The whole family is dealing with the aftermath of Jesus’ traumatic brain injury in this episode of The Fosters, titled “Doors and Windows.” Plus, Emma’s got a secret, and there’s a new development in Kyle’s case that may not be what Callie wants to hear.
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Communication
After taking the doors off the kids’ bedrooms in a previous episode of The Fosters, Stef and Lena watch with amusement while the kids fight over the one bathroom left with doors for privacy the morning before school — except for Mariana, who doesn’t even want to go and deal with the gossip surrounding her and Mat’s break-up. But Stef tells her that she has to go and reminds her that she has her first therapy appointment after school that day as well.
At the appointment, the therapist helps Mariana make a breakthrough; all her feelings of fear and helplessness in regards to the Nick situation are not new. In fact, they go back as far as when she and Jesus were babies, when she can remember being left along in their crib by their mother for a long time. Later, she puts a sheet up in her doorway, telling her moms that her therapist gave her permission because Mariana taking some power and privacy back is important. He also wants to meet the moms in a session with their daughter the next afternoon, which they agree to.
At that appointment, the therapist helps the moms and Mariana see that their perspectives on the situation in their household are different. He makes the point that bedroom doors aren’t the reason kids shut their parents out; it usually has to do with bad communication and a lack of trust. He reminds the parents that they have to treat each kid’s issues with respect, even if some seem bigger than others.
So later that night, the moms work to put the doors back on the kids’ rooms. They make the point that secrets are the issue, not doors, and they all need to work on their trust and communication. Just another “after school special” message for you all, courtesy of The Fosters!
Another Secret
Jesus is still struggling in this episode with his traumatic brain injury, which has led to all sorts of issues: a loss of motor skills, the inability to walk without trouble, difficulty reading and mood swings, just to mention a few. At a physical therapy session with Lena, he gets angry with her, and the therapist reminds her in private that that short fuse may never go away.
When Jesus snaps at Lena again at home, Brandon sees some of the aftermath and offers to take his brother to his session the next day instead of Lena, which she is grateful for. Of course, Jesus gets frustrated with his brother at the session as well, but Brandon tries not to take it personally.
But the real story for Jesus and Brandon in this episode involves Emma, Jesus’ girlfriend. Though she tells Mariana early on in the episode that the pregnancy test she bought came back negative and she got her period, she later tearfully confesses to Brandon that she is, in fact, a few weeks pregnant, despite being on the pill. She doesn’t want to tell Jesus, with everything he’s dealing with, and doesn’t feel like she can tell either her parents or Brandon’s.
Brandon tells her that he’ll be there for her and comforts her. But Jesus has suspicions about their closeness and manages to make his way partway up the stairs to try to listen in on their conversation in Mariana’s room. All he manages to witness is the two of them leaving her room at the same time. With his “short fuse,” that probably won’t end well.
A Break in the Case
Also in this episode of The Fosters, Callie and Aaron go to Kyle to let him know about the DNA found in the murder that Kyle is imprisoned for committing, and it seems to suggest that a male relative was the culprit, not him. But because they didn’t get the evidence legally, it’s not permissible in court. What they need is a motive, which could lead a judge to demand DNA from Troy, the grandson of the victim, who Callie is also embroiled in a legal battle with involving the car crash they were in. Confusing, huh?
Kyle tells them that Troy was always hitting up Martha, his grandmother, for money, so that might be enough to pursue him as a suspect. After some arguing with Callie, Stef eventually does some digging of her own regarding Troy and finds that he has bad credit and was excluded from Martha’s will just days before her death. She confronts Gray about this, and in a surprising move, he gives her a key for access to all the files involved in the case so she can see for herself why he didn’t go after Troy when he investigated the murder.
The results are not great for Callie. Stef and Lena sit her down, and Stef explains that Troy couldn’t have done it, as he has an airtight alibi and Stef saw video showing that he couldn’t have done it. Callie thinks Gray might have messed with the files, but the moms shut her down. They want her to stop pursuing the case, and without proof of Troy’s involvement, they also can’t prove a reason for Callie to have been scared enough to run from the car accident she was involved in with him.
Callie’s New Deal
Speaking of that incident, Callie’s lawyers have a new deal for her that might keep her out of prison. If everyone involved in the accident signs a contract saying they’re willing to drop all charges, and that they have no intention of going after Callie in a civil court, she could walk away from the whole thing. The catch? Callie’s side will have to pay for all the costs for the other individuals involved — medical, auto, the works. It’s likely to come to $300,000.
Stef and Lena don’t have that kind of money, but Robert does, and he’s willing to pay it if it makes the whole thing disappear for Callie. With Callie’s record, a trial may not go her way, so it might be the best option. After that meeting, Stef and Robert talk privately, and he lets her know about Sophia’s encounter with Doug Harvey, where he accused her of creeping around his house. That was Callie, not Sophia, of course. And Stef confronts her in the car later, telling her that if the District Attorney finds out, her deal is off and she would almost definitely go to jail.
