The Fosters – Under Water

By starrymag | February 16, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

This installment of “The Fosters” begins with Callie (Maia Mitchell) going to visit AJ in juvie. Unfortunately, the no-nonsense desk worker informs her that Callie isn’t on AJ’s visitor list, meaning he doesn’t want to see her.

 

Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) visit the doctor who is going to perform Stef’s mastectomy. He explains what the process is going to be like, as they are going to do something called a skin-sparing mastectomy. However, Stef is spaced out, imagining herself diving under the water—peaceful and free—swimming away from all the stress.

 

Sharon (Annie Potts) asks how the meeting went. Stef, hiding her emotions as always, informs her that it went fine and the surgery will hopefully take place next week. Lena thinks they should tell the kids, but Stef wants to wait until the surgery is scheduled so it’s less time for them to wait and worry. Always thinking of others, that Stef.

 

Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) storms into the kitchen, demanding to know if Lena and Monte (Annika Marks) are having an affair. Being the little detective she is, she cites the fact that they’ve been having a lot of secret conversations lately and Sharon has been here for awhile. Lena immediately refutes the accusation and Mariana says she saw the rumor all over Twitter. Someone has posted a little video that says, “Guess who’s bumping booties?” with Monte and Lena’s face photoshopped on. Sharon admits she finds it a little humorous, but Stef and Lena tell Mariana to ignore it and that it will all go away soon. Mariana says she’ll start a Twitter campaign to make it stop. Working title? #StopMakingUpLiesAboutMyMom. It has a pretty nice ring to it. Because everything always happens at the worst possible time on this show, Lena gets a call from Monte. She apologizes and ignores it, but it’s obvious Stef isn’t thrilled.

 

Stef spies Callie walking in the house and asks her if she got a chance to see AJ. Callie says he doesn’t want to see her and blames Stef for that. She trusted Stef to handle the situation as her mother, not a cop, but apparently there’s no difference. Stef warns her to watch her tone, but Callie’s not having it—she lost a friend because of her. Stef tells Lena that AJ is refusing to see Mike as well and he could end up in even bigger trouble if he’s not careful. Stef leaves the room to change and Sharon says she’ll give Lena some privacy to return Monte’s call.

 

Jesus (Noah Centineo) is working construction with his birth father, Gabe (Brandon Quinn). Jesus asks him a lot of questions—where he learned to do construction, where he went to high school, what year he graduated—obviously trying to get to know him better. Gabe says he never graduated high school and it’s clear he’s a little tired of the constant conversation. He says to work with someone else if he wants to chit chat, but stay with him if he actually wants to learn. Jesus quickly says he’d like to learn. He then proceeds to stub his toe and hit his head on wooden boards within two seconds. He has a long way to go.

 

Brandon (David Lambert) is at work, playing the piano and flirting with bartender Cortney (Denyse Tontz). She pours him a Shirley Temple, prompting him to ask why the drink is called that. She’s shocked that he has no idea who Shirley Temple is, teasing him about his lack of knowledge of childhood stars and the fact he’s ordering a little girl’s drink. Her boss reminds her she has inventory to do tomorrow and Brandon asks if he can come in and help—he has other things to do, but none of them sound better than spending time with her.

 

Callie meets with possibly shady investor Justina (Kelli Williams). Callie admires how professional the website now looks and Justina says they’re averaging 10,000 users a week, which will only continue to grow when they launch the phone app. Callie expresses concern that some kids have been having trouble uploading or keeping their content up on the site. Justina says she’ll talk to the moderators, but it could be that the comments were inappropriate.

 

Callie says that moderating content goes against the whole point of Fost and Found—it’s supposed to be a safe place for kids to share their stories uncensored. Justina defends the moderating, saying it’s supposed to be a safe place for kids to speak out without the threat of bullying. Just the other day someone made a nasty accusation about Callie and they had to take it down. They don’t want anyone tearing her down with lies. Justina admits that she had her people track the address of the person pretending to be AJ and it led to Jude’s computer.

