The Fosters Season 4 Episode 11 Review: Insult to Injury
Jasmine Blu
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Sex, drugs, and car crashes were just a fraction of the heaping dose of delicious drama we were served on The Fosters premiere.
The Fosters Season 4 Episode 11 dove right back into the thick of it, picking up moments after where The Fosters Season 4 Episode 10 left off, with Jesus being whisked away in an ambulance, Callie still trapped in the car with Troy, and me wringing my hands together because so many of my Foster loves were catching hell.
Admit it, you were stressed out too.
What better way to break this down, then with hashtags? First up?
#ProtectJesusAtAllCosts
It was a relief to see that the show addressed Jesus' condition instantly. He was alert when he was in that ambulance. Good sign right? The kid would be fine.
But nooo, that wouldn't be any fun now would it? He had to start bringing up smelling gasoline and, you know, having seizures. Terrifying seizures.
I might come across light-hearted when discussing this, but please know that I am a card-carrying member of the "Protect Jesus Forever" squad. If something happens to my favorite Foster kid of the season, I will be inconsolable.
A knowing dread crept in, every time he mentioned he smelled gasoline, and the seizures following were an emotional blow. The tension in those E.R. scenes was palpable. I was effectively triggered.
Stef, ever the pillar of strength in the family, was a mess. Gosh damn, Teri Polo is magnificent! She gets me in the feels every time. On a personal note, I see a lot of my own mother in Stef
Stef permanently affixed to Jesus' side, shouting at the medical staff that she was not leaving her son, gave me flashbacks to my own mother when she was dealing with my sickly brother.
One doesn't simply take a nail to the head and come out on the other side unscathed. The seizures are connected to the previous head trauma and swelling on Jesus' brain.
We're going to put Jesus in a medically induced coma and then insert a bolt in his skull, which will monitor the pressure and let us know if we need to take any further action.
Dr.
Jesus' prognosis was as serious as it could get.
The doctor dropped the one word no one ever wants to hear regardless of the odds. Fatal. Everything else he mentioned was scary too, personality changes, relearning how to walk and talk...Jesus Jesus!
And because this is The Fosters and they are not content until they have you on the brink of an anxiety attack before the hour is over, Jesus could be in legal trouble too.
He did assault Nick, after all. If I'm looking at this objectively, then yes, Jesus was in the wrong and Nick is well within his rights to press charges. He even has Mariana's statement corroborating his.
Officer Hudson: So we just want to talk with him.
Stef: Okay, well he's unconscious right now so he's not going to be helpful.
Nurse: Excuse me! I just want to say that your son is away and talking. I can take one of you to see him.
Stef: Fine. I'm going in with you, because I'm a cop and no one questions my son without me present.
It's just, no one wants to see any of this happen when we're already too stressed out about Jesus' medical state. Poor Officer Hudson was just trying to do his job, but Stef was like a mama lion protecting her cub. Nothing was going to happen to her kid on her watch.
The possibilities with this storyline not being wrapped up in a neat little bow are endless. Emma, slipping back into crappy friend mode, blamed Mariana for Jesus' condition, and Mariana is already blaming herself.
I don't know if Gabe will make any more appearances, but he's going to be blaming himself again because Jesus took a nail to the head covering for him. Also, there are all the legal issues and potential effects of Jesus' condition that can be explored.
#YouGottaHaveFaith
Both moms deal with a hell of a lot trying to manage their family. They have different approaches and different ways of handling things, but Lena has always been the one more in tune with her emotions.
Lena is the type of person who suffers silently until it all becomes too much, and that's disconcerting. When she took off to the chapel so that she could pray, I wanted to reach through the screen and hug her.
Her hushed plea to God was so raw and vulnerable. Regardless of your religious beliefs, or lack thereof, if you weren't moved by that than what is there to even say?
Sherri Saum had me teary-eyed in those quiet moments.
Faith is one of many issues that they sort of bring up and explore on and off for seasons, and the approach to it is so realistic. It's not something you do an one-off episode for and not cover again, because that's not how real life works.
I'm worried about Lena. With all the stress of nearly losing the house, and her parents being in debt, making amends with her half brother, dealing with Brandon and Juilliard...all of this stuff, it's really weighing her down.
Stef has probably taken notice too. It's too much for them to bear, and she made a desperate plea to the rest of the Foster kids to stay out of trouble because they just can't take it anymore.
