Get Adopted By The Fosters

Show: The Fosters, which airs Mondays at 9 PM on ABC Family.

Plot: Stef Foster (Teri Polo) and Lena Adams (Sherri Saum) are partners in life, love, and in raising their kids -- one biological, two adopted, and now two brand-new foster children who've come into their care.

Soapy Intrigue: Daughter Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) is selling her brother Jesus's (Jake T. Austin) Ritalin and giving the money to her super-sketchy biological mother; Foster daughter Callie (Maia Mitchell) may be too angry and surly after years in the foster-care system to be able to adapt to the family, even now that Lena and Stef have taken in her brother Jude (Hayden Byerly) as well; Stef, a police officer, has been newly partnered up with her ex-husband Mike (Danny Nucci), the father of her son Brandon (David Lambert), and Lena is not terribly thrilled about it.

What It Will Remind You Of: It's a bit like all ABC Family dramas that cover social issues through the lens of a large but loving family, so...every hour-long show on the network other than The Secret Life Of The American Teenager.

What’s Best About It: Journeywoman TV star Teri Polo may have finally found the role she was made for: she's believably tough in uniform, and makes a believable wife to Saum's Lena; her journey in the pilot from hesitation about fostering Callie to determination that they'll "make room" for everyone is sweet, and earned. Nucci is also good as her ex, who requested to be her partner because he wasn't crazy about her working with so many rookies; though it's certainly possible that future episodes will revolve around their having new Feelings for each other again, for now they are just responsible co-parents, if not especially warm to one another.

What’s Worst About It: Callie's character falls into a lot of "troubled teen" clichés in the pilot, but maybe now that Jude's in the picture, she'll settle down.

But If I Save It Until Friday, Don’t I Risk Having Someone Spoil It For Me Before I Watch It? Confidently, I will say no.

Finally, And Most Importantly, Do the Female Leads Wear Cute Outfits? Stef is in her uniform when she's not in pyjamas, but I want every outfit Lena wears in the pilot. Apparently my "personal style" is "Groovy Charter-School Vice Principal."