“The Fosters” S5 E12 Recap: #IWasMadeInAmerica

Last week, the Fosters family really left us on a cliffhanger when Lena ended up at Nick’s house. Not to mention, Stef was still struggling with this mysterious breathing problem. And…Ximena’s DACA status was still uncertain. And of course, there is Jesus who finally went back to school but hated his paraprofessional. So. much. drama. So let’s get right into it.

(FREEFORM, ERIC MCCANDLESS)

Lena Saves Anchor Beach

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Yes, Lena saved Anchor Beach. But not without the help of Nick Stratos…

Back where the last episode left off, Lena asks Nick about the information he has that could save Anchor Beach. He denies it, but she shows him the text messages to Mariana that prove otherwise. She tells him that contacting Mariana broke the restraining order and his parole, despite him “just wanting to help.” She tells him he better have something that will save the school or is she going to send the text messages straight to his parole officer.

He hands her a flash drive and says it is everything she needs to save the school. He tries again and again bringing up how he just wanted to apologize to Mariana but Lena will not have any of it. She fights back and tells him time after time that Mariana has made it clear she doesn’t want to see him or have anything to do with him.

He keeps apologizing and apologizing, saying he was never going to hurt her. But he did traumatize her…and Lena does not let him forget that. She tells him that if he really wanted to make things right he would just leave her alone.

But things take a totally different spin when Nick says, “my dad is going to kill me. My dad is going to kill me for giving you that.” Lena tells him that his dad is part of the problem and he needs to talk to his therapist or someone that will help. He also confides in her that he is the one who broke the model, he smashed it. Because he hates him.

A Decision Is Finally Made

Lena was almost too late to the meeting. Without her vote, the board will have all of the votes needed to proceed with the private school decision. But she rushes in at the very last minute.

She tells them that before they make the vote, there is something they need to see. As she pulls up a blue print for condominiums on Anchor Beach, she says that Greg Sratus has no intention of making the school a private academy, but rather just wants the property to build on. “Anchor Beach Academy is a total sham.”

Greg admits that he made the blue print up only as a contingency because they will need a lot of capital if they want to make Anchor Beach great. So after the vote was settled, he was going to announce relocating Anchor Beach Academy and using the condominiums as an endowment. Lena warns everyone to not fall for it. The majority voted against the academy.

Later, at Stef’s birthday party (we will get to that later), Timothy pulls Lena aside and tells her that she cannot be a parent and a professional during school for Jesus and that she is overstepping. She tells him that she has to fight her son and do what she has to do. He then tells her that she should fight for herself and run for principal.

At the end of the episode, Lena walks into a board meeting and tells them Drew needs to be fired and she will be principal, otherwise she’ll quit. And she is backed up by nearly every teacher in the school.

The Fosters vs. Shiloh McCullen

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Beginning at the church once again, Callie, Aaron, Ximena and one of their friends from art school, discuss how they can get attention from Shiloh McCullen’s protest for Ximena’s situation. They are trying to get the press’ attention in order to earn Ximena a hearing to delay action while her DACA status is still undecided.

At Shiloh McCullens protest, Callie and everyone has a tough time just sitting through it and listening to her. So when it opens up to questions, Callie steps up in line. She calls her out on saying that DACA puts their country in danger. However, Callie proves her wrong when she states that no one can get a DACA status with a criminal record. Then she goes on to tell Ximena’s story. And all of her friends and family stand up with signs protesting her, just as she asks her what makes her, and everyone else an American but not Ximena. Chills. She didn’t have an answer.

And not to mention more big news, Callie’s protest stunt for Ximena made Huffington Post.

While celebrating the good news, Ximena kisses Callie. Hmm…is there going to be something more between them?

So What’s The Deal With Stef?

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Then she asks if her and Lena have made any plans for her birthday coming up this weekend…looks like someone remembers. Stef asks her how she remembered her birthday…Tess says that her and Dean would love to take her and Lena out to dinner. Stef says they always have a small get together out back and invited her and her family.

Later, Stef and Lena discuss her birthday plans. When Lena asks her about who she invited, Stef tells her she invited Tess and Dean after the situation that occurred that morning. Lena’s face is really unenthused.

After explaining everything that happened, Lena notices Stef cleaned one of the pots three times…as Lena heads up to go to bed, Stef just stands in the kitchen alone. Doing that weird deep breathing thing again…and again..and again. Wonder why..

Stef and Jenna’s Birthday Bash

Finally, at Stef’s birthday bash…Tess and Dean arrive. Jenna introduces herself to Tess, thinking that she is a lesbian. Telling her next time, she may have to stop by…

Jenna can’t stop asking Stef about Tess. B just then, Tess walks up to wish Stef a happy birthday. That is when Jenna finds out they knew each other all the way back when they were teenagers, and as Tess describes their friendship, they were “inseparable.”Then Jenna’s exacts words, “Oh, you are Tess, Tess. I have heard so much about you.”