 

Jack (Tanner Buchanan) is checking his email on Jude’s computer when Callie walks in, asking why he catfished her. He finally admits that it was, in fact, him pretending to be AJ. A frustrated Callie tells him that he let her wait in a coffee shop for AJ like an idiot. Jack says he meant to meet her there and tell her he was posing all along, but she ran off too quickly. Jack begs her not to tell Jude because he won’t be his friend anymore.

 

Jude (Hayden Byerly) joins them in the room. Jack is about to run off, but Jude stops him, noticing his shirt is bloody. Jack makes up an excuse about falling, but Callie and Jude both know he’s lying. He admits some of the boys in his group home beat him up, but his supervisors don’t care. He says it was his fault and if he keeps his mouth shut it will be fine. Jude wants to go to Stef, but Callie says Jack could end up in juvie; after all, AJ is there because of her right now.

 

Stef goes to talk to Sharon in the backyard. She asks her if she would be okay with her giving her power of attorney. Sharon asks her why she’s not giving this to her wife, concerned they’re having problems since they haven’t been showing much affection lately. Stef promises that nothing is wrong and the rumors about Lena having an affair certainly aren’t true. Sharon recommends that she and Lena have sex before the surgery, much to Stef’s mortification. Sharon explains her reasoning, saying that when Stef gets stressed she pushes everyone away and wants to do it all alone, but she needs her wife’s support for this.

 

The next day at school, Nick (Louis Hunter) pressures Jesus to man up and tell his birth father who he is. Jesus tells him to man up and playfully shoves him, sending him flying into Mariana. Mariana tells them to grow up. School government prodigy Sally (Pepi Sonuga) says she thinks Mariana should’ve won the election. As a consolation; however, she invites her to be on her Honor Board Committee, which Mariana happily accepts. Jesus and Nick say that this will make her even more unpopular, as the Honor Board is in charge of punishing students. Mariana shrugs them off like the boss she is, telling them to leave her alone and go to their remedial classes.

 

Callie goes to juvie to visit AJ, but he, once again, has declined to see her.

 

Mat (Jordan Rodrigues) and Mariana are rehearsing for the musical. Mat asks if they could save the kiss for the performance and a completely over-it Brandon replies that would be fine. The girl who’s playing the nurse, Zoey (Anna Grace Barlow), flirts with Mat. Mariana tells Brandon he should implement a no-dating policy between the cast members in order to “save the drama for the stage.” Brandon says if she can’t handle working with Mat, they’ll just cast Talya. Mariana tells him not to get crazy and she goes back to stand at her mark while Zoey sings. Zoey’s song is about Romeo and Juliet’s relationship not making any sense and she makes sure to pointedly sing the lyrics right at Mariana. She clearly wants Mat for herself.

 

Jude invites Jack into their house where Callie and Justina are waiting on the couch for him. Callie says that Justina isn’t a social worker or cop, but an advocate and she can help him while making sure he doesn’t go to juvie. Justina says she will make sure he gets help this time—she can possibly shut down the home or at the very least get him removed from it. All he has to do is show the people at social services his bruises and tell them what happened tomorrow. Callie asks Justina what she meant when she said she’d make sure he’s safe this time. She thought she had nothing to do with him getting removed last time. Justina says she didn’t, but somebody did and she was just using an expression. Very sketchy behavior.

 

Monte tells Lena she thinks they should just ignore the tweet since kids make up rumors about their teachers all the time. She tells her a story about how, when she was in grade school, they made up a rumor about their music teacher and his TA. However, that rumor turned out to be true and he left his wife for her. This makes Lena suspicious, asking Monte if she sent that tweet. Monte gets offended, asking her if she really thinks she would do something like that. Lena apologizes, saying she’s just under a lot of stress right now. Lena breaks down, confiding in Monte that Stef needs surgery and she’s going to need at least a week off. Monte comforts her, telling her to take all the time she needs. Stef is watching their conversation from the window, clearly unhappy Lena is letting Monte in emotionally again.

 

Nick is doing donuts in the parking lot. Jesus begs him to stop because he’s getting nauseous, but Nick refuses until Jesus promises he’ll tell his birth father that he is his son. Jesus finally agrees and they both revel in the adrenaline for about two seconds before Anchor Beach security tells them both to get out of the car.

