Modern Family: Spring Break (6x18)

Normally the Dunphy family doesn't win first place with good story lines, but this week they did! Let's talk about each of the plots separately.

It's Spring Break. Alex is anxiously awaiting news from her colleges, but she hasn't heard anything yet. Claire suggests that Alex go with Haley to a music festival. Alex decides to go, but she acts crazy and like a total party girl, even though Haley doesn't give her that much to drink. Haley and Claire talk on the phone, and Claire hacks into Alex's computer and discovers that Alex didn't get into Harvard. Alex wonders what the point is of always being a good girl, if she can't even get into the school she wants. Haley talks to her, reminding her of all of her accomplishments. When they get home, Claire tries to comfort Alex, but Alex tells her that Haley already helped her out and reminded her that she had a lot to be proud of.

How sweet! I love the sisterly relationship between Haley and Alex, and how even though they constantly get on each other's nerves, there's a deep love between them at the end of the day. My favorite moment was when Haley said "take me to my sister!" and a whole group at the music festival lifted her up and carried her. That was hilarious. I also liked the way Claire wrote "sucks" underneath "Harvard" on a Harvard teddy bear in order to comfort Alex. It was sweet to see how supportive the whole family was being.

Then there's Luke and Phil. Phil starts to feel inadequate when he notices that Luke is excelling at all of Phil's hobbies. He's better at playing the banjo and at doing a fancy flip on the trampoline. Phil becomes especially angry when he sees a bra in Luke's room. When Luke is injured by a breaking banjo string, Phil takes him to the doctor's office. Phil apologizes for getting jealous and belittling Luke's accomplishments, and Luke fesses up: the bra was for him to practice, because he's bad at unclasping them. When an attractive nurse comes in to see Luke, Luke unclasps her bra while she's hugging him.

So, at first I liked this plot thread a lot. I liked it when Phil said that "you can get hurt just walking in to your own home." I liked that Luke performed the trampoline flip effortlessly. I liked that when Luke did get hurt, it was because of the banjo, not the trampoline. And I liked that they went to a little kid doctor's office, even though Luke is too old. But then there's that moment when he tries to unclasp the nurse's bra. Like... in what universe is that even the slightest bit okay?! I was really shocked by that. So... even though this plot thread had so much good in it, that moment was really bad.

Jay and Gloria both have to give up one bad habit. Jay promises to give up smoking cigars if Gloria stops watching soap operas. Cam prepares to sing "Memory" from Cats at a school fundraiser. Gloria goes with him. When they arrive, it turns out that Senor Kaplan is set to sing the same song. Cam decides to be gracious and let Kaplan sing. Later, Kaplan gets injured and Cam gets to go on. However, the audience thinks that Cam injured Kaplan in order to get his moment of glory. Gloria realizes what really happened though - she gets Kaplan to confess that he pretended to hurt himself since he didn't want to sing the song. Little did he know that Gloria had turned the microphone on, so the whole crowd heard the truth. As Cam and Kaplan start fighting, Gloria delights in finding drama to watch that's even better than her soap operas, and with no commercial breaks!

This was pretty cute. It got a bit convoluted there for a minute, and I didn't really understand why Kaplan couldn't just admit he didn't want to sing the song. But whatever. It was fine. I was a little bit let down that we didn't get to hear Cam sing "Memory." The payoff felt a little bit weak. Still, I liked Gloria's interference, and how she came to the rescue for Cam.

Mitchell is worried that Lily is having a bad time away at camp, so he decides to come and rescue her. Jay, desperate to get away and smoke a cigar, accompanies him. Mitchell and Jay reminisce about a time when Mitchell was miserable at his theatre camp, but Jay wouldn't come and rescue him. Jay says he wanted to teach Mitchell to look after himself. Mitchell is determined that Lily know that her parents will always be there for her. Mitchell finds Lily and the other girls around the campfire. Turns out, Lily is having a great time. Mitchell tries to tell the girls a scary story, but nobody is entertained by it until Jay walks out of the woods, and the girls mistake him for a ghost.

This plot thread wasn't especially great, but it did have some insightful stuff about Jay and Mitchell's relationship. Their father/son dynamic has always been one of the more tricky and complex aspects to this show, and here we got to see that developed even more. I liked hearing the story about Jay abandoning Mitchell at camp, and how that informed Mitchell's decision to rescue Lily. In the end, Jay did save Mitchell from camp, even if it took him several years to come to the rescue! I also liked the little detail about Lily giving a signal in the pictures to let her dads know if she was doing okay. That's actually a cool trick!

So, there you have it. We got to see some connections between sisters, and two different looks at a father/son dynamic with Phil and Luke, and with Jay and Mitchell. A few missteps and some less than stellar payoff results in a couple of points off, but this was still a pretty good episode.

7.5/10