A special tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting will be featured in the premiere episode of "The Fosters" season 4 on Monday.
Freeform confirmed in a statement via TV Guide that cast members Sherri Saum and Cierra Ramirez will come out with a special message before the beginning of the episode for the victims of the horrific mass shooting incident that ended the lives of 49 individuals at the Pulse gay bar in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, June 12.
Incidentally, the theme for the season premiere and the succeeding episode will deal with gun violence and the trauma that it could cause victims. In the particular episodes, Nick's (Louis Hunter) fury after learning that Mariana (Ramirez) cheated on him will push him to bring his father's gun to school for revenge.
In a previous statement with the same publication, executive producer Joanna Johnson explained that they want to incorporate the gun shooting plot into the show to tackle a growing problem.
"It's something that's happening so much it's almost becoming normal," she said. "It almost seems like a weekly occurrence that someone is taking a gun to school. We wanted to explore what the impact of this has on our schools and has on our kids."
Addressing the Orlando tragedy is not surprising for the show, since the family drama series features the lives of a household with lesbian parents living with their biological and adopted kids, and one of them also happens to be gay.
Maia Mitchell, who plays Callie, also teased the upcoming premiere episode in an interview with KSiteTV, saying:
"This first couple of episodes are predominantly about what's happening with Nick and Mariana, and the shooting or potential shooting... you definitely see that kind of take over what they're going through, and everything else, all the little things, all the little dramas between the characters come quite peripheral, especially for Callie and the moms. I don't know if I can get into super-specifics, but yeah."
The fourth season premiere of "The Fosters" will air on Monday, June 20, on Freeform.
