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‘The Fosters’ S5 E7: “Chasing Waterfalls”

This week’s episode of The Fosters features a scene that breaks so much ground in on screen LGBT land that it’s nearly impossible to focus on anything else that happened to the other members of the fam, but I’ll do by best here. We’ll save the good stuff for last.

Family dinner is underway as we meet up with the Fosters, and Brandon is discussing his upcoming best man duties. Mariana mentions the possibility of throwing Mike and Anna an engagement party at their house, but Stef scoffs at the suggestion of celebrating her ex husband’s marriage at her home.

Lena’s parents are coming over to visit, and Stef has prepared for some bonding time with her in-laws by asking Dean to help her research the options for removing Lena’s father from the title of their home to prevent another sticky financial scare that almost cost them the house last time. During dinner with the in-laws the next evening, Lena attempts to bring up the topic of the house with her mother, only to be pressured into paying them back plus interest for the money gifted to Lena and Stef to buy the house to begin with.

As Lena and her mother are discussing dollars and cents, Stef has a separate discussion with Lena’s father about her experience coming out to her parents. It turns out the sudden wedge between Stef and Tess back in the day was due to her father’s reaction to them snuggling on the couch. Stef’s dad forced her into church counseling, creating a sense of shame and embarrassment that led her to avoid both Tess and her own sexuality. During the chat, Stef realized that her father-in-law might be having some trouble with his health, specifically with his memories and mental awareness.

Just when the financial discussion begins to reach a head, Stuart shows up with a new car for the kids, claiming he has an upcoming bonus from work. His wife gently reminds him that he’s retired, which finally sparks a real discussion about the dementia, which it turns out Lena’s mom has known about for over a year.

After the family discusses the finances and care for Stuart, Stef heads over to fill in Dean and finally explain to Tess why their friendship abruptly fizzled out all those years ago. Alas, instead of providing comfort to her old friend over what she went through in coming to terms with her own identity, Tess instead makes sure Stef knows that those feelings were not reciprocated. Way to kick a girl while she’s down.

Over on the other side of unrequited-love-town, Mariana, at the advice of her grandfather, makes an overzealous attempt to be Logan’s friend by helping him win back his girlfriend Olivia after she saw him taking a selfie with a girl at a party. It sounds like she’s already pretty high on the jealous-o-meter, but sure, what could go wrong?

After Mariana and Logan create an elaborate photo message for Olivia, she messages Mariana to say thanks and follows up with a threat. It’s unknown how Olivia even knows who Mariana is, but she’s pissed nonetheless, so Mariana might have to put those new rough riding roller derby moves to the test in the real world.

Speaking of the real world, Jude promises Noah to take some additional breaks from his gaming addiction to spend more quality time with just the two of them, which doesn’t bode well with Taylor. Just as they arrange a custody agreement that’s fair to everyone – giving both Noah and Taylor 50% of Jude’s time – the plan stands to fall apart. Jude gets an email from the social media guru of a new video game asking Jude (without Taylor) to be an ambassador ‘gay’-mer for them.

With all of these budding and existing relationships on the rocks right now, it’s a refreshing turn of events to see Callie and Aaron not only move beyond the tense conversation they had about freedom of speech last week, but bond even closer together over a hike to a gorgeous waterfall Stef told them about. Callie was pummeled a bit during the presentation she made of her self-portrait in art class after the students criticized her for having little to no self-awareness and identity. While with Aaron, she realizes that what she’s been through has shaped an uncertainty over who she is, but not what she wants, which is him.

The pair make it to the waterfall, and Aaron hesitantly follows Callie’s lead as she strips down to her bra and underwear and leaps into the cold water. Once Callie projects being at ease with the intimacy of the moment, Aaron seems to grow more confident shedding his own clothes and with them any insecurities. Both Callie and Aaron have taken difficult paths that have left both visible and internal scars, adding a layer of uncertainty to their feelings about themselves, but that makes them perfect in helping each other feel whole.

Callie and Aaron had back to his apartment to make television history with a tender, heartwarming scene that’s treated with both the respect and ease it deserves. A cis-gender girl and transgender boy have shared their bodies and love in a gentle and loving way on screen, and it’s absolutely beautiful. I officially ship Callie and Aaron with everything I have.

What did you think of this week’s episode of The Fosters? Was the scene between Callie and Aaron what you’ve been hoping for? How did you feel about Tess’s response to Stef’s high school crush? Let me know in the comments!

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