Review: The Fosters 5x03 "Contact"

3,553 words

27 minute read

Originally written: July 27, 2017

JESUS AND FAMILY + CALLIE'S BOYFRIEND, AARON - KITCHEN

Aaron:  Thank you for letting me stay for dinner.

Stef:  Thanks for helping, love.

Mariana: [To Jesus]  Unlike some people.

Tonia:  Mariana.  Just because Moms are thanking Aaron for helping doesn’t mean you need to get all unnecessary with Jesus.  Seems like there’s a lot going on in the kitchen, and sometimes, when that’s happening it’s easier (and safer) for us to just stay put.





Lena:  So, have you heard from Emma?  Any idea how the team's doing?

Mariana:  Well, they qualified for round one.  What?  It was all over Facebook!  Besides, qualifying is the easy part.  We'll see how they actually do.  

Lena:  Well, I'm sure they miss you.

Jesus:  [Under his breath]  I'm sure they don't.

Stef:  I'm sorry.  What was that?

Jesus:  Nothing.

Stef:  Mm-hmm.

Tonia:  Oh, I love how Mariana’s comment to Jesus went unchallenged but his jab at her was immediately called out… <– Sarcasm

Jude: [On his phone playing video games]

Stef:  Jude.  Jude.

Jesus: [Waves to get Jude's attention.]

Stef: Jude!

Jude:  What?

Stef:  No phones at the dinner table.

Tonia:   Hahaha!  One of my favorite parts.  Also I love how Jesus is waving to get Jude’s attention.  A small thing, that he may have done before, but it strikes me now, in the chaos of the kitchen, and post injury, that it's an adaptation, and I love seeing that on screen.

Tara: Waving in lieu of speaking - absolutely an adaptation!  When there is too much information to filter (i.e. conversation(s) + lights + miscellaneous kitchen noise + people moving around you), speaking can be an impossibility.

Brandon: [Arrives home from work]

Stef:  Hey, B!

Mariana:  You smell like French fries.

Brandon:  You'd smell like French fries, too, if you spent five hours chained to a deep-fryer.

Jesus:  At least you weren't chained to the house all day.  Moms, can I go back to school?  

Stef and Lena: [Exchange a look]

Brandon: [To Jesus] I'm sorry.  Were you actually talking to me just now?  That's amazing.

Tonia:  Oh my God, Brandon, LOL.  Also Moms, please tune into this portion of the conversation…Jesus is really over being at home all day every day.

Jesus:  Seriously, Moms.  When can I go back?

Mariana:  Who would've ever thought that you would ever say that?

Jesus:  Okay.  Well, I'm bored.  And I'm missing out on everything, so...

Stef:  Look, we understand, honey, but...

Lena:  Honey, let us talk to your doctor, okay?

Tonia:  Okay but Moms seriously need to stop dodging this conversation.  Jesus is entitled to an education.  (Seriously.  It’s the law.)  A brain injury does not preclude him from that.  And to have Lena in particular, who is an educator, not already on the ball about this just seems out of character and irresponsible.  I would think she would be all over this, and his biggest advocate, having experience within the school system for so many years.  Can we stop with the educational neglect, please?

Tara:  Stef and Lena have been back at work for weeks now, leaving Jesus essentially unsupervised all day at home.  (Unless you count Gabe, but I do not think Moms do.)  The fact that they deem Jesus stable enough to not warrant constant supervision from a health standpoint along with the strides he has made in all areas of his recovery should at least mean that school should be seriously considered and discussed.

STEF AND LENA - KITCHEN - AFTER DINNER

Lena:  [Sighs]  I mean, we can talk to his doctor, but after what he did to Brandon's room?  

Stef:  We're gonna keep him home until we're sure he can handle school.

Lena:  Agreed.

Tonia:  Mothers.  What even is this conversation?  An education is not a privilege.  It’s a right.  (Not just for the rich and white and nondisabled!)  Jesus shouldn’t be denied the opportunity to go to school because he destroyed Brandon’s room.