At the end of the party, Stef, Lena, Jenna, Tess, and Dean are left. However, Stef ends the party because she is exhausted. But only after she has a freak out on Jenna. When she leaves, Lena asks her what is wrong. Because she senses that it is much more than her being tired.

The next day, Brandon gives Stef a birthday card with a free hour of listening to him play piano to relieve her stress. As she hugs him, she starts to cry. So he starts to play as she begins to relax on the couch. Well thats what it looked like, until she started crying even more and breathing even harder.

In bed later that night, she can’t seem to fall asleep. Stef starts breathing really hard and wakes Lena up. She tells her that she isn’t okay and she can’t breathe. While she says she has no idea what is wrong, she knows something isn’t right…she asks Lena to hold her. What in the world could it be..?

Mariana, The Bachelorette

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While Mariana and Poppy are peeking in at the board meeting, Wyatt comes up to her and asks her to go out with him. Poppy asks her if she has decided on Wyatt but she says she decided she doesn’t have to decide. She doesn’t have to be exclusive with any of them, and none of them have to know.

Later in the day, Mariana runs into Mat. She tells him that if he really wanted to start over then she would agree to give him another chance. So, she invites him to her moms birthday. Little does she know, Stef invited Tess, Dean, and Logan to the party too. Oh no..

After school, Mariana is teaching Logan about derby. Then he tells her he would like to hang out with her, and kisses her. Look at Mariana getting all the guys!

Getting Caught In The Act

While everyone is getting ready for Stef’s birthday party, Mariana receives a text from Logan. Or so she thinks…turns out it was Mat. And she replied to him saying that she had a great time last night. I you hadn’t remembered, Mariana always gets herself into very, very sticky situations.

Mat arrives to the party and comes and greets Mariana. He asks her who she had an amazing night with last night but before she could answer, Logan walks up. I sense trouble…Logan said that Mat was the “ex-boyfriend.” And somehow they awkwardly all end up eating together.

While Logan heads back home for a second, Mariana ends up answering Mat’s question. She tells him Logan lives next door and the guy she had an amazing night with. And just as you think it can’t get any worse, Wyatt comes in. He drops off a calendar with all of his available times to hangout with her.

The Truth Comes Out

Just as Logan comes in, she explains to all of them that she doesn’t think she needs to choose anyone just yet and wants some one-on-one time with each of them. Or as she worded it, “I don’t understand why I can’t date all of you.” Everyone is cool with it except for Mat…

When the two of them are alone, Mat tells her that he doesn’t love the idea of her dating other guys. He doesn’t need to restart with her because he already knows he loves her. But she stands her ground and tells him the only way she will consider getting back into this is, slowly.

Jesus Tries This School Thing Again

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At a family meeting, Lena discusses that they all need to treat Jesus differently, its called “ableism.” They said they have been expecting him to control things they can’t expect him too and keeping things from him that he can handle.

While everyone thinks they were just helping him but in reality they were just hindering him. Letting Jesus take the lead, as long as he lets everyone what he needs. As the family meeting comes to a close and everyone returns to their homework, Lena asks Jesus to stay.

She want him to know she heard what he had to say about David being so awful and that she is really sorry. She tells him that David will not return, but he stills need someone to help him manage his homework and all of his classes. To his surprise, she agrees to help him with that instead of another paraprofessional.

But as class begins again, Lena walks up to Jesus’ teacher and hands him a list of accommodations and important information to know about his traumatic brain injury. While Lena is telling his teacher everything he needs to know, Jesus starts to notice that all of his classmates begin to whisper. And everyone starts to stare. Poor Jesus, he starts to realize he doesn’t even like having is mom there..

Declan Gets Jealous

At school, Jude tells Taylor that he met with Declan and got Inimate Power to sign her too. She thinks he only did it because he feels bad but he tells her he felt like a jerk. It wouldn’t be the same without her, and she wouldn’t be left out.

After school, Taylor, Jude, and Declan meet up and discuss their plan for the video game streaming. Just as Noah walks in and kisses him. Awkward first introduction to Declan…But during the live stream things get even more awkward.

Looks like Declan is pretty jealous. He introduces himself as “gay guy,” and then Jude as “gay guy” who still hasn’t hit puberty. Yikes. And the mean comments don’t stop anytime soon.

See You Here Next Week

Hopefully next week we see even more progress with Ximena and her DACA status. Maybe even a relationship status for her and Callie…Praying we get some answers for Stef too. As always, tune in to FreeForm next week to catch the next episode at 8/7c. And be sure to follow @PopHeartsTV on all social media! Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel too!