The Fosters – Trust

By starrymag | July 12, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

The episode starts out with Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) telling Callie (Maia Mitchell) that they’ve decided to reverse her adoption. They call her social worker (Sadie Alexandru), who also happens to be Callie’s deceased mother. Thankfully, Callie then wakes up and it turns out the whole scene was just a horrible nightmare.

 

After breakfast, Stef and Lena tell Callie to ignore any rumors she might hear at school. Stef reassures Lena that she will be at the school all day in case Lena needs her. This prompts Lena to ask if Stef had gotten any quotes from the alarm companies yet. Stef says she’s still waiting to hear back.

 

Brandon (David Lambert) is teaching Mason (Benjamin Freitas) how to toss cereal into his mouth when Cortney (Denyse Tontz) reveals that Eddie (Tip Scarry) won’t be able to pick Mason up from daycare. This means she’ll have to call in sick from work again. Brandon saves the day, saying he can watch Mason while practicing for his Juilliard audition. Brandon goes outside to leave for school, but sees that his car is missing.

 

The school has seriously increased their security since the lockdown—there are tall, metal gates surrounding the building and police with metal detectors outside. In line on the way in, Callie sees some girls clearly gossiping about her. Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) reassures her she’s got her back.

 

Daria (Madison Pettis) apologizes to Jude (Hayden Byerly) for being a bitch during the lockdown—she just didn’t want to see Taylor (Izabela Vidovic) get hurt the way she did. Taylor invites Jude to church after school.

 

Brandon storms up to Stef, whining about how he can’t get around without a car and how she should’ve just told him she was going to take it. Stef, being her savage self, shoots back that he didn’t tell him he was going to leave the house and since he’s an adult he can now figure out how to get around on his own. Lena overhears this and asks Stef if she’s trying to get Brandon to move back home or push him farther away.

 

Callie confronts Brandon in the hallway, asking why he’s doing all of this. She wants them to figure out how to deal with everything. Brandon retorts that she’s the queen of running away before saying everything is better and easier this way whether the moms will admit it or not. Living under the same roof is too hard now that everyone is watching their every interaction. Callie gives up, telling him to do whatever he wants; she hopes he knows how much he’s hurting the moms. Brandon snips that he’s not the one who told them what they did. Some rando in a baseball cap asks Callie if he has a shot with her or if she only bangs her brother. Callie, forgetting everything the moms told her like an hour ago about rising above, pulls a Daphne and decks him in the face.

 

Lena tells Callie she has no choice, but to suspend her and snaps that she should use her free time to figure out a new Senior project considering her last two blew up. Stef admits that she probably would’ve punched the kid too; Lena is thoroughly unamused. Stef asks if Lena is worried about Callie being home alone and she replies she wouldn’t be if they had an alarm. Lena is the queen of passive aggressive comments.

 

Mariana and Jesus (Noah Centineo) are in a group counseling session that quickly turns nasty. The other students turn on Mariana, blaming her for Nick’s (Louis Hunter) behavior because she cheated on him. Jesus jumps to her defense and the counselor tells the kids they’re not there to assign blame. It’s obvious Mariana feels guilty anyway.

 

After the meeting, Emma (Amanda Leighton) tells Jesus it was really cool of him to stand up for his sister. They make out and she asks what he’s doing after school. He’s confused by her behavior, causing her to tell him she still wants to be friends with Jesus, just not his girlfriend. They agree to be friends with benefits.

 

When Mariana opens her locker, a Romeo and Juilet poster with nasty comments calling her a cheating whore falls out. Mat (Jordan Rodrigues) accidentally sneaks up beside her and she tells him she’ll talk to him later before scurrying away.

 

Callie decides to spend her suspension at a coffee shop instead of home. There she meets 19-year-old law student Aaron (Elliot Fletcher). Callie lies, saying her name is Cameron and that she attends NYU as a photography major.

