Modern Family: The Wedding Part 1 (5x23)

This is the first half of Mitch and Cam's wedding episode, to be continued next Wednesday. My thoughts? Let's start with a plot summary.

Mitch and Cam's wedding day has arrived, but things don't go smoothly. Firstly, Cam notices that the dry cleaners gave him the wrong tux. When they go to get the right one, they see that the dry cleaners are closed. Eventually, they send Lily in through a mail chute, but she gets caught on the rotating clothes line. The owner comes by because his alarm went off, and he lets them in. They are able to get Cam's tux.

However, that's just the beginning of their problems. A forest fire puts their venue in harm's way, so they have to move the wedding up to earlier to quickly complete it before the firefighters kick them out. Mitch and Cam must rush to get there, and all of the rest of the family has to find ways to get there in time, as well:

Jay, who is still uncomfortable with his son's gay wedding, is at the country club with Cam's dad. The two of them chicken out of telling the other guys that their sons are getting married. They're in the middle of their day at the club when they get the text that the time of the wedding has moved up.

Gloria and Cam's mother, meanwhile, have been getting their hair done. Cam's mother reveals that she and her husband are going through a rough patch. Gloria encourages her to stand up for herself. This results in the two of them fighting at the wedding ceremony.

Phil and Alex have gone to pick up the wedding gift for Cam and Mitch. Alex knows that her dad always has a better time with Luke, and the two of them don't really spend a lot of time one on one. They go to pick up the gift, but since they're running out of time, Phil pretends to be blind to cut to the front of the line. At first Alex is annoyed, but later she gets in on the scheme.

Claire pick Luke up early from camp, and when he complains that he's missing going out on the boat, Claire says they have some time. She wants to spend time with Luke because some day, when he gets married, she wants Luke to want her there. Mitch and Claire's mom isn't making it to the wedding, and Mitch seems more relieved than anything else. Claire and Luke get stuck out on the lake, since Luke forgot to bring the paddle. He uses his fishing line to connect them to shore and real them back in, and they rush to make it to the wedding in time.

Andy (Jay and Gloria's nanny) is trying to get to the airport to fly out and meet his girlfriend. His cab doesn't turn up, so Haley ends up having to drive him. On the way, Haley learns that Andy is very afraid of flying, and also that his girlfriend has apparently broken up with him. Andy's flight gets delayed, and as the two of them wait together in a coffee shop, Haley gets the text about the wedding time being changed. She rushes off, reluctantly leaving Andy alone.

As the wedding is about to commence, the fire department informs them that the fire is spreading, and they all have to evacuate immediately.

Problems?

I guess I'm a little tired of the cliche sitcom wedding episode. Usually there are lots of shenanigans, things go terribly wrong, but the resilience and enduring love of the marrying couple makes it all sweet and adorable by the end. Modern Family is just such a funny and fresh show so much of the time that I was looking for something a bit more, I think. I know this is only the first half of the finale, but it lacked the truly hilarious moments I've come to expect from great episodes of this show.

Claire and Luke's plot, for example, was pretty bland. There just weren't any stand-out funny moments. The one okay moment was when Luke is complaining about Alex getting all the attention for being smart. He comes up with a solution to their problem, but is so busy whining that he doesn't even notice it. That was pretty funny.

I also didn't think that Jay's plot at the country club was very funny. I'm glad they're continuing the plot with Jay being uncomfortable with Mitch's wedding, but they could have used this opportunity for some funny jokes, and they didn't.

But... the good stuff is pretty great.

Andy and Haley's slow-build romance arc is actually pretty powerful. He's such a sweet and genuine guy, and Haley isn't used to guys treating her with the respect she deserves. Andy seems too good to be true.

Alex and Phil were funny too. I hadn't really thought about the fact that they don't spend much father/daughter time together, but it's true. I liked Alex's initial reluctance and later total dedication to their con.

Lily was actually funny in this one, which isn't something I say very often. The kid still can't act, but some of her one liners really hit the spot for me this week. I love how exasperated she is with her dads. The best was when Mitch said that "daddy" was going to do her hair for the wedding, and Lily quickly said "not you, right?" Also, when the dry cleaner asked where Lily came from, as Mitch just suddenly appeared holding her, Mitch pretended to be insulted, choosing to misinterpret what he said as a question about their different races. That was hilarious.

As I said before, I am really glad they're continuing to put pressure on the Jay situation. Hopefully in the next episode he can confront some of his discomfort and he and Mitch will make up. I'm glad this show is choosing to explore some serious tensions.

I feel weird about giving this a definitive grade, since it is only part one of a two part episode. It didn't have the epic levels of humor I want from a Modern Family finale, but it wasn't terrible either.

7/10