Teen Idols and Teen Angst on "The Fosters"

I've never seen The Fosters, but I understand that it was an evening soap opera featuring a lesbian couple, Stef and Lena Foster, who foster a bunch of kids (it's a good thing their last name isn't Slaughter).  They also adopt some. 

Imagine the dramatic possibilities: the fosters and the Fosters can have problems with each other, plus their boyfriends, girlfriends, and exes, plus an assortment of biological parents and visiting biological siblings!  They can mix and match in endless combinations!

The fosters and the Fosters endured an absurd amount of heartache, even for a soap opera.  In 104 episodes, they faced abusive foster fathers and mothers, abusive biological fathers and mothers, homophobia, transphobia, racism, a life-threatening injury, ADHD, death, a deadly disease, mental illness, statutory rape, non-statutory rape, divorce, drug addiction, a miscarriage, custody battles, and various life-shattering secrets, and dangerous decisions.

  Sounds fun.  I'm so glad I haven't watched.  But apparently a surprising number of the adopted/foster/miscellaneous boys grew into teen heartthrobs.  Let's take a look:

1. Brandon (David Lambert), Stef's biological child. 

He dates Callie, one of the foster kids, even though it's forbidden by the terms of the foster home contract, and brings her half-brother Jude (#4) into the home.

2.-3. Jesus (Jake T.Austin, top photo, then Noah Centineo). He has ADHD, likes wrestling, and dates a lot of girls.

Weird -- Jesus was the only character I heard about before.  I thought he was gay.

4. Jude (Hayden Bylerly, maybe the guy on the left?), a quiet, shy boy who "questions his sexuality" (I hate that phrase; it indicates that everybody starts off straight, but some people turn gay.  How about "he comes out"?).  He dates:

5. Connor (Gavin MacIntosh, maybe the guy on the right?

6. While on-off dating Brandon (#1), Callie also dates cute boy Wyatt (Alex Saxon), who she is not related to or fostering with.

7. Marianna, the sister of Jesus (#2-3) dates guitarist Mat with one "T" (Jordan Rodrigues with an "s" instead of a "z").














8. Mariana also dates Chase (Garrett Clayton).

That's it for the teen boys who appear in 7 or more episodes. 

Only one adult man appears in 7 or more episodes: former teen idol Danny Nucci as Mike Foster, Brandon's biological father.  I guess the intended audience is more into "dreamy boys" than adult hunks.