'The Fosters' Still Has Work To Do With Jude

Are you starting to feel frustrated with this? If not, Fosters fan, then you should start now. Because Season 2B of The Fosters is still ignoring Jude's LGBT storyline and, at this point, it's totally inexcusable. During last Monday's winter premiere, "Over/Under," the series again hinted at Jude's sexuality, but it was ultimately overshadowed by other events on the show. The episode addressed, again, what happened between Jude and Connor on their camping trip, but, again, nothing really came from it. Well, unless you're willing to take the fact that the two boys invited over a bunch of girls to "make out with" at face value.

I understand why The Fosterswould answer the "What happened in Jude and Connor's tent?" question with the statement that they invited a bunch of girls over. Mostly because the series did something very similar in Season 1B — when Callie and the older kids threw that house party and Jude invited over some girls. This series has never really sugarcoated every adolescent's experience with sexuality. During Season 1, we saw Jesus, Callie, Brandon, and Mariana all face sexual situations while Jude grappled with his sexuality. But, the difference between Jude and his siblings is that they were given some type of resolution.

The Fosters' summer finale left us with the question of what happened in Jude and Connor's tent, which seems important but there's another question that the series has been brushing under the rug — Jude's LGBT storyline. Is Jude gay on The Fosters? Well, we still don't know, even though his camping trip with Connor initially seemed to suggest that something happened between the two. And, unfortunately, it doesn't seem like we're going to find out or get to see Jude come to a resolution with his questions about sexuality.

While that surprises me, especially when I consider how many barrier-breaking storylinesThe Fostershas tackled, it really shouldn't. It's starting to seem likeThe Fosters is taking the same approach Lena took when Jude asked her questions about being gay during the first part of its first season — brushing it away and not giving him a chance to vocalize his feelings.

There's clearly more to Jude and Connor's story than them inviting some girls over to their tent one night — whether it be confirmation of Jude's LGBT storyline or not. It might seem like I'm refusing to let this situation go, but it's because Jude is a great character and he should get the attention he deserves instead of The Fosters focusing on Brallie for the thousandth time. The series can't keep brushing Jude and the questions he's posed about his sexuality under the rug because it's just starting to get ridiculous. It'd be one thing for The Fosters to not develop Jude as a character, but dropping meaningful hints and not following up on any of them sufficiently is just the worst. And I expect much better from The Fosters.

Images: Gilles Mingasson/ABC Family; rydeforyou, thefosters-onabcfamily/Tumblr