I would understand, “Jesus doesn’t get to do [something he enjoys] until he helps pick up the mess in Brandon’s room.”  But to withhold school?  Literally makes zero sense.  Give him consequences that make sense, Moms!

Tara:  For the record?  Cutting off a person’s social interactions, activities and education as an attempt to control their behavior?  That’s abusive.  Also, this is not 1974.  Being disabled in public is no longer a crime, and disabled students are afforded a free and appropriate public education as of 1975.

Lena:  He's still not talking to Brandon.  What are we gonna do about that?

Tonia:  Um, Lena, were you not present at family dinner where Jesus did speak to Brandon?

Stef:  What can we do?  Eventually, hopefully, he'll get over it, you know?

Tonia:  The fact that neither Stef nor Lena seem inclined to sit down with Jesus and check in with him, or apologize to him for the family's part in keeping the secret from him is just mind-boggling.  They are very distant and very brusque about this major betrayal in their son's life.  I have to believe that if this was Brandon in Season 1, and Talya got an abortion and the whole family knew because one of the Moms supported her (for example), they would not just "hope" he'd get over it.

Even though Moms had no direct role in Emma's abortion, they supported the culture where this information was hidden from Jesus when he was meant to have it.  At the very least, there should be an apology for that.

BRANDON AND GRACE - IN BED TOGETHER - HER PLACE

Grace: Must be nice having siblings so close in age.

Brandon:  Not always.  

Grace:  Why not?

Brandon:  Um...  Jesus is having trouble with his TBI right now.  He just--  He gets angry and kind of explodes.

Grace:  Are you still playing for him?

Brandon:  No.  I haven't really been playing much at all really.

Tonia:  Okay, what universe am I even in right now?

First of all.  Jesus is having trouble with you, Brandon.  You guys need to stop blaming every legitimate reaction that you don’t like on his TBI.

And secondly, I don’t even know what to say about Grace asking if Brandon’s still playing for him.  Music can do a lot of things for people, but it cannot magically heal brain injuries.

Tara:  Sounds to me, Brandon, like you do not want to own up to the actions you took that led to Jesus “exploding.”

CALLIE - IN HER ROOM, IN A DRESS IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR

Jesus: [Jostles the already ajar door in an attempt to take some candid shots of Callie for her art project the family had discussed at dinner.  Jesus is smiling as the camera shutter clicks over and over]

Callie:  [Jumps]  Jeez!

Tonia:  The continuation of Jesus is Big and Scary and His TBI Makes Him Aggressive not Jesus Has Legitimate Struggles With Balance, Which Means He Bumps Into Things Sometimes.

Jesus:  Why are you so dressed up?

Callie:  I'm not dressed up.

Jesus: [Looks skeptical]

Mariana:  [Comes in, too]  Ooh!  Why are you so dressed up?

Jesus: [Gestures to Mariana and nods]

Callie:  I'm wearing a dress.  It's not a big deal.

Tonia:   Twins!  Also, Jesus and Callie spoke for like the second time ever!

Mariana: [To Jesus]  I saw they made it to the second round.  But I suppose you already knew that.

Jesus:  [Based on his face, Emma clearly has not been in touch]  Yeah.  

Mariana:  I'm happy for them.

Jesus: [Squinting; skeptical] Right.

Mariana: I am.

Jesus:  Mm-hmm. [Walks across the hall to his room]

JESUS - HIS ROOM - TEXTING EMMA

Jesus: Heard U advanced today, congrats!

Emma: thx!  Sorry, crazy here!

Jesus:  Miss you.  Can U video chat? [Moves to the bed for better light]

Emma:  Working on bot.  Sorry.  Tmrw?

Jesus: K. [Tosses the phone on his pillow.  Clearly let down.]

Tonia:  Ouch.  And Emma’s not even keeping Jesus in the loop about World’s at all…

Tara:  The truth is, people can and do pull away after you become injured.  This is realistic.  And it sucks - especially as Emma seems to be the only person outside of his family that Jesus has been able to see, given Moms’ nonsense school ban.

