‘The Fosters’ season 3, episode 19 review: ‘The Show’ and a shocking death

For those of you who do really like it when shows take risks, you can definitely say that this happened on all fronts during the new episode of “The Fosters” that aired on Freeform Monday night. It was in many ways a musical given that Brandon’s production of Romeo & Juliet dominated the hour, but the same time, so did a shocking death that would really rock the entire Adams-Foster clan to their core.

While the production was happening, Stef was unable to attend after receiving a domestic violence call. While she was able to take down the suspect, what she found in the end was perhaps the most gut-wrenching sight of all: The body of Jack, who had recently become a good friend to Jude and many of the other kids. They were trying to help him get in a better situation, and he was starting to feel optimistic about his future.

The one part of this story that was perhaps a little unnecessary leading to this big conclusion was the whole kiss with Jude. Given that he and Connor just ended things, it felt as though we didn’t need it. With that being said, it could cause Jude to be even more devastated when he learns the truth. This does accelerate much of what we’ve seen Callie try to do when it comes to improving the lives of foster kids; it is when things hit home in such a way that you start to see enormous changes happen.

As for the musical itself, we do think the show deserves a ton of credit for staging it and then giving us the little Callie / Brandon and Mat / Mariana moments throughout. It was a little hard to concentrate on it given that it was being intercut with other things, but this was a culmination of a long story, and the parallels between Shakespeare and Callie and Brandon’s feelings for each other were necessary to touch on at some point before we made it to the finale. This episode was heartbreaking, stellar, and maybe everything in between. Episode Grade: A-.

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