Modern Family: Promposal (7x20)

I really wish I could say that this was a great episode, but sadly it was mediocre at best. I miss the good ol' days, when this show knew how to produce a solid and creative product week after week. There were a few fun moments in this episode, but they were buried under a lot of stuff that I just don't care about.

Cons:

The episode's title comes from Luke and Manny both asking girls to prom in creative ways. It's actually the strongest plot thread of the night, and I'll get to that in a minute. There was, however, this one little related subplot that was just painful. Alex's high school boyfriend guy whose name I can't even be bothered to remember keeps turning up to ask her to prom. She says no again and again, but winds up going with him anyway. First of all... didn't Alex get back together with Sanjay? Did they break up again and I missed it? Second of all, this show clearly has no idea what to do with Alex. She needs more college-based plot threads, and fast.

Claire's plot of the night involves her getting paranoid and thinking that there's a mole in her company leaking corporate secrets. She actually does identify the mole, but he wasn't going to the competition: he was spying on her and reporting back to Jay. Jay and Claire go out to dinner, and Claire confronts her dad about this. Jay admits that he's bored with retirement and wants to come back to work part time. This is a situation where the setup had some potential, but the payoff was very weak. I always want to see more of Claire at work, because I feel that they've squandered that part of the story for a long time now. But bringing Jay back from retirement is pretty pathetic. I feel like we barely had a chance to explore his boredom and dissatisfaction with retired life. A couple of quick episodes about his boredom isn't enough for me to buy this decision. There was also this weak attempt at humor as Jay teaches baby Joe how to do "manly" things like make a martini and fix a car. Joe is certainly adorable, but wow. This plot went nowhere and added nothing.

Finally, we get to Gloria and Phil. Gloria discovers that Auntie Alice, her sauce competitor, has stolen her sauce recipe. She and Phil go to confront her, but Auntie Alice says that she's just been hired by a big corporation and it's not her fault. Later, however, Gloria and Phil realize she was lying. They confront her and Phil threatens to tell on Auntie Alice for real estate violations unless she gives up the sauce. This plot thread was splitting its focus too much. Are we supposed to focus on Gloria's enterprising ways, or on Phil feeling underappreciated as a realtor? Are we supposed to think it's funny that Auntie Alice is really a ruthless old lady after we already thought she was a ruthless old lady to begin with? The idea of Gloria making and selling her sauce should be a good one, but they just haven't done enough with it.

Pros:

The Promposal plot really does take the cake. Mitchell helps Luke with asking a girl to prom, and Cam gets jealous that Luke didn't ask him for help instead. So, Cam decides to help Manny, but his plans keep getting derailed. Cam reveals that he didn't get to go to his own prom, and it's always been a sore subject for him. Mitchell plans a surprise for Cam, asking him to go to prom, as chaperones. This plot thread kept it basic, but still managed to have a sweet moment for Cam and Mitchell. I liked Cam's elaborate schemes, and how Mitchell went a bit more basic but got the job done. Manny and Luke both ended up with prom dates by the end, so the day was a success!

In Claire and Jay's plot thread, I did like the moment at the end where each of them are stubbornly trying to eat their food, but Claire is having trouble cracking the lobster and Jay is having trouble with whatever the heck was in his bowl. They switch plates and help each other out, each accomplishing what the other could not. It was funny and also summarized the theme of the plot thread - both of them are stubborn and have trouble asking for help, but both of them are happier once they let their guard down.

While Gloria and Phil's plot thread was too crowded and didn't have a good payoff, I did love Phil's climactic moment of glory. He had been complaining about being unloved for his knowledge of real estate, and now suddenly his obscure knowledge of building codes and the legality of certain types of fireplaces is what ends up saving the day. Ty Burrell always gives a great performance, even when his material isn't the strongest.

That's what I've got. I hope that over the hiatus the Modern Family creative team can get some rest and recapture some of their lost mojo...

6/10