Modern Family: Stuck in a Moment (10x10)

I'm still really liking Haley's pregnancy story thread. Let's jump in.

Cons:

Jay and Gloria's plot thread wasn't funny or interesting. Imagine that. A banana spider infestation sends them all running from their home, but Jay sends Manny back in to get his elbow grease for his dry elbows. That's... the whole story. At no point does Jay suggest that he might be able to buy more elbow grease instead of sending Manny into danger. At no point does the family discuss what they're going to do about their spider infestation. At no point did I laugh or even crack a smile.

There's this through-line about Cam's Christmas card never being appreciated by the family enough, and how Cam is really sensitive about it. This was a small little joke, but it didn't work for me because the punch line was just Cam getting slightly offended that his card got ruined. It felt like a lot of setup for a lackluster punchline.

Pros:

Cam and Mitchell's story wasn't anything all that special, but it had a basic and funny premise that kept me entertained. Basically, they're disasters as parents, and they keep forgetting the kids, especially Cal, and leaving without them. They're trying to be good parents to Cal in this difficult time with his mom being in prison, but after they find out from a mall Santa what Cal wants for Christmas, they then accidentally leave him and Lily at the mall. The episode's button is the two of them coming home after the Christmas Eve party singing a song, only to realize they left Lily and Cal and the Dunphy's place. Good harmless comedy.

Meanwhile, Claire is getting frustrated because she wants to be a good hostess to make up for last year's Christmas, when her frozen turkey landed two members of the family in the hospital. Things go wrong when Phil steals the tree and presents in order to stage a house that he's showing (odd that he's doing this on Christmas Eve, but whatever). Claire goes to the house to steal back the Christmas stuff, but Phil thinks the house has been robbed, so goes out to get a replacement tree and gifts. Of course, he then sees the original stuff back at home. It ends up being a good thing he has backups, though, because the tree and presents end up getting caught on fire.

The Dunphy family, especially Phil, make for great slapstick comedy. I love all the back-and-forth with the tree and presents, Claire's mean jokes about Luke selling her too much wrapping paper when he was six, the gag about Claire being the Grinch as Haley and Dylan see her dragging a Christmas tree through the streets, Cam's card causing a fire because of all the glitter... all of this stuff was genuinely really funny.

At the same time as all of this chaos, Haley and Dylan are looking for the right time to break the pregnancy news to Phil and Claire. They want Claire to be in a good mood, but that doesn't seem to be happening. Dylan decides to come down the chimney as Santa and give presents to the kids, but he gets stuck, resulting in Haley ripping off the band-aid and telling her whole family about her pregnancy while Dylan is stuck in the fireplace behind her. It goes... pretty well. Phil and Claire both hug her, and while Phil initially seems excited and Claire a little more hesitant, the final shot of the scene shows both Phil and Claire being worried about what the future will bring.

I like that this pregnancy plot thread is following the traditional sitcom beats, without making it some big hysterical production. I like that Haley and Dylan are excited about the baby. Of course Claire and Phil are going to have their worries, but the whole family is supportive of what's coming next for these two. I like that the show is striking a balance. Also, Dylan getting stuck in the chimney is the perfect symbol for his character. He's more than a little stupid, a lot of the time, but his heart's in the right place, and he wanted to do something nice for the kids.

That's all for now! I still haven't heard for sure whether this show is getting another season. I personally want to let it die somewhat gracefully, but there's still some juice in some of these story-lines, so I'm glad to be following along for a bit longer.

8/10