 

Lena tells Monte (Annika Marks) she wants to make the fencing surrounding the school permanent and add another metal detector. Monte is worried they can’t afford that, but Lena replies they can use a grant. Monte says they only have a little money coming into the school and they’re supposed to be using it for programs Lena has been really passionate about like music, art and science. Lena replies she’s more passionate about keeping kids safe.

 

Lena spies Brandon outside getting some air during his free period. She apologizes for Stef taking the car, although technically it does belong to the family. Brandon frustrated, says he was planning on taking it back, he just wished Stef would’ve talked to him about it first. Lena makes sure Brandon is eating enough, getting his homework done and practicing for Juilliard at Cortney’s. He says that Mike (Danny Nucci) had to get rid of the piano at his place since he wasn’t using it enough and the keyboard at Cortney’s isn’t exactly the same. That means he’s been practicing at school. Lena promises he can always use the keyboard at home, saying Stef is going to have to suck it up and be okay with it.

 

Aaron tells Callie he wants his law degree to work for a nonprofit juvenile justice organization and he’s been interning at a place that helps kids that have been given unfair trials. He tells her it was great talking to her before hopping on his motorcycle. She follows him outside, asking if he has an extra helmet. Luckily, he sure does and the two hop on to ride around town like they’re in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

 

Taylor leads Jude into youth group, introducing him to Noah (Kalama Epstein), the (female!) preacher’s son. The youth group leader reveals that the theme of the day’s meeting is trust—they’ll start with a song, read a bit from The Bible and talk. They all start to sing and Jude is visibly a bit uncomfortable.

 

Jesus and Emma are getting it on in a car in broad daylight because they have no chill. They don’t have a condom handy, but Emma is on the pillso they’re not too worried about a pregnancy scare. However, Emma starts a conversation about both of their former sex partners, making them both a little nervous.

 

The youth group leader asks the kids what their faith in God does for them. Noah answers that his faith helped him through his breakup last summer, reassuring him there was nothing wrong with him and God would send him the boyfriend he deserves when the time is right.

 

Callie pretends to take selfies in order to shoot some candid photos of Aaron. Callie shows him the snapshots and Aaron is impressed. He usually hates having his photo taken, but he’s never seen himself the way Callie captured him. He kisses Callie and she smiles.

 

The youth group leader tells everyone to partner up with a stranger for a trust exercise and Taylor pressures him and Noah to be together. Noah and Jude sit knee-to-knee, being instructed to touch palms, look into each other’s eyes, let their guards down and trust that the other person loves them for who they are. Jude, overwhelmed, quickly gets up and announces he has to go. Taylor follows him out and he calls her out on her ulterior motives. She defends herself, saying she just thought he might like Noah or at the very least make another friend. Jude says he doesn’t need anymore friends and storms away.

 

Callie directs Aaron to drive to her childhood home, getting emotional at the sight of it. She tells him about her past with her mother’s death and father’s imprisonment before snapping a quick picture of the house and telling Aaron they should leave.

 

Stef walks in to Brandon practicing the piano, sitting on the step and listening to him. The two reminisce about a time their car broke down on the way to a piano competition and they had to catch a ride in the back of a smelly dude’s pickup truck. Brandon turns genuine, thanking Stef for all the miles she drove to take him to lessons and competitions as well as letting him practice at the house. Stef says he can practice there anytime. She invites him to stay for dinner, but he has to help Cortney with Mason.

 

Callie tells Aaron to drop her off a little ways from the house. He asks her how long she’ll be in town and if she wants to hang out again, but she replies that she has a boyfriend. She thanks him for the day and he rides off. Lena pulls the car up behind Callie, sarcastically telling her that he has a nice motorcycle. Busted.

 

Callie gets deja vu from her dream as Stef and Lena sit her down in the living room. They ask her what on earth she’s thinking—hitting kids at school, going on the back of random people’s motorcycles and deliberately disobeying them. Callie talks back, asking what they’re thinking. If they’re going to undo her adoption, she would like them to just get it over with and do it already. Stef and Lena are taken aback, as they’ve never said anything of the sort and would never dream about doing such a thing. Callie says they haven’t said anything at all, even when she asked if they would still adopt her had they known about her and Brandon. The moms rush over to the couch to comfort her, saying they’ll always be a family. All three of them tear up as Stef promises that though it must be extremely hard, Callie has to trust that they are never going anywhere.

