Modern Family: Royal Visit (9x17)

Solid. Very solid.

Cons:

Not sure what to make of Jay, Gloria, and Joe's plot thread. Did not hate it by any means, but it mostly just had me shrugging. The idea is that Jay is jealous of one of Joe's friend's dads, because he's so much cooler. And then Gloria meets the friend's mom, and gets jealous of her as well. In the end they run away from the cops and then tell Joe that being cool isn't the most important thing. Nothing about this plot thread made me angry, but nothing about it made me smile either, so... there you go.

Pros:

I will say that I liked the fact that Gloria and Jay's plot thread tied in with the larger theme of the episode, that of insecurities. I just think that the theme worked to much better effect in the other stories.

Mitchell and Cam go away to a couple's retreat to try and work on their relationship, but things get messy when Cam sneaks off to watch the Royals spring training. In the end the two of them have a fight, but then make up using silent communication. Of course, we learn in their private interviews that both of them think that the other one has taken full responsibility for the fight. I feel like on another sitcom, or even with different characters in this sitcom, the resolution of this plot thread would bug me. But with Mitchell and Cam, it makes perfect sense. We've seen that they have been in a bad place for some time now. We've seen the ups and downs. It wouldn't make sense for one weekend trip away to fix all of their problems. Also, this plot thread had so many great jokes. I had just finished watching Suits, so I was amused by the mention of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Mitchell's time inside the isolated water pod was fantastic. That sounds like a nightmare to me, too!

And then you've got the Dunphys. Phil and Claire are having Haley's new boyfriend Arvin over for dinner, and Alex and her new love interest, a not-so-bright firefighter, get roped in to attending as well. I thought the joke here was going to be "the smart sister is dating the dumb guy, and vice versa!" and I was all ready to roll my eyes. But instead, something quite interesting happened. Arvin gets some bad news about one of his theories being disproved, and it really shakes him up. Claire and Phil, who were busy arguing over who is smarter between the two of them, drop the argument and comfort him. And Haley tells Alex that it sucks to feel inferior. And we see how Arvin respects the emotional intelligence of Phil and Claire, and doesn't devalue it in comparison to his own superior academic intelligence.

LOTS of great moments. I really like the idea of Haley and Arvin. Maybe he can help her understand that she's not an idiot, and has a lot to offer. Not sure what I think of Alex's new beau, but I'm willing to give him a chance as well. I'm all for developing the kids' story-lines, since they've had so little to do for so long!

8.5/10