I'm watching Modern Family for the first time.
We're in the second half of the second season. I don't know, I prefer this season compared to Season 1 except for the Hawaii episode.
S2E13 Caught in the Act
Gloria and Jay are heading to Vegas, but first, Gloria is trying to send an email to Claire. Jay offers to help to make a polite email but types everything Gloria said, such as Claire is a bossy control freak and her lemon squares are very dry. And... the email is sent.
A hot new restaurant opened two blocks away, and the owner Amelia (Rachael Harris) is one of the mothers in Lily's preschool. Mitch and Cam try to impress her so they can get in anytime they want.
It's Claire and Phil's wedding anniversary. The Dunphy kids try to surprise them with breakfast in bed... and sees them having sex. Yikes.
Gloria tries to keep Claire from seeing the rude email and tries to explain herself (and unknowingly gives Phil a heart attack, not literally, but you know) but realizes she hasn't seen it yet.
Claire wants to talk to her kids about what they saw because her parents didn't talk to her. (Trust me, Claire, don't.) When Jay does discuss it with her, she immediately shuts it down ("Gross. You're ruining sex for me.")
Exactly.
Rating: 7/10
Thoughts:
Trust me, kids hearing or walking in on their parents doing it is not that rare. We just choose to tune it out. Do invest in a lock next time, hmm? Trust me, we don't want our parents to talk to us about it. I'm on Phil's side here.
Phil misunderstand Gloria again is kinda funny. You can basically see his head explode.
I'm starting to notice Mitch and Claire blaming Jay for things he has nothing to do with.
S2E14 Bixby's Back
Claire and Phil try to have a quiet Valentine's Day in contrast to their... disastrous Valentine's Day last year. But once Claire sees Phil vibing with the oldies, she decides Clive and Juliana need to return. Which goes wrong. Again.
Cam is annoyed because Broderick (Jeremy Rowley), Mitchell's assistant, has a crush on him. But when he appears at the office to take Mitch on their Valentine's Day date, Broderick confesses he doesn't want to get between them and Mitch. Cam now thinks Broderick has a crush on him, rather than Mitchell. The two then bicker about who Broderick really has a crush on.
Jay is planning to go all out this Valentine's Day, making it a competition and deliberately sabotaging their plans so he could surprise Gloria at their house with a romantic dinner. Turns out Gloria knows about his plans.
Manny tries to make a move on a lonely Haley by trying to convince her to stay single. (I know it's a little adorable since Manny is still a kid, but it's approaching gross territory for me.)
Rating: 8/10
Thoughts:
First off, why are Cam and Mitch arguing who Broderick really has a crush on? I don't get it. Why would you argue which one has an admirer?
Among the three couples, Jay and Gloria's storyline is the closest to being normal. Again.
Great. Haley and Dylan are back together again.
S2E15 Princess Party
It's Lily's birthday.
DeDe (Shelley Long) is coming, and Claire is on edge. Her mother also has an unexpected guest, Claire's ex-boyfriend, Robbie (Matt Dillon), without telling him that Claire is married with kids. Dinner is incredibly awkward, as Robbie begins telling the Dunphy's his escapades with Claire as teenagers. After dinner, Claire and Phil catch DeDe and Robbie making out (ew).
Cam wants to be Fizbo for Lily's birthday, but Mitch puts his foot down because the attention should be on Lily (I agree.)
Gloria has bought Lily a talking storybook as a gift. She's nervous because Dede is coming, and given their history, she doesn't want to be around Dede. Jay tries to use this as an excuse so he doesn't have to go to her friend's first communion party. It backfires when Gloria changes her mind, not wanting DeDe to make her miss important family events.
So obviously, on the day of the party, everything explodes.
Rating: 7/10
Thoughts:
The Jaws theme playing as Dede comes is hilarious. I think Dede is a much worse mother compared to Judy Geller from Friends despite Claire and Monica having similar meltdowns. While Judy is overly critical of Monica and coddles Ross, I don't think Dede has any redeeming characteristics whatsoever.
It's funny that Gloria said "All of Haley's weddings".
Claire and Mitchell's look at Jay when he comments about Robbie being half Dede's age.
Not a fan of Cam picking on the hired princess just because Mitch didn't want him to be Fizbo. Not cool. Totally in character for Cam, but come on.
And as always, Phil's got Gloria.
S2E16 Regrets Only
Claire and Phil had a huge fight, with the poor kitchen as collateral damage.
The thing is, Phil doesn't know why they had a fight.
Jay finally bought Gloria a present she loves. Except it's torture for every living soul with ears.
In order to stop torturing his ears, Jay volunteers to go with Claire to the mall to buy another microwave and volunteers Gloria to cut Phil's hair. They then talk about the fight. Which is not about a missed Valenbirthaversary.
