It feels like the end of a Coterie era, and frankly, I don’t know if the series will ever be the same.

The speculation was correct, and Good Trouble Season 4 Episode 2 served as the Swan Song for one-half of the Adams-Foster girls’ dynamic duo.

Callie Adams-Foster has been the central character of both The Fosters and Good Trouble for nearly a decade. And yet it still doesn’t feel like we’ve had enough time with her.

It’s interesting to have such an important character, the lead at that, depart the series this early into a new season. Typically, you expect that type of thing to happen in midseason or season finale.

And you hope that it’s a grand affair that writes the character off in a beautiful manner that does both character and actress justice. Honestly, I don’t know what to make of Callie’s departure.

The bittersweetness of losing her while simultaneously being happy for Callie’s growth overshadows everything else at this exact moment.

It’s hard to process anything because losing Callie means there will be this massive void in the series, and it’ll never be the same.

Sure, she’s a character we’ve loved and criticized to the high heavens for nearly a decade, but as was often the case with The Fosters characters, they feel like family. At her absolute best and even her most annoying, Callie always felt like a sibling, a cousin, or a friend.

And that’s also what contributes to the mixed feelings of hating to see her leave and respecting the character and the actress’ journey, and wanting the absolute best for both of them and whatever else the future holds.

Geography doesn’t make a family. Love does.

Mariana

The beautiful thing about a series like this is that there is always a door open. Obviously, we’ve seen that with The Fosters characters. From the nature of the show and how they opted to write Callie out, it feels like a semi-colon and not a period.

For a sendoff, the hour was incredibly understated. No doubt, the emotions were there, especially when there were scenes between Mariana and Callie, and surprisingly, Callie and Kathleen’s scene was another one that made you choke up a bit.

However, it also didn’t feel like something they poured too much thought into overall. And maybe there was something deliberate in Callie’s sendoff having little fanfare wrapped up in a neat, simplistic bow.

In many ways, Callie’s departure reflects her arrival. She’s moving to a new place, starting a new stage in her life as an adult, setting on a new crusade, and making a difference.

It’s a big move for her where she’s away from most of her family and everyone she cares about, and she doesn’t know what’s in store, but she’s determined to find herself and her purpose. Essentially, Callie has come full circle.

While this time the stakes felt higher and bigger because she’s relocating across the country, and she isn’t a couple of hours away from her parents, nor does she have a support buddy and “crutch” with Mariana, they undid that at the end.

All the heaviness, fear, excitement over Callie making this big step, moving across the country, and officially going out on her own for the first time in her life dissipated when we learned that kismet has Jamie relocating to D.C. for a job, too.

She won’t be alone when she has him there in the same city, so she gets a bit of a crutch after all. And don’t get me wrong, as a huge fan of Callie and Jamie’s romantic relationship, it made sense that they’d opt to give fans a gift by teasing a Jallie endgame.

Destiny always seems to bring the two of them back into each other’s orbit, and we needed some closure with Beau Mirchoff too. Fans deserved that moment.

It was one of those things where two conflicting ideals were necessary for the narrative. Callie needed to go out on her own and find herself. She deserved to find her purpose in life and try this all over again. She needed to put her romance hopping on the backburner and focus on herself.

But she and Jamie both made some strides and deserved a possibility of being together someday. And there was no way of giving us both aspects of this in a sendoff installment without one undercutting the other or appearing contrived. But this was as good as any, I suppose.

And Callie’s moments with the other Coterie members after they learned the truth were sweet. It made you feel as if those moments were for the actors more than the characters. Because as a viewer, it made me think about how detached Callie has been from the rest of The Coterie for the whole series.

Mariana: What’s going on?
Callie: I got a job with the ACLU.
Mariana: That’s great. That’s your dream job. What’s the big deal?
Callie: In Washington, D.C.
Mariana: OK, so you’re moving.
Callie: Yeah.
Mariana: When do you leave?
Callie: In two days.

And it made me sad. Her goodbyes made me mourn and lament the potential of what could’ve been more than what actually was.

She never had many meaningful moments with anyone there outside of Gael. Malika’s goodbye to Callie made you think about how much closer they should’ve been. The similarities between their experiences and passions made you wish they had spent more time together.

