With one too many lies told in an effort to keep their growing family together, relationship will be put to the test and someone's story will end in tragedy. A visit with Robert's father makes Robert and Callie see each other in a new light. Mariana prepares for a make-or-break dance team showdown at school. Jude takes a stand for his friend.
At times, "The End of the Beginning" feels too overly manipulative of the audience. The plot beats of some stories felt too calculated and designed to create drama. Monte kissing Lena was the direction this story has been building to for several episodes now. The fact that it does happen seems like the expected choice. The surprise was all gone. And it all came out of the fact that suddenly Lena is feeling very distant from Stef because Stef is starting to make decisions without consulting her first. Sure, that is enough reason to be upset. And it does feel like she instantly recognizes that Monte kissing her was a mistake. However, it still happened and those lingering feelings will likely still be at play when the show returns for its third season. So now, Lena's dynamic with Monte can be described as a kind of emotional affair that occurred simply because Lena and Stef stopped communicating for no good reason over the last few episodes of the season. It wasn't that organic to the narrative or especially true to the characters. The show simply stopping showing scenes of Lena and Stef talking and replaced them with Lena and Monte talks. That was just weird and awkward because there really isn't any reason why Lena should be feeling uncertain about her marriage.Similarly, Mariana's story this season has been about her maturing and standing up for herself and her friends. She was able to find confidence in being both a sexy and a smart woman. That is empowering to see and makes that character much more likable than she was at the start of the series. The dance-off in this episode is phenomenal. Sure, the rival team featured way too much strobe lighting and dance moves similar to the first time we saw them. But when it came time for Mariana and her team to perform, it was breathtaking, innovative and just so much fun. It's that kind of moment that makes this show distant. But Mariana's story was much more than that as well because of the future planning for Ana's baby. Mariana made it her mission to make sure that her half-sister had a good place to grow up. She wasn't sure if that was with Ana. In fact, she was pressing for anyone but Ana to raise the baby - be it Lena and Stef or her recently discovered grandparents who happen to live in town. It's because of that determination that Ana stuck to the plan of giving the girl to Lena and Stef. Ana was simply trying to make Mariana happy because their relationship was starting to get to a better and more honest place. Jesus should never be the voice of reason. So when he's the one to point out that Mariana is holding Ana back, she really does have to take a good look in the mirror to see if her thinking is clouding her judgment over what's best for Ana in this situation.
So Mariana is able to have that moment of honesty with Ana in telling her that she needs to make this decision for her and the baby and not for Mariana. Ana is eager to please and win back the love of her twins. They will never be a family but they at least can have some kind of relationship that isn't deeply rooted in deceit. Mariana gives Ana that nice gesture which then leads into Ana going into labor while she is driving. It's a plot twist solely designed for suspense. Of course, they get into a very serious accident. That always happens when the driver of a vehicle is in distress on a TV show. It was a moment whose sole purpose was to give the finale a cliffhanger to keep the suspense up for the audience during the upcoming hiatus. The rest of the family has no idea what happened. Stef gets word of it over the police scanner, but she has no idea that it's Ana, Jesus and Mariana in the vehicle. What's even more questionable is the fact that over the scanner it is said that there is one confirmed fatality, but when the camera cuts back to the wreckage there is no ambulance or first responders in sight. So how does anyone know for certain that someone is already dead because of it? It's a trumped up cliffhanger without a lot of weight to it.
These issues that I had with the finale are pretty big and important. And yet, they don't take away from the genuinely earned moments of pure emotion that the episode hits. Yes, Callie trying to get emancipated in order to get adopted was a last minute contrivance to heighten the drama and tension between the two families. And yet, her figuring out what and who she wanted in her life was a very big story this season. It all came to its resolution in this finale and it all felt earned. It was a tad silly for Robert to agree to withdraw his petition for custody solely because he didn't want to be the same controlling person his father was. Patrick Duffy is a great actor and a potentially interesting addition to the show. But his presence in the last episode of the season solely felt like the show providing an explanation that wasn't completely necessary. The dynamic between Callie and Robert was all about that talk they had after the big family dinner where Callie laid out what she wanted. The Fosters feel like home to her but she still wants Robert and Sophia to be a part of her life. They are her father and sister after all. She has made great strides in accepting that as her reality. So, Robert allowing her to be happy is a great gesture even though it was a little too complicated and messy in the execution. The simple plot beats of this story were still able to shine and they worked wonderfully well.
Best of all though, Jude got a confidence boost from Connor coming out to his father that he wanted to be there to support his friend. Their relationship this season sure has been complicated as they've dealt with their feelings for each other while still being held under the pressure of Connor's father. His father is the one who has a problem with all of this. He's fine with Jude being gay but it's hard for him to imagine his son being that as well. That point-of-view doesn't get a whole lot of focus. Lena has a talk with him about him being unable to keep boys out of Connor's live forever and the whole conflict is resolved. And yet, the focus is still on Jude and Connor and the love between them. It is so innocent yet complex. It's a full circle story as well. Connor has always been supportive of Jude and now Jude is doing the same for Connor. They are both proud to be with each other. Sure, it's painful in dealing with the parents' expectations. But in the end, Jude and Connor are together and it is so rewarding. They are able to say that they are boyfriends - and everyone now seems supportive of that. This story has been building across two seasons. And now that it has gotten to this moment, it is so wonderful to see payoff.
Some more thoughts:
- "The End of the Beginning" was written by Joanna Johnson, Bradley Bredeweg & Peter Paige and directed by Zetna Fuentes.
- Brandon is still dealing with his inner conflict of whether to go on tour with Lou or audition for a summer music program in the hopes of getting his hand back to what it used to be. It was basically the same story beat told in the same way over and over again in the last few episodes. That is no different in this episode. He chose to audition but things could still go back to the choice between the two at the start of the next season - which I'm not especially looking forward to as it didn't seem to go anywhere this season.
- Sophia's problems are being explained away as her having some kind of personality disorder. And now, that she has received treatment she's suddenly all better. It felt like her issues were much more complex than that though.
- The show didn't seem all that interested in telling Jesus stories in these last few episodes. He always seemed like a supporting character to Mariana's story. I guess that makes it easier for him to be killed off in the accident - should the show head in that direction, of course. He has never worked for me as a character so I wouldn't be sad to see him go.
- And yet, Jesus still has the boarding school opportunity open to him. So anything could really happen.
- There doesn't seem to be any more hurdles for Callie to get adopted by the Fosters. So the show should really just let that happen so she can finally be happy.
