‘The Fosters’ Recap: Tensions Run High As Nick Continues To Evade The Police

While the season premiere of The Fosters dealt with school shootings, the following episode also dealt with a heavy topic: suicide. The episode began with a trigger warning, letting fans know the episode would involve suicide in some way.

The episode titled “Safe” began right where the premiere episode left off. We find the Fosters in the living room discussing what happened at the school and where Nick could possibly be. Jesus doesn’t believe that Nick really has a gun and questions if he even burned down the warehouse.

Mariana explains that Nick is upset because he saw Mariana and Matt’s goodbye kiss in the previous season finale. She tells the Fosters how she tried to explain the situation to Nick but he didn’t believe her. Jesus then says he doesn’t believe her either, which leads Stef to jump in, telling them all to relax and try to be calm. She then puts the Fosters on lock down, taking everyone’s phones and computers and telling them no one can leave the house until Nick is found. Of course, all the Foster kids are upset but Stef doesn’t budge.

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Brandon then asks if he can get his keyboard from the garage and goes and grabs it. He hears something while in there but doesn’t think much of it. Unfortunately, it’s Nick hiding in the garage, still going unnoticed. Later, while in the kitchen, Stef sees the garage door open, which she specifically told Brandon to close after he left and goes to check it out. She too thinks she hears something but when she checks Nick is already gone, presumably hiding somewhere in the house.

That night, Brandon goes to Callie so they can discuss what they think will happen now that their parents know they had sex. Callie worries they’ll reverse her adoption but Brandon promises her that won’t happen. Naturally, that’s when Stef walks in on them and sees Brandon with his hand on Callie’s knee. Although they were only talking Stef is still suspicious and sends Callie out of the room and back to bed. When Stef goes back in the hallway she thinks she hears something in the attic but assumes it’s just mice. However, it’s really Nick.

Back in her room, Mariana asks Callie if the rumors about her sleeping with Brandon are true and Callie confesses that it is. At first, Mariana is disappointed but she later realizes that she also made a mistake when she slept with Wyatt and tells Callie she can’t judge her. Mariana then convinces Callie that they have to do something about Justina Marks, who locked them out of Fost & Found. Callie admits that she took a photo of a check from Arbiter that proves Justina was working for them and Mariana comes up with a plan to expose her.

Using AJ’s computer and with some help from Daphne, Callie is able to pretend to be Justina to get her log in information so they can reroute Fost & Found to go to a website that Mariana set up called JusticeForJack.com with the picture of the check that proves what Justina did. Although Mariana claims it can’t be traced back to them this probably won’t work out for them in the long run. At the very least Daphne will probably lose her job, putting her custody of her daughter in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, Brandon sneaks out of the Fosters’ house to help Courtney move into the new house he helped her buy. Stef goes to the house to bring him back home and they get in a fight about what happened between him and Callie. Brandon admits he was at fault but tells Stef he’s not coming home and that he’s going to move in with Courtney. Stef doesn’t argue and just leaves, since technically Brandon is 18 and can move out if he chooses to.

Back at the Fosters’ house, Nick comes into Mariana’s room with the gun. He first points it at her, telling her about how his father would hit him sometimes, telling Nick it would hurt him more than it hurt Nick. Nick continues by saying that Mariana also hurt him and that she loves Matt more than him. Nick points the gun to his head and threatens to kill himself. Mariana tells him that’s not true and that she loves Nick and begs him not to do it and to put the gun down.

Thankfully, Callie goes upstairs and can see from the bathroom that Nick is in the room with Mariana. As Matt, who came to check on Mariana, heads to Mariana’s room, Callie stops him and tells him to get Stef. Stef then comes and goes into the room but Nick has already put down the gun and is crying in Mariana’s arms. Stef unloads the gun and Nick is arrested.

This week’s episode was especially moving and heart wrenching. It seemed like at any moment Nick was going to pop out and hurt someone or himself. Thankfully, it didn’t happen that way and hopeful Nick can now get the help he needs now.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.

[Photo by Eric McCandless/Freeform]