‘Good Trouble’ 1×11 recap: Callie’s luck finally runs out in the real world

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Good Trouble Season 1 Episode 11 titled “Less Than”. Do not read if you have not seen the episode or read ahead at your own risk of being spoiled.

For the entire run of The Fosters, Callie Adams-Foster (Maia Mitchell) always had luck on her side. However, in Tuesday night’s episode of Good Trouble, we saw her luck finally run out.

The episode saw the return of everyone’s favorite moms, Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) as they joined Callie and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) back in LA for pre-dinner drinks with Judge Wilson (Roger Bart). Okay, before I go further – how awkward was that toast? Wilson basically praised Callie for how she went from being a delinquent before turning things around for herself. So weird.

Anyway, right off the bat, you could feel the tension between the two moms; you just got the feeling that something wasn’t right between them. Mariana and Callie know their moms and sit down to talk with them at the Coterie. Lena explains that Stef recently did an interview and gave an opinion that contradicted her own. This caused Lena’s campaign manager Cindy to flip out and Stef is upset that Lena didn’t defend her — so basically the campaign is causing serious problems in their marriage. Stef went on to say the bigger issue is Lena having conversations with Cindy regarding their relationship and future instead of with her own wife. For anyone who watched The Fosters, you will remember has always been an underlying issue for Stef; remember when Lena would discussing private matters with her boss Monte and not Stef? It looks like this problem has continued despite the kids having moved out of the house.

Stef is understandably upset and leaves the room. Later on, Lena finds her wife and apologizes for making her feel isolated from the campaign. That’s when Stef said she felt isolated from Lena, not the campaign. Stef and Lena ultimately make up because you know a little tiff isn’t going to rock the moms’ world; they’re Adams-Fosters after all.

This week also saw the return of the Jamal Thompson case. The case has now entered the jury selection phase; the defense is asking very specific questions which are eliminating black people from possibly being considered for the jury. This does not sit well with Callie, who has several restless nights. The cure? Sex with Jamie (Beau Mirchoff), of course.

The prosecution raises the Batson challenge against the defense, which is objection stating that jurors cannot be dismissed based solely on race, ethnicity or sex. It is hard to prove but Callie hopes that Wilson will do what’s right. Wilson’s son, Tate (Zachary Gordon), casually mentions to Callie during their pre-dinner drinks that all the charges against him have been dropped. This prompts Callie to ask about the Batson challenge on her way out and Wilson hints that he is going to dismiss it. Callie is almost certain that this means he’s being lenient with the LAPD as a result of them being lenient with his son.

Callie then spends the entire weekend writing up a memo, detailing the discrimination going on and hands it in to Wilson. He is not happy about this because she did the job of a lawyer and not a clerk, so he removes her from the Jamal case. Yes, that’s right – Callie’s luck finally ran out. To make matters worse, Wilson gives the case to his new clerk Kate (Dianne Doan), who was clerking with the now resigned Judge Handelman. I guess we know who is taking Rebecca’s spot in the show – I will miss her though.

Elsewhere, a new video surfaces of Jamal saying some truly awful things about black women, leaving Malika (Zuri Adele) surprised and hurt. But she still continues to fight for him because he was wrongfully gunned down and deserves justice. Jamal’s comments do cause a fight between her and Isaac (Sarunas J. Jackson). He storms out of the Coterie and it looks like things might be over for them before they even really began!

Episode Notes

• Elsewhere in the hour, Mariana finally got a win! She is still fighting for equal pay but uncovers that Speckulate there is further discrepancy in who gets paid what based on race. While the rest of the group thinks they might be aiming too high first, Mariana fights for it and she gets them all to add their race to the spreadsheet, proving the company’s that there is deep-rooted discrimination.
• Sumi (Kara Wang) is jealous of Alice’s (Sherry Cola) relationship with Joey (Daisy Eagan), so she invites them over to dinner with her and Meera (Briana Venskus). It looks like Sumi still has feelings for Alice and this does not sit well with Meera.

What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below!

Good Trouble airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Freeform.