting a phone call from Cole.

 

After their run, Mariana tells Logan about the roller derby team, admitting she hasn’t told her moms yet. She invites him to the roller derby fundraiser party she’s planning to crash the next night, and he says he’ll come.

 

Emma (Amanda Leighton) and Jesus talk in his room. He promises that he and Brandon are on good terms and he’s no longer angry. Emma tells Jesus she misses him at school and he drops the bomb that he’s dropping out to work construction.

 

Cole takes Stef to an area of town where a lot of LGBT kids who were kicked out of their homes stay. Stef talks to Josh (Adam Faison), who says he knows the guy Andy was staying with, as he comes on their street a lot looking for new boys. Andy thought they were boyfriends before the creepy guy kicked him to the curb like all the rest of them. Josh has a flash drive he stole off from the guy and was going to blackmail him with.

 

Lena is frazzled while on the phone with Jesus’ doctor. In the middle of the call, Dean knocks on the door and tells her their gas got turned off. Tess is panicking because she has to prepare all the food, so they use the Adams Fosters’ grill and oven. To save them the trouble of carrying the food back over, they just have the dinner party at their house again.

 

At the table, Callie asks Brandon if he’s told Grace about staying with him, and he admits he hasn’t—why make things awkward for no reason? She also invites him to the roller derby party, telling him to bring Grace. The Bayfields announce they have enrolled Logan in St. Mary’s because Catholic school is more affordable and they have a great football team. Mariana uses this as a jumping off point to say how much she wants to be part of an aggressive team sport. Logan likes his new teammates but wishes he was back with his old ones, but Tess says high school friendships don’t last anyway.

 

Logan and Mariana lie and say they’re going to a movie. Jesus begs to tag along, as he’s tired of being trapped in the house. Stef and Lena cautiously give him permission, much to Mariana’s dismay. Callie says she’s hanging out with friends from art class and Brandon says he has plans with Grace, leaving the adults alone while they sneak off to the party.

 

Stef tells Tess and Dean about Cortney and Gabe (Brandon Quinn) living in the garage. With some edge in her voice, she informs them they’re in touch with all the birth parents, but Lena defends them; in addition to the baggage they bring, they’ve also been a huge help at times, like Gabe helping Jesus with his senior project. Dean suggests to Tess that they make their garage into a detached office, and Tess tells him he doesn’t need to be any more detached. They go inside to clean up, and Lena asks Stef if she really needs another glass of wine. Stef replies that she just wants to blow off steam and snaps that Lena should try it sometime.

 

Dean talks to Stef about his career as a tax lawyer, offering to help them get their house finances in order. Dean also tells Stef that he doesn’t think Tess meant anything about her high school friends comment. He also asks what happened between her and Tess, as how their friendship ended has always bothered her. Stef says they were just at an age of discovering themselves, and Dean said Tess would love to hear her say that.

 

Tess apologizes to Lena for overstepping with Jesus. Lena tells her there’s no need and even asks for her professional advice on how to treat his issue. She says the gluten-free diet sounds like a good idea, believing in a holistic approach to healing. Lena tells her about a booked-up specialist she’s been trying to get Jesus into, and it turns out Tess went to school with him. She offers to call him up and ask for a favor as a friend. Tess tells Lena she admires Stef and Lena’s relationship and their courage for living an alternative lifestyle.

 

At the party, Callie finds Ximena. It turns out petition guy’s name is Sean and he’s Ximena’s boyfriend. He invites Callie to the quad the next day in order to get educated on the issues. Mariana finds Poppy, telling her not to mention roller derby to anyone in case she doesn’t make the team. Mariana tells Jesus not to drink or dance but finds him on the dance floor moments later. She yells at him for putting himself in danger. Mariana and Callie meet up, each surprised to see the other, while Brandon heads up to the stage with Grace while the band takes a break.

