Modern Family: In Your Head (9x13)

I'm a bit torn on this one. Nothing that happened felt important, but sometimes that can be okay. On the other hand, are we just treading water at this point? Maybe if I talk about some of the specifics I'll come to a better understanding of how I feel.

Cons:

Luke goes missing, and Phil, Gloria, and Manny team up to find him. There were some good aspects of this, which I'll discuss later, but my problem is that it seems like the plot thread couldn't decide whether we should be taking this whole thing seriously or not. Are we actually worried about Luke, or not? Because if we are, it makes no sense that Phil wouldn't tell Claire what's going on. Also... does Luke not live at home with his parents anymore? Would they not notice if he just never came home? There's a cheesy montage at the end that ties together all of the plot threads, and we see Phil and Luke sitting on the couch together, Phil overwhelmed with relief that his son is okay. This moment might have hit a bit harder if the worry for him had been played out more.

The same sort of half-assed feel is present in Cam and Mitchell's story as well. They met someone in Amsterdam and he's staying with them while he's in town. They get upset because he opens their expensive wine and caviar, which they were saving for a special occasion, but he tells them they need to stop deferring happiness, and live in the moment. They take this advice. Okay... that's all well and good, but the catalyst for this little life lesson is only in one scene at the beginning of the episode. The whole premise falls a little flat when you realize that Cam and Mitchell met this guy while going on a pottery tour in Amsterdam. Does that sound like people who never bother to enjoy life? They went to Amsterdam!

And then the same thing in Jay and Claire's plot, too - I really don't feel like we earned the sentimental ending with Jay reminiscing about the good ol' days with his friend/enemy Earl, who has passed away. There wasn't enough buildup to that. It's like we got the payoff without working for it.

Haley interviews for a job with a lifestyle guru woman, and honestly this woman just drove me crazy. And not in a fun way.

Pros:

Wow, I just wrote a lot in the "cons" section. But I didn't dislike this episode particularly...

Phil, Gloria, and Manny working together to find Luke was kind of sweet. I liked that all the stuff in the gentrified neighborhood was over-exaggerated, but not to the point of total parody. I liked the cupcake place for dogs, the art collective, and Gloria's growing dismay at the unrecognizable town around her.

Cam and Mitchell had a few cute moments. I loved it when Cam accidentally blew out their special wedding candle right after saying that it was burning with eternal love. And their realization at the end that they enjoy anticipating things more than actually doing them felt very real to me. I have a lot of those types of moments, where I'm looking forward to something, but giving in and enjoying that thing is never quite as satisfying as I want it to be.

I liked the scenes with Claire and Shirl (Earl's daughter) deciding to be friends despite their fathers. If we could get this character to come back, I'd like to see more of that relationship develop. As it was, I thought the parts of this plot thread that tried to be sweet kind of fell flat, but the comedy beats were pretty solid.

Weirdly, the best of the plot threads for me was probably Haley and Alex... I really liked Alex's bizarre professor who apparently discovered three new elements. He runs probability numbers and realizes that he will one day marry Haley. She is bemused and dismissive, but we see her accept his contact info as the episode ends. I still miss Haley and Andy, but I'd like to see a chance for Haley to have a plot thread with some more weight to it for a change. Maybe her and the weird professor dude do have a future. It's possible, I suppose!

So... that's that. With increasing frequency, I find that Modern Family is not making full use out of its concepts. Maybe it's just a touch of laziness as this show sails comfortably through its ninth season. But even a so-so episode of Modern Family still has a spark of creativity and energy in it that's undeniable.

7.5/10