Cam is having a fundraiser, but Mitch has forgotten to send out invitations, essentially ruining Cam's event. (Cam is 100% right here.)
Haley is tricking her parents into buying her a car by acting like she's working at a restaurant. Alex figures it out. (Alex shouldn't have warned her if she really wanted Haley to be caught.)
Rating: 8/10
Thoughts:
For someone like Claire who likes to talk things out, I think she messed up on this one too. Poor Phil really had no idea why she was having a meltdown. On the other hand, I do get why she's mad.
It's always funny to me why Jay, a known blunt no-nonsense man, never has any courage to tell Gloria her faults and always relies on Manny to tell her, since the former can never get mad at her sweet baby boy. The joys of being married.
S2E17 Two Monkeys and a Panda
Phil has an expiring spa certificates and uses them himself. The man is given a cheat code about how women think.
Haley and Alex fight over a sweater. Typical sister stuff.
Cam tries to associate adoption with happy things for Lily. While making an album for Lily about Vietnam, he finds out that Lily's name is Lily Tucker Pritchett, and not Lily Tucker-Pritchett like he and Mitch discussed. Since Mitch was the one filling out forms, he accuses Mitch of doing it on purpose.
Yes, he did. But his reason is sad: Cam was freaking out a lot while they were preparing for Lily, and Mitch was scared Cam was gonna think it's all too much and bail. It doesn't excuse it, but you can understand his reasoning.
He does try to make it up for though, completing Cam's story about the two monkeys and the panda they adopted. (Are there even pandas in Vietnam? Pandas make me think China.)
Jay is preparing for the future and is looking at crypts in a mausoleum. Gloria is against it, wanting to be buried in the ground. Their age gap is hitting Jay when he realizes he's going to probably be going sooner than Gloria, and that maybe he's not the main guy for her. Manny gives him a pep talk, how Gloria chose Jay out of all the men pursuing her. So Jay gives Gloria a coffee can, tells Gloria to have him cremated, and that coffee can with her all the time. If Gloria remarries, the putz will be seeing Jay everywhere.
Rating: 8/10
Thoughts:
This is quite an emotional episode.
I find Haley's comment about Alex's sweater getting exercise when it's clear Alex is also growing.
S2E18 Boys' Night
The Dunphys are afraid of their neighbor, Mr. Kleezak (Philip Baker Hall). But Luke befriends their scary neighbor. Of course, the two are against it, and Luke argues with his parents. Finding his point to be valid, Claire and Phil try to talk to Walt, and they find him in a deep sleep, thinking he was dead. Later, Walt explains he used to be a firefighter (aww is that why he's wearing an oxygen mask? Lung damage?) and wouldn't hurt a kid.
Mitch is in desperate need of a night with his gay friends. A grounded Haley volunteers to be Lily's babysitter so she could at least sneak Dylan in.
Manny and Gloria go to see a classical concert, and Jay heads to a bar.
The bar turns out to be the very bar Mitch, Cam and their friends Pepper, Longines and Crispin are in. Jay has a good time with them, and Mitch is surprised that he has never seen this side of his father.
Rating: 8/10
Thoughts:
Claire and Phil have a point, and so does Luke. I won't exactly trust an old man immediately hanging out with my kid. But Luke isn't exactly an ordinary kid.
Vivaldi is amazing. And Frankie Valli is also good.
Not a fan of Haley gaslighting Cam.
S2E19 The Musical Man
Another episode of Cam making everything about himself. The middle school is having a musical, and Cam changes everything last minute to suit his vision. Mitch tries to tell him (Cam accuses him of not being supportive), the kids try to tell him, but Cam wants his show. (It does backfire later on.)
Jay's brother Donnie (Jonathan Banks) is visiting. Gloria is confused about their relationship and urges Jay to have a different type of relationship. Donnie reveals that he has cancer.
Phil has made a huge mistake by shrink wrapping his ad on their mini van. By making his wife and his daughter look like prostitutes. (This does raise Claire's self esteem.)
Rating: 7/10
Thoughts:
I would have thought Alex would be happy to see Haley go to college. It means she could have a room to herself.
While Gloria does have a way of meddling to make Jay's life better, I don't think is one. While Donnie is revealed to have prostate cancer, he says his relationship with Jay is fine the way it is. They don't need to know every detail of each other's lives. I get it. Not every sibling relationship has to be the same.
I'm reading this over and it looks like I hate on Cam a lot. I do not hate Cam. I love the way Eric portrays him (and apparently based on his mom?) - a complete diva, funny, overdramatic, but loving and warm and very supportive. It's just entertaining to watch but you would not want someone like Cam in your life. I had a friend like that and it was super draining because everything was about them.