 

Jude walks in, revealing that he’s been at church. Callie admits that Jude thinks God doesn’t want him to be gay and Stef goes upstairs to talk to him. Jude is in no mood for discussion, simply saying he just went to Taylor’s youth group and that he won’t be going back.

 

Mariana reluctantly shows Jesus the sign that was slipped in her locker. He tells her to ignore it, as it’s not true. She shoots back that it’s easy for him to say, as it’s never the boy that gets called a slut. He says she can’t keep worrying about what other people say about her. He changes the subject, asking her if she’s ever gotten tested. She fears he has something, but he explains Emma just wanted him to get checked out, as they are now friends with benefits.

 

Callie goes through her phone, deleting all the pictures of Aaron, but keeping the one she took of her old house.

 

In their bedroom, Stef tells Lena she managed to be sweet to Brandon earlier that day. Stef wishes he would come home and Lena assures him he will when he’s ready. They joke about him getting his white knight complex from both Stef and Mike and despite Stef telling her it’s not necessary, Lena goes to check on Callie.

 

Callie tells Lena she wants to do a photo essay about all the houses she was in and the journey it took to find her family for her Senior project and Lena loves the idea. Callie tells her she realizes that she’s built a lot of walls to try and stop herself from getting hurt.

 

Brandon has just put Mason down for bed when Cortney gets home. He tells her he practiced piano at his moms’ house that day. Eddie shows up at the house, demanding they give Mason to him. Brandon refuses, causing Eddie to taunt him about his age. However, Brandon ain’t messing around, telling him to leave before he calls the police and giving Cortney a reassuring hug.

 

The next day, kids call Mariana “Mariana FostWhore” in the school bathroom. She shoots back that it’s actually ADAMS FostWhore, because she’s slick and witty as hell.

 

Lena gives an impassioned speech at the school assembly, quoting Callie by saying “walls don’t keep you safe.” She asks everyone to think about the kind of school they all want: a monument to fear or an open place kids can come to create. A parent says that a dead child can’t create things and while Lena realizes this is true, she says no wall can keep all dangers out.

 

A kid who bullied Mariana stands up, saying she and her friends don’t mind the fences since they make them feel secure. Mariana shoots back that she wants to feel safe too, but she can’t when she and her friends are harassing her. Walls may keep them safe on the outside, but who will protect them from what goes on inside?

 

Lena continues that the only way they’re going to keep their kids safe is by being proactive and better parents. She goes on to ask why their community and country have accepted school shootings as normal and something to prepare for when it should be the farthest thing from normal. The only way they’re going to get through this epidemic is together.

 

Stef walks Jude through the hallways, asking him if anyone at the church made him feel bad about himself. She goes onto say that, if there is a God, she bets she loves Jude just as much as Stef does. He kisses him on the forehead and he tells her to chill since he’s at school and she’s embarrassing him. Stef spies Brandon waiting on Cortney to pick him up and goes to talk to him, but he leaves before she can get to him.

 

Emma and Jesus exit the health center, floored by how many sexually transmitted diseases there are. They’re both in the clear, but Emma suggests they be exclusive so they don’t have to worry about contracting anything. Jesus thinks this sounds like a solid plan.

 

Jude shows up at the youth group clothing drive, much to Noah’s delight.

 

Mat and Mariana walk outside where security is removing the fences. He tells her it was cool of her to stand up and say something at the assembly. Mat says if they ever tease her about Nick she should forget about it, but Mariana is eager to drop the subject and start over like nothing ever happened. The two exchange a quick kiss and Mat goes to grab his stuff before walking Mariana home.

 

Mariana receives a call from an unknown number. On the other end is Nick, saying he misses her so much. He wants to know when she’s going to visit him.