Good Trouble review: Coterie dating games

Good Trouble took a break from political plots this week and reminded viewers that this family drama in’t always so serious.

What I like best about Good Trouble is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’ve said before that at the core of the show are two sisters trying to survive and thrive in a new city away from home. Although the episodes are peppered with enough progressive and liberal storylines to make any Republican shake in their boots, it never shy’s away from the underlying plot. “Swipe Right” proved that.

We began with the ladies of the coterie playing a little game of Russian Roulette, and this version involved a dating app called Shipper. Mariana, Malika, Alice, and Davia put on their party pants, and took this episode of Good Trouble for quite the ride. Literally.

This episode took a different path than the rest this season, focusing on the one thing that ties all of the girls together. They may all have different jobs and passions and paths that they’re on, but dating is the common ground.

It was a nice break from the usual political essence that the show captures, and instead, reminded us that these mid-20-year-olds have urges other than saving the world.

“I needed to be the center of someone’s attention, and I was.”

As much as I want to say that the most shocking part of this episode was that Mariana Adams-Foster had a threesome, I really think the most shocking part was that Callie Adams-Foster had literally no reaction to it. None. All throughout The Fosters, I’ve always seen them have that older/younger sister relationship where Callie calls out Mariana on the stupid stuff she’s doing (not that having a threesome is stupid; whatever floats your boat, people!). But this is Mariana we’re talking about. I wanted some sort of reaction from Callie. Anything!

How she got into the threesome was fascinating though. Her Shipper date turned out to be an egotistical jerk. She begins making eye contact with a guy nearby who eventually saves her from said date and whamo!, she’s having a threesome with him and his girlfriend back at their (very nice, might I add) apartment!

As fun as the night was, the morning got a little awkward because Mariana wasn’t all too familiar with the rules of threesome-ing… Because aren’t we all? She wakes up in their bed and cozies up to the guy, as any gal would waking up in a luxurious bed like that.

The girlfriend comes in and puts an end to this party. Off you go, Mariana, to do the walk of not so shame through this unbelievably very nice neighborhood. I’d be happy to stumble home from a house like that.

“Coterie romances never end well, guys.”

While Mariana is off trying new things (two to be exact), Callie is sticking with what she knows. And this time, it’s Gael. He appears to be quite jealous of the other man in her life (who he refers to as Clark Kent now… I mean, he ain’t wrong). They decide to chill a little bit to focus on their careers. Even though it’s absolutely obvious that they’re pining for one another. We’ll see how long that lasts…

But in the words of the roommate who’s in just about every episode but never has an actual storyline, “coterie romances never end well, guys.”

“I’m officially done with Jeff.”

Let’s shift to Davia for a minute, who ended up on a date with someone who I would’ve said was Zach Galifianakis if asked. He’s shy, sweet, and probably shouldn’t be tucking his button up into his khakis, but he’s cute and he’s something that Davia needs at the moment.

She finds out that Jeff lied about not going to Los Angeles so although Davia is only using this poor Zach Galifianakis look-alike for revenge sex, he was fun to have around for a little bit.

At least she claims to finally be over Jeff now!

“I’m wondering if you have a song for a girl who really messed up on a first date and would do anything for a second chance.”

Heading over to Alice’s Shipper date, we see a new side of her at the very end of this episode. FINALLY. She actually hits it off with her date, who is a local radio host. They meander back to the coterie at the end of the night and Alice saddle’s up to her attempt to get over Sumi. Until Sumi shows up.

Sumi’s like that ex that knows you’re finally happy and doing well and sends you that drunk text at 3 a.m. We all have one. Except Sumi is a lot more annoying and just won’t go away. Ever.

I’ll admit that half of that is Alice’s fault, but who could blame her when she’s still in love!? Anyway, Sumi shows up at Alice’s door mid-make-out with her new date. Mira called off the wedding and Sumi is heartbroken. With the heart of gold we all know she has, Alice chose Sumi over the make-out session. They wake up the next morning to a call from Mira, apologizing about the night before, and of course, the wedding is back on.

After half a season of being toyed around with this girl, Alice finally puts herself first for once. She calls into the radio station the next morning asking for a second chance with her date, and it’s a yes!

“All’s fair in love and basketball.”

And last but definitely not least is Malika. Besides the fact that this story made me want to rewatch Love & Basketball, I have to say that her date was my favorite, filled with all the gestures that infamous rom-com is lacking. I loved the dialogue between Malika and her two friends sitting at the bar too.

A guy walks into the bar who apparently swiped left on Malika and after some friendly discourse of the best rom-coms out there, she brings it up. He claims to be attracted to the “Kate Hudson” type…

He quickly realizes he made a mistake about Malika so he takes a page out of the rom-com playbook and makes a gesture. He comes back when the bar is closed with a basketball, asking her for a game of one-on-one. She obliges. And the rest is history.

Final Thoughts:

• This episode was hot, hot, and then got a little hotter. It was fun to see all these ladies relax a bit and take a break from the heaviness that Good Trouble usually brings to our screens.
• I need to see more of Malika’s friends. They’re the life of the party.
• I’ll be interested to see where the show goes with all of these new love interest characters. Were they a one episode fling or are they here for the long haul?
• Is Davia really over Jeff?
• Is Alice really over Sumi?
• How long with Callie and Gael’s “break” last?
• I’ll leave it with this. NEXT EPISODE OMG. Jesus is back and brings Rebecca, Callie’s coworker, to the coterie?! I’m living.

Good Trouble airs Tuesdays on Freeform at 8/7 p.m. CT.