The Fosters 4×11 – Insult to Injury – Recap

In the final scene of The Fosters 4A, a protective Jesus attacked Nick to save his sister, and was knocked unconscious for his trouble. The Fosters 4×11 picked up moments later and took us on the 42-minute roller coaster we’ve learned to expect from this show. Read on for our full recap of The Fosters 4×11, “Insult to Injury.”

Phantosmia of the Opera

We open with Jesus being loaded into an ambulance, a worried Stef by his side. He insists he’s fine but complains about the smell of gasoline. Shortly thereafter, he has a seizure. (Fun fact: Smelling scents that aren’t there is called “phantosmia” and sometimes happens in connection with or as a precursor to a seizure. …The more you know.)

With Jesus’ life hanging in the balance, The Fosters 4×11 switches to the other cliffhanger of the mid-season finale. Callie’s trapped in a car with Troy – the grandson of the woman her incarcerated foster brother Kyle was convicted of murdering. After Aaron calls to tell her that the DNA on the murder weapon came from a male relative of the victim, Callie tries to wrestle the wheel away from Troy and they crash into another car. Callie seizes her opportunity to escape and runs from Troy, who promptly ghosts even though the other car’s passenger isn’t moving. What a stand-up guy.

Meanwhile, Emo Brandon is emo. He leaves the festival in a daze after finding out he won’t be going to Juilliard after all. A word to the wise: That’s what happens when you take the SATs under someone else’s name. He flashes back to the first time he saw Cortney after mailing her a breakup letter from New York, and it’s safe to say their interaction was… well, tense. Back in the present, Brandon’s standing outside Cort’s house when her car pulls up. He tells her what happened with Juilliard, and she tries to comfort him. Shortly thereafter, their clothes start flying off because sometimes people don’t know how to deal with emotions so they have sex instead. This isn’t a good example to follow in life, folks, I’m just saying.

Coconut Telegraph

Oblivious to Callie and Jesus’ perilous situations, Jude and Noah sneak away from the festival. As The Fosters 4×11 continues, they proceed to scam their way onto a yacht named the Coconut Telegraph to smoke pot. Before long, they’re totally blazed and retreat to the bedroom cabin after raiding the boat’s kitchen for snacks. “Why are potato chips the most delicious thing ever created in the history of the world?” Noah wonders. They talk about inventing a potato chip that’s so nutritious, people will never have to eat anything else – and nutritional potato chips are apparently a turn-on for Jude, because he kisses Noah and takes off his shirt. Noah asks if he’s sure and he says yes, but gets interrupted when the Coconut Telegraph’s owner comes aboard. The duo make a daring escape by leaping off the back of the boat, and Noah even manages to compliment the guy’s shorts as they fly past.

During our recent interview with Kalama Epstein (Noah), the actor told us about his experience filming those boat scenes:

The funny thing was that the original boat we were going to use was actually too big to fit into the dock that we were filming on. They had to think super fast and get a much smaller boat, which made it much harder to shoot on. We had to have a whole crew fit inside a tiny little boat, plus two actors. It was crazy! It was very, very hectic, but it was so much fun to film. We even got to do our own stunts! They had stunt people available, but Hayden and I talked about it and decided we could do it ourselves.

Someone call McDreamy

When Emma, Mariana, and Lena arrive at the hospital, they’re not unduly concerned about Jesus. After all, the last time they saw him, he was conscious and speaking normally. Lena’s more immediate concern is Mariana, whom Emma reveals has been taking Jesus’ ADHD pills, but that changes when Stef appears. Everyone can tell from her face that something’s wrong – like, really wrong. What’s more, things go from bad to worse when a cop shows up wanting to talk to Jesus. “He’s unconscious right now, so he’s not going to be very helpful,” Stef snaps. Turns out Nick is accusing Jesus of throwing the first punch (which is true).

At this point, half of the Foster brood are still in the dark about what’s going on with Jesus. Callie gets the news when she calls Stef for advice about reporting Troy’s hit and run to the authorities (along with her suspicions about the murder of his grandmother, despite Aaron warning her to keep Kyle’s case out of it). She and Aaron rush to the hospital, from which she summons Brandon. Her call snaps Brandon out of his post-coital haze, and he and Cort race to Cort’s car. They make one stop on the way to provide a getaway vehicle for Jude and Noah, who are fleeing from a marina security guard. “I don’t even want to know,” Brandon snaps at the giggling duo. Cort volunteers to take Noah home after dropping Brandon and Jude at the hospital, and there’s a really cute moment when the brothers say goodbye to their respective love interests – Jude kisses Noah’s hand while Brandon kisses Cort’s cheek.

