Warning: The following contains spoilers for the environment good trouble. Proceed at your own risk!
There will be no more good trouble for Kelly and Jamie after Wednesday’s episode in which their characters Maya Mitchell and Beau Mirchoff left the Freeform drama.
For Mitchell, who first started playing Callie on The Fosters in 2013 before headlining a spin-off with co-star and sister Sierra Ramirez, leaving the show was “a completely personal decision about my life,” she explains to TVLine. in the next video. “I moved to America [from Australia] when I was very young. It was very hard for me, to be honest, to be away from my family. I spent all my twenties mostly in another country [which] I wouldn’t necessarily have done if it wasn’t for my work. I found so much comfort and family in the cast and crew of The Fosters and then in Good Trouble.”
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But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, restricting travel, Mitchell found that being separated from her family and unable to reach them if something happened “became too much for me,” the actress explains. Speaking to the producers, “I just thought, ‘I need to be home at the moment.’ When you go through something like this it just clears things up and I just knew it was time and I should have just prioritized my family and my mental health. However, it was hard. My God, it was a really difficult decision and it was a very, very difficult couple of episodes.”
Upon learning of Mitchell’s decision, showrunner Joanna Johnson, who wrote this week’s emotional special, decided to create a “very dignified and very dignified Foster/Good Trouble farewell” for Callie. “I asked her if she would give us a couple episodes of the fourth season so that we can really get it right,” says Johnson. “Because after the decision was made, I didn’t want Callie to suddenly leave in the third season finale… She was nice and said, ‘Of course I’ll be back.’ So she went home and then came back to film these episodes for us.”
Naturally, Callie Foster’s moms Lena and Steph and her brother Jude came to Los Angeles to help Callie inform sister Mariana that she was moving to Washington DC in two days for her dream job at the ACLU.
“I’m very, very proud of the way we’ve approached this. I thought it was very thoughtful,” Mitchell says of Callie’s send-off. “It’s great to see Kelly off and be thrilled for her and to see such significant growth. What really mattered to me was that she was chasing something she really wanted, which was not coming from a place of reaction, but from her taking control and taking responsibility.”
However, there was one person Callie didn’t say goodbye to: her ex-boyfriend Jamie. Just when it looked like she might leave without sharing her important news with him, he showed up on the same flight as her. Ironically, he also got a new job in Washington.
“Having Jamie on this plane is just the icing on the cake,” Mitchell says, adding that she was “rejoiced” when she read the scene. “I was so happy. I was always rooting for them.”
The “Jallie” ending was actually one that Johnson carried in her back pocket for a time. “I’ve been talking about this for a long time, [she] will get on the plane and he will be there if Maya leaves the show,” says Johnson. “But then I thought, ‘Is this too random?’ The writers and I talked about it, and we all agreed that the fans want it. It’s supposed to have a bit of a happy ending, and it was like one of those romantic comedy moments where, even if it’s a coincidence, you forgive because it makes you feel good.”
Also, “the chemistry between these two is just undeniable, and the idea that the universe keeps pushing them together just seemed like a really fun romantic comedy moment that we couldn’t pass up,” says Johnson. “So we just felt like we had to do it. We should have sent them together into the sunset.”
Of course, that also meant saying goodbye to another actor in Mirchoff, who agreed with the plan. “Bo is so amazing. He’s the nicest guy in the world and such a talented actor and he was all for it. He totally got it,” says Johnson. “I think he really enjoys this show and being on the show, and we loved that he… But his story is with Callie. If Callie leaves, it looks like he should leave. [with her]”.
Mirchoff, who “had no idea” he would still be playing Jamie years later when he booked the three-episode The Fosters arc, is “very grateful for the opportunity to get the job and for everyone involved,” he says, adding that he and Mitchell had “really great chemistry and I love it and we get along, we have fun. So [was] such a pleasure and great job to be a part of.”
Looking back at Callie and Jamie’s journey and where it ended, Mirchoff notes that the couple “had so much together and I think there’s such mutual respect and love and admiration between them. The penultimate episode has a restaurant scene and all that. Much in the subtext, in appearance, in how they are with each other physically. They just really care about each other. I think it was important to get across, and I think it succeeded.”
As for what’s in store for Callie and Jamie in their new city, Johnson remains silent in the hope that Mitchell and/or Mirchoff will return to visit. (“I hope it happens. [But] I don’t know what’s in store for us,” says Mirchoff, while Mitchell hints that “it’s definitely very possible you’ll see Callie again.”) Mirchoff, meanwhile, has his own theories regarding the couple’s romantic future.
“I don’t know if they should be together at this very moment,” he admits. “The seed is planted, and if [there’s] enough water and sunlight, and they repel pests, perhaps this plant can grow. I’m obviously so close to the role and everything that I like about them together. But there is another part, that it would be good for her to be single for a while. She seems to be basically a serial monogamist for quite some time. So it would be good for her to be single and focus on her new job and DC. But at the same time, maybe fate plays here, and maybe they are destined to be together.
Mitchell adds, “I really think they fit together now that they’ve spent time apart and have been able to meet their values in the middle. They’re kind of an unstoppable little duo [who’s] I’m going to take DS
Good Trouble fans, what do you think of the double exit? Click on the comments! And press PLAY above to watch Mitchell and Ramirez describe how difficult it was to get through Callie and Mariana’s breakup with tears in their eyes.