Maia Mitchell Bids Adieu To ‘Good Trouble’ In Tearful Farewell

If you haven’t caught up yet on this week’s episode of Good Trouble, fair warning. Tears will be shed.

The second episode of season 4, “Kiss Me and Smile For Me,” which premiered Wednesday on Freeform and is streaming now on Hulu, found the two moms from The Fosters showing up in Los Angeles so everyone could say goodbye to Callie Adams Foster (Maia Mitchell).

But why? Because she’d gotten her dream job in Washington, D.C., working for the ACLU.

Stef and Lena Adams Foster (Teri Polo and Sherri Saum), and Callie’s half-brother, Jude (Hayden Byerly) all took part in the impromptu family reunion/farewells for Callie, in part to help her sister, Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) grapple with the shocking news. And in a twist, Callie discovered she wasn’t the only character on the flight to D.C., as who else but her once-and-potentially-future boyfriend, Jamie (Beau Mirchoff) also just so happened to be jetting out of the overall picture for a new job of his own.

Mitchell, who has played Callie since 2013, from The Fosters through to the spin-off, posted a series of photos and messages on Instagram overnight to say thanks and explain herself.

To which Ramirez replied: “thank you for the most wonderful 10 years. you’re my sister forever & i can’t waiiiiiiit to see what’s in store for you & what you do with your gifts next! the world ain’t ready for miss maia!!!! 🥺💗 calli-mari for life!!”

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A post shared by Maia Mitchell (@maiamitchell)

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A post shared by Maia Mitchell (@maiamitchell)

Here’s part of what Mitchell wrote:

“10 years ago, I auditioned for a little pilot called ‘The Fosters.’ I was 19 with no clue of the luck I had stumbled upon. Years later, I was able to continue my journey as Callie when we formed the ‘Good Trouble’ family. Two shows, 156 episodes, and a chosen family for life. Lucky me.

While I have been so beyond fortunate to have this career and a job that I love, with not an iota of regret, for quite some time I have suppressed an undeniable gravitational pull to return home to Australia to be closer to my nearest and dearest.

The past two years have been trying, for everyone. I fully recognize the privilege of being able to work and make our show during a global pandemic, but it also meant being separated from my loved ones when we needed each other the most. Thus came the need to create the space to split my time between both countries.”

Series co-creator Joanna Johnson told Variety that she knew Mitchell wanted to return to Australia following a two-year separation due to the pandemic, but nevertheless, “tried many different ways to try to talk her out of it.”

“In the finale episode of Season 3, there were so many stories that we’re trying to serve and I wanted to devote an entire episode to her. She was delightful and lovely and said she’ll come back from Australia to do them,” she told Variety. “She’s always going to be part of the family, and I don’t think it’s the last we’ll ever see of Callie. Callie’s journey is happening off camera, but we’ll catch up with her.”

Mitchell told People that having Callie’s moms and brothers there for her farewell meant so much to her, too. “And also just for me personally, to have like Mama Teri there, it was just. I mean, that speech that I had to do when I was looking out at all of them was so brutal. And it was directly following an actual speech that I did standing on those steps saying basically the same thing to our crew and our cast. So it was wonderful to have them. It meant a lot. I think they knew that I would need the emotional support.”

Where to watch Good Trouble