S2E20 Someone to Watch Over Lily
Cam and Mitch are revising their will for a guardian for Lily if something happens to them. Mitchell rejects having Cam's family in Missouri to be Lily's guardians because it's so far away from everything she knows. So they start visiting their candidates: first, the Dunphys, and they see a very chaotic scene. Next, Jay and Gloria.
Jay is taking Manny to a sports store for the school trip, but Manny doesn't want to go. Thinking it's because Manny is conscious about not being able to do physical activities, he tries to prove Manny wrong by making him climb over a rock wall in the store, which rubs Cam the wrong way.
Claire is taking Luke to a child psychologist, fearing that something is wrong with Luke. Phil is annoyed, saying nothing is wrong with Luke. (Luke does show signs of ADHD. But so does Phil.)
Mitch thinks Jay and Gloria can be Lily's guardians, but Cam objects, seeing how Jay was so hard on Manny. (And since Claire and Mitch do complain about a lot about their parents.)
Jay asks Manny again why he doesn't want to go. Manny says he's self conscious about his body and Jay then stops forcing him to go. Cam changes his mind and says Jay and Gloria can be Lily's guardians.
In other news, Haley and Alex get arrested for vandalism.
Rating: 7/10
Thoughts:
In Mitch's defense, I did hear 'hair rings'.
I read somewhere that Nolan Gould is actually a genius, like Mensa genius.
I love Jay's moments with his kids and grandkids. I miss my grandpa.
S2E21 Mother's Day
It's Mother's Day. Claire and Gloria go outdoors hiking with the kids, who are all complaining and bickering, leading the two women to leave them to wait while they finish the hike. Once at their destination, Claire convinces Gloria to admit that even her sweet baby boy can be too much at times. Gloria does admit it (because they're way too close) and even says that Manny's poetry isn't good.
Obviously Manny overhears that and is very upset.
Haley, Alex, and Luke decide that they won't feel guilty and not apologize to their mother.
Phil and Jay are on cooking duties. Phil tries to bond with Jay which the latter immediately shuts down. However, upon finding an old poem Jay wrote for his mom, Phil witnesses his father-in-law crying.
Meanwhile, Mitch surprises Cam with breakfast in bed, trying to show his appreciation. Cam is offended because it's Mother's Day, and it means Mitch is treating her like his wife (which he absolutely does). It's even more obvious when they go to the park and the mothers there treat Cam as an 'honorary mother'.
Cam tries to prove he's a man and obviously it goes as well as you expected. Mitch tries to tell him there's nothing wrong with being warm and caring, which is usually associated with being a mother, and it doesn't make him less of a man.
At Mother's Day dinner, the whole family gathers. Phil tells Claire and Mitch that he saw their father cry. Jay denies it, but does eventually break down as he talks about his mother. Haley and Alex, upon seeing their grandfather cry, apologizes to their mom.
The episode ends as the Dunphy kids are all asleep on the couch with their mother and Phil ruins the moment.
Rating: 8.5/10
Thoughts:
As you can see from my detailed synopsis, I did like this episode. I miss my grandpa. I guess that's why I'm kinda biased towards Jay in this series.
Gloria and Manny are way too close.
Nothing wrong with a guy having a motherly role, just saying. Ask the single dads.
S2E22 Good Cop Bad Dog
Ah, chaos. Why is the Dunphy house always chaotic?
Anyway, Alex and Haley are made because Luke and Manny barged in while they were changing. Claire scolds them as usual, while Phil tries to assure their girls behind her back. Fed up, Claire tells Phil that they're switching roles: she was gonna be the fun mom while Phil has to be the bad cop. Yeah. This does not go well.
Gloria wants to help a grocery store worker named Guillermo (played by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda), so she convinces Jay to hear Guillermo's business idea and give him advice. The business idea being a dog training system consisting of two treats: a bland one and a bacon flavored one. It doesn't work out. (I was wondering when Stella the dog was gonna come in this show).
Mitchell and Cam have tickets to a Lady Gaga concert, which is, according to him, the only gay cliché he allows himself to have. But Cam is sick, and he desperately wants to go, but knowing Cam... So he tries to take care of him the whole day, as advised by Claire, so he can ask Cam to let him go. But before he could, Cam is already asleep.
Rating: 8/10
Thoughts:
Stella is adorable. And this is why a lot of dogs were named Stella due to this show.
Phil is so funny in this episode is so hilarious Ty Burrell won an Emmy for his performance in this episode.
S2E23 See You Next Fall
Oh. This episode. I saw a lot of clips from this episode on Facebook.
Alex is Valedictorian and is giving her speech. The whole Pritchett family is there, except for her own parents.