And the reminder of Callie helping Malika out despite Malika not always being the best friend to Callie hurt a bit.

Davia was always so mean to Callie, which never really went away. Their dynamic was surface level. Alice was always awkward around Callie, and she and Dennis rarely had scenes together.

Kelly’s goodbye was one of the most entertaining because Kelly has that effect.

Given their history, Callie’s goodbye to Gael wasn’t nearly as emotional as you’d expect. It almost made you forget that they were dating in the very recent past. But it was sweet enough.

And Callie’s emotional, teary-eyed speech about found families was touching regarding the words, but the actions never matched up for Callie. She lived at The Coterie, but she didn’t always feel like she was part of it.

In comparison, the Kathleen and Callie scene was probably the most emotional because we got to see that bond despite Katheleen’s short time on the series.

Mariana: How do you feel about going?
Callie: Scared. I’ve never really been on my own since Jude and I came out of foster care. I just feel like I need to find myself and my purpose. I just wish it didn’t mean I’d be away from you. What if I screw it up? What if fail? What if I come crawling back here with my tail between my legs?

I choked up when Kathleen took one look at Callie and knew she was leaving. And it was touching when she gave Callie the briefcase her mother gave her. We know how important Kathleen’s mother was to her and how her death still impacts her.

The significance of that gift is unmistakable, and she flat out told Callie that she was like a daughter to her. It was hand’s down one of the most beautiful scenes of the hour, and Mitchell and Zimmer were fantastic.

But Maia Mitchell sold all of these moments because her love for this character, cast, and the show came through. It felt like she was speaking for herself as Maia Mitchell rather than Callie.

Of course, the Callie and Mariana scenes were emotional. They’re not just sisters but best friends. You knew Callie would have a hard time saying goodbye to her sister.

It sucked when we learned that she couldn’t tell Mariana outright and called in Stef, Lena, and Jude for reinforcements. At first, it seemed as if she thought Mariana would spazz out, and you can understand how getting blindsided would hurt Mariana.

However, once Stef and Lena explained that Callie would probably have the most challenging time since she’s the one who has never been out on her own, you could understand why Callie did what she did.

It’s hard to say goodbye to the people you love most. And it’s hard to say goodbye to Callie Adams Foster.

It’s tough when it felt like the best part of her journey was just beginning. I wish we would’ve had the opportunity to see Callie make those significant changes that we’ve been eagerly rooting for her ovr the years. It feels like we got shut out just when things were getting good.

Additional Notes:

• 
  WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS ONLY BEEN 11 MONTHS SINCE CALLIE AND MARIANA MOVED INTO THE COTERIE?! I feel like I’ve aged seven years since then.

• 
  It was good to see Jude again, but his Carter saga was weird.

• 
  Stef and Lena were bickering so much, but we got mama sandwiches and found out Lena is great at sexting. I mean, don’t you love it when we get the moms?!

Callie: Um, what are you doing here?
Jamie: I got a job in DC, I start in a week, what are you doing here?
Callie: Same, I start tomorrow.

• 
  They gave us so many little callbacks—my heart.

• 
  Joaquin has nothing that resembles subtle when interrogating people, and it got annoying.

• 
  I am very much intrigued about his missing sister and why he won’t just ask the people he discovered lived there at the same time about her. Why all the secrecy?

• 
  I will be crying on the inside, where I hold my feelings hostage, over those freaking creepy dolls.

• 
  Gael and Davia’s friendship is honestly the best thing ever. I love them.

• 
  OK, where are we going with this Dennis and Isabella thing? And why are we going there?

• 
  I will be in my feelings about Callie, Callie and Mariana separated, and Callie and Jamie, and — ugh.

• 
  I have to give props to Maia Mitchell for playing this wonderfully flawed, dynamic character we’ve loved and loathed and rooted for and was inspired by her for all these years. She is magic.

Over to you, Good Trouble Fanatics.

Let’s discuss Callie’s goodbye below. Was it everything you imagined and what she deserved? Will you miss her terribly? Sound of below!

To relive the Callie era of the series, you can watch Good Trouble online here via TV Fanatic.

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