Oh Stef, my love, do you know your children at all? You get an A for effort but this family couldn't stay out of trouble if their lives depended on it. In fact, their lives do depend on it and they still fail. Epically.
#TeamPoorDecisions
Where there are poor decisions to be made, Brallie is sure to follow.
Brandon is reeling from the news that all of his dreams shattered, I get that, but did we really need to revisit his relationship with Cortney again?
He left her the "Dear John" letter, and I thought that would be the last of her, but I guess he needed one last sweaty session of sex as a goodbye.
I'm glad that Cortney called him out on crawling back to her as some form of back-up plan, and using her to fuel his "White Knight" complex.
On the other hand, was that supposed to give her some sort of agency because she asserted herself? She was the older adult in this situation, and it fell on her in the beginning to stop their relationship before it ever progressed this far.
Brandon: I think I got in a little over my head here.
Cortney: I know.
She never should've taken a high-schooler's word for it, that he could handle playing house, or playing dad, or supporting a household. She never should have taken his money to begin with or had him move in with her.
She never should have wanted any of that for him. He made some horrible choices, yes, but she shouldn't be let off the hook either.
Then there's Callie. Callie, why are you like this?
Bless her heart, she means well, but boy does she get herself into some serious doozies. It's good to know that her being trapped in a car with Troy didn't end up like a Lifetime movie with her tied to a chair in a cabin somewhere, but there was no sighs of relief to be had.
A car crash, Callie? Are you serious right now?
The second she took off from the accident I knew she was going to be in for some trouble. Calling it in was great, and she had to get away from Troy, but all the time that went by since then did not help her case.
I just really need Callie to sit down with a life coach or something.
She needs someone to flat out tell her that she needs to do better. Her intentions don't mean anything anymore. As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
People were injured in that accident and God only knows where Troy is right now. Now she's finally trying to do the right thing and come clean and she's just become a pawn in the game Detective Dick Grey is playing with Stef.
Plus, she and AJ made up, which, fair enough, they needed to do that. But the only thing I ship Callie with is a therapist. She needs to be single.
I'm so grateful they addressed the fact that Callie outed Aaron to AJ. The boys making up was the perfect way to tip Aaron off so that he could call Callie out on it.
Callie can get so self-righteous when it comes to being an ally. Part of being a good one, is knowing that having a Trans best friend doesn't mean she can make assumptions or speak on the behalf of the Trans community.
Aaron: You can't go around telling people that I'm trans.
Callie: Okay. Sorry.
Aaron: It's just not your story to tell.
Callie: Got it. Of course.
Aaron: People literally get killed for being trans, so it's a really vulnerable thing to share with someone.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as heated as the spat between AJ and Aaron was, wasn't AJ treating him like he would any other guy the whole point? Aaron wouldn't have wanted AJ treating him with kid gloves, or tiptoeing around him.
Aaron was right about the dangers of Careless Callie casually sharing his information with whomever. Trans men and women are getting murdered because of who they are, just because he shared with Callie doesn't mean he wanted anyone else to find out.
It's literally an issue of life and death, and it's not her story to tell. She mean well, but in chastising AJ for reacting to Aaron as he would any other guy, is she any better than anyone else who treats him differently because he's Trans?
#JoahIsLit
I officially give. I wanted our precious Judi-corn to stay on the up and up, but you know what? He's still a teenager. In fact, one of the things I like about Joah is the fact that Noah reminds Jude (who has always been an old soul) to be a teen and have fun.
Oh my God! Like, why are potato chips the most delicious thing ever created in the history of the world? Like, why do we even need to eat anything else?
Noah
And have fun they did. I wanted to be upset that Jude was off frolicking with his boyfriend and getting high when all hell was breaking loose with the rest of the Foster clan, but of all the kids, Jude probably deserves to have a rebellious streak the most.
But amidst the boat trespassing, and interweaving their fingers like two star-crossed lovers in a Shakespearean play, a big step had been taken. Jude is one step closer to becoming more physically intimate with Noah.
I'm really glad they were interrupted, because that's not a decision anyone should make for the first time when they aren't thinking clearly.
Now I'm turning it over to you guys. What did you think about Insult to Injury? What do you think will happen to Jesus? Are you worried about how mama is dealing with everything? What has Callie gotten them into this time? Share your thoughts below!
Don't forget you can watch the Fosters online right here at TV Fanatic!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
