Thoughts about the Fosters

The summer run of "The Fosters" on ABC Family ended on August 5, 2013 and was ten episodes long. The series will come back in January to continue its first season. Below are my thoughts on the show, which includes story details.

The Fosters is about a family living in California, who just happen to be headed by two moms. Lena (Sherri Saum) and Stef (Teri Polo) are a loving lesbian couple, who raise three teenagers: Stef's son Brandon (David Lambert) from her prior marriage to Mike (Danny Nucci), and fraternal twins Jesus (Jake T. Austin) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez). During the first episode, the family meets Callie (Maia Mitchell) a troubled girl who also needs a family, and Jude (Hayden Byerly) her younger brother. They eventually become part of the clan.

Lena is an administrator at the school the kids attend, while Stef is in the police force. Stef ends up being partnered with her former husband. He falls off the wagon, and it influences his work performance. Jesus and Mariana dealt with the stress of their biological mother coming back into their lives. To help their mom get money, Mariana stole prescription drugs from her brother to sell. Callie was blamed, but eventually the truth came out. Later when looking for Jesus, Mike and Stef entered a home where they believed he would be. Stef was shot, and nearly died.  Callie was abused while in foster care, and was in juvenile hall, because she went too far in protecting her brother for wanting to try on a dress. Brandon helped her get her brother away from this bad foster parent. Callie was also raped by a foster brother.

The season ended with Stef and Lena marrying as now it was legal again to do so in California for same-sex couples. Also Lena and Stef decided they want to make the relationship with Callie and Jude permanent. They've come to love them as well. During the reception, Brandon and Callie give into their feelings and kiss. Callie leaves town because she doesn't want to ruin things for Jude, and leaves town with Wyatt (Alex Saxon). Wyatt has feelings for Callie, but realizes that they are one-sided.

What I found amusing was that Lena's mom was played by Lorraine Toussaint and Stef's mom was played by Annie Potts. On the television show, Any Day Now, those two actresses played best friends, so this was a happy surprise. Lena's father was played by Stephen Collins, best known to younger viewers as a preacher on 7th Heaven, who performed the ceremony and Stef's father who was against the marriage was played by Sam McMurray. The Fosters is entertaining, but I can see why some viewers wouldn't watch it based on their political  and/or religious beliefs.