Inside the hospital, Mariana tells Lena and a nurse that she took “a few” of Jesus’ pills. The nurse says Mariana seems fine aside from being dehydrated, and a phlebotomist will drop by shortly to take some blood. That’s a big problem for Mariana – blood doesn’t lie, and she’s definitely been taking more than a few pills lately.

In another room, Jesus is awake and talking to a police officer (under Stef’s strict supervision, of course). He admits he punched Nick first, then asks Stef why the hospital smells like gasoline and has another seizure. This time around, things are more serious; a doctor tells Stef and Lena that Jesus has to be put into a medically induced coma. He may need to have the fluid drained from his swelling brain, or even undergo a craniotomy – which, if you’re not a Grey’s Anatomy fan, is when part of the skull has to be removed. (Sadly, this doctor isn’t as hot as McDreamy.) Stef and Lena watch helplessly as Jesus is wheeled away, and there’s a dramatic surgery montage featuring an attractive bald spot being shaved into Jesus’ head while the rest of the family sits in the waiting room looking worried. Lena goes to the hospital chapel to pray, and Stef joins her for moral support.

Secrets upon secrets

Meanwhile, Cort decides now is an appropriate time to talk to Brandon about what’s going on between them. She tells him that sleeping together was a mistake and their situation hasn’t changed. “That’s not true – everything’s changed!” Brandon protests, but Cort feels like his backup plan/consolation prize. “You hurt me and you hurt Mason and I’m never getting over that,” she says firmly before walking away.

After watching Cort leave through the hospital window, Callie asks if Brandon’s OK. He reveals that he’s no longer going to Juilliard and asks her not to tell anyone about the SAT situation. Because keeping secrets has gone so well for their family in the past, right?

Speaking of secrets, another of Mariana’s comes out after Emma says it’s her fault Jesus is in the hospital.

Mariana: “I was just -”
Emma: “You were just what? You were just seeing Nick all the time, you were just lying about it, you were just making your brother keep all your secrets? All he ever did was try to protect you, and now look where it got him.”

As Emma storms off, Mat pops up. Turns out he overheard their exchange and wants to know what Emma meant about Mariana seeing Nick…

As The Fosters 4×11 continues, Mike and AJ arrive at the hospital. AJ and Callie exchange apologies about the fight they had at the festival, then AJ approaches Aaron to bury the hatchet. Unfortunately, it’s an “I’m sorry, but…” type of apology – AJ tells Aaron, “To be fair, I didn’t know you were trans.” Aaron accepts the olive branch, but it’s clear he’s upset – not with AJ, but with Callie, whom he confronts before leaving the hospital.

“You can’t go around telling people that I’m trans. It’s just not your story to tell. People literally get killed for being trans, so it’s a really vulnerable thing to share with someone.”

So, hey, you know how people sometimes use the word “literally” as hyperbole? Well, Aaron didn’t. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, transgender and gender nonconforming people composed 67% of LGBTQ and HIV-affected hate violence-related homicides in 2015. Shitty, right? Want to do something about it? Trans Lifeline and The Trevor Project both run crisis intervention/suicide prevention hotlines, and could really use your donations. (Both organizations have experienced a higher call volume since the November election than at any other point in their histories.)

No more trouble

With The Fosters 4×11 drawing to a close, Stef and Lena gather their children. They have news: Jesus made it through the surgery! That said, he’s in the ICU, and it could be a few days before the swelling in his brain goes down. “Listen: Please, please, please, for the love of God, no more trouble. It’s the last thing your mama and I can handle right now,” Stef beseeches. Good thing Brandon’s not going to Juilliard, Jude’s getting high all the time, Callie was involved in a hit and run, and Mariana’s been secretly seeing Nick and taking Jesus’ pills…

After the kids leave, Stef and Lena discuss the part of Jesus’ prognosis that they didn’t share with the rest of the family. The extent of his head injury could mean learning disabilities or personality changes, and he may even need to learn how to walk and talk again.

Not wanting to burden Stef, Callie heads to the police station alone to make a statement about the hit and run. Against Aaron’s advice, she talks about the Martha Johnson case. The officer who takes her statement brings in Detective Gray, the cop who oversaw Martha’s case and essentially framed Kyle. “She left the scene of an accident,” the cop muses, peering at Callie through the mirrored glass. “Does she know that’s a felony?”

So much for no more trouble.