Fans of “The Fosters” have been waiting on the edge of their seats for a few months after the horrific car crash in the Season 2 finale. The ABC Family series concluded with the lives of three main characters hanging in limbo – Jesus (Jake T. Austin), Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) and Ana (Alexandra Barreto). Answers were finally revealed in the Season 3 premiere Monday night, and although star Jake T. Austin previously confirmed that his character wouldn’t be returning, viewers were able to let out a sigh of relief in the first few moments.

Episode 1 of Season 3 picks up with Stef (Teri Polo) responding to the call of a car crash with one reported fatality. When she arrives to the scene of the crime she’s shocked to find the station wagon. Ana’s getting wheeled away on a stretcher, while Mariana looks on in horror. Stef’s able to embrace Mariana … just as a bloody Jesus is being wheeled away.

The car crash scene cuts away to Stef waking up in bed next to Lena (Sherri Saum). The moms start their day – with Stef confessing to Lena that she misses Jesus. But don’t shed those tears just yet! Lena asks if it’s too early to call him!

That’s right, Jesus was badly banged up from the car crash but survived the accident. However, fans of “The Fosters” didn’t get to lay eyes on him because he decided to go away to boarding school. The series kept him alive by having the whole Foster family pass around the phone to talk to him – even Callie (Maia Mitchell), who admitted that their phone call was probably the longest conversation they’ve ever had.

With Jesus’ storyline wrapped up, “The Fosters” was able to pick up three weeks in the future and introduce some new plotlines – summer school, Ana’s baby and fallout from the accident. Check out the roundup of the premiere drama:

Stef

Although Mariana and Jesus were able to move on from the crash, the accident still haunts Stef. Turns out that the driver of the other vehicle ran after the incident, which deeply troubles Stef. With Mike (Danny Nucci) by her side, the pair continues to investigate the hit and run, fearing that the person could hurt another family in the future. They end up finding the owner of the vehicle, which was stolen. However the man claims to know nothing about it getting taken – but he does reveal that he has a son.

Mike and Stef pull the man’s son in for questioning. Stef seems sure that they have their hit and run driver based off of a cut on his face. But Mike warns her that the prints don’t match.

Jude And Connor

Connor (Gavin MacIntosh) finally returns to school after the shooting incident. Connor’s happy to be back with Jude (Hayden Byerly) – but the same can’t be said for Jude. His feelings remain for Connor, however he doesn’t want to come out as gay. When Connor questions Jude, Jude tells him “it’s nobody’s business.”

The situation becomes tough for Connor, especially since his ex-girlfriend is not taking the news well. But his secret relationship with Jude doesn’t stay covered up for long. Word somehow spreads, leading a fellow student to ask Jude and Connor if they’re together. Jude becomes upset and yells that he’s not gay – and that only upsets Connor. Connor chases after him to ask what’s wrong, and Jude confesses that he’s tired of being labeled and just wants to be “Jude.” However that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to be Connor’s boyfriend.

Callie

As Jude struggles, Callie finally seems to be on top of the world. All Callie needs to do is complete her independent study at the foster center in order to graduate school on time. Things are going well at the center, and Rafael (Alberto De Diego) really believes that she has a gift at connecting with the other kids – however that gift may end up being her downfall. When she finds a new kid named AJ (Tom Williamson) sneaking out the window of the office in the morning, she decides it’s best not to tell Rafael.

Callie tries to talk to AJ and offer him a safe place to open up, but AJ’s not interested. However, he later finds Callie at the end of school beach party and opens up about his life in the foster system. AJ says that he ran away from his foster family to meet up with his brother. But his brother new showed up. His foster family told him to never return if he ran away, and he has nowhere to stay for the night.

Callie promises to get him help, and believes that an easy solution for a place to stay for the night would be the center. Taking advantage of her privileges, Callie lets him into the center after hours. But unfortunately she discovers that AJ was just playing her. When she arrives in the morning she finds that AJ – or someone – broke into the locker that stores all the spray paint. Rafael fires her, ruining her chance at receiving the independent study credit and graduating school on time.

Brandon

It’s the start of the summer, but Brandon’s (David Lambert) getting ready for school. He arrives at the Idyllwild Crest School of Music only to find that he’s not there as a pianist – he’s there as a composer. Since playing piano has been his life so far, Brandon immediately voices his concerns. But unfortunately he’s met with the cold, hard truth – his composing is better than his piano skills.

As if learning that news wasn’t difficult enough for Brandon, he’s paired up with a student named Kat (Katherine McNamara) – and Kat is NOT impressed with Brandon’s composing skills. A performance at Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic is on the line, and Kat openly tells the teacher and other students that she doesn’t want to work with the “amateur.” Unfortunately for the pair, the teacher doesn’t care! The two are stuck together.

After a rough first day, Brandon decides not to return the next day. But upon talking his situation through with Lou (Ashley), he returns with a passion and take no prisoners attitude.

Lena

Things haven’t been the same between Lena and Monte (Annika Marks) since Monte kissed her. When Monte asks Lena to join her at a conference in D.C., Lena doesn’t give her an answer. That makes Monte confront her about the awkward kissing situation. She asks Lena to stop being weird about it and claims that she’s not interested in her romantically because she was previously married to a man – but we’re not buying that.

Lena knows that her relationship with Stef has hit a rough spot, but she’s ready to work it out with her wife. She asks Stef if they could take a mini-vacation together, and Stef agrees. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be the best time for them financially. The next day Stef discovers that the bathroom above the kitchen is leaking.

At the post-school beach party, Stef visits Lena and finally breaks down about the accident. The crash scared her, and she’s still struggling to deal with it. Lena realizes that Stef needs her now more than ever, and tells Monte that she cannot go with her to D.C. Monte says she understands, but then eyes Stef from across the party.

Mariana

Ana gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Isabelle after the accident, but has been wearing a brace due to an injury. Mariana’s been helping her out all summer, even blowing off her boyfriend before he left for his summer tour. But Mariana’s help is not welcome by Ana. She tells Mariana that she wants to spend some time alone with the baby.

Ana’s words hurt Mariana, but she immediately begins to focus on something else – having sex with Mat (Jordan Rodrigues) before he leaves for tour. She tells Callie her plan to lose her virginity, but her plan falls though. During a post-school party on the beach, Mat shuts down Mariana’s advances. He tells her that he doesn’t want their first time to happen like this.

Mariana is visibly upset, but tells Mat she’ll see him when he gets back in three weeks. But it doesn’t look like their relationship will survive the break. Callie’s ex, Wyatt (Alex Saxon), shows up on the beach after Mat leaves. He offers Mariana beer, and after a couple drinks the teen leans in to kiss her sister’s ex-boyfriend.

The scene cuts away, but the next morning Callie visits Mariana. When she asks Mariana if she had sex last night, Mariana says yes – but she doesn’t say with who.

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