How Will Callie Self-Sabotage Next?

The loss of Stef's father brings the whole family — including Callie — together for the funeral, and as emotions run high, several plotlines are advanced, and several questions are raised. Let's get into it!

How will Callie self-sabotage next?

The episode's biggest advancement is Callie actually hearing Lena's mom, Dana, when Dana points out that just because Callie is about to age out of the foster system, that doesn't mean she's required to become independent now, and that family doesn't just expire when you turn eighteen. That this speech comes in the middle of an episode revolving around a funeral is particularly fitting, since few events more economically compress the family experience, with everyone at their best (supporting each other, being kind, goofing around to break tension) and worst (being short-tempered and touchy and failing to realize that others may be hurting even if they don't show it in the same way). Callie's special dispensation to leave Girls United for the day gives her a ringside seat at what she'll be missing if she goes through with her Independent Living Program plan for the not-that-secret purpose of legitimizing her romantic relationship with Brandon: the Fosters may not be perfect,* but they love each other and they want Callie, and Callie has come exactly far enough to realize that she needs a family more than she needs a boyfriend. But Callie's making one good decision doesn't mean that all the problems that underlay her past bad decisions have been erased. What is she going to do next to undermine her own success and happiness? Whatever it is, can it possibly not screw over Jude this time?

When are we going to meet this dad?

The death at the center of the episode gave both Jude and Callie the chance to think about their last big loss: when their mom was killed in a car accident caused by their father's drunk driving, the crime that led to his incarceration. Between the look back at the event that destroyed their family and the reveal, earlier this season, that Callie and Jude's father has actually been released from prison, it feels like we have to be heading toward a sad and/or complicated reunion. Is Dad Jacob going to track down Callie and Jude (belatedly) and try to block their adoption?

Has anything happened to displace Mariana and Jesus from Pierce status?

No. With regard to Mariana: I get that her punishment for having sold (prescription ADHD) drugs at school is on hiatus due to mourning, but her biggest/only issue is still that she's into this kid on the play, as we saw in her Ouija board scene with Jude. Maybe now that Callie is eventually going to move back to the house, she and Mariana can get into some kind of interesting trouble together. It seems clear that Jesus is headed for (a) a breakup with Lexi so he can hook up with Emma, and (b) an eating disorder crisis brought about by his trying to make weight for the wrestling team while also following this crazy no-drugs ADHD-mitigation diet, but both of these are still keeping him walled off from the rest of the family; I think his only interaction with any other Foster this week was when he told Mariana to get lost so he could hang out with Emma. It's like in last week's episode, when the whole family went to see Callie at Girls United and I literally couldn't remember a single conversation Callie and Jesus had ever had. Either involve the twins in the family or send them to boarding school!

We all agree that Lena's mom is right about the hypothetical baby, right?

I get that women get baby fever, particularly when they're starting to think their window is closing. But Lena already has a hundred kids, she's an educator married to a cop (the latter of whom may get fired any minute now, btw), and she's old. I mean, she's probably my age? Which is old. She probably doesn't get enough sleep now, and she wants to have less? Plus the fact that she hid her plans from Stef should tell her that this is a bad idea. Anyway, the show shouldn't add another kid when it doesn't know what to do with some of the ones it has, see above.

How good is Brandon actually going to be at turning off his feelings?

Brandon is still into the idea of setting up housekeeping with Callie right up until the moment she says she's changed her mind. And soon, assuming she graduates from Girls United, the object of his affection is going to be right there under his roof, trying to be his sister. How awkward is this going to be, on a scale of "quite" to "extremely"?

*Just kidding, they are perfect.