Modern Family: Spanks for the Memories (9x15)

There weren't very many things actually wrong with this episode, but I found the entire thing mostly shrug-worthy. Let's dive in.

Cons:

I just don't find Gloria and Jay's bedroom misunderstanding particularly funny? Again, like I said, there was nothing horrible and wrong with it, but it was just... meh. I hate it when people overhear parts of a conversation and get the wrong idea... it's such a tired cliche.

Claire trying to get into a women's business magazine was another plot thread that just didn't really grab my attention. There could have been some actual commentary here about why Claire is in the line of work she's in, how important recognition is for her and for women in general, but instead it just kind of floats by and she dresses up in a cocktail dress and does a prat fall.

Cam and Mitchell are petty with their friends when Mitchell gets a job working for a billionaire, but then they find out that the billionaire is an embezzler, and they spend the rest of the party trying to keep the truth from their judge-y friends. For this one you need to employ sitcom logic because when I found out Mitchell's boss had gotten busted, my brain interpreted this as very serious news that could negatively impact Mitchell's future career prospects. But they interpreted it as: "oh no we need to return the piano and save face with our friends." A bit lackluster.

Pros:

I did like Alex and Phil's plot thread, though. It starts off as lackluster as the others, as it relies on the cliche of Alex being the adult and Phil being the child. But eventually we learn that Alex is uncertain about taking an extremely difficult summer internship, and Phil tells her it's okay to give herself a break. Mix that in with a fun RPG game between Alex, Phil, and Phil's magic shop rival, and you get a lot of laughs and a genuinely touching resolution. Phil is a good father and it's nice to see an episode focusing on his relationship with Alex, instead of just the typical Phil and Luke father/son bonding.

The other plot threads had their fun moments as well. I did like Cam locking all of his party guests in the bathroom, and Mitchell's sudden realization that Cam had done the same thing to him once when they were having a fight. It was pretty funny that Gloria and Jay both went to other members of the family to discuss the whole spanking incident, especially given the reactions of a horrified Claire and an oddly blase Cam and Mitchell when confronted with this uncomfortable subject.

So... there you have it. A pretty unremarkable episode. Nothing too good or too bad to discuss.

7/10