 

Brandon and Cortney take inventory and Brandon asks where all the ghosts are. Cortney says maybe they just don’t like him and Brandon asks what’s not to like. He says he thinks he’s picking up the presence of Shirley Temple, and goes to play “Animal Crackers in My Soup” on the piano. Cortney comes over to sing along. After they’re finished, he admits she finds Brandon pretty adorable. Brandon leans in to kiss her, but Cortney stops him. She says that she wants to kiss him, but it’s complicated. For starters, she’s older than him and he’s clearly not over his ex-girlfriend yet.

 

Jesus meets his birth dad at the construction site and Gabe gives him his old tool belt. He says it’s not safe to walk around with tools in his pocket. Jesus is ecstatic that he finally has something of his biological father’s.

 

Nick runs into Mariana in the hallway. He says he is just trying to fit in—coming to a new school junior year is hard. Plus, the only reason he’s making fun of her is because she intimidates him. She’s smart, confident and gorgeous. He asks her if maybe she’d like to go grab some fries sometime. A flattered Mariana teases him, giving him a solid “maybe” as her answer.

 

Lena walks in to Sharon making dinner. Sharon tells her that if anything were to happen, of course they would make decisions together. Confused, Lena asks her what she means. Sharon treads carefully, asking her if Stef talked to her about the power of attorney situation. Lena quickly covers the fact that she didn’t in fact know about this. She tells Sharon that Stef talked to her and she’s completely fine with it. Sharon is glad, as she doesn’t want any tension between the two of them. (It’s a little late for that Sharon.) Lena thanks her for making dinner again, going upstairs to talk to Stef. Exhausted, Stef is lying bed. Lena asks if she’s okay and Stef replies that she just needs some rest because she didn’t sleep well last night.

 

Jesus walks in to Mariana plucking her eyebrows. Jesus asks why girls inflict so much pain on themselves just to be pretty, but she replies not everyone can rock a unibrow like he can. He asks if she’s curious about their birth dad and Mariana says no. Jesus admits that Nick has been asking questions about him. Mariana tells him to just tell Nick that “it’s personal.” Jesus says that, although Mariana hates Nick, she should go easy on him tomorrow when he’s sent to her Honor Board for doing donuts in the school parking lot. Mariana says that Nick really isn’t so bad and she’ll see what she can do.

 

Callie tells Brandon she needs the car, but Brandon argues that he needs it to get to work. Brandon asks if she needs it to see her boyfriend in juvie, but Callie tells him he needs to move on. Brandon asks what that means and Callie says she’s putting on Romeo and Juliet, which doesn’t sound much like moving on to her. Brandon finally hands over the keys and Callie drives off.

 

Nick comes into his meeting with the Honor Board looking like a choirboy and winking at Mariana. Mariana reads his charges and asks if he has anything to say for himself. Nick says it’s hard coming to a new school and he was just trying to show off in order to make a friend. He says that he loves Anchor Beach and is very sorry for his actions. Sally says that, since it’s first offense, he can be let off with a warning. Mariana agrees, but only if he cleans up the skid marks he made in the parking lot. She kicks a bucket, sponge and kneepads his way.

 

Jesus tells Gabe he’s impressed they managed to frame an entire room in one day and Gabe compliments him for being a good worker. Jesus admits that his name isn’t actually Nick—it’s Jesus and he’s Gabe’s son. He apologizes for not telling him right away, that he just wanted to get a chance to know him first. Gabe freaks out, saying he can’t be near Jesus. Jesus is hurt, saying he doesn’t want anything from him, but Gabe is relentless. It’s not that he’s worried about; he legally can’t be near his son. He warns Jesus never to come around the construction site again.

 

Jack shows up to his meeting with Justina, Callie and Jude with a broken arm. He admits the boys did it to him, but he told the doctors he had fallen. The boys have promised to protect him now—give him food, video games and anything else he wants. For the first time he has the power. Callie says that if he doesn’t speak out, he’s giving his power away and the power of every other kid this is happening to in foster care. Jack once again apologizes for impersonating AJ and says that if he gets taken out of this home he’ll just get put in another one where he has absolutely no control. Jude doesn’t understand why Jack is doing this and Justina says that some people don’t want to be saved. Callie corrects her: everybody wants to be saved, but some people just need permission. It’s clear Callie sees a lot of her old self in Jack.