Stef tells her to leave it alone and to focus on her own problems, but Callie is still determined. However, after the revelation about Troy’s alibi, the whole thing kind of falls apart, and Callie has to face the fact that the deal is probably the way to go, even if it doesn’t seem right or fair to her. She later seems to make the decision that she’s definitely going to take it, but anything could still happen.
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The Promotion
Stef is called to a meeting with a superior, Captain Rogers, and she’s unsure whether to bring up her suspicions in regards to Detective Gray to the captain as she had originally planned to do. With a promotion on the line, Lena doesn’t want her to do it, and Stef wrestles with the decision.
At the meeting, before she can go into it, Rogers tells Stef that she has, in fact, been promoted to detective — and in the human trafficking division, which is apparently kind of a big deal. Rogers also warns her about telling her anything that might jeopardize her new role, and Stef seems to keep quiet about it.
Later, Callie is upset with her for not pursuing Gray and Molloy and their possible involvement in covering up evidence in past cases, including Kyle’s, but Stef tells Lena privately that she hasn’t totally dropped it. She’s just going to tackle the situation a different way — from the inside.
Tensions
Callie also settles on a new senior project in this episode, after looking at the case file that lawyers provided to her at the meeting about her new deal. After her experience in solitary confinement, she decides to build a cell similar to the one she was kept in, and wallpaper it with papers from her file, to make a point about people being boiled down to words on paper rather than the circumstances of how they might have ended up there. It’s certainly an interesting concept.
Aaron offers to help her after she tells him about the idea and her experience in juvie, but it’s not until AJ shows up that they can really get started because he’s actually knowledgeable about construction and they’re not. But things get tense after they build the structure and Aaron leaves when AJ confronts Callie about why she asked Aaron to help her, and not him, and why she told Aaron about her being in solitary confinement and not him.
Things seem to calm down and AJ comforts Callie, but when he makes a comment about him being glad that she’ll take the deal she’s been offered so she won’t end up like his brother, Ty, she tenses up again As is pointed out during their ensuing conversation, Callie has someone who can make her legal troubles go away. Ty and other kids in trouble don’t have that. She gets further frustrated by the situation, but as her moms tell her later, things in life aren’t always fair or right.
Brandon’s Newest Interest
While at Jesus’ physical therapy appointment, Brandon hears music down the hall and stumbles upon a music therapy class. It’s run by a young woman named Grace, because of course it is. Brandon can’t stay away from slightly older women for the life of him, can he? Anyway…
Grace tells Brandon a little bit about music therapy, including how music can literally help to rewire the brain. He explains about Jesus and asks her out for coffee, but she declines, saying she has a boyfriend. Brandon tries to say that that’s not what he meant, but I think we all know the truth. She does offer for him to sit in on one of her classes, though, and he seems to taken an interest in the subject.
In fact, later on, Brandon has Jesus and Emma practice playing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” on the piano, and when Lena gets home, he explains what he learned by meeting Grace. Could this be a new direction for Brandon after the disappointing retraction of his enrollment at Juilliard?
Disappointment
Speaking of disappointment, by the end of this episode, Callie goes to tell Kyle what she’s learned about his case and that they no longer think Troy or Doug killed Martha. That leaves them at a dead end, and it leaves Kyle imprisoned indefinitely.
Though he tries to seem thankful for her help, Kyle is clearly upset by the development. He’s even more upset after he asks about Callie’s trial, and she explains that she’s basically walking away from any sort of jail time by comparison. He’s upset that she got his hopes up but leaves before she can talk with him any further. Can you blame the guy?
When Emma and Jesus are talking alone in his room after he saw Emma and Brandon seemingly alone together, Jesus gets upset with her and asks his girlfriend to leave. After she does, he picks up a letter, one of many full of well-wishes from classmates, but it’s quickly made clear that he’s unable to read it. He clutches it and cries quietly, frustrated and upset by his situation. Poor guy.
Finally, late one night after Callie has finished her project, she sits in the “cell” outside, alone, until Aaron drops by. She tells him she went and explained everything to Kyle and also tells him that she’s decided to take the deal for her case. He tells her he thinks that’s good, as he thinks she deserves a break for once. Then after a beat, he moves in to kiss her. But Callie stops it just in time and diverts the topic. Uh oh. Maybe AJ wasn’t totally wrong about how close Callie and Aaron are after all.
Will Callie officially end up taking her deal? What does Emma do about her pregnancy? And where the heck was Jude in this episode?! Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The Fosters season 4 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Freeform. Want more news? Like BuddyTV’s Facebook page.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
