Tragedy strikes the Fosters and they look to each other for strength. Meanwhile, Stef confronts Mike about Ana, Wyatt seeks relationship advice from a very uncomfortable Brandon, and Mariana is still furious with Jesus for putting her in the middle of his girl problems.
This is just a really oddly structured episode of The Fosters. The first 40 minutes or so almost play like farce as various people are coming in and out of the house as the family tries to sell Stef and Lena's bed. It's a tone the show is more than comfortable living in. Sure we get the little fake out at the first act break that Brandon is driving Lena to the hospital. But it's largely normal operating procedure for The Fosters after that. And then, comes the final third which is just designed to be emotional as preeclampsia forces Lena to lose her daughter. So, the end result for "Mother" is a weird combination of a typical episode of The Fosters with a very special emotional highpoint of the season.And Lena losing the baby is a very big deal. This season hasn't really known exactly what it wanted to do with that particular plot thread. It has been more invested in rehabilitating the Brandon and Mariana characters (and yet, Jesus becomes more and more of a dick with every passing episode). This is a journey that has been very personal for Lena. She had to convince Stef to get on board and then they had all the melodrama with Timothy. But the show never really got a lot of meaningful conflict out of the story. It was largely just something that was also happening on the show. It didn't demand attention. It just had to be referenced once a week before the show went off into Callie's new family troubles or Brandon joining a band or Stef investigating Mike. And yet, that also makes the reveal that she'll lose the baby much more potent. They haven't been worrying about the health risks. When she first floated the possibility, her doctor said it was now or never. It was an experience she had always dreamt about. And she still is dreaming about it. But being pregnant hasn't been her only defining trait this season.
But now, the family has lost one of their own. Everyone was largely excited by the pending arrival of the newest little Foster. On top of that, it was really sweet that Lena wanted to name her after Stef's dad who passed earlier this year. Now, they will never know what she would have been like. And that is very sad. Sure, there were moments of heavy-handedness with this story - like Lena's mom having to reaffirm that the kids love her and the little kid coming to her room later. But overall I really enjoyed this little development - tragic as it is.
Some more thoughts:
- "Mother" was written by Joanna Johnson and directed by Lee Rose.
- Almost lost in losing the baby is the other reveal that Mike is trying to help Ana stay clean and get on her feet. He gets a pretty great speech about how he wanted to kill her about half way through the episode. But that's likely not going to be what most people remember about "Mother."
- I initially had forgotten that Orange Is the New Black's Vee is also Lena's mother.
- Another act break fake out came when Lena turned to Stef and said they had to talk about Brandon. But it was just about him getting high and not about sleeping with Dani.
- Jesus and Mariana's sibling fighting is just so annoying. Just go back to awkwardly trying to fit in on the dancing team, girl.
- But hey, Mariana got asked out on a date.
- Also, Jude talked again! Jude is often my favorite character and yet he's down here in the abbreviated thoughts because of the major focus of the hour.
- I'm glad that Brandon forced Callie to recognize her own problems and deal with them with the support of her family. Now, if only he took the same advice.
