"The Fosters" (TV, ABC Family)

[pkristen]

Summary:
Taking place in southern California, this t.v. series focuses on a family with two moms, a bio son and adopted twins with the addition of foster sister and brother. Stef is the cop and Lena is the principal in a story line that starts with troubled teen Callie needing a 'safe' place to stay after her release from juvie.

Review:
My very first cognitive exposure to this series was when I had been in Burbank with Nico when we decided to take in a matinee of "Star Trek: Into The Darkness" in its opening weekend. While waiting for the movie to start, he and I decided to walk around the outdoor mall that had a pseudo-Disneyland-vibe (not kidding) and then we walked by a poster promoting "The Fosters" with the picture of the cast cuddled together and looking wholesome.

I paused at the poster, studied the arrangement of the characters and pointed out that there wasn't any obvious father figure. And thus mused if this was an LGBT-friendly show.

Nico, ever the minimizer, immediately disagreed. This of course, provoked a "who's right" discussion that long-time best friends can only have. A few minutes later, thanks to his iPhone, we discovered my instincts were correct.

So I made a point of keeping an eye out for the show via the internet, wanting to show support even if I'm not into family drama shows as a genre.

The show had been airing for about three or four episodes before I finally got around to trying to check it out via the show's official website, hoping that episodes were available online. Then I realized I should subscribe to it via Amazon, so that even if I'm not actively watching it, hopefully my subscription would count towards ratings support.

I admit it took me two tries to get thru this first season. I watched the first two episodes and became bored with "hey, this is a show about teenages who happen to have two moms." I can understand wanting to make the show safe and welcoming without being too controversial. But when it's actively courting an audience of lesbians like me who don't care about incidental representation, I have no reason to prioritize the show high my huge list of LGBT material that's perpetually on stand-by.

So it wasn't until the first season was over and I had worked my way through other shows and movies that I finally decided to give the show a second chance. (There was never a doubt that I would subscribe to a season two should it happen, but giving my time is more precious than $2 an episode.)

And I'm very glad I make that second effort. The ten episodes of season were written to be a wholistic arc that wrapped itself up very well by the end (probably in anticipation of not having another season.) Plus Lena and Stef were given as much valid screen time as the underage brood in their home.

I am now anxiously awaiting season two episodes to that are supposed to start airing in January '14.