I enjoy Modern Family. I'll probably never love it as much as The Office, Parks and Rec, or Community, but I think it's clever, I get a lot of laughs out of the show and I look forward to it every week. I also don't have any objections about it sweeping the Emmy's again. Sadly, there are plenty of people who do have objections to Modern Family sweeping the Emmy's again because it's not the most innovative comedy in the world. In order to fight off the backlash, MF needed a strong episode to open the season. Luckily it had two strong episodes (though one was stronger than the other).
The stronger one was Dude Ranch which saw the family take it's annual vacation, which this year is at a dude ranch in Wyoming. The best episodes are usually the ones where the whole family gets to interact with each other and this one is no exception, with lots of good storylines, good lines, and of course Dylan, who Claire has reluctantly agreed to let come along on this vacation.
Claire's hatred of Dylan has been a running gag in the show for 2 seasons now and it comes to a head here, when she tries to be nice and accepting to Dylan at the behest of Phil (who knows what it's like to have a parent of his girlfriend dislike him.) Of course Dylan initially misinterprets her efforts at friendship as her making an advance on him and is relieved when he learns that isn't the case (though he lets Claire know if Hayley wasn't his girlfriend and Phil was out of the picture, he'd be honored to raise her kids with her). Of course all niceness ends when Dylan proposes to Hayley and Claire fiercely objects. This leads Dylan to run off upset (he lets them all know the fan in his tent sometimes sounds like crying) and Haley to be furious with Claire for interfering. It's a nice moment for Hayley's character when she later reveals she turned down Dylan's proposal and she's mad at Claire because it was her proposal to turn down, not Claire's. Meanwhile Dylan's disappeared and everyone's worried that he's been killed by the various dangers in the woods. When he turns up, it turns out he's taken a job as a ranch hand and ends things with Hayley because they're from two different worlds. Farewell Dylan. You'll be missed
.
That's not the only thing that happened in the episode though. Phil is trying to prove he's a man so Jay will respect him but Jay's distracted by their guide Hank and his constant advances on Gloria (who's having a hard time hearing because her ear hasn't popped yet.). This leads to a couple great scenes. One where Phil tells Jay that he's been a great husband and father and if that's not enough for Jay, then that's his problem and another where Phil and Jay subsequentally confront Hank who claims his advances where an act so Jay could look like a hero, only for Gloria to point out that Jay's an hero every day as a father. As they ride off Phil tells Hank that he will only be checking off somewhat satisfactory on his customer comment card. Oh Ty Burrell. You definitely earned that Emmy this year.
Meanwhile Mitchell is starting to have second thoughts about adopting a son because he doesn't get boys or "boy things". This plot starts out slow but gets better when he starts spending time with Luke who wants to set off a firecracker. Luke and Mitchell is a combination we don't see in action much and it's a great one, especially when the firecracker turns out to be less of a dud than they initially believe when they try to blow up a bird house. And in another story that's pretty cute, Alex deals with an admirer and has a bit of a summer romance.
And while Dude Ranch was the stronger episode, When Good Kids Go Bad was pretty great too. Mainly because it had plenty of screen time for new Lily. Who can talk! And in my opinion, the only thing cuter than babies is toddlers that say cute things. And also things that imply they're not going to be thrilled with a new baby and may in fact, try to harm that baby. Which of course cause Mitchell and Cam to figure out why this behavior is happening. At first it seems to be because Cam is too clingy (and the montage of him being clingy is one of the funniest parts of the night), but then Mitchell learns at her preschool that she's having issues sharing. Something he hasn't been that good at. Of course he hides this from Cam until right before they're about to announce their adoption plans to the family because Mitchell had been glad that for once, he wasn't the one at fault.
Meanwhile Phil and Claire are arguing about who was responsible for Claire taking a spill at the supermarket. Claire is convinced she's right, but the kids are a little tired of her being right. Also Alex and Hayley talk Luke into moving into the attic (which he was planning on doing anyways), despite Claire saying that this isn't a good idea for Luke. And Manny steals a girl's locket so he can remember her, but is willing to fess up and get punished until Gloria just has him return the locket to the girl's locker and lie to Jay about fessing up. Jay isn't buying this and knows it's just a matter of time before Manny fesses up.
Everything converges at Mitchell and Cam's party where they're supposed to be announcing their plans to adopt a boy. Of course Cam doesn't want to tell them anymore, because it won't be a happy moment but it slips out anyways while they're arguing. Everyone's happy about the news and Cam even breaks out his original plan for celebrating, which involves a banner saying "It's A Boy" with the words gonna be added to it and the song "Let's Hear it For the Boy" playing. Then Claire shows up with security footage from the grocery store proving she's right and everyone's shocked that she'd go to such difficult lengths just to prove a point. Until Jay guilt's Manny into admitting he lied about confessing, and Jay declares he was right. Looks like Lily isn't the only one who picked up things from her dad. The episode ends with Claire getting Luke out of the attic, but in a less "I was right" way, even though she was right.
So Modern Family starts off with two solid episodes. They weren't perfect (particularly the second one) but they were pretty dang good. And that's good enough for me.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
-"I want to be able to teach my son all the things my dad taught... Claire"
-"You want me to go home?" "No, it's the opposite of that". "...I want you to go home?" Again, Dylan will be missed.
-"Haha. You kiss boy"- The first words we hear new Lily say this season
-"For what it's worth, my second wife was in high school" Oh Jake, the cowboy.
-Jakes nicknames include Hollywood (Manny), Cactus flower (Gloria), Old Timer (Jay), and Bossy (Claire) The family enjoys that last one.
-"...Worth the wait" Phil, when he get's the nickname Buffalo Phil
-"My sister was born with a full set of teeth" "That never happened." "Oh, yea? You should have seen her crib. It looked like beavers lived there." If we ever meet Cam's sister, and the writers could pull it off, that'd be fantastic.
-"There's a line of ants going to a trick-or-treat bag in my closet, and I don't want to still be there when they get sick of candy."- Luke's motivation for wanting the attic.
-A possesive Lilly pushes Luke. His response? "This isn't over".
-We also learn Claire pushed Mitchell in the dryer as a child. "Is this why I'm afraid of tumbling?! I HAD TO QUIT GYMNASTICS, CLAIRE!"
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