Modern Family: Red Alert (10x16)

This episode... annoyed me.

Cons:

This show has never gotten an A+ from me in terms of its political correctness, but for whatever reason, I was more annoyed than usual by some of these slightly off-kilter jokes. There's a lot of eye-rolling about Alex's passionate talks about women in science, there's a joke about a former CEO exposing himself in the workplace that is not funny or thoughtful enough to have made it into this script. There's the played out and gendered cliche that boys are uniformly disgusted and ignorant about women getting their periods. The fact that Mitchell and Cam didn't know the typical length of a period cycle doesn't make them seem like a couple of silly ignorant dudes - it makes them seem like crappy fathers. If the thought of menstrual cycles freaks you out, guys, then maybe you shouldn't have adopted a kid. Seriously. Grow up.

Also, this episode was just overall pretty dull. Claire and Jay fight over power dynamics at the closets company. Gee, where have I heard that one before? Haley is incompetent at something and Dylan is surprisingly good at it. That joke has been repeating itself all season. I just didn't get any real joy or insight into anything by watching this episode. Pretty much a snooze fest.

Pros:

I guess I like the fact that Jay is officially stepping down. I mean, I kind of thought we already did this, but whatever. It was cute when he told Claire that he would have retired a long time ago, except that he liked going to work with his daughter. Also, of Jay's many annoying traits, I will say that his love of dogs is one of the more endearing ones.

I found Cam and Mitchell's incompetence in dealing with Lily to be almost