The Fosters 100th episode and spring finale is a 'gift' to fans

The Fosters may be coming to an end, but fans’ tear ducts still have their work cut out for them.

Tonight marks the two-hour spring finale — and milestone 100th episode — of the Freeform series, as well as one of the show’s final hours. After these two, fans will tune in over the summer for a three-night limited run in order to bid farewell to the Adams-Foster family as they know it (but not really for good — a spin-off series has already been ordered). This installment, executive producer Peter Paige tells EW, was created with those fans in mind.

“We knew we wanted the 100th to be big and emotional and to have great connection backwards,” he says. “We wanted to pull all these kinds of ghosts and references and Easter eggs into the story.”

He notes, “The end of anything that you’ve loved is an incredible time of nostalgia… That’s really the gift we wanted to give the fans in this episode.”

In other words, make sure you have a full box of tissues handy.

The Fosters season finale kicks off at 8 p.m. tonight on Freeform.