Modern Family: Rash Decisions (6x13)

Some cute stuff! Nothing that really stood out all that much, but all in all, an okay episode.

It looks like little Joe has a rash, and it might be Stella. In order to see if Joe is allergic to her, they have to separate the two for a while. Jay gives Stella to Cam and Mitchell for a while. He's worried that Cam is spoiling Stella, and he doesn't want Stella to think Cam loves him more. Joe's rash clears up, so it looks like it is in fact an allergy to the dog. Jay sadly says goodbye to Stella, while Cam secretly rejoices in his new pet. However, later we find out that Joe is allergic to Gloria's face cream, not the dog, and Stella gets to come back! Lily is relieved, because she didn't care much for Stella.

Jay's love for Stella is a good recurring theme on this show, but this plot thread wasn't anything too outstanding. I don't think they utilized the comedic potential as well as they could have. He could have been a lot funnier when he was saying goodbye to Stella, and they could have done more with the Larry the Cat/Stella the Dog conflict. However, the fact that Manny turned out to be allergic to Stella was really funny - Jay didn't care at all, and brought the dog back anyway!

Mitchell does some freelance work at the closet company, and he decides that he'll pretend to be laid back and easy going at this job. At his regular office, he's known for being neurotic and always yelling at everybody to be clean. Claire, on the other hand, is still having problems making friends with her co-workers. They all see her as a manager, but not as a friend. Claire is supposed to talk to one girl in the office about dressing more appropriately, and in fact has a long list of things she's supposed to say to the employees. She doesn't want to be the lady to dole out all the criticisms, because she thinks it will make everybody like her even less. Mitchell, who's been having fun making friends with everybody, steps in and saves Claire the trouble by listing all of the complaints himself.

I think this was probably my favorite of the plots, because Mitchell and Claire work off of each other so well as siblings. You never realize how similar they are until you get them in the same room. They're both obsessive and controlling. Relaxed, casual Mitchell was funny, but it was even better when he came to Claire's rescue and started chastising everybody. He was doing it in part because of Claire, but in part because he loves controlling everything. The best moment was when Mitchell mentions a party he's going to with his co-workers, and Claire says "what party?" Mitch declares that those are the saddest two words in the English language.

Phil has been teaching Andy about real estate, and Luke gets jealous of how much time the two of them are spending together. Luke tells Phil that while he doesn't want to spend all of his time with his father, he doesn't want to be replaced, either. They hug it out.

Eh. This plot thread didn't do anything for me at all. It was such a cliche. Luke is simultaneously pulling away from Phil, but also he doesn't want to be replaced. Okay... where's the comedic potential here? The only thing I sort of liked was when Phil said he needed a hug. Luke didn't want to hug him at first, but he capitulated when Phil threatened to go hug Andy instead. Also, there was a joke in here about Phil being married to Zoe Saldana, so that was funny. I can't blame him for the fantasy... she's gorgeous.

Alex is prepping for college interviews while Haley continually makes fun of her for talking to herself in the mirror. As Haley drops Alex off for her interview, she talks on the phone with her friends and just generally won't shut up, which makes Alex angry - she is trying to mentally prepare! When Alex goes in to do the interview, she overhears her interviewer talking on the phone about how annoyingly similar all the candidates are. They all take AP classes, they're all in orchestra and on the debate team, etc. etc. Alex is worried that she won't stick out, so she compliments the interviewer's dress (Haley had told her to do so) and talks about her crazy adventures breaking the law the night before (based on Haley's story to her friends on the phone). The interviewer seems interested in Alex.

Haley is so, so funny. Her voice and the way she talks on the phone is just so spot-on. It fulfills the cliche of the vapid young woman, but since we know Haley better than that, it's obvious that she's more than that. She's allowed to be shallow if she wants. Her insults to Alex about talking in the mirror and about her outfit were really cutting, too. And then of course there's Alex's nightmare interview. I would be so upset if I heard my interviewer talking that way on the phone... but Alex handled it in true comedic fashion, adopting Haley's mannerisms in order to have an advantage. I'll be interested to see if she actually gets into the school or not!

So, there you have it. Nothing super great, but nothing terrible either. One of those rather run-of-the-mill episodes, I'm afraid.

6.5/10