Depending on who you are, The Fosters — a five-season, 104-episode family drama about foster kids and the loving moms who raise them — is a show you were deeply obsessed with, or a show you’ve never heard of. It was one of Freeform’s biggest hits — but also a show that didn’t seem to have much of a cultural imprint beyond the people who watched it.
Good Trouble
Freeform takes on the uncertainty of the early 20s in this Fosters spinoff.
Beth Dubber/Freeform
Emily St. James was a senior correspondent for Vox, covering American identities. Before she joined Vox in 2014, she was the first TV editor of the A.V. Club.
Its new spinoff, Good Trouble, hopefully won’t suffer the same fate. Picking up five years after the events of The Fosters (which is still somehow our immediate past — don’t even try to do this math), the series follows sisters Callie and Mariana as they move from San Diego up to Los Angeles, to try their hands at clerking for a judge and working as a tech engineer, respectively. They face workplace struggles and encounter sexy complications, but they also commit the sorts of social faux pas every 20something has committed at one point or another. It’s a peculiar blend of soap opera, earnest workplace drama, and comedy of manners that really works.
“The series deftly captures what it’s like when you’re in your early 20s and just starting out, navigating a new career, new living situation, and new relationships. Good Trouble is well worth your trouble.” Amy Amatangelo, Paste
Metacritic score: 83 out of 100
Where to watch: New episodes of Good Trouble air Tuesdays at 8 pm Eastern on Freeform. Previous episodes are streaming on Hulu.
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