JESUS, MARIANA, LENA, STEF, JUDE, JUDE'S BOYFRIEND NOAH, AND NEW NEIGHBORS TESS AND DEAN AND THEIR SON, LOGAN - EATING DINNER:

Stef: Have you met any of the other neighbors?

Tess: Mr. Nesbitt and the Yorks...

Jesus:  Just wait until you see what Mr. Nesbitt does for Christmas.  He's, like, way into inflatables.  

Mariana: Oh, yeah, sometimes they blow off the roof. [Flirting hard with Logan]  So, don't be surprised if you see The Grinch blow past your window one night.

Jesus: [Elbows Mariana as she gets more into flirting with Logan.  Makes a face at her like she is clearly trying too hard.]

[The conversation turns to football and just gets weirder as Mariana tells Logan "It's a good thing you're tall.  You can see over your linemen," and starts rattling off football height-related stats.]

Jesus:  Since when are you into football?

Mariana:  I'm into a lot of things you don't know about.

Logan: [To Jesus]  So, what about you?  You're a big guy.  You ever play?

Jesus:  Um... I--I used to...wrestle, but--

Lena: We just--  We didn't encourage football.

Tonia:  Seriously, Lena.  Can Jesus get a word in?

Tara:  It is so frustrating that Moms will not allow Jesus to complete a thought.  And the way it is playing, it seems as if it is because they are constantly worried that Jesus will flip the table over and rip his shirt off in a rage at any moment.

I wish they would attempt to respectfully hear him out, however Moms seem prone to dismiss his concerns or shut him down.

Tess:  Oh, I understand.  We struggled with whether or not to let him play.

Lena:  As a doctor, you're not concerned about concussions?

Tonia:   I’m mildly annoyed that that Tess keeps being addressed as if she’s a neruosurgeon instead of an orthopedic surgeon.  She works with bones, Moms, she’s not an expert on the noggin

Tess: Absolutely.

Dean:  Yeah, but he loves the game.  He always has.  And, let's face it, contact sports help boys channel their agression.

Mariana:  And girls.  Why are we always left out of the contact sports?

Jesus:  Uh, because girls channel their aggression through tweeting.  

Stef:  Jesus...

Tonia:  Oh I love how even this back and forth comment to Mariana earns another warning from Moms.  <– Sarcasm

Tara:  Moms are seriously monitoring every single word that comes out of his mouth.  Let him speak.

Mariana:  Oh.  My.  God.  Does your girlfriend - who's on the wrestling team - know how sexist you are?  

Jesus:  I was joking.

Mariana:  You'd better be.  She'll dump your ass.

Jesus:  [This comment hits deep.  He exhales.]

Tonia:  But Mariana threatening Jesus that Emma will dump him just skates by unacknowledged.

Tara:  Mariana knows Jesus has been feeling vulnerable about his relationship with Emma, so this comment was extra crappy.  Made more crappy by the fact that no one called her out for it.

Stef:  Hey, we like football.  We understand the appeal.  We just--

Lena:  We don't want our kids to get hurt.

[POUNDING ON THE TABLE OFF CAMERA]

Jesus: You don't have to play football to get hit in the head and screw up your life, right?  

Tonia:  Watching this now, it’s obvious that Mariana’s comment about Emma touched a really raw nerve and has Jesus feeling insecure all over again about the state of his relationship with Emma.  He can already tell she’s pulling away, and she likely wouldn’t be if not for his brain injury.

Tara:  This is a legitimate statement.  Why must it be treated as an outburst?

Jesus: [Glances around.  Everyone is staring.  No one says anything.]  Um.  Can I be excused?

Lena:  Yes, you may.

Tonia:  Tell me again how Jesus is so irrational and angry.

STEF AND LENA, TESS AND DEAN - BACK PATIO - AFTER DINNER

Tess:  Well, I'm sure your neurologist told you that damage to the frontal lobe can cause sudden aggression.  Sometimes unprovoked.

