Good Trouble never misses with holidays at the Coterie!
The series pulled off an ambitious feat on Good Trouble Season 5 Episode 7 with the oddly placed (but we’ll allow it) Thanksgiving-themed installment that brought many familiar guest stars and Coterie member relatives to share a meal.
And there were plenty of laughs and entertaining moments from high Lena and Jude, over it Stef, Mama Kwan, and Bonnie.
Good Trouble is often at its best when they can bring the entire group together for some occasion or another and lean heavily into what it means to live in a communal space where everyone is a family.
It’s one of the primary reasons people tune in for a series like this, and tossing in some The Fosters nostalgia by bringing Callie, Jude, Stef, and Lena into the mix will never not bump an installment up to a highlight.
And the hour was just pure fun for the sake of it, with some heartwarming moments tossed in, which is precisely what you want and need sometimes.
Who would’ve had Lena and Jude getting high together on their Bingo card?
Lena: You high?
Jude: A little. Okay a lot.
Lena: Jude, it’s Thanksgiving.
Jude: Yeah, I know. It’s the perfect time to have the munchies, and there are a lot of people I don’t know here.
Lena: Ok, I get it. It’s a little overwhelming.
Jude: You want a gummy?
Stoned Jude was amusing, and it made up for him having few lines or real scenes because the random things he’d do or say while high were entertaining as it was.
You couldn’t fault the guy’s logic that if he had to spend Thanksgiving with a bunch of people, some of whom he doesn’t even know, it was the perfect time for an edible or two to knock the edge off of his anxiety and trigger those munchies.
And it’s not the first time we’ve seen Lena high, but it never gets old. She’s so freaking sweet and hilarious when it happens. Sherri Saum has such fantastic comedic timing that one only wishes she’d take on more comedic roles.
Stef, the person with actual diagnosed anxiety and social anxiety, being sober amid all of this while her son and wife were high was hilarious.
Lena: We have so much to be grateful for on this… what is today called?
Callie, Mariana, Stef: Thanksgiving.
And can we take a moment to appreciate Teri Polo’s own comedic chops because of that single look she gave Bonnie and the delivery of her line as she wondered how the hell she got stuck talking to Bonnie, who was going on about her relationship with a stripper many moons ago had me gasping?
Stef sells herself short. She can be the “fun mom” too, just as Lena has done her fair share of advice-giving and helping the kids through some tough things.
Lena is correct in that it doesn’t matter which roles they play in their kids’ lives as long as their children know that they have someone to go to for any problem or situation, and they have that in spades with moms.
Even with Lena being high, they handled Callie’s situation well. One of the best things about Callie’s characterization and how it’s carried over into Good Trouble is how they consistently show how her experience as a foster kid still impacts her.
Lena: Kids go to different parents for different needs. What’s important is that they have someone to go to for everything. Stef: I am so thankful for you, mama.
The good news is that she did say yes to Jamie’s proposal at the moment, and she was super excited about it. But she kept their engagement secret from everyone, even when it was getting to Jamie.
And after she spoke with her moms and Mariana about it, she made sense. She’s still this woman who doesn’t always trust that good things can happen to her or can last.
She was afraid the moment she announced this news, something terrible could happen, and her happiness with Jamie and her life could be ripped from her now that it was “real.”
And the beautiful thing about her admission is not only did her moms and Mariana understand that and have the right words to encourage her, but Jamie loves her and knows her well enough to understand it once she explained it to him.
He was even willing to postpone the engagement and slow things down for her if she felt too uncomfortable because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her again.
Fortunately, Callie made her grand announcement with the engagement ring doll; thanks to Kamiyah kickstarting a different scare fiasco, everyone was happy for her.
It’s exciting to think that we’ll get a Coterie wedding sometime in the future, specifically with this character we’ve known and loved for over a decade. It’ll be huge, and Callie deserves this happiness. Fingers crossed that Jamie will remember how to pronounce Mariana’s name by then.
It wasn’t all laughs with the Adams-Foster clan, though, because Evan was still heavy on Mariana’s mind. It would’ve been so lovely if she had a special moment with him on the holiday and he got home-cooked food.
You need to stop feeling guilty for everything Evan. He’s alive and walking.
Callie
But instead, he was having a rough day, whatever that meant, and Mariana didn’t get to see him. It pushed her back to Joaquin and his new efforts to take Silas down once and for all.
I’m unsure if this is the most exciting development, as the cult was already pretty out there. But Mariana and Joaquin make a good team, and Silas needs to be stopped.
It’s worrying for both of them to tackle this when they both know how dangerous it is, which gives off the feeling that they can never learn.
