Modern Family: The Wedding Part 2 (5x24)

Very cute. Much better than the first half, I thought. A lot of good jokes, and some real emotional poignancy as well. Let's dive in.

The wedding is rushing forward, as Pepper convinces the firefighters to give them 30 minutes at the venue. However, just as they're about to get started, Sal (who was going to officiate their wedding) goes into labor. Phil volunteers to be the one to marry them, since he got certified online. However, the firefighters are back to say that the winds have shifted - they all have to evacuate right now!

Pepper finds a new venue, but that one falls through as well. Then they go back to Cam and Mitch's house. This also doesn't work out. Cam and Mitch are ready to call it all off, but then Jay comes in and says "you can't do this." Mitch is upset at first, but it turns out Jay meant that they can't have their wedding all cramped up in the house like this. He offers the country club as a suitable location. 

While all of this is going on, chaos is erupting in every corner. Phil wants to do a magic trick as part of his officiating. In the end, he decides not to, letting the strength of Mitch and Cam's love be the focus. Claire continually insists that she's the "best person," instead of "best man," and gives a speech where she congratulates herself on being the best person. However, she also says how happy she is to know that Mitch is with a guy who will look after him just as much as Claire always has.

Gloria and Jay try to fix Barb and Merle's relationship by talking them through this rough patch, but nothing they say seems to sink in. However, as they walk their son down the aisle at his wedding, they seem to be happy, although we don't know if they'll be able to fix things. 

Meanwhile, Alex and Haley discuss Andy, and Alex makes Haley realize that maybe she has feelings for him. Haley tells Andy that he should come to the wedding, and also that he deserves better than his current girlfriend. Although at first hopeful that Haley is interested in him, Andy ultimately chickens out and drives away from Cam and Mitch's house without going in to see Haley. Luke and Manny get married by Phil, who is showing them how to officiate a wedding. The two spend the rest of the day acting like a married couple in a variety of cliche ways, such as complaining about not spending enough time together, bickering about food, etc.

It all turns out okay, as in the end the couple makes it down the aisle. Jay and Gloria walk Mitch down the aisle, and Barb and Merle walk Cam down. The two are happily married.

So... complaints?

Not really. Nothing was terrible. I didn't really like the Luke and Manny plot, because it felt a little stale. We've already had a lot of story lines that make jokes out of their relationship. I want to do something more creative with these two, really soon.

Also, as I'm about to mention in the list of good stuff, most of the characters had a connection to Mitch and Cam in some capacity, in this episode. However, Luke and Manny did not. Neither, unfortunately, did Haley. I wished she could have been more a part of the spirit of the wedding day. However, for what it was, I really enjoyed her plot thread with Andy.

But for the most part, I thought this was a really fun and surprisingly sweet episode.

I loved the fact that Phil had his usual crazy antics going on throughout this whole thing, but at the end he used real restraint and kept things simple. It was really sweet. Mitch and Cam got to be the focus, as they should be, while Phil still got to express his love and happiness for them.

Claire's "best person" speech was really touching, as we get to see the strong bond between Mitch and Claire, and how Cam has really become a part of the family already. It managed to mix a good amount of humor with genuine sweetness.

Jay's little redemption moment was golden. He's trying to be comfortable with this, and he can't quite manage it. Then, finally, in a burst of insight after reminiscing about Mitch as a kid, he realizes that he loves his son. And if the gay thing weirds him out, then that's his own hangup. He has to be there for his kid. It was so nice when he walked Mitch down the aisle and then Gloria jumped up to walk him down, too. Cam's parents got in on it as well! So lovely. Jay proudly proclaiming to the country club that his son was getting married was also a great moment.

The wedding couple themselves had a lot of great material. There was a recurring joke where Cam suggested that maybe their gay wedding was heralding the apocalypse. The skies turned black because of the fire, a "swarm of Lucases" appeared to take their wedding venue back, a "flood" happened when Sal's water broke, and people kept losing their voices, resulting in "four hoarse men." Mitch rolls his eyes at Cam's worrying, but after the bajillionth catastrophe, they both decide they have to pull the plug.

To me, this was actually a pretty sad moment. Usually, in sitcom weddings, the soon-to-be-married parties have lots of freak outs throughout the day, and as things go wrong, their friends have to rally around them to make the wedding happen. In this example, Cam and Mitch were relentlessly positive, even as things started falling apart. The moment that their faith finally breaks was actually pretty hard to watch.

That's why Jay swooping in to save the day was so satisfying. It happened after Mich had actually given up on his dream wedding, and his homophobic father got over his own crap in order to help out, and show his support for his kid. Gloria, who had been put in a rather awkward situation by all of this, also got to walk Mitch down the aisle, which was nice.

As I mentioned earlier, I was annoyed that Haley's plot didn't tie in more to the wedding, but for what it was, I really enjoyed it. There usually aren't many slow-build plots on this show, but Haley and Andy are always delightful to watch when we see them on screen together. As Haley matures and grows as a character, it's nice to think she might get a love interest that sticks around for a while, now that it seems Dylan is well and truly out of the picture.

I guess I'll leave it there. A very adorable episode that tied up some loose plot threads and saw a celebration of a great couple.

8/10