YMMV / The Fosters

• Fan Nickname: "Gaydy Bunch" for the whole show, also seen in hashtag form.
• Iron Woobie: Stef is remarkably strong. She's had a lot of hardship since the show began (getting shot, thinking Lena was going to break up with her, a double mastectomy when she finds out she has genes for breast cancer), but she never stays down for long.
• Informed Wrongness: Mariana considers being baptized in order to become Isabella's godmother. When a priest casually assures her that her family situation won't be an issue, adding that God accepts all sinners, Mariana is livid, decides against the baptism. She issues a sermonizing speech on the evils of religion at the end of the episode. As Catholic viewers are quick to point out, the priest was simply stating that, from a Catholic perspective, all people are sinners, on top of the priest being very inclusive and welcoming.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Becka, one of the other girls at Girls United, is the most consistently antagonistic, particularly towards Cole, who she feels is just begging for attention (rather than being trans). However, she like all the other girls has a tragic backstory, and one of the webisodes reveals she's been cutting herself. After getting herself together with her mom getting rid of a crappy boyfriend, Becka finds out her mother has another new man. The look of fear on Becka's face says it all. She nearly burns the house down with everyone in it.
  • Gabi, another of the Girls United girls, is also abrasive and liable to make cruel remarks (although she's less transphobic than Becka). She also has an abusive father, a bad past involving being in a gang, and as the webisodes reveal she's HIV positive.
• Ho Yay: At certain times, you have to wonder whether Stef and Lena's appreciation for the ladies have rubbed off on their daughters.
  • At the prom, Marianna is trying to think of ways to get back at her ex ... and Emma suggests that she pretend to be Marianna's ex-girlfriend. To which Mariana agrees with no hesitation, followed shortly thereafter by the two of them enthusiastically making out, also with no hesitation. Stef's face says it all.
  • When Ximena's art project eventually gets her an article on Huffington Post, she thanks Callie for the help by ... kissing her on the lips. Callie doesn't object, pull away, or even comment on it at all.
• Moral Event Horizon: Liam already started as an unpleasant person to begin with, but finally went to irredeemable when he raped Callie.
• No Yay: Most of the fans were against the idea of Brandon & Callie’s relationship, it’s also the fact they’re foster/adoptive siblings.
• Retroactive Recognition: Yara Shahidi as Jude's classmate, who has a crush on him.
• Strawman Has a Point: Although it's natural for the viewer to root for Callie's adoption in Season Three, it would be hard to argue that the obstructing social worker's concerns are entirely without merit. Callie and Brandon have had a very unhealthy sibling/romantic dynamic for most of the show, which has negatively affected both of them and the entire family. They (especially Callie) seem to have almost a compulsion to periodically pursue it, even when it is completely against their own best interests. The fact that success relied on multiple people having to lie for them should probably have been a clue to them that all wasn't well. Even though the protagonists never seem to consider that the problems pointed out by the social worker might be at all legitimate.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Brandon, who almost always manages to find ways to cause trouble for himself and those around him. While his siblings always get into legal trouble/get grounded, he always just ends up getting yelled at, and then apologized to.
  • Callie can get into this, because she always ends up causing all of her own problems. But this is because of her sad upbringing, and she feels her life will end up destroyed anyway.
  • Stef and Lena's treatment of Jesus, between unfairly punishing him while Brandon and Callie never face consequences for far worse things and treating him like a burden when he had a head injury, this put a lot of viewers off.
• The Woobie: Callie and Jude, especially as we learn more about their backstory. Jesus and Mariana to an extent, though they've mostly grown past the stage in their life where they're as vulnerable.

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