The Fosters – The Show

By starrymag | March 22, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

It’s opening night for Romeo and Juliet and Brandon (David Lambert) gives everyone a nice, sentimental pep talk. Mat (Jordan Rodrigues), Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) and Zoey surround him as well as some other old familiar faces like Chase (Garrett Clayton) and Lou (Ashley Argota). They all put their hands together and yell “Unbreakable!” before going to take their places.

 

Nick (Louis Hunter) comes into the dressing room, handing Mariana a bouquet of flowers and giving her a hug. Out of the corner of her eye; however, she spies Mat and Zoey exchanging gifts, making her jealous.

 

Cortney (Denyse Tontz) also comes backstage to visit Brandon, handing him animal crackers and a card. Brandon is surprised she showed up. She says she wouldn’t miss his show despite what happened between them. Callie (Maia Mitchell) interrupts, informing Brandon she’s going to open the house.

 

Lena (Sherri Saum) texts Stef from the venue, telling her the show is about to start. Stef (Teri Polo) texts back, saying she won’t be able to make it because she has to investigate a domestic violence call. She gets out of the car and is stunned when she sees the home. She tears up, informing the other cops this was Callie and Jude’s last foster home.

 

The musical starts. The set is beautiful—the lighting is intricate and the candle background sets a mysterious, modernized tone. Brandon opens by playing the piano and singing the “Prologue.” Zoey and Mariana watch from backstage. Zoey (Anna Grace Barlow) says it’s ironic that Mariana is playing Juliet and she’s playing the nurse when in reality she is Mat’s Juliet. Both Cortney and Brandon pointedly sneak glances at Callie during the song about forbidden love.

 

In a flashback, Mariana tells Callie she thinks the play is kind of dumb—if Romeo and Juliet had just told their parents they were in love and already married, they all would have figured something out. Even though it would have been hard, it would have been better than them both dying. Callie is deeply affected by this, obviously thinking of her relationship with Brandon.

 

Back at the play, the Capulets and Montagues sing “Unbreakable” and have a West Side Story-esque rivalry sing and dance-off. It’s pretty rad and the choreography is insane. The camera zooms in on Jude’s (Hayden Byerly) face, transitioning into another flashback.

 

Jude is in bed, softly crying over his breakup with Connor. Jack (Tanner Buchanan) wakes up, telling Jude he is sorry. He says that he’s been in love and knows what it’s like to feel alone. Jude apologizes for him getting taken out of his group home, promising they’re going to find him a safe place. He says, until that happens, he’s glad Jack is staying with them.

 

Back at the play, Romeo sings the somber song “I Miss You.” Benvolio tells him to get over it by putting himself out there and examining other beauties. Brandon and Cortney share a look and the audience is led into another pre-show scene.

 

Cortney tells Brandon that she’s a mom and he’s going to have to learn to accept that. The previous day at the beach, Brandon blurted out that he wasn’t Mason’s father to a random lady. Cortney was hurt because he was acting like the woman was accusing him of something. Cortney says she needs him to be honest about what he can handle. He also needs to decide if he’s truly ready to get over Callie. If he’s not done with her, Cortney is done with their relationship.

 

We’re back in the world of Shakespeare! Benvolio drags Romeo to a masquerade ball. There, Paris is chatting up Juliet, who is not having it. Romeo spies Juliet, disguised by a mask, and is immediately drawn to her. They start dancing together, singing “Masquerade.” They end the song with a passionate kiss and take off their masks. Someone sees that Romeo is a Montague and flips out.

 

Stef and her partners stand outside the house, discussing what to do. One of them recommends they try to negotiate with the gun-wielding man, but Stef insists they take more drastic measures since someone could already be hurt. She thinks she remembers there being a clear view from the back of the house and gets permission to take a team there to see what they find.

 

Mat and Mariana perform the famous balcony scene which leads into the song “Love Will Light the Day.” A flashback reveals Callie caught Brandon rehearsing this number in the garage one night. Brandon can’t seem to the get the harmonies right and asks Callie to wake Mariana so she’ll practice singing it with him. Callie refuses, revealing that Mariana is scary when you deprive her of her beauty sleep. He asks her to rehearse it with him and Callie reluctantly agrees. They begin to sing the song about defying the rules and forbidden love—basically the theme song of these two. Afterwards, they awkwardly laugh it off. Callie brings up what Mariana said earlier, asking Brandon if he ever thinks about what would have happened if they had just told Stef and Lena about the two of them.

 

During the production, the Nurse spies Romeo and Juliet kissing. Romeo tells her he wants to make Juliet his wife and they ask her to come with them to Friar Lawrence’s so he can marry the two of them. The Nurse basically tells them they are naive and delusional in her killer number “Never Gonna Do.” She says happily ever after doesn’t exist and their relationship makes no sense.

