The Fosters - Recap: Girl On Fire

That said, parts of it were hard to swallow, in that we're forced to face some of the harsher realities of the lives these kids have to lead. On the one hand, Callie (Maia Mitchell) can go back to her normal life at the end of the weekend, back to a family who loves her, and another who's fighting to win her affections. But the other girls in the home aren't so lucky. Becka (Annamarie Kenoyer) is from a broken home, Cole (Tom Phelan) is heading to a different group home entirely, and one of the home's newest arrivals has a chip on her shoulder that practically bears the weight of the universe. These are all girls who don't have the advantages Callie has. Yet, as Rita (Rosie O'Donnell) puts it, they all have the same choice: to get it together like Callie has. Nothing says this has to be the lives these girls lead forever, but whether or not they are able to turn it around is entirely up to them. And it speaks to the nature of choice, which is a recurring theme throughout the episode. We may not be able to determine what happens to us, but we can determine how it affects us, moving forward. Some people crumple to pieces when faced with adversity, while others use it as a springboard towards strength. "Girls Reunited" wasn't as immediately compelling as the last two weeks, but it was a damn fine episode all the same.

Credit: Kelsey McNeal/ABC Family

Callie is spending the weekend helping out around the Girls United house for Community Day, which is dedicated to proving to the neighborhood that the girls aren't a danger to their safety. This is all made necessary by an angry, persistent neighbor who is convinced the girls are up to no good, and wants them evicted. This event, however, isn't really the selling point of the storyline, as we come to see how each person in the house responds to sudden adversity. On the one hand, the new girl, Devani, has a major problem with practically everyone in the house, calling the credibility of the group home into question, and calling out Callie in particular for being "fake". Yet Devani's behavior is very much a response to her difficult circumstances. She's addicted to crystal meth, and uses Cole to get his ex-drug dealer to bring her a supply -- which quickly goes missing.

Devani accuses Callie of theft, and it spirals out of control from there, with Cole siding with Devani. As it turns out, Devani has been leading Cole on, proclaiming her love and promising to run away with him. And so Cole is considering giving up his future at the new LGBT group home (a home which will provide safe, legal hormones for Cole to take, none of that illegal, cut-rate quality street stuff) in order to run away with Devani. This, despite intimations from Kiara (Cherinda Kincherlow) that Devani is the kind of girl who will use her sexuality to get what she wants. Ultimately, Callie is able to convince Cole that if Devani really loved him, she wouldn't try and talk him out of moving to the LGBT group home, and it's an argument that wins the day. However, when Cole reveals he's siding with Callie, Devani declares she never had any interest in Cole, and was simply using him to get back to her real boyfriend back home. Cole breaks down as Devani is forced out of the home by Kiara, but the mystery of the missing drugs is still at the forefront.

Credit: Kelsey McNeal/ABC Family

In a shocker, it's revealed that Becka stole the meth, and is using it to cope with the emotional turmoil inflicted by her mother. Earlier in the episode, Becka was a few days away from finally returning home to be with her mother, who'd cleaned up her ways and stopped taking in abusive boyfriends. Becka had hated her mother for always bringing around men who'd abuse the two of them, and it resulted in a fractured relationship for mother and daughter. So when, at Community Day, Becka's mother cheerily announces she's met a new guy, Becka sees the cycle repeating itself all over again. Hurt by how little has changed, Becka resorts to drugs and, in the process, inadvertently sets the Girls United house ablaze.

The fire itself makes for some fairly exciting television, in that I couldn't be entirely certain that the show wouldn't kill off Becka, Rita, or both. The girls evacuate the house, but Rita goes back in for Becka. She finds her unconscious in the basement. The fire is closing in around them, as flaming ladders and shelves fall. To make matters worse, Rita lacks the strength to pull Becka to safety, and it's a moment that wouldn't have been nearly as effective had Rosie O'Donnell not sold it so well. The look on her face just screams, "Well, this is the end. I'm sorry, sweetie," and it's just DEVASTATING. And believable, almost like the fakeout at the end of Toy Story 3. You don't want to believe the worst is going to happen, but for a moment, you feel like it just might. And it almost does, except that Callie arrives just in the nick of time to help Rita pull Becka to safety.

Credit: Kelsey McNeal/ABC Family

Although Callie saves the day, Rita is furious, since Callie not only jeopardized all the progress she's made, she jeopardized her own life. But Callie doesn't seem to have any regrets, since this was the choice she made, and it's hard to imagine she wouldn't make that same choice again. Yet Callie can't save everyone: although she gets to go home after Stef (Teri Polo) picks her up, the other girls have no one to worry about them, no one to take them home to a safe place and tell them that everything will be okay. With the house gone in a fire, and the future of Girls United up in the air, the girls must go back to juvie until they can be placed in a new group home. It's a sad end to one of my favorite arcs in the series, and I can only hope that it's not truly the end. But if it is, O'Donnell and the rest of the Girls United cast did an excellent job giving that story a proper sendoff.

Credit: Kelsey McNeal/ABC Family

With the girls being the centerpiece of the episode, everything else sort of faded to the background. Stef wrestles with a big choice, as Ana wants to meet with the twins to apologize for her behavior. While this is one of Ana's necessary steps towards recovery, Stef is understandably hesitant to allow Ana to see the twins again, and she gets backed up by Lena (Sherri Saum) in this choice. However, Stef seems to be reconsidering things after getting told off by Jesus (Jake T. Austin) about how people deserve a fair chance. This is in relation to Stef warning Jesus about Hayley's (Caitlin Carver) emotional manipulation last week, which is a fair point for Stef to make, honestly. But Jesus takes it badly, especially since Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) also blew up Hayley's spot over the deception. Jesus reaffirms to Hayley that he's serious about her, and Jesus's sincerity is enough to carry the story, for now. And hey, Mariana gets some action too, getting a kiss from Mat (Jordan Rodrigues) after the two bond over their broken upbringings. Yet Brandon (David Lambert) isn't so lucky, as he finds himself unable to follow through on the opportunity to kiss Lou (Ashley Argota). Perhaps the issue with Dani is still too fresh? Early in the episode, Stef pleads with Brandon not to blame himself, but it's clear he is taking on some measure of emotional responsibility over what happened, in much the same way Callie, despite advice from Kiara, can't bring herself to accept that she needs to seek help over her residual issues stemming from her rape. These are all intricate plot points that rely on choices the characters do or don't make. It's unlikely either Brandon or Callie will be able to move on unless they actively choose to seek out help. Here's hoping they find a way soon.

Not everyone makes the right choices this week, but it's meaningful that they have the opportunity to make choices at all. No one on this show is truly powerless; everyone has some sort of say in their own fate, and how they react to the hand life deals them. And that's a rich story to tell, in my opinion. "Girls Reunited" isn't as good as the last two weeks, but The Fosters remains a show that is as consistently good as any show on TV.