Question: Why is this the Season Finale episode instead of a Season premiere episode? When we watch the first episode, Crazy Love, Jean-Luc is already a part of the main storyline. This episode would've been great because it not only gently introduced Jean-Luc and the upcoming new salon, as well as telling the backstory. Did they ever explain what their reason for this was?
Question: Is it ever explained where the kids' other parent is? I remember Carol saying she and Frank both came from failed marriages, which means they weren't widows.
Question: When the kids win the sand castle contest and get the free helicopter ride, since they are all under age, wouldn't they be required to be accompanied by a parent for the duration?
Answer: Probably not. Just like when airlines fly unaccompanied minors, the responsibility for their care and safety passes to the airline and the captain of the flight. The legal responsibility is called "in loco parentis." This is based on the child's parent or guardian knowingly placing the child in the care of the airline.
Question: Did they ever explain what happened to Brendan, who was missing this season?
Answer: According to the SBS website, Brendan's disappearance was never really explained. He just kind of faded out. He was hired as the cute "little" one and as he got older he wasn't as cute. When the Lamberts had the little girl, they got their cuteness factor back and didn't need as many kids around.
Carol and Frank continued to tell people they had seven children throughout the remainder of the show's run, but they never referred to Brendan after season 6.
Answer: The actor that also played Brendan quit acting altogether.
Question: Who is the brunette kid in the yellow shirt in the beginning? It's supposed to be Marc but it's not.
Answer: From what I've read, the kid in question was the original actor cast to play Mark and was intended be closer in age to Brendan. For whatever reason, they recast the role with Christopher Castile and didn't bother removing the original actor from the beginning of the opening credits. I guess they figured people would just assume the kid was one of Brendan's friends.
Answer: I could be mistaken, but when the series debuted, its premise was something along the lines of "A divorced contractor and a widowed beautician impulsively marry." If that is true, then the Foster children's father is dead. As for Frank, it could be that his wife was an unfit mother and is therefore not in her children's lives. Perhaps the writers felt addressing these issues would lead to more questions, or at the least require characters to bring up the unseen parents more in conversation, so perhaps they felt it was just better to never talk about them at all and let any discussions about them remain off-screen.
Phaneron ★