The Fosters - Recap: Dining With Disaster

This is due, in large part, to the show's tackling of relatively mature subject matter, such as religion, homosexuality and alcohol/drug use. Some of these elements are more consequential to the narrative than others, but they all come together to paint a more interesting picture of the world these people live in, as it's not strictly a cut-and-dry case of black and white morality. A person can be wrong but still have good intentions. And it's the conflict between a person's intentions and their actions that makes for good drama. So while I disliked at least half of "Saturday," the latter half really came together nicely. And hey, we finally got to meet Liam (Brandon Jones). And even from the tiny bit we go of him here, it's immediately apparent that he's every bit as bad as we've been led to believe he is...

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Callie (Maia Mitchell) insists that Wyatt (Alex Saxon) isn't her boyfriend, but they're growing closer with each passing day. When he invites her to a party at his childhood home, which has just been foreclosed on by the bank, Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) is keen on going despite Callie's objections. And so Callie accompanies her, only to find that there's much more going on with Wyatt than meets the eye. Instead of throwing a joyful bon voyage to his childhood home, Wyatt is on a path of destruction, giving partygoers free reign to destroy anything they want. Callie asks Wyatt why he's doing this, insisting that this house must mean something to him. But Wyatt simply continues drinking and destroying. Meanwhile, Mariana is also getting wasted, after learning from her fresh-out-of-rehab friend, Kelsey (Anne Winters), that Jesus (Jake T. Austin) has been having sex with Lexi (Bianca A. Santos). This revelation basically gives Mariana license to go wild, and the alcohol messes with her already-complicated feelings about her brother's relationship with her best friend. Making matters worse, Mariana is still unsure how she feels about her birth mother, Ana, after meeting with her at a diner earlier in the episode. Mariana briefly worried that Ana only wanted more money from her, but the woman reveals that she only wanted to gift her birth daughter a stuffed princess teddy bear. While Mariana loves the gift, a teddy bear can only do so much to help heal a person when they're going through psychological drama. For some, alcohol is the palliative of choice.

Take Wyatt, for instance, as he proceeds to get drunker and drunker in order to deal with his feelings of rage and resentment. When Callie walks in on Wyatt destroying his old boyhood room, and shouting about how hard his mother had worked to pay off this house, only for the bank to take it away after a few missed payments, she recognizes just how much of his own identity Wyatt has invested in this house. Wyatt falls to the ground in tears, and Callie embraces him and tells him that this is only a house. It's not him, or his childhood, or his memories, or his mother. It's just wood, stone and glass. It's one of my favorite Callie moments of the season, as she continues to be one of the most mature characters in the ensemble, and definitely the most mature among the kids for how she understands her priorities. The party is a relatively self-contained affair, with many of the developments happening in isolation, though Callie having to split her time between being there for Wyatt and "babysitting" Mariana gives the entire party sequence some pretty solid dramatic momentum -- especially once we meet Liam.

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Early in the episode, Callie befriends a foster kid named Sarah who is over-the-moon about the new foster home she's been placed in. She and Callie hang out, and as Callie digs deeper into this girl's living situation, she discovers that Sarah is living with Liam's family. Sarah is spooked by the invasive nature of Callie's questions and bails, but news of the questioning gets back to Liam, who confronts Callie at the party. Liam is a buff, blond surfer type, and his physically imposing stature immediately paints him as a threat. Even worse is how he ogles Callie and talks about how much she's grown in two years. When Callie tries to get away from him, he grabs her arm and tells her not to go asking any more questions about him, or else. Wyatt happens upon the scene just in the nick of time, and is able to escort Callie and Mariana home, though Talya (Madisen Beaty) refuses to accompany them and instead decides to stay and continue getting even drunker (though she at least apologizes to Callie for how she acted with her). Liam makes eyes at Callie, and it's all terribly creepy, which I imagine is the point. There's a certain incongruity between his handsomeness and his personality, since he might seem approachable at first sight. But it's hard to think that there's anything approachable about him at all beneath the surface.

