Modern Family: The Storm (7x14)

This episode was great, although I do have a couple of significant complaints. Some of the complaints are of the sort that are probably only significant to me, but whatever. It's my review and I can complain obnoxiously if I want to.

Cons:

First of all, there was one really distasteful joke in this episode. Haley sees that Andy still has Beth's old uniform, and comments that she can't believe Andy is still hung up on her: "she's a size six!" Oh, come on. You're better than that, Modern Family. Especially given that there was another plot thread in this episode that was dealing with body image and being confident in your own skin. It was a really quick moment, but it was distasteful.

Manny and Claire's subplot was definitely the weakest point for me. Essentially, Claire accidentally glimpses Manny's naked body, and they are both very awkward about it. Gloria wants Claire to talk to Manny about how his body is nothing to be ashamed of, since apparently Manny is nervous about potentially skinny dipping with some classmates of his. They have an awkward conversation about it, and Manny seems to relax a bit. This plot thread wasn't the kind of awkward that I find charming or funny. It was literally just painful to watch.

Pros:

The overarching plot of this episode was that the power went out due to a lightning storm, so everybody comes over to Jay and Gloria's house, due to their having a generator. Each of them had to solve various problems that were caused by the powering going out. I love when Modern Family tries unifying plots like this, because it allows for some fun and different character combinations.

Phil spends the episode trying to make up for a shameful moment where he got scared of his own face in the mirror because he was wearing a clown costume. He continually tries to be manly and solve all of these different problems, but only makes them worse and worse. Jay is just trying to get out of the house to meet up with some buddies of his, but no matter what he does, he keeps getting pulled back into the house to fix stuff. In the end, Jay confides to Phil that an old friend who was in his unit had died, and he and the other guys were planning on going out and toasting to his memory. Phil offers him a silent toast since Jay can't get out of the house, and the two of them have a quiet moment of remembrance.

What was so effective about this plot thread is that it starts off business as usual with Phil trying to prove he's a man's man, and involving himself in ridiculous antics all the while. And Jay trying to escape from his riotous family and do his own thing is also very par for the course. Neither character seemed to be developing or growing in any way... and then you get to that ending, where there's a quiet moment of contemplation between two unlikely friends. That was quite powerful, and it shows that these characters, while comedic, are also nuanced enough to carry a dramatic moment.

Lily's birthday party is in danger of being ruined by the power outage, especially because Ashley W, the most popular girl in school, is in attendance. Cam and Mitchell are continually being thwarted by this little girl, who is disdainful of all of their ideas. Lily finally decides to take matters into her own hands, and decides to go for a swim in the pool, despite the rain. Her friends all join in, freed from the tyranny of Ashley W's popularity. I loved how seriously Cam and Mitchell were taking the social politics of Lily's classmates, and how they too felt flustered and awkward around this elite 8-year-old. Also, I loved how Lily broke free and decided to make her party fun for her, and fun for her other friends, not just fun for one bratty girl. (Although I will say that swimming during a lightning storm is quite possibly the worst idea ever.) And Ashley W wasn't painted as a totally evil person either. In the end, when Lily decides to do her own thing, Ashley doesn't throw a fit or lay down an ultimatum or anything. She just kind of shrugs and goes with the flow. That was refreshing.

Haley and Andy had a plot thread that I was originally going to put in the "cons" section, because it felt a little slow and on the surface maybe not the most interesting. But ultimately sometimes a gentler storyline is nice. Basically, Haley is noticing that Andy won't touch her and appears to be giving her the cold shoulder. She thinks it's because Andy is still pining over Beth, but Andy then tells Haley the truth: they started their relationship so quickly and passionately that Andy is worried that they will fizzle out before they've had a chance to connect on an emotional level. Haley reassures Andy that she liked him long before they started hooking up, and the two share a passionate kiss in the rain. Like I said, this plot thread didn't really offer many jokes or a fun, faced paced setup. It was gentler. I really appreciated the fact that this conflict between them didn't spiral out of control. They had an issue with miscommunication, but then Haley brought up her problem and they had a discussion about it. And the kiss in the rain was quite sweet, actually!

Luke, Alex, and her friend from school had my favorite plot thread. Basically, Alex and her friend were working on a project when Alex's laptop broke. Phil tried to help and only made things worse, so they have to try and recreate the complicated mathematical equations they had already worked out before. Meanwhile, Luke gets injured while trying to fix stuff with his father over at Jay and Gloria's house, and decides to use his injury to fool Alex and her friend. He comes in and seems to miraculously know the answer to their problem, scrawling out a complex answer to their equation at the bottom of the whiteboard. Turns out, he saw the answer on their notes before they got destroyed, preserved in the background of a selfie. That was genius! I was laughing through most of Luke's stuff. The stunned look on Alex's face at the end was also quite hilarious.

Gloria didn't have a lot to do other than angrily yell at all the men in her life for not talking to her about their problems, but I did love that the lightning seemed to respond to her wrath.

And that's all I've got for this one.  In all, this was a solid episode with a surprising winner of a plot thread for Luke. A few missteps didn't ruin the whole experience.

8/10