Good Trouble 1x01 "DTLA" Episode Review
Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.
The series premiere finally aired tonight. Which means I can write my episode review for those who didn’t get the chance to watch it on Hulu. I’m really excited to discuss this spin-off of The Fosters . Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Marianna (Cierra Ramirez) are heading to Downtown Los Angeles to start the next phase of their lives. They are also living with super attractive people in a communal apartment. Marianna got them this place because she likes Gael (Tommy Martinez), a graphic designer.
The premise is great, the characters are young, diverse, and attractive, and the visuals of Los Angeles are beautiful. Good Trouble’s trailer indicated the director of Crazy Rich Asians was involved in the visuals of tonight’s Pilot episode.
The structure of the episode was alright. I didn’t mind the flashbacks explaining the missing information we needed, but the scenes with the “what if” scenarios could’ve proven confusing for the audience. It made focusing on the story difficult and makes both options less effective.
Callie and Marianna are struggling on the career fronts right from the get-go. Callie is clerking for a conservative judge in the hopes of influencing him and his cases with her progressive arguments. Marianna starts her first job as an engineer at a tech company, the same one that Gael works at.
The girls struggled to fit into their work cultures but make believable mistakes that anyone could commit during their first adult jobs. Callie answers Judge Wilson’s question without knowing all the facts of the case, and Marianna pitches an app idea to the CEO of the company without permission or the authority. They struggled at work, their living situation wasn’t the best, but best friends / sisters Callie and Marianna have each other’s backs when it counted the most.
How they handled the “love triangle” was amusing and a pleasant reward for those who stuck with Callie and Marianna since The Fosters. Marianna has a crush on Gael, but Callie ended up having a one-night stand with him the night they moved into the apartment. This is a parallel to when Marianna hooked up with Callie’s ex-boyfriend Wyatt, and how it briefly strained their sisterhood. However, instead of going down the same route, Good Trouble decides to have Callie discloses to Marianna about her two nights with Gael. I half-expected Callie to keep the hookup a secret.
In addition to that twist, Callie and Marianna close the episode with the two of them observing Gael hooking up with another man. I was rolling on the floor at this point because that was so unexpected. Straight is not the default. Marianna forgave Callie instantly for having sex with Gael.
Overall, Good Trouble has the same honesty of its parent show but more adult content like the other shows on Freeform. I enjoyed Callie’s journey on The Fosters and I’m very excited to see what illegal / dangerous stuff she’ll do to serve justice for those in need. Judge Wilson and the other two interns are already annoyed by her? Just they wait.