‘Party of Five’: You’re Not Going to See the Parents Again for a While

Party of Five’s new twist puts the Acosta family in a slightly different situation than the Salinger’s in the Fox original. The Salinger parents died in an automobile accident, so they were out of the picture in the very first episode. The Acosta parents got deported to Mexico and they have remained in their children’s lives at least via Skype and phone calls. That is about to change, according to the show’s co-creator Amy Lippman.

Lippman spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet in December about the new take on Party of Five. After the phone call in the third episode, it looks like Javier (Bruno Bichir) and Gloria Acosta (Fernanda Urrejola) are giving their kids some space. Lippman confirmed this and spoke about when viewers will see the parents again. Party of Five airs Wednesday nights on Freeform. 

Here’s when the parents will appear on ‘Party of Five’ again

You’re going to get a solid chunk of episodes centered on just the Acosta kids for a few weeks. Emilio, Lucia, Beto and Valentina have plenty of storylines before their parents ever rear their heads again.

“We won’t spend time with the parents until the end of the season,” Lippman said. “We hold to the understanding that Valentina has which is there are conversations. We’re aware of their lives in Mexico but it isn’t until the end of the season that we look at what their life in Mexico is really like. Those are the two final episodes of the season.”

Already the parents got to be in two more episodes than Mr. and Mrs. Salinger, and they’ve got two more at the end of the season.

“We wanted to see what it was like for the kids to have to ween themselves off a dependance on their parents and to establish them independent before we bring the parents back into their lives in some way,” Lippman said.

You will still hear about the parents on ‘Party of Five’ though

Out of sight isn’t out of mind on Party of Five. Bichir and Urrejola may have a break from filming, but the show is going to address what’s going on back in Mexico.

“You will understand the kind of story,” Lippman said. “We found a way to reveal a lot of what’s going on with the parents when we sit with the kids. So towards the end of the season, I think there’s going to be some surprises about what their existence in Mexico has been. We reveal it by the end of the season.”

The kids will keep debating a trip to Mexico

Emilio (Brandon Larracuente) had to set Valentina (Elle Paris Legaspi) straight about using the money she found to visit their parents in Mexico. Still, Mexico remains close enough that traveling to visit remains an option, but it’s complicated.

“It remains an issue throughout the whole first season,” Lippman said. “We felt that situation is not resolved. First of all, all of the kids with the exception of Emilio are able to go to Mexico. It’s only because of his DACA status that he’s not. So the promise of seeing their parents is something that lurks throughout the whole first season and plays out by the end of the season.”