Modern Family: We Need to Talk About Lily (10x14)

This was okay. Two plot threads were kind of boring, but two were kind of fun.

Cons:

Jay and Gloria's plot thread didn't go far enough to be truly outrageous, or stay real enough to get properly emotional. Stella has always been the punchline to a joke about how manly man Jay gets all soft and affectionate over a dog, and treats the dog like a person. That's the one joke, and there's really not a lot of variety shown with it here. When Jay was acting like a dog in the car, getting excited to go to the park and sticking his head out the window, I was rolling my eyes pretty hard.

I don't really know what's going on with Alex. Sometimes I still think about how many wasted opportunities this show has when it comes to her character. She went to college, and I guess she's getting ready to graduate, but we didn't spend any substantial time with her at school. Why not? It would have been a way to mix things up a bit.

Pros:

I liked the moment in Jay's story where he talked about how Stella had chosen him, and how much he loved her. I feel they could have built it up more and done more with the emotional core of the story, but I thought that actual genuine moment worked okay.

Phil showing Pepper around to look for a house was just silly, but in a really charming and fun way. I loved the La La Land extended gag at the end, with Pepper in the yellow suit, and the aborted attempt at a musical number. All of that was just the right type of absurd. The list of things that Pepper needed for his ideal house was hilarious: back yard zoned for falcons, a foyer big enough to make people swoon, a view of Rihanna's roof. All of that was great. And the moment when he's walking through an average day in his home, wearing a different outfit for every scene, and Phil asks him if he has a whole wardrobe in his car... hilarious!

I also really liked Cam, Mitchell, and Lily's plot thread. I know Lily is sort of an odd character, and that the show hasn't known what to do with her over the years, but I've actually always been a fan. Even if it's just some quippy one-liners, I feel like I understand Lily's personality. She's sarcastic and kind of brooding, and her dads are way too bubbly for her taste, but she loves them anyway. This plot thread encapsulates that energy, and adds some new context to Lily's character. I love that Cam and Mitchell were trying to cheer Lily up and get her out of her shell, but they misread the situation and end up making things worse. Eventually, though, they realize that Lily has just been pretending to like the same music and pop culture as her dads, even though her interests are different. They ask her what kind of music she's been listening to, and she reveals that it's screamo. That was a predictable yet still satisfying punchline to the plot thread, and I'm glad that Lily is starting to feel comfortable coming forward with who she really is. I hope we can see more of that in the future!

All in all, this episode was something of a toss-up, but it did get a few chuckles out of me. I think this show is taking a few weeks off, but I'll be back then to cover the next episode!

8/10