And Jenna is not much help and is still desperately in need of more extensive deprogramming and more because, at this point, she’s just taking up space at the Coterie but cannot find community there, which suggests that she still feels the Farm is her community.
It was a minor miracle that Mariana managed to get her to dinner. And Joaquin’s speech, acknowledging them as his community, was nice.
More than anything, it’s been great to see Joaquin slowly find his place in the Coterie, even if he still primarily only interacts with Mariana. And the same goes for Luca, who epitomized, “I’m just happy to be here.”
Malika got a reality check when she realized that families fighting on holidays is normal.
The hour did a good job of also reminding viewers of how Malika had a similar past as Callie, and she has experience with happy holidays.
It made perfect sense that Dom would have issues with their father taking the lead of making his signature dish but not making it with him.
They’re living together, and part of why he was excited to live with his father was that they’d spend more time together and bond in all the ways they missed out on when Dom was a child.
For Alice, her family issues came in the form of her parents being unhappy that David, the Golden Child, gave up his cushy, well-paying, respectable job for acting.
And knowing how Alice always felt on the outs and in David’s shadow, it was sensible of her to feel threatened that he was encroaching on her niche.
But their sweet moment came in the form of him telling her that she was the one who inspired him. We never realize how vastly different siblings can be inspired by and envy things in one another.
Mama Kwan sneaking soy sauce and seasonings into Dennis’ meal as it was cooking was one of the hilarious moments of the hour. Bless her soul for that move, and she was so smug when everyone complimented the gravy and didn’t mind that Dennis was the one to get the credit for it.
Nothing is more familiar than someone, especially the family’s primary cook, sneaking in behind another person and flavoring or adding to the food when they’re not looking.
Dennis and Davia’s situation was interesting because of Dennis’ father. It was jarring to see him abruptly show up, and they had all this history we didn’t know about, but there was the classic case of his father not believing in Dennis’ dream with the restaurant.
Bonnie: I just want to do whatever it takes to repair our relationship.
Davia: I really appreciate that, and there is something you can do.
Bonnie: Anything.
Davia: Please, don’t hit on Dennis’ dad.
It felt a bit dry because we didn’t have anything previously to go on with this. And it sucked that he approached Davia in an attempt to talk Dennis out of the restaurant.
It felt like this was the wrong installment to introduce Dennis’ father because there needed to be more time to build something with that storyline or let things breathe.
Meanwhile, Bonnie’s reappearance brought some tension between her and Davia. More than anything, she was the ditzy mom whose previous issues seemingly got traded in for a new outlook as the well-meaning mom who is trying.
And Bonnie was certainly more likable this time around and earnest about improving her relationship with Davia. If anything, Davia was the one who came across in the wrong most of the hour because she was constantly trying to manage and control Bonnie.
In many ways, Davia was doing to Bonnie what Bonnie always did to Davia, trying to make her someone she wasn’t and “clean her up.” It wasn’t cool.
Bonnie is still Bonnie. Trying to stop her from being too flirty with Dennis’ father or too rude, or everything else, was just overkill.
But at least Davia and Dennis’ parents seemed to get along, and in the end, they got along with them, too.
Meanwhile, Gael’s parents, particularly his father, gave his son some excellent advice because Gael was coming in too strongly about baptism.
He cannot expect to co-parent this child with his siblings and then pull the “I’m the bio dad” card whenever he doesn’t get his way. It was so disrespectful, and it’s a wonder that Jazmin and her hubby didn’t cuss him out right on the spot.
They’re too saintly at this point. If we’re going to spend more time with them, we need to get real because Jazmin fully should’ve given Gael a piece of her mind.
They came to a great compromise, and it sounds like a beautiful ceremony. I wonder if it’s something that they’ll depict in the series.
Their co-parenting situation is unusual, and it’s natural for them to have some growing pains. I even love this rendition of a modern family because families can look so many different ways now.
As Lyric’s biological father, I have to insist on having the last word on this.
Gael
But a tiny part of me still wishes Gael would’ve let Jazmin and her husband adopt Lyric outright or predominately raise her while he figures out how to get his life together and what he needs.
It sucks that he’s micromanaging how they do things all the time, leaving them in this weird limbo of feeling like babysitters with no say, and he can drop the bio dad line down like a bomb whenever he pleases, which is just a slap in the face.
Thanksgiving at the Coterie was a generally fun time. It was lighthearted and entertaining enough to be a respite from some of the other drama.
Over to you, Good Trouble Fanatics.
Did you love this super relaxed and fun hour? Should Mariana and Joaquin go after Silas in hopes of taking him down? When do you think we’ll get Callie’s wedding? Sound off below.
You can watch Good Trouble online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You’ll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on Twitter.