 

Flashback. Jack and Jude blow off steam and frustration by screaming and jumping around Jude’s room. After a few moments, Jude sits on his bed and bursts into tears. Jack sits next to him and gingerly kisses him.

 

The Nurse pulls Mariana away, but Romeo attempts to woo and persuade her to stay by serenading her with “Forever.” It works and she runs into his arms. Nick, sensing there might be a little more going on under the surface than just acting, doesn’t look too happy about this. Mike (Danny Nucci) and Ana (Alexandra Barreto) lock eyes and smile at each other.

 

Brandon goes into a sort of symbolic, dream-like state. At first, he pictures Cortney as his Juliet while singing the “Forever” duet. However, the image of Cortney soon morphs into Callie.

 

Our real Romeo and Juliet, Mat and Mariana, finish their song and walk offstage. Mariana goes into the dressing room and slumps down on the couch. Mat asks her if she is okay, but she admits playing this part this hard because she is still in love with him. Mat asks her why she didn’t return his letter, which confuses Mariana. Mat reveals he put a note in her bag saying he still loved her too, but Mariana insists her never got it. Nick comes backstage, giving a conflicted Mariana a kiss and a hug.

 

Meanwhile, at the domestic violence call, Stef sneaks around the back. Into the walkie talkie, she says the man appears to be holding a firearm, but there is no sign of the wife. Over the radio, another officer says the wife just pulled up in front of the house and she hasn’t been home all day. Stef worriedly wonders who is inside.

 

Backstage, Zoey suggests to Mariana they just rewrite the show so Juliet chooses Paris. Annoyed, Mariana says neither Brandon nor Shakespeare would appreciate that much. Zoey says it’s good that Romeo and Juliet died since they never would have made it as a couple. They never had sex, which is where all the real bonding happens. She says having sex with Mat really strengthened their relationship, upsetting Mariana.

 

Mercutio (Corbin Bleu) and Tybalt have their street fight and sing a reprise of “Unbreakable.” Tybalt kills Mercutio and Romeo is so salty that he slits Tybalt’s throat. Benvolio tells him he’s got to go unless he wants Paris to murder him.

 

Lena texts Stef, saying she’s getting worried about her. She has good reason to be, as the second Stef bursts into the house, we hear a gunshot. Luckily, it was Stef that shot the attacker in the shoulder and does not get injured. She tells everyone else to hold their fire and requests a medical team pronto.

 

Another time-warp. Jack goes into Callie’s room, admitting he did something stupid. He kissed Jude even though he’s not gay and only likes him as a friend. He was so upset about Connor and Jack wanted to make him feel better. Callie says he should tell Jude the truth.

 

Friar Lawrence gives Juliet a potion that will make her look dead. He says Romeo will come to save her and then they can live happily ever after. Juliet goes home and surprise! It’s time to marry Paris right this second! Juliet begins to sing a gorgeous song called “Be Brave” while the Capulets help her into her wedding gown.

 

Jack packs up to leave the Adams Foster residence. Jude gives him hope, saying maybe this will be his last foster home. Jack starts to apologize for kissing him, but Jude interrupts. He says, while he’s not completely over Connor yet, he realizes he can be eventually. He also hands Jack a “pay as you go” phone for them to stay in touch, saying he will use his allowance money to buy him more minutes when he runs out. At the performance, Jude shoots him a text, asking how he’s doing and if he’s all settled in.

 

Onstage, Juliet drinks the potion and sings part one of “Bleed As One.” She then falls and the people around her scream and scramble to catch her.

 

We get another flashback immediately after the Brandon and Callie duet in the garage. Callie repeats her question: What would have happened if they’d told? Brandon takes this as her saying she wants to tell moms, striding back to the house with Callie in tow. Callie tells him to slow down because he knows they can’t tell moms. Brandon comes to his senses, frustrated taking a seat on a bench. Callie sits next to him. “It’s too late,” Brandon says in realization. “I know,” Callie replies.

 

Friar Lawrence tells Benvolia what’s going on with Juliet and instructs her to give Romeo a letter. This parallels the situation with Mat’s letter to Mariana, which we see Nick taking out of her bag in a brief flashback. Romeo never gets the letter, instead seeing Juliet lying dead on the ground. (Or so he thinks.)

 

An officer yells that there is a body in the kitchen. Stef handcuffs the man before getting up to check it out. On her way in, she steps on a pair of glasses.

 

Stricken with grief, Romeo says his goodbyes to Juliet before stabbing himself, lying next to her. Juliet wakes up, finding Romeo’s dead body. She sings “Bleed as One Part Two” before making the decision to stab herself as well. Mike and Ana hold hands and the rest of the cast comes out to sing the final number “Bleed as One Part Three.” It ends with a chilling acapella section where Mat and Mariana subtly lock pinkies while on the floor. Brandon comes onstage to deliver the final lines: “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

 

Stef tenderly uncovers the body on the floor, wracking with sobs when she sees it is Jack.