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Though the party sequence is solid, the real centerpiece of the episode is the family dinner Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) hold for Lexi's parents, in order to discuss with them the possibility of Jesus attending a Bible retreat with Lexi and her folks. Though Lexi's parents were described as ultra conservative last week, they actually come across as a very understanding couple, as it concerns the changing demographics of the American family in the 21st century. They're far more understanding, in many respects, than Stef's own father (Sam McMurray), whom we learn is responsible for Stef's break from the church. Turns out, he caught Stef spooning with a female friend as a teen, and sent her off to be lectured by a minister about the "wrongs" of homosexuality. While Stef's father isn't portrayed as an outright bad guy, nor does he even seem like much of one, his opinions are considerably outdated. He's convinced that Stef had it all with Mike (Danny Nucci), but threw it all away. Stef is galled at her father's intolerant opinions, and states that homosexuality isn't a choice; however, being with Lena was a choice, and it was her choice to be happy. When Stef's father interrupts the dinner to apologize, he learns from Lexi's parents, who are staunchly religious, that not everything The Bible teaches is meant to be taken literally. They respect Stef and Lena's household because they value the ethics of family. "What's more Christian than family?" says Lexi's father, at which point Stef's father finally seems to understand the error of his ways. After dinner, he apologizes to Stef. Not necessarily for judging her lifestyle choices, but for causing her break from God. It might not have been what Stef was looking for, but as she notes to Lena, it's a start.

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However, that all comes after the dinner goes down in proverbial flames. Callie and Mariana return home, and it's immediately apparent to Stef that Mariana is drunk. Though Stef tries to get the kids upstairs and to bed, Mariana learns that Lexi's parents are actually letting her go on the Bible retreat with Jesus, at which point she blurts out that she can't believe they're allowing it since Lexi has been having sex with him. And like that, the cat is out of the bag, and Mariana catches the full wrath of both her mothers for essentially destroying any chance her brother has of being with his girlfriend. At the very least, Stef and Lena show a certain amount of understanding with Callie, showing gratitude that she remained sober and did her best to get Mariana home and to bed. It's a modern take on parenting, which I can certainly appreciate, as it paints each of the characters in a better light -- although Mariana continues to be kind of insufferable to me. Granted, Stef's father irked me far worse this week, but at least he's not a permanent fixture. But Mariana just keeps getting more and more spiteful and vindictive from one week to the next, not to mention hypocritical. It's fine to let your brother take the wrap for your drug dealing, but he's not allowed to date your best friend? I sincerely don't get what there is to be mad about, there. It's not like they don't both love Mariana. I guess I could understand if she were jealous of how close they'd become, and felt left out or lied to. But they've apologized a thousand times over and tried to mend bridges, and Mariana simply won't have it. It's becoming increasingly difficult to have any sympathy for her, and she's really the show's only problem character, for me.

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Yet, while Brandon (David Lambert) isn't a problem character, he had a bit of a problem storyline this week. There's nothing wrong with further fleshing out Brandon's musical prospects, really. But it was hard to find any of his plot all that compelling. Long story short, Brandon had an audition with a prestigious piano teacher, but Mike got drunk and ended up being late picking him up. Thrown off by the feeling of being let down by his father, Brandon blows the audition and loses the scholarship. When Brandon rails against his father for his irresponsibility, Mike apologizes and takes it upon himself to get Brandon a second chance. The teacher decides to let Brandon play again, and this time, he nails the audition. Though all the scholarship opportunities have been taken, the teacher agrees to take Brandon on as a student. Each lesson will be $150 per two-hour session, twice a week, which they can't afford. But Mike insists that he'll pay. "Let me be the hero for once," he says. And I'll admit, it's a sweet storyline between father and son, as well as a cautionary tale about alcohol abuse, the hints of which we could see from his behavior at Mariana's quinceanera. But it felt strangely out of place in this episode, and unless it's building to a much bigger arc down the line, I'm not sure what the storyline contributes beyond simple character-building. And hey, I guess there are far worse things a show can do with its time than actually invest that time in fleshing out its relationships. But this storyline just wasn't for me, I guess.

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"Saturday" is half of an excellent episode, although in this case, that's good enough for me. The Fosters is really one of those shows that doesn't have to be perfect on a week-to-week basis because so much of it is focused on character, and realistic relationships, and the constantly-changing family dynamics in the 21st century. For those elements alone, it's still one of TV's better choices on Monday nights in the summer.