 

During Brandon and Grace’s extremely out-of-place set, a ton of derby girls say hi to Mariana, which makes Callie suspicious. Mariana tries to keep Callie from seeing the video of her playing on the stage’s backdrop, but Jesus notices and draws attention to it. Just then, the cops come and say there has been noise complaints. Ximena shows them their party permit and promises they’re not selling or providing alcohol, but the police continue to tell her to leave and Poppy eventually convinces Ximena to shut it down.

 

While waiting for the car, Jesus starts having a seizure. Mariana freaks out and starts timing it like she was told to do. After it’s over, Jesus has no idea where he is. Mariana wants to rush him home and tell Stef and Lena everything, but Jesus is afraid they’ll never let him out of the house again. Mariana replies that maybe that’s a good thing—he’s been making stupid decisions that night. He threatens to tell moms about roller derby, but she doesn’t care, planning on telling them anyway. He blackmails her further, saying he’ll lie and tell them she brought him to a party and let him dance.

 

Callie drives Ximena home, questioning why Poppy was so nervous about her getting arrested. Ximena tells her she’s undocumented. Her DACA just expired, and although her parents want her to register for a new one, she’s worried about their safety if she does so. They just moved, and if she reapplies, they will know where to find her parents if something happens. Ximena says she knows her rights and wasn’t afraid to stand up at the party. Callie gets it, as she’s done that and got sent to juvie because of it. She’s says there’s a difference between being brave and being stupid even if you’re right. Ximena confronts Callie about not signing the petition. Callie says she wants to fly under the radar, but Ximena tells her that silence doesn’t sound courageous to her and that, as an undocumented immigrant, she doesn’t have the option not to fight. The next day, Callie goes to Sean’s meeting with Ximena.

 

Callie gets angry at Mariana for lying about Poppy and putting Jesus in danger because she was desperate to get a date. At least when she lies, she says, it’s to help and not because she’s selfish. Mariana shoots back that she never helped try to save the school, but Callie refuses to let Mariana turn this back on her.

 

Grace asks Brandon to get a set together and play at a friendlier venue. They’re interrupted by Stef coming out and saying that Gabe is back home. Brandon says Cortney and Mason can have his room and he’ll sleep on the couch, promising Grace they’ll be gone by the next day. In the morning, Mason runs into the garage looking for his teddy bear, waking Gabe up in the process. Gabe tells Cortney they should have just stayed in the garage. He offers to stay with someone else so they can have the space for the week until her apartment is ready.

 

Mariana tells Lena about working out with the roller derby team and Jesus having a seizure. Lena confronts Jesus, furious that he went to a party and tried to hide things from her. She tells him there will be consequences for the behaviors he can control. If he continues lying, throwing things, and acting out, he’ll have to go to in-patient therapy.

 

Stef lies to Lena, saying she got called into work. She goes into the office because she wants to try and identify some boys on the flash drive tapes. She wonders if Molloy has any of the underage porn, and her boss says if he’s a molester there’s a good chance he does.

 

Mariana tells Logan she’s grounded for the party and roller derby. Logan says he’s also in trouble but with his long-distance girlfriend. Apparently she saw a picture of him and another girl on Instagram and isn’t happy. Mariana is disappointed he’s in a relationship.

 

Jesus video chats Emma, telling her she can’t come over because he went to the party and is in trouble. Instead of being on his side, Emma is team Lena on this one. She doesn’t understand why he’s doing stupid things like dancing and dropping out of school. Jesus hangs up and throws his phone.

 

Stef goes to Molloy’s house, toying with the idea of sneaking in and looking for evidence. However, he comes home and catches her and she apologizes, lying and saying she thought the house was someone else’s. When she gets home, Lena tells Stef she called the office and found out she wasn’t on call. She irritatedly tells her to pour another glass of wine or go back to work—she’s sick of Stef trying to save all the kids in the world while it feels like she’s trying to heal Jesus all by herself. Stef apologizes and hugs Lena while she cries and they both go into Jesus’ room and tell him that they love him.