The anticipated musical episode of The Fosters has finally arrived and there is much to say about it! The episode begins with opening night as the cast prepares to perform their rock-esque musical take on the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet. Overall, this new interpretation of the well-known play was very creative in how it incorporated Shakespeare’s story with the lives of the Foster family. It demonstrated, yet again, how Shakespeare’s language and words continue to have value to people today; in whatever way they want them to. The combination of original music and choreography along with Shakespeare’s text shined a light on how the themes of extremity, impulsiveness and miscommunication continue to affect people in the contemporary world. The grungy style sets and costumes along with the original songs really allowed for the rock music themed version of R&J to come together harmoniously.
The way the director approached addressing other storylines through character memories as they watched the performance was very unique, in my perspective. Each memory is triggered by the performance of a specific song, that way, alluding to the sentiment and emotion present in the scene. The first memory triggered is of Jude crying over Connor and his friend Jack attempting to comfort him. The budding connection between them is apparent and fans don’t have to wait long to wonder what will come from it. We later see a scene between Jude and Jack, one of the most powerful scenes in the episode in my opinion, where Jack is helping Jude vent his anger and the moment leads to a kiss. Jack has been Jude’s shoulder to lean on during his first real heartbreak and the moment is only a genuine expression of Jude’s frustration and sadness.
As Brandon accompanies each song on piano, he is also reminded of past moments. A memory of Brandon and Courtney fighting over his lack of preparedness to begin a real relationship with her leads her to believe that he isn’t ready to give up Callie. The theme of “forbidden love” is deeply explored in this episode as a comparison is made between Romeo and Juliet’s inability to tell their families about their love to Brandon and Callie’s situation. They both wonder how differently things would have turned out if they had only told the family about their love. Although they realize that it is too late for them, a door seems to be left open. The message of Brandon’s song is clear and it is clear that it is directed to Callie; as the song indicates “I will be yours, forever.” Callie will always be Brandon’s true love, the one in his heart. The writers are leaving the door open for their relationship despite, as the play alludes, it being destined for tragedy. I’m not sure how this will play out in next week’s season finale, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Matt and Mariana as the two leads of the show gave an incredible musical performance and it was so interesting to see the actors performing as their characters, performing other roles. The history and chemistry that Matt and Mariana have is very evident and being involved in the play brought out emotions that they had tried to push away. The pair has tried to move on from one another with new significant others but the feelings are still there. The emotional gravity of their performances leads them to confess that they do indeed still love one another. What this confession will do for their future and their other relationships will be interesting to see in the finale.
All the while, Stef is not able to attend the performance because of a domestic violence call. When she arrives at the house she immediately recognizes it as Jude and Callie’s last foster home, one where they were severely verbally and physically abused. When her team finally apprehends the suspect, they find a body in the kitchen. The devastating shock is that Jack was the one shot and killed by the same man who abused Jude and Callie. This horrific and tragic ending will not be good for Jude’s already grieving state. Tune in next week to see how this will all play out in the season finale!
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