Catching up with ABC’s Modern Family

Ed: I’d like to welcome guest author Adam Britten who reviews the most recent episode of ABC’s hit show Modern Family:

Every time that Modern Family takes a few weeks off, I feel like I’m missing something. The family was back this week, and they were back with another bang. One of the best parts of this episode is that it brought out a lot of previously unseen character pairings that were very pleasant. Nathan Lane returns to add some flair to Boys’ Night, delivering the kind of quality I’ve grown to expect from the series.

Mitchell and Cameron are going out for an evening with their friends, and Haley offers to babysit Lily. She’s bored because she’s grounded. While the guys are out, Cameron calls Haley because he’s seen a guy walk through the living room. (He saw it on his phone, but through the open laptop on the counter. I love how Modern Family throws in tech-inspired things like that.) Of course, it’s Dylan. Haley throws a fit saying that Cameron was accusing her of something, and she makes Dylan leave. But he leaves behind his shoes. Busted.

Moving along to Phil & Clare who are growing concerned about Luke’s relationship with their neighbor, an elderly man they’ve come to think of as very mean. Luke originally goes to his house to retrieve the family’s baseball, but he comes to think of the man as a friend. When Phil & Clare step in, both Walt (Phillip Baker Hall) and Luke are offended.

Gloria and Manny are taking Jay to see the Four Seasons. When Jay discovers that it’s a symphony and not Frankie Valli, he bails. He heads to a bar for a drink, and Mitch and Cam are there laughing it up with their friends. Mitch is just about to reveal who his first crush was, but Jay is spotted and invited over. Mitchell is surprised to see that Jay and his friends get along really well. I have to say, it’s always nice to see Jay featured in this light. Turns out, Mitchell’s first crush was on Rob Lowe.

The next morning, Jay complains of a hangover, saying that he “thought cops could drink.” Pepper (Nathan Lane) feels fine though, and he is driving over to pick Jay up for a date. Once again, Gloria has the best moment of the episode when she tells Jay that she’ll help him get out of it. She throws Jay under the bus, or should I say, into Pepper’s fabulous car, complete with barking puppy.

Haley comes to collect Dylan’s shoes, and Cameron had seen them. Cam proves he can be the cool uncle and lets Haley off the hook. Walt comes to the Dunphy’s door to offer a bag of onions from his garden as a kind gesture. Phil & Clare realized they had misjudged the former firefighter and warmly accept the gift.

Memorable quotes

Phil: Ooh, I love westerns, the bloodier the better. That’s my favorite type of movie. That and anything set against the backdrop of competitive cheerleading.

Clare: Little kids can be friends with old people, right?
Phil: Of course they can, there’s tons of examples: Up, Gran Torino, True Grit.
Clare:Cartoon, kills himself, she loses an arm. We’ve got to go talk to that guy.

Jay: I’m gonna walk like a man as fast as I can to that bar over there. And if you knew Frankie Valli, you’d be cracking up right now.

Jay: I was drunk, I’m not going shopping with Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Adam Britten is a student social media strategist and marketing major at Syracuse University.  Read about him more at www.AdamBritten.com or @AdamBritten.