Modern Family: Season 3, Episode 4 - Door to Door

This week’s episode of Modern Family sees members of all three families going door to door for different causes. The episode starts off with Clare almost getting into a car accident, and then almost hitting Phil as he is speed-walking. She becomes determined to get a stop sign at an intersection near her house, and enlists the help of everyone else in the family. Phil and Luke become distracted when they set out to make a YouTube video. (Luke threw a basketball at Phil’s head and it went into the basket, so they set out to repeat it on camera.) Let me just say, Ty Burrell’s face must have really hurt after filming this episode.

Over at Jay’s house, Manny needs to raise money for a school field trip by selling wrapping paper. He goes door to door…to three doors. Jay, a little disappointed in the effort, wants to teach Manny how to sell, so he takes him out to show him the ropes. The two of them do not find any success. In the end, Manny plays with Jay, outsmarting him in a way to pay for his field trip.

Meanwhile, Cam has made a big mess in the house making crepes. Mitchell doesn’t want to clean up Cam’s mess (again) so Cam promises that he will do it when Mitch is at work. When Mitchell arrives home, he is dismayed to see that Cam has skipped out on cleaning it and left the house. You see, he went out to help Gloria find Stella, who ran away because she left the gate open again. (Any drama fans will enjoy Cam’s references to “A Streetcar Named Desire.” I was cracking up.) When they find the dog in the hands of a little girl (who happens to be named Blanche,) a screaming match ensues. Gloria and Cam win, and take back the dog.

Clare collects 36 of the 50 signatures she needs for the traffic advisory board. When she shows up at their meeting, she is turned down. To her rescue comes her husband and children, who not only have the remaining signatures, but a self-made YouTube video to prove their point. In the end, Phil claims that he’s been living with Clare for 20 years, and if she wants a stop sign, she’ll get one.

At the end of the episode, Mitch has finally let his “neat freak” attitude go, and makes Cam clean up his own mess for once. Mitch takes it a little overboard and makes an even sprays whipped cream on Lily’s hair and Cam’s shirt…and at that moment a representative of the adoption agency rings their doorbell. (While I found this funny, I really hope they find a way out of it!)