The Fosters - Recap: I.O.U.

The issues at the heart of the episode most center on Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Lena (Sherri Saum), although the theme of being owed extends to this week's Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) storyline. In short, everyone is affected by the sense that they're owed, or the discovery that someone else feels they are owed. It's an incredibly circuitous way of looking at things, I know, but it works to make a more thematically bold episode. For example, let's take Callie's storyline. She approaches Jude (Hayden Byerly) if he's cool with her meeting Sophia (Bailee Madison). Jude is okay with it, but only because, as Callie observes later, Jude has no problem appearing to be cool with just about anything. The implication is that he rarely speaks up when things are bothering him, but the narrative doesn't always bear that out (if anything, he's the most vocal when something is bugging him, such as when he told off Colin a few weeks back, or when he wanted to follow Callie to her new foster home even though he was already adopted; hell, when he suspected he was gay, he didn't keep it to himself. He went to Lena and Stef with it). Basically, everything surrounding Jude is weird this week, and we're not entirely certain why, although it wouldn't surprise me if it has something to do with Callie's decision to meet with Sophia, since Jude takes a vow of silence from that point forward, causing panic among the household when he refuses to speak or to explain what's wrong. And this all ties into Callie's storyline, since this feeling of gradual separation from his sister might be the cause of Jude's silence.

Credit: ABC Family

In short, Callie finally gets to meet Sophia, and what follows would be kind of heartbreaking if it weren't so adorable. I've long said that Madison is one of my favorite young actors, showing an exceedingly rare talent in someone her age, not just from her role here, but from appearances on Once Upon A Time, Trophy Wife, even Bridge to Terabithia. This is a girl who can really sell a character, which is exactly what she does here with Sophia. This is a girl who clearly longs for sibling companionship, so it's no surprise that she immediately takes a liking to Callie. In fact, it borders on idolization, as Sophia is practically starstruck, looking up to Callie as an ideal of a big sister. She's every bit as wowed by Callie having a boyfriend as Callie is shocked by the strictness of Sophia's life so far. She's made to ride horses competitively, and forced to take SAT prep courses despite being only a freshman. And given her surprise at Callie having a boyfriend, one would suspect Sophia isn't exactly allowed to date either. But the two half-sisters hit it off well, and make plans to meet again. Yet neither knows the kind of drama boiling downstairs, as Stef (Teri Polo) learns the truth of Callie's parentage from Robert Quinn (Kerr Smith) himself. Turns out, Robert met Callie's mother at the country club at which his wealthy family were members. They fell in love and eloped, but his family refused to accept the marriage, convinced that Callie's mother was a golddigger. Robert gave in to pressure and allowed his father to get the marriage annulled, which Robert cites as the biggest regret of his life. Worse, Robert's wife walks in just as he finishes telling Stef that had he known Callie's mother was pregnant, he'd still be with her today. Talk about an insurmountably awkward situation. But Mrs. Quinn keeps her cool, which is the best she can do, I suppose.

For his part, however, Robert wants to do more for Callie. He still plans on signing the adoption papers once they come through, but he also tells Stef that he wants to open up a college fund for Callie. He tells Stef that he knows it might be inappropriate, but he simply feels he owes Callie for being absent her entire life. Besides, the Quinn family is rolling in dough, so it's not as if this is some difficult financial investment on Robert's part. Stef promises to think it over, and we can tell that Stef's thoughts are already weighted with considerations on what is and isn't owed, as this comes to the fore when she meets with Lena at the end of the episode.

Credit: ABC Family

As for Lena, she feels she's owed the open position of principal, believing herself to be best qualified for the job. However, the search committee isn't entirely convinced just yet. More troubling still is that Timothy (Jay Ali) is on that committee, throwing his impartiality into question. But things seem to go Lena's way when she skillfully addresses her plans for the school, along with ways to increase the budget and enrich the curriculum. She even artfully manages Timothy's probing questions about her pregnancy and the length of her maternity leave. It's such a strong performance that Lena feels she's almost certain to get the position. Granted, she's still plagued by worries about Timothy, who plans to get his lawyers involved over Lena's unborn baby. However, Lena defuses the situation by lacing into Timothy with a speech about integrity, telling him that he reneged on his word and should be ashamed. Integrity, as Lena explains, isn't something you can just say you have. You have to prove you have it through your actions, and that means sticking to your word even if you change your mind later.

Credit: ABC Family

The speech is quite powerful, and is enough to get Timothy to eventually sign the donor agreement after all as a way of proving his integrity. And this is good for Lena, since she needs that good news to brace her for the bad: the search committee picked a non-educator from administration as principal instead of her. Lena is absolutely devastated, since the gap between what is owed and what is received is vast and bottomless. Stef consoles Lena before suggesting that, perhaps, life isn't about what you're owed, but what you owe to others. On the one hand, Stef feels leery about taking Robert's money for Callie's college fund; on the other hand, she also feels Timothy deserves to have a role in their child's life, since he's the child's biological father, and is owed the chance to be a part of all this. Stef's argument is that having more love in the child's life can't hurt, but it seems to fly in the face of her argument against accepting Robert's money. But perhaps it's that Robert is choosing to show his love through money, in a way that reads less like love and more like obligation, that gives Stef pause. It's hard to tell. But what we do know is that Lena didn't get what she feels is owed in one way (the principal position), but did receive it in another (Tim signing the papers).

The rest of the episode is similarly powerful when it comes to examining who's owed what. Mariana is convinced that she only made it onto the dance team to fulfill a diversity quota, but learns from Lena that no such quota exists. Later, her Mariana's friend, Hayley (Caitlin Carver), reveals that Mariana was put on the dance team because it was expected that Lena would become principal, and the principal would never cut dance team funding if her daughter were on it. Mariana is somewhat relieved that the reasons for her making the team weren't racial, yet she's devastated in a whole new way when Hayley notes, "You're almost good enough now to have made it anyway." In this case, Mariana learns she got what she wanted (a spot on the dance team), but only out of a sense of obligation, which is arguably worse than not having gotten it at all. Similarly, Hayley gets what she feels she's owed when Mariana is able to finally convince Jesus (Jake T. Austin) to call her after countless days of silence. But Hayley doesn't realize that Jesus only called out of that same sense of obligation. Sure, they get along splendidly once they're together, but before Mariana gave him a hard time about it, it was clear that Jesus had no intention of calling Hayley again. And that's what makes the appearance of Emma (Amanda Leighton) on the Fosters' doorstep so heartbreaking. She just wants another chance, but Mariana tells her Jesus isn't home, having already played the guilt trip on Jesus for Hayley. Basically, nobody gets what they want in the manner in which they want or expect to receive it.

Credit: ABC Family

For example, Brandon (David Lambert) gets Callie to agree to allow his band to play "Outlaws," which represents both of them letting go of their romantic feelings towards one another, as neither is moving forward because they both feel as though they owe a certain kind of fidelity to one another. But once free, Callie can finally tell Wyatt (Alex Saxon) she loves him, and Brandon's band can finally play "Outlaws". It's a lovely bit of synchronicity, although I really don't expect either storyline to end well for either character, whether it's Brandon having a blow-up with Lou (Ashley Argota) or something terrible happening to Wyatt, Callie and Brandon can only ever have peace for so long, unfortunately.

"Say Something" is a much deeper episode than it appears to be on the surface, and that's always been one of the key strengths of The Fosters. Its surface simplicity betrays a greater depth, and episodes like this do justice to the notion that there's far more here than meets the eye. I genuinely look forward to The Fosters every week, as it's one of TV's most refreshing dramas, even if it isn't always perfect.