The Fosters - Recap: I Think We Might Be Outlaws

I've often noted that The Fosters doesn't do high school drama nearly as well as it does family drama, yet "Metropolis" shows that the series is certainly capable of ratcheting up the tension, and illustrating the ways in which youthful martyrdom can clash against the ingrained bitterness of high school society. It certainly helped that there was plenty of solid family drama to underpin all the teen melodrama, as this episode struck a pretty solid balance between the two different halves of this series, one centering on the unique nature of the modern family, and the other focusing on the often twisted politics of teen social circles. Maybe it's not prestige television, but I've never felt as if The Fosters has had its heart in the wrong place. There's a lot to be said for a series that knows what it is, plays to its strengths, and never talks down to its audience. Is "Metropolis" the best episode of the season? Not really. But it's an hour of TV that understands how heartbreak can feel like the end of the world, and how the choices made out of those heightened emotions very much can be.

Credit: ABC Family

I suppose if I had to get on the show's case about one thing, it'd be about the tiresome trope of "Unpopular Girl Gets Nominated for Prom/Homecoming/Ball Queen as a Joke". This ends up being the case of Callie (Maia Mitchell), who is nominated for Winter Ball Queen, an honor she neither wants nor plans to accept. However, Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) talk her into going, arguing that her appearance at the function will look good on Principal Sanchez's report to her parole officer. So she goes, which makes an already complicated situation more troublesome. As it turns out, Vico has decided to get back at Brandon (David Lambert) by framing Callie for buying the alcohol that the students are passing around in the bathroom. And it looks all the more suspicious once Callie wins Queen (along with King Vico, who looks for all the world like King Joffrey in his crown), and the story then becomes that Callie bought the alcohol in exchange for votes. When Callie tries to argue to Principal Sanchez that she never wanted the honor, the principal doesn't exactly believe her, since Callie made the mistake of sucking it up and putting on a brave face when she won, offering a heartfelt thanks to everyone who voted for her. Worse, there actually is hard evidence against Callie, as Vico planted a fake ID in Callie's purse, which she left at her table when leaving to dance with Brandon. Of course, while Brandon's offer to dance may have given Vico the window to plant the evidence to condemn her, it's Brandon who falls on his sword to save Callie.

Credit: ABC Family

Realizing that he's still in love with her, and listening to the "go get her!" advice of Dani (Marla Sokoloff), Brandon tries to win Callie back by inviting her over to listen to a piano rendition of his love song for her, "Outlaws." However, she cancels on him because Wyatt (Alex Saxon) is back, and he apparently has nowhere to stay. Callie gets Wyatt at serving gig at the Winter Ball so he can bail out his car from the impound lot, and even finds him temporary lodging with Daphne (Daffany Clark), but all Brandon hears is that he was basically ditched for the guy Callie ran away with months earlier. In the episode's best scene, Brandon tells Callie that even if she's adopted, they'll never be brother and sister, to which Callie poignantly responds that, if that's the case, Stef and Lena could never be her real moms. In essence, Brandon is being portrayed as selfish, failing to understand that what Callie needs isn't a boyfriend, but a real family. It isn't that Brandon should ignore his feelings, but rather that he shouldn't hold Callie's against her: in choosing family over her love life, Callie is accused by Brandon of having never felt anything for him, which seems preposterously unfair. Brandon pleads with her to tell him something that will help him get over her, and so she lies and says she slept with Wyatt, in order to drive Brandon away for good.

Credit: ABC

Of course, without this lie, Brandon might not have felt as compelled to fall on his sword for Callie when the cops come calling. Realizing that it will be Vico's word against his, Brandon decides the only way to save Callie is to pretend that he was the one to set her up. And sure enough, he has the evidence to back up his claim, admitting to stealing the key and presenting his own fake ID with which he allegedly purchased the alcohol. He claims to have done it in order to get back at Callie for leading him on, only to later realize that she wasn't leading him on, she simply didn't feel the same way he did. Naturally, we know Brandon is making this all up, but it becomes immediately apparent that Callie realizes it too. As Brandon is hauled away in a police car on Stef's reluctant orders, Callie confesses that she made up the story about sleeping with Wyatt. But it's too little, too late. Brandon is hauled off, and things only get worse for him from there. At the police station, he has a conversation with Mike (Danny Nucci) and Stef in the back of the squad car, in which Stef's worst fears are confirmed: Ana (Alexandra Barreto), who attempts to extort $10,000 from her at the start of the episode, was apparently telling the truth. Brandon did bribe her to change her story. And if the D.A. finds out about it, Mike could be out of a career, and Brandon could be facing serious jail time. It's a story that's as heavy as anything The Fosters has done this season, given the serious predicament it places these characters in. It's often said that the best kinds of conflicts in a story are the ones in which there's no apparent way out for the characters, and such is the case here. I have no idea how Brandon and co. are going to avoid either someone losing a career, going to jail, or worse.

Credit: ABC Family

It's such a stunningly effective story that everything else in the episode pales in comparison. Stef makes an insensitive comment about the lack of intimacy involved in Lena's insemination, and it ends up causing friction between the two. But, as with everything in the episode, it's swept to the background in the wake of the trouble facing Brandon. But not everyone is involved with the Brandon/Callie stuff this week: Jesus (Jake T. Austin) is slowly unraveling without his meds, but his heart is clearly in the right place, as he attempts to defend Emma from her drunken, sexually aggressive Winter Ball date. However, Emma doesn't appreciate his interference and angrily tells him to just stay away from her from now on. Naturally, I can't help but feel as if I've missed a storyline somewhere along the way, since I'm really not sure why these two are so suddenly antagonistic towards each other, but then, I get the sense that half of these storylines can be chalked up to the heightened emotions of youth. But one instance that can't be chalked up to youthful bravado is the heartbreaking business with Zac (Julian De La Celle), whose mother (Romy Rosement) appears to be in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Not only is her temperament constantly changing around Mariana (Cierra Ramirez), she's also creeping out her son. At the dance, she basically accuses him of screwing Mariana and flaunting it in front of all their friends and acquaintances. She storms off, prompting Zac and Mariana to give chase. But when they catch up to her, she has absolutely no idea who they are. It's a storyline that is still in its early going, but it's already among the more effective arcs of the season, as Zac is such a sympathetic figure, and Mariana is immensely likable as his sole support. And Romy Rosemont does terrific work, once again, in the role of Zac's mother, Amanda. It's a difficult role that could become thankless, but she carries to off so well that it sticks in the mind long after the episode is over.

Credit: ABC Family

"Metropolis" emphasizes the ability of The Fosters to tell stories of equally powerful social and familial content. Next week's finale already feels like the culmination of a long-brewing series of storylines, which is exactly how a finale should feel, yet so rarely does in its first season. In short, The Fosters continues to impress, owing to the maturity with which it tackles its narrative, as well as the skill of the cast in front of the camera, and the writers/crew behind it.