Four hours earlier, Phil and Claire are happy for their little girl. So much that Claire keeps trying to hug and kiss Alex while she is trying to rehearse her speech. Meanwhile, Phil has a trip scheduled the next day and needs Claire to have her meltdown that day so Phil can be there for her.
Haley overhears Alex rehearsing her speech (which is basically an angry rant, which you shouldn't say in public because if you live in a small town you're still gonna be seeing the same people). She tries to convince Alex to improvise with old motivational songs like Don't Stop Believin'. Alex tries to refute it by saying Gandhi went on a hunger-strike, but Haley just proves her point. (I would have refuted it a lot better but this is Haley).
While discussing birthing, Cam accidentally steps on a rubber soccer ball and falls into the pool, causing Mitchell to burst out laughing.
Jay arrives home and Gloria and Manny notices that his eye is droopy (because he had botox). Jay just brushes them off.
The whole family is gathered at Jay's house before heading out to Alex's graduation. Mitch recounts the incident with the mini-pool, and the family is concerned that Cam is injured. As they all prepared to leave, Cam walks into a glass door, and then the screen door, making the Pritchetts (Jay, Mitch and Claire) burst out laughing. When Jay takes off his glasses, the entire family is concerned and wants him to go to the hospital, but Mitchell guesses it's botox gone wrong.
The front gate won't open, and Claire finally melts down, admitting her fear of losing Alex just like they lost Haley. Her melt down causes Phil to melt down too.
Haley steals Alex's cue cards and asks her if she hates her, because Alex thinks that popular kids are shallow and lame. Haley loses it and says other people have problems too, to which Alex just sarcastically replies if her problems are having boys chasing her and having too many parties to go too. Her older sister finally admits that her problems are flunking biology, having to go to summer school and being left behind by her friends, because she's not sure she can get into college at all. Haley then tells Alex that she's smart and pretty and funny, but if she flips off her class, she's going to be a freak and an outcast (point to Haley).
Gloria tells Jay that he doesn't have to look young for her because she fell in love with his old face.
Jay's gate finally opens and they all rush to the school. But Phil and Claire aren't still there. They arrive on time, falling down a hill, which makes Cameron laugh. Oh, the hypocrisy.
Alex doesn't say her original speech and gives a short sincere one, and quotes from the songs. Alex is then invited to a graduation party, which disappoints Phil and Claire, but Haley tells her parents she could have lunch with them. They all hug. Yaaay.
Rating: 8.5/10
Thoughts:
'No, my God' is starting to grow on me.
Apparently Ty and Julie wanted them to do their own stunts in falling down the hill and had difficulty trying to convince the producers to do their own stunts in that scene.
S2E24 The One That Got Away
It's Jay's birthday, and all he wants is a quiet birthday, spent fishing on the lake. But he grabbed Gloria's phone, so he has no choice but to do errands, such as fetching Stella and getting his own cake.
As a birthday gift, Claire and Mitch plan to recreate a childhood photo. They dress just like they did in the photo, with Mitch dressed as a sailor. They head to their childhood home to take the photo, but since no one is there, they climb the fence to take the photo. Yes, this all goes wrong as the owner's dog sees them and they get trapped in the backyard, reminiscing. They end up calling their dad to help them.
Cam tries to help Manny with sports, so Manny can impress a girl. He helps Manny by telling him what to say, but people think he's picking up a preteen girl. Which gets him kicked out of the bakery.
Phil runs into an old college rival, Glen Whipple while at the mall with Gloria and Lily. People at the mall keep mistaking Phil and Gloria to be married with Lily as their daughter, so Phil gets an idea to pass Gloria off as his wife to impress Glen. Glen is impressed but says he had thought Phil had married Claire and was jealous of him.
The Dunphy kids are editing a video compilation of the family members talking about Jay, but realizes they don't have much material. Luke says he'll do his best to edit it.
Phil smothers Claire with affection.
Jay is disappointed with how his birthday went, even Luke can tell. Stella dropped his cake on the floor. His presents aren't good. He's a little down, but he's trying not to take it out on his family.
Manny saves the party by putting a rowboat in their pool so Jay can finally have his wish to fish at the lake. (Of course Jay knows it's not the same, but it's the effort that counts.)
Mitchell says he enjoyed reminiscing with Claire and says he couldn't have survived his childhood without his sister. So Cameron agrees, asking if they can adopt a boy this time.
Rating: 9/10
Thoughts:
It's kind of sad when Phil realizes how lucky he is for marrying Claire when someone else (his rival no less) appreciates her.
Mitch and Claire bonding and acting like kids in front of their dad is funny. I guess no matter how old you are, sometimes you do act that way when you're with your parents.
Cam and Manny bonding is also sweet.
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