Modern Family: Goodnight Gracie (4x24)

This was a fun finale. Well, fun and touching, which is something I can't count on very often when watching this show. So that was actually a pleasant surprise. For a finale, it made the very smart decision of taking our characters out of their familiar setting and forcing them into a situation where they all had to be together. On the other hand, the family didn't actually have a lot of screen time all together, and instead occupied themselves with a bunch of minor subplots. It worked out alright, however, since all the plots were tied together by their setting and the general plot. I'll start with my least favorite.

Cam. Now, this plot wasn't bad, per say, but it felt very out of place in this episode. Whereas the other characters were all going through meaningful developments in their lives, Cam was relegated to pure comic relief. I was reasonably amused by his interactions with the old lady's book club, but there didn't seem to be a larger point to any of it. Was the joke that he fits in well in a retirement community? This show also tends to let Cam and Mitch exist in a bubble where they never get any negative attention for being gay. Ideal? Of course. Realistic? Not so much. I guess maybe it's a minor nitpick, but Cam's storyline just didn't do anything for me.

Then there's Mitch. And Gloria, too. Apparently Gloria has an outstanding warrant in Florida because she was mistakenly accused of running a brothel. Mitch goes with her to court to deal with it - Gloria is alright with paying the fine, but Mitch insists that he can explain the situation and prove her innocence. He ends up being a lawyer to a lot of the other people in the court house, so by the time it's Gloria's turn, the judge is so sick of hearing Mitch that she dismisses the case. All of this makes Mitch realize that he wants to leave his boring job and get back into the court room. 

I liked this one. I thought it was a bit annoying how Mitch was basically only winning the cases by being irritating, but the implication was there that he really knew what he was doing. I liked seeing this, because hopefully it will draw Mitch's character in an interesting new direction next season. (On a sidebar - Claire's own professional aspirations were entirely ignored in this one. Hopefully Season Five will pick up and we'll see how she's doing working with her father).

Phil and Claire had a bit of an odd plot this week. I spent the first half of the episode liking it, and then it ended rather strangely. Basically, Phil's mother left a letter for her son before she died. She wanted Phil to set up his father with a woman who lives across the street. Phil is horrified by the idea, but Claire is too curious not to do something. In the end, Phil sees how all of these old single women are preying on his newly available father, and he goes to talk to the woman, Annie, himself. She seems very sweet and comforts Phil as he cries about his mother. I liked Annie, but the plot didn't actually go anywhere. We never see whether Phil decides to introduce them or whether they hit it off or anything. It was a strange plot with some potential, but Claire barely got any time to shine, and it didn't have any payoff.

Any weaknesses in the plots listed above were balanced out by Alex's plot this week, which was genuinely touching. Alex boasts about her special connection with her recently deceased grandmother, and is then stumped when she receives a gift from her grandmother with no deeper meaning. Luke and Haley both get nice things, and Alex just gets a lighter. Her note doesn't say much of anything special, either, just "this is a lighter." She's confused, and wonders if maybe she didn't have the close connection that she thought she did. 

One of the best things going on here is the growing bond between Alex and Haley. Alex is genuinely upset, and while Haley gives her a bit of a bad time about it at first, she also chooses to comfort her little sister. It turns out that the note Alex was given contains a bit more, and in tribute to her grandmother Alex uses the lighter to set off some fireworks at the service, reading off the advice from the card, which told Alex to not be afraid to break the rules. It was very sweet and heartwarming to see this moment play out.

There were a few other little plots, such as Jay reconnecting with an old flame (who apparently had a lot of fun back in the day sleeping with men before they shipped off to war). In all, these things were merely a distraction from the two best plots. Mitch and Alex both had nice stories going on here, and I think the biggest flaw of the episode was not giving these elements more time to shine.

I admire, too, the show's ability to make me interested in Grace (Phil's mother). She was a compelling character even after her death, and I rather wish that we could have known her on the show. This finale had a few bumps along the way, but it had a lot of interesting things going for it. I hope that the momentum picks up for the next season, and we can see how these characters continue to grow.

7/10