A good episode! I'm pleasantly surprised with how much focus we are getting on Haley's pregnancy.
Cons:
Is it just me, or do Gloria and Jay seem like they hate each other a little bit? Their whole relationship is supposed to be a subversion of the trope where a rich older man marries a sexy younger woman, because Gloria and Jay are supposed to really love and treasure each other. But in this episode, and indeed often throughout recent seasons, we see Gloria being incredibly shrewish, and Jay being completely unreasonable right back at her. The fact that Jay fakes an apology to manipulate her, and that it then works, is really icky, especially since Jay takes a totally incorrect lesson from the experience.
I'll talk in a minute about Cam and Mitchell's plot thread, which I think was over all quite strong, but I can't help but notice that this is the first we're hearing of this plan to move back to the farm. Are they setting up an endgame for the show, here? Why was this introduced out of the clear blue sky?
Pros:
I did like seeing Dede's widower, Jerry. Although Jay's plot thread was very weak, the punchline at the end where he finally breaks and admits that their relationship wasn't always perfect, felt earned. I like that Jay and Jerry have this strange bond, and Jay is willing to commiserate alongside him.
Phil and Claire have a relatively simple plot thread involving Dede's old car. It starts off with jokes about Claire losing her virginity in the car, and Phil being uncomfortable with mention of Claire's previous lovers. But it then transitions into a very real moment where Claire remembers how nice her mom was when she found out her daughter had had sex. She wanted to make sure Claire was okay with everything, and safe. Claire ties this good memory of her mom to the car, and that's why she wants to keep it. Not because of the sex itself. Phil realizes what's really important, and the two decide to make their own memories in the car. This sort of plot thread shows a healthy sitcom couple. They have some conflict, but it's resolved through compromise and talking. Seeing them in this way made the toxicity of Jay and Gloria's marriage stand in stark relief.
Mitchell and Cam's plot thread is about keeping promises. Mitchell is set to plant a tree grown from Dede's ashes in the back yard, but Cam is uncomfortable with this, because it seems to be a final sign that they will never move back to his family's farm. After a lot of back-and-forth, Mitchell decides that he will honor his promise to one day move back there, and the Dede tree ends up at the Dunphy house instead. Like I said, the introduction of this whole "we're moving back to the farm" element seems a bit sudden, but the way it plays out here is very strong. Cam's ties to his family and his farming southern roots has always been treated mainly as comedy in this show, but we do hear Cam say very clearly, on multiple occasions, how important it is to him. We also see that Mitchell can be dismissive of Cam's needs. It was nice to see Mitchell put Cam first in this instance, even though I have a hard time picturing Cam, Mitchell, and especially Lily, packing up and moving to the country.
The best plot thread is about Haley. She finds an old doll in some of Dede's stuff, and throughout the day she fails to take care of the doll, accidentally setting it on fire and losing it constantly. She's very emotional about this, and Alex and Luke finally get the truth out of her: she's pregnant, and she's freaking out that she'll be a bad mother. Luke and Alex rush to reassure her. After all, she was able to diffuse a fight between the two of them, and has always looked after them.
I'm so happy that Haley's pregnancy isn't a plot thread that's just being dropped for long stretches of time. We're really diving into it, and spreading out the big moments appropriately. Now her siblings know, but her parents don't yet. I'm excited to see that moment, and so many others, play out. I also liked the somewhat simplistic yet effective shorthand of seeing Haley "parent" her younger adult siblings, even as she fails to take care of an inanimate object. Haley and Dylan might be unconventional parents, but that doesn't mean they will be bad ones.
That's all I've got for this one! It was cool to do an episode where Dede's presence was still felt, even though it wasn't focused on her primarily. As we move forward, I'm mostly watching to see how things play out with Haley!
8/10
Phil and Claire have a relatively simple plot thread involving Dede's old car. It starts off with jokes about Claire losing her virginity in the car, and Phil being uncomfortable with mention of Claire's previous lovers. But it then transitions into a very real moment where Claire remembers how nice her mom was when she found out her daughter had had sex. She wanted to make sure Claire was okay with everything, and safe. Claire ties this good memory of her mom to the car, and that's why she wants to keep it. Not because of the sex itself. Phil realizes what's really important, and the two decide to make their own memories in the car. This sort of plot thread shows a healthy sitcom couple. They have some conflict, but it's resolved through compromise and talking. Seeing them in this way made the toxicity of Jay and Gloria's marriage stand in stark relief.
Mitchell and Cam's plot thread is about keeping promises. Mitchell is set to plant a tree grown from Dede's ashes in the back yard, but Cam is uncomfortable with this, because it seems to be a final sign that they will never move back to his family's farm. After a lot of back-and-forth, Mitchell decides that he will honor his promise to one day move back there, and the Dede tree ends up at the Dunphy house instead. Like I said, the introduction of this whole "we're moving back to the farm" element seems a bit sudden, but the way it plays out here is very strong. Cam's ties to his family and his farming southern roots has always been treated mainly as comedy in this show, but we do hear Cam say very clearly, on multiple occasions, how important it is to him. We also see that Mitchell can be dismissive of Cam's needs. It was nice to see Mitchell put Cam first in this instance, even though I have a hard time picturing Cam, Mitchell, and especially Lily, packing up and moving to the country.
The best plot thread is about Haley. She finds an old doll in some of Dede's stuff, and throughout the day she fails to take care of the doll, accidentally setting it on fire and losing it constantly. She's very emotional about this, and Alex and Luke finally get the truth out of her: she's pregnant, and she's freaking out that she'll be a bad mother. Luke and Alex rush to reassure her. After all, she was able to diffuse a fight between the two of them, and has always looked after them.
I'm so happy that Haley's pregnancy isn't a plot thread that's just being dropped for long stretches of time. We're really diving into it, and spreading out the big moments appropriately. Now her siblings know, but her parents don't yet. I'm excited to see that moment, and so many others, play out. I also liked the somewhat simplistic yet effective shorthand of seeing Haley "parent" her younger adult siblings, even as she fails to take care of an inanimate object. Haley and Dylan might be unconventional parents, but that doesn't mean they will be bad ones.
That's all I've got for this one! It was cool to do an episode where Dede's presence was still felt, even though it wasn't focused on her primarily. As we move forward, I'm mostly watching to see how things play out with Haley!
8/10
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