 

Mariana sees Nick scrubbing away in the parking lot. She says he’s off the hook for the fries, as she knows it wasn’t a serious offer. Nick says it was a serious offer and he’ll even let for borrow those kneepads for their date. Mariana is disgusted, but Nick immediately apologizes, saying he doesn’t know why he acts this way around her. She makes him say stupid things because she’s truly so beautiful. Mariana relents, saying that she’ll go out with him. “When?” he asks eagerly. “I don’t know. Text me,” she sasses back.

 

Lena walks in to find Stef at the table. Stef makes the bad joke that she’s getting her affairs in order, which Lena doesn’t find funny. She wants to update both of their wills and get their money in order in case something were to happen. Lena also guesses she wants to talk about her power of attorney, which surprises Stef. Lena says that Sharon told her she was going to go to the school and talk to her about it the previous day. Stef said that she did, but she and Monte were alone with the door closed. Lena said they thought they could move past this.

 

Stef says she gave Sharon power of attorney so she didn’t have to be the one to decide to pull the plug. Lena shoots back that maybe she’s afraid Lena will pull the plug since she’s convinced she’s in love with Monte. Stef admits she doesn’t think she’s in love with Monte, but she’s worried she will fall in love with her because Stef will be ugly after the surgery. She says maybe she was trying to talk her out of the mastectomy because she worried she wouldn’t be attracted to her afterwards.

 

Lena says that circumstances have completely changed since then—she said that when the mastectomy wasn’t necessary and wouldn’t potentially change her life. Stef disagrees, saying it’s the all the same. The surgery will still make her ugly—her breasts will be hard and artificial; her nipples will be tattooed on. She’s not scared of the surgery, she’s afraid of losing Lena after it. Lena says what’s beautiful about Stef is so much more than her body—it’s her heart, soul, courage, laugh and heart. Lena loves this life they built together and Stef is and will always be her home. She apologizes for saying anything that would have made Stef feel like that ever wouldn’t be true. She will always find her attractive, sexy, and beautiful no matter what. They’re both crying by now and Stef whispers that she’s scared. Lena says it’s okay to be scared and asks what she can do for her. After a moment’s hesitation, Stef replies she could take her swimming.

 

Brandon goes to talk to Cortney. He says that, while he is still getting over someone, she’s not just the rebound. Sometimes they are really meant to be. Brandon spies a car seat in her car and Cortney says that she has a two-year-old son. She tells Brandon to really think about how much complication he’s willing to handle.

 

Callie goes to the prison and she’s finally on the list. However, when she sits down, we see she was on Ty’s (Chris Warrens) list instead of AJ’s. She says that AJ won’t see any of her family. She asks Ty to give him permission to have a foster family that will love and take care of him until Ty is out of jail.

 

Jesus tells Mariana he’s been working with their birth dad and Mariana flips out. Jesus asks why he wouldn’t legally be allowed to be around him and Mariana replies that maybe Ana took out a restraining order on him. Stef calls everyone downstairs for a family meeting.

 

We cut to the family sitting around the living room, Stef having just got done explaining the situation. She says she’ll be out of the hospital a few days, and she’ll be fine after. The way they can help is by making sure they pitch in around the house and stay close to her and each other. Being together as a family is more healing than any medicine. They all gather around for a group hug.

 

Lena sneaks Stef into the neighbor’s yard to go swimming, as the neighbors are out of town. Stef is afraid someone will call the cops, but Lena reminds her that she is a cop. Lena says she’s following through on her promise to take her swimming. Stef protests that they don’t have suits, but Lena replies they don’t need them before stripping down. Last one in has to be on top that night.

 

Brandon stares at a picture of he and Stef while Callie and Mariana google information about what a skin-sparing mastectomy is.

 

Stef and Lena share a romantic dip in the pool before having a little steamy alone time by the light of the moon.

 

Late that night, Mariana googles information about her birth father. It turns out that he was charged with a lewd or lascivious act with a minor in 1997.