Stef: Yes.  Yeah.  We're well aware of that.  

Tonia:   Okay but you’re not a neurosurgeon, Tess.  So you really don’t need to keep feeding into this idea that Jesus’s logical reactions have no basis.

And also, Moms, what is up with outing all of Jesus’s private medical info to the brand new neighbors?  Whatever Jesus wants them to know, he’ll tell them himself.

Tara:  I’m so over this Aggression Is A Symptom storyline.  Make it stop.

Dean:  He seems like a sweet kid.

Lena:  He is.  He's such a sweet soul.  He just can't control these outbursts of anger.

Tonia:  Thank you, Dean!

But seriously Lena, what outburst of anger?  You weren’t dismissing Mariana’s reaction to Jesus talking about her tweeting as an outburst.  Or Stef’s reaction to being teased about dressing up for Tess.  Just because Jesus has a brain injury does not negate the validity of his feelings.  (And I wish Jesus could hear Lena say he is such a sweet soul, instead of what he overhears later on…)

Tara:  Why does Jesus need to stuff his feelings in?  To spare yours?

Tess:  Well, from what you guys have told us, his physical and cognitive functions have improved and that's huge!

Tonia:  Holy God, Moms.  Just how much have you overshared with Tess and Dean???

Tara:  I’m assuming that Stef also shared every excruciating detail about her double mastectomy as well - Tess is a doctor, after all… <— Sarcasm

Stef:  Yeah.  Well, he really, really wants to go to school.  Just--  We're not sure...

Tess:  I think he should!

Tonia:  Except feel free to give advice here, Tess.  Seriously.  Jesus deserves an education.

Tara:  THANK YOU, TESS!  

Tess: Some of his frustration might be that he's not getting enough social interaction, enough structure to his day and academic goals met.

Stef:  Yeah, that's a good point...

Lena:  But of course those things can create added stress as well.

Tess: True.

Stef: Well...

Tess:  Have you thought about getting Jesus an IEP?

Lena:  Yes, of course I've thought about it, but we will have him evaluated when we feel he's ready.

Tonia:   Lena, you can’t keep Jesus in a bubble the rest of his life.  He needs to go to school.  Yes, there’s going to be stress there.  But the point of an IEP is so that he’ll have the accommodations he needs in that environment.  No, it’s not a cure-all, but that is literally what it exists for.

And when exactly will Jesus be “ready” for school, Lena?  When his brain injury magically goes away?  When he acts the way you want him to act?  You can’t use school as a bargaining chip.  It’s just gross.

Tara:  If, at the beginning of the series, we heard that Jim Pearson was not allowing Jude to attend school?  The viewing public would overwhelmingly see that as abusive.  This is abusive as well.

Tess:  This is your field.  I just say it because I have a friend who has a son with similar issues and she was able to get a free one-on-one classroom aide.

Stef: I definitely think that's something we can look into.

Lena:  Yes, I know.

Tonia:   If you know, Lena, then what the heck is up with all of your defensiveness?  Sorry these words aren’t coming from someone you’d prefer them to come from, but you and Stef need to hear it.

(And while I know aides serve a purpose in school settings, they also do a heck of a job alienating a kid socially.  I speak from experience.  I hope if Jesus does get one, that they’re respectful.)

Tara:  Lena, you do not get to use Jesus’s right to an education as an excuse to be petty.

CALLIE AND BRANDON - KITCHEN:

Callie:  Hey, look at Jesus's photoburst.  He didn't even bother to narrow it down to one or two.  Look.

Brandon: [Laughs]  Yeah, that sounds like Jesus.

Tonia:  Maybe he wanted you to have a lot of options, Callie.  But my gut says it’s probably easier to hit a button and send them all at once than it is to look at each one and try to narrow it down…

Callie:  [Why haven't I] heard you play music lately?

Brandon:  Well, for one, Jesus smashed my keyboard, so...

Callie:  We have a real piano.

Tonia:   Tell him, Callie.

Tara:  OMG Brandon! I’m glad Callie finally stated the obvious!

JESUS - IN BED THAT NIGHT - HIS ROOM - TEXTING EMMA

Jesus:  Hey.  Thought you were going to call me today?  [Deletes the text without sending it]

Tonia:  Totally been there.  Where you want to send the text, but you’re not ready for the response you’ll get…

STEF AND LENA - KITCHEN - THE NEXT DAY

Stef: Have you given anymore thought to what Tess suggested?  Getting Jesus an in class aide?

Lena:  Suddenly you're ready for Jesus to go back to school now that Dr. Tess Medicine Woman thinks it's a good idea?  

Tonia:  Every time this scene starts with Lena on the phone, I always think, “Oh, good!  She’s talking to ABCC about what needs to happen to get Jesus evaluated for an IEP!”  But nope!  I get that the timing of Stef changing her mind about Jesus going to school is suspicious.  (It is.  She’s shown zero indication that Jesus going back to school was even something she would consider prior to this conversation.)  But the bottom line is?  If Jesus were in any other minority group, holding off on sending him to school would be ludicrous.  Why is it okay here?

Tara:  It is not okay.  There is no reason he should not be enrolled.  Lena (apparently Jesus’s official caregiver) has been back at work since roughly 4x15.  About a month has gone by since then by my calculations.  A month of Jesus sitting at home alone all day - apparently so stable medically that he does not need constant supervision.

Jesus’s visual disturbances subside enough that he is able to read in 4x18.  It has been close to two weeks since then from what I can gather.   I can see putting off school up until this point, but after that?  I can see no reason that school is not part of an ongoing conversation.  Accommodations and IEPs take time to be drawn up and put in place, but they cannot be utilized until the appropriate meetings and appointments happen.

Stef:  Hey.  I know that you are tense about what's going on at school--

Lena:  And at home.  I honestly just don't know what to do about Jesus.

Jesus:  [Walks downstairs.  Stops.  Sits down on the bottom step, out of Moms' sight to listen, having heard his name.]

Lena:  I mean, we can't be in denial about the fact that he is unpredictable.  He's potentially dangerous.  And we don't know if he's gonna get any better.  He may be like this for the rest of his life.  

Jesus: [Listens, troubled]

Lena:  To be honest, Stef, sometimes I'm actually afraid of him.

Jesus:  [Shocked.  Hurt.]

Tonia:  Wow, Lena.  Seriously?  I can’t tell you how many ways this devastates me.  First of all, because Jesus overheard the whole thing.  Secondly, because your ableism knows no bounds!  Jesus literally was not out of bounds in any way this episode.  So I really wish the harmful brain injury representation would stop already.

Because you know what that leads to?  Fans commenting with remarks like, “I’m scared of him, too.”  Comments like, “He’s violent and scary.”  “He’s a monster.”  “IDK why they ever messed up his character.  This isn’t the real Jesus.  He’s like a whole new person now.” “Thank God Emma loves him,” and “Jesus is going to think he is better off dead.”

How does a portrayal that constantly dismisses the legitimacy of a person with a brain injury’s feelings help that part of the population?  It’s only alienating them more and putting them in more actual danger, because if people are going to watch this show with zero experience with a brain injury themselves or as a family member or friend, they’re going to see a stereotype (that people with brain injuries are violent and need to be put in their place or handled violently before they can become violent) and a damaging disability narrative (which is that when you become disabled, you become a burden to your family.  And the only validity your experience has is how it effects them, because all of your own feelings are “just a symptom.”)

Please let Moms and the family become aware of the harm they are doing.  This is beyond damaging and has real consequences for real people.

Tara:  Your son has a brain injury.  His brain is altered.  He will make improvements, but yes, he will be “like this” for the rest of his life.  So start seeing him as a human being, not just a list of symptoms.  Start talking with him, and more importantly, start listening to him.  Network with other TBI survivors as well.  Send him to school.  And please, check your ableism.  Because your harmful disability attitudes will hurt him far more than the injury has.

For more:  Disability on The Fosters

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