The Fosters

Plot

This five season series follows the lives of the Adams Foster family who live in San Diego. The matriarchal heads of this family are police officer Stef Foster and her life partner Lena Adams, a school vice principal. Their multiethnic, blended family includes Brandon, Stef's biological son from her previous marriage, and twins Jesus and Mariana, who were adopted as children. The series begins when the couple take in two foster children, siblings Callie and Jude Jacobs, whom they later adopt. The five children have rough times navigating adolescence because of poor life choices.

Also part of their lives is Mike Foster, Stef's patrol partner and ex-husband, and Brandon's biological father.

Most of the show takes place at the family's craftsman-style home in the quiet San Diego suburb of Mission Bay and at Anchor Beach Community Charter School.

Characters

Main

Stef Adams Foster (Teri Polo) is Lena's wife, Brandon's biological mother, and the adoptive mother to twins Jesus and Mariana. In the pilot episode, she and Lena also foster Callie Jacob, and later her younger maternal half-brother Jude, whom they will subsequently adopt. Stef is a police officer for the San Diego Police Department, where she works as a patrol partner with Brandon's biological father and her ex-husband, Mike. She is known for having a strong personality with bold opinions but can also be loving and motherly. When Jesus goes missing one night, Mariana informs her parents how she fears Jesus is at their biological mother Ana's house since they recently got in contact and have been lending her money. Stef and Mike go to rescue Jesus only to discover that he is not there, and Ana's boyfriend, an abusive drug addict, shoots Stef, who is severely wounded before making a full recovery. Later, she officially marries Lena, and after having a mammogram, Stef receives a diagnosis of intraductal carcinoma. Because it is likely that the cells will become cancerous, she undergoes surgery.

Lena Adams Foster (Sherri Saum) is Stef's wife, step-mother to Brandon, and adoptive mother to Jesus and Mariana. In the pilot episode, she and Lena also foster Callie Jacob, and later her younger maternal half-brother Jude, whom they will subsequently adopt. Lena is the vice principal of Anchor Beach Community Charter School, the high school her children attend. She tends to be more open and reasonable, oftentimes when it comes to the children's wrongdoings but can be stern as well. She and Stef legally marry, and the discussion of Lena carrying her first child arises. Lena interviews for a promotion at work and reveals she is pregnant, leading the panel to question her ability to balance work and home. She later develops Pre-eclampsia, which leads to a miscarriage.

Callie Adams Foster (formerly Callie Quinn Jacob) (Maia Mitchell) is the adoptive daughter of Stef and Lena, adoptive sister to Brandon, Mariana, and Jesus, and maternal half-sister to Jude. In the pilot episode, the court places Callie in the Adams Foster home after serving time in juvenile detention for damaging her abusive foster father's property. Later, with Brandon's help, she goes to get her younger half-brother Jude (then believed to be her brother), who is still in the abusive foster home. Callie quickly develops a crush on Brandon before Jude becomes furious at her after seeing them kiss at Stef and Lena's wedding. Fearing the court will place her back into foster care, Callie attempts to run away, where she ends up eating food at a gas station without paying. This leads her into a temporary group home to counsel her actions and keep her away from Brandon. As time passes, Callie and Brandon hold back their feelings for each other. Callie's adoption is initially put on hold after the discovery that she and Jude do not share the same birth father. Later, Robert Quinn, who reveals himself to be Callie's birth father, approaches Callie. Robert introduces her to his family, and she quickly bonds with his daughter, Sophia. After Robert feels ready to turn over his paternal rights, Sophia tears up the paperwork, hoping Callie feels the same way about their newfound sibling bond, which appears to be the exact opposite. Stef and Lena officially adopt her following a prolonged battle with the justice system and a passionate speech to the judge.

Recurring

Daphne Keene (Daffany Clark) is Callie's close friend who she meets in juvie and later lives with at Girls' United. She begins working for Justina, the investor in Fost and Found, to win back custody of her daughter.

Timothy (Jay Ali) is a teacher, who is quite popular among his students at Anchor Beach Community Charter School.

Ana Gutierrez (Alexandra Barreto) is Jesus and Mariana's biological mother, and a member of AA. In the first season, Ana initially bribes Jesus and Mariana for money. She later dates Mike and also gives birth to a daughter, Isabella, during the third season and becomes engaged to Mike in season five.

Dana Adams (Lorraine Toussaint) is Lena's mother.

Stewart Adams (Stephen Collins in Season 1, Bruce Davison in Season 3) is Lena's father.

Emma Kurtzman (Amanda Leighton) is a member of the wrestling and STEM teams with Mariana. She becomes Jesus' girlfriend before they break up but are reconciled in season 3.

Sophia Quinn (Bailee Madison) is Callie's biological younger half-sister. Sophia clings on to Callie as though they are really close despite only meeting each other recently, even acting out after Callie makes it clear to her and her family that she does not want to live with them. After she attempts suicide and goes to counseling, Sophia's parents discover that she has a personality disorder, which her father discloses to Callie.

Mat Tan (Jordan Rodrigues) is a founding member of Someone's Little Sister. Since the second season, he and Mariana have been dating each other only to find themselves constantly breaking up and getting back together again.

Monte Porter (Annika Marks) is the principal of Anchor Beach Community Charter School. Monte is divorced and in Lena's office at school, she briefly kisses Lena. By the third season, Monte begins dating Jenna after revealing that she is reevaluating her sexual orientation.

Special guest stars

Sharon Elkin (Annie Potts) is Stef's mother, and the Foster children's grandmother.

Robert Quinn Sr. (Patrick Duffy) is Callie's biological paternal grandfather.

Will (Rob Morrow) is Sharon's partner, whom she met on the road. They become engaged and almost marry in season five.

Production

Conception

The Fosters was originally conceived by openly gay creators Bradley Bredeweg and Peter Paige who wanted to write a drama that reflected the "modern American family". After originally considering a story about two gay fathers, the pair decided the subject of two men raising a family had already been done on television and began to instead consider a story about two women. When asked about the concept of two lesbian mothers raising a blended family, Bredeweg stated, "We realized that there was a kind of a vacuum when it came to stories about women raising families. So we set off in that direction. Many of our own friends are moms raising biological kids. Some of them have fostered and adopted. Suddenly, we realized that we had a story here that hadn't been told on television before." Additionally, certain elements of the series which deal with the foster care system are said to have been inspired by a troubled childhood friend of Bredeweg, who struggled in the foster system before eventually being adopted in her senior year of high school.

Development

When developing the concept, Bredeweg and Paige were initially met with some resistance from Hollywood, with Bredeweg recounting, "[T]here were some people around us, some people in town who said, 'You know, it is just not going to happen. You are never going to sell this show.'" After completing the first draft of the pilot script, the team was introduced to Jennifer Lopez through a friend who worked at her production company Nuyorican Productions, which was looking to branch out into scripted television. When describing their initial pitch to Lopez, Bredeweg stated, "When we met with Jennifer, she really fell in love with it. The moment we had her, we knew that we had a force behind us."

Lopez's decision to become involved in the project is said to have been largely inspired by her late Aunt Marisa, Lopez's mother's gay elder sister who had faced discrimination during her lifetime due to her sexual orientation and was unable to have a family of her own. When discussing the show's concept, Lopez stated, "Although [the script] was about a non-traditional family and had some newer themes, it had some really basic themes as well about family and love and what's really important. And life can be complicated and messy sometimes and not simple. It gives a really good depiction of family in this day and age."

With Lopez on board, the team took the concept to several networks, including ABC Family, with Bredeweg recalling, "ABC Family was really receptive from the very beginning. Strangely, it felt a little like a match made in heaven. I mean, their slogan is 'A new kind of family.' We had a new kind of modern family, and it took off from there." On July 6, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter, among other sources, reported that Jennifer Lopez and her production company, Nuyorican Productions, were developing the yet-to-be-titled hour-long drama for ABC Family, with Lopez set to executive produce alongside Simon Fields and Greg Gugliotta, as well as showrunners and head writers Peter Paige and Brad Bredeweg.

Finally, the first televised promo appeared on ABC Family on April 19, 2013.

Casting

On August 23, 2012, sources reported that ABC Family had ordered a pilot for The Fosters, a series which would tell the story of a lesbian couple raising a "21st-century" multi-ethnic mix of foster and biological children. On September 24, 2012, it was reported that Teri Polo and Sherri Saum had been cast to star in the pilot as the two leads, Stef Adams Foster and Lena Adams Foster, respectively. It is worth noting that neither are openly members of the LGBTQ+ community.

On February 6, 2013, it was reported that ABC Family had picked up the show, with production set to begin that spring for a summer 2013 premiere. The rest of the principal cast was also announced at that time, including Danny Nucci as Stef's ex-husband Mike Foster, David Lambert as their biological son Brandon Foster, Jake T. Austin and Cierra Ramirez as Stef and Lena's twins Jesus and Mariana Foster, and Maia Mitchell and Hayden Byerly as their foster children Callie and Jude Jacob.

When recounting the casting process, Bredeweg explained, "[W]e spent tireless hours trying to find the right person for each role. Then they all began to line up—it was like dominos—the moment we found our Lena, the moment we found our Callie, the moment we found our Stef, it sort of all started to line up perfectly for us." On April 11, 2013, TV Guide unveiled the first official cast photo of The Fosters.

In March 2015, it was announced that Jake T. Austin would be leaving the show. He tweeted: "I'm honored to have been a part of such a groundbreaking series, but I personally want to let you know that my time on the show has come to an end. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family, it's been a pleasure." It was announced three months later that Noah Centineo would replace Austin in the role of Jesus.

Broadcast

The Fosters premiered on June 3, 2013, and ran for ten episodes. On July 30, 2013, the series was picked up for a full season and an additional eleven episodes were produced, with the first season returning on January 13, 2014, before concluding on March 24. On October 11, 2013, ABC Family renewed The Fosters for a second season that premiered on June 16, 2014. The summer finale premiered on August 18, 2014. In July, ABC Family announced a Christmas special to premiere in December with the second half of season 2 to premiere in January 2015. The third season premiered on June 8, 2015.

On January 13, 2015, ABC Family renewed the series for a third season which premiered on June 8, with the second half set to premiere on January 18, 2016, on Freeform. On November 24, 2015, the premiere date was pushed to a week later on January 25, 2016. On November 30, 2015, ABC Family announced that The Fosters was renewed for a fourth season and began airing on June 20, 2016.

While Canada broadcasts the series on ABC Spark, it airs on Fox8 in Australia where its second season premiered on February 3, 2015. In Turkey, the series airs on Dizimax Drama.

On January 10, 2017, The Fosters was renewed for a fifth season, which included the series' 100th episode.

On January 3, 2018, Freeform announced that The Fosters was ending after five seasons. The show's two-hour 100th episode acted as a Season 5 finale, setting up the three-part limited series event that aired in June 2018. The three-episode finale will introduce a spin-off series centered around Maia Mitchell's Callie and Cierra Ramirez's Mariana.

Webisodes

On January 27, 2014, it was confirmed that ABC Family green-lighted a spin-off digital series of The Fosters, named The Fosters: Girls United. The five-part web series follows the residents of the Girls United home in a new country. Maia Mitchell, Daffany Clark, Cherinda Kincherlow, Annamarie Kenoyer, Alicia Sixtos, Hayley Kiyoko, and Angela Gibbs star in the series.

Reception

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Fosters received an overall score of 98%. On Metacritic, the first season of the show holds a score of 69 out of 100, based on twelve reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

While acknowledging its network was somewhat beholden to the "soapy" format its target demographic had become accustomed to, critics praised the series for its ability to appeal to adults and younger viewers alike, with Boston Herald critic Mark A. Perigard writing, "The show cannily plays to teen hopes and dreams [...] but there's story for the adults as well." St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Gail Pennington echoed the sentiment, writing "Intelligent enough for adults, accessible enough for younger viewers and entertaining enough for both."

The series has garnered positive reception for its innovative portrayal of LGBT characters and themes. Entertainment Weekly critic, Sarah Caldwell wrote that "[s]eeing a lesbian, biracial couple on a family TV show is a big deal. [I]f you look at the demographics of most TV shows, it's easy to realize how important, and deliberate, this choice was." Philadelphia Daily News critic Ellen Gray wrote, "Stef and Lena [are] the kind of parents I've met more in real life than on television. I hope they'll be as welcome there as they seem to be welcoming." TV Guide critic Matt Rousch felt similarly, writing, "there's something refreshing about its unforced approach to redefining what a family looks like." In addition to its adult characters, the series garnered praise for its handling of 13-year-old Jude's questioning of his sexual orientation, with Hollywood.com citing Byerly's "heartwarming" portrayal when naming Jude to its list of "Favorite LGBTQ Characters on TV" in 2014. The LGBT advocacy organization GLAAD and gay-interest media outlet TheBacklot.com also commended the show's decision to introduce the character of transgender teenager Cole, portrayed by transgender actor Tom Phelan, in the second half of its first season.

In his review of the pilot episode, Variety's Brian Lowry criticized what he felt were formulaic elements, writing that what was distinctive about the series appeared to have been "extracted during the pitch meeting, indicating a show either built by committee or incorporating too many notes." Although acknowledging that Polo and Saum were competent actresses and that the show "had its heart in the right place", Lowry described the series as an "utterly by-the-numbers affair". PopMatters critic Maysa Hattab detected some of the same problems, writing "[T]he Fosters feel less like a family than a careful assembly of machine-tooled parts, as if the show were engineered for a focus group approved 'family drama' category", while conceding that the lead characters, Stef and Lena were "a likeable pair".

Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Fosters.

Spin-off

On January 3, 2018, following the announcement of the ending of the series, Freeform announced a spin-off was in the works. It would center the lives of Callie and Mariana Adams Foster, now living in Los Angeles, a few years after the series finale of The Fosters, which contains a five-year time jump. The spin-off was given a 13-episode order. On May 23, 2018, it was announced that the title of the spin-off series was Good Trouble. On February 5, 2019, it was announced via Twitter that the show has been renewed for a second season. On January 17, 2020, the series has been renewed for a third season. The renewal for the fourth season was announced on September 8, 2021. The fourth season premiered on March 9, 2022 on freeform, and on March 10 on Hulu. The fifth and final season aired in two parts.