Episode Report Card Pablo G: C+ | 3 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Foster the People
By Pablo G | Season 2 | Episode 16 | Aired on 03.17.2013
We get a look at Eli schmoozing with random partygoers while Victoria and Ashley are in mid-conversation about whether he's a wolf in sheep's clothing. Victoria just sees the sheep. But of course that's all you're supposed to see when a wolf is in sheep's clothing, Victoria. Despite Ashley's reasoning that he's estranged from Amanda and they don't know his motivations, Victoria only needs to hear that this intel came from Ems to write it off. If anything they should welcome him with open arms, she says.
Out in the pool house mirror, Daniel examines the black eye he received from his earlier altercation. Aiden finds his way into the pool house, which gets an exasperated reaction from Daniel. I know, Dan. This guy's boring as hell. This is supposed to be a party! Aiden goes into immediate damage control, admitting he has no aspirations of being friends with Daniel and that he only has a financial stake in his well-being. He suggests that he has someone Daniel could talk to so that he can maybe work through his demons. To Aiden's credit, he does a really good job of selling that his relationship with Emanda ended because she still had feelings for Daniel, and she would be a good listener for him right now in his time of need. When Dan accuses Aiden of being put up to this by Ems and winning his invitation for this party through her, Aiden uses his ace in the hole. He tells Daniel that it was Conrad who invited him.
Cut to Daniel stomping over to have a word with his father who's speaking with a potential donor. Conrad's none too happy that his son just scared off a possible six-figure investment, but Daniel is livid that Aiden has been appointed treasurer of the foundation. Conrad pronunciation/phrasing alert: He uses "whilst" as he explains that the entire foundation is a front to protect the family's assets from the government. When the Initiative makes their move, they will believe that Aiden was mostly responsible for everything and made off with the family's money. Daniel's disgusted by all of this. He walks off in a stupor. Yes, I know that's not unusual.
For the second or third time in the episode, Nolan refers to Eli is "Faux Bro" as he and Emanda watch him "climbing Mount Grayson like it ain't no thang." I'm not sure how I feel about all of that, but in any case, what it means is Eli can be seen entrenching himself with Victoria and Charlotte, making his familial tie to Amanda Clarke seem like much more than it was. Ems decides to intervene. She brings up the house fire in front of Victoria and implies Eli must resent Amanda to some degree. Eli dodges the question for a bit and spins the yarn of growing up under the assumption that all he and Amanda had was each other and that he likes to believe she started that fire so no foster family would want her and they could stay together. Victoria comments that Eli is a shining example of perseverance. While Eli drones on about how he went on to get a good education, Ems gets a bit distracted by Jack's arrival at the party. She quickly snaps back to reality when Eli present the very same check Ems gave him for $100,000 as a donation to Victoria. He stares down Emanda as Victoria applauds his generosity. This is like watching your favorite super hero get sucker punched by some two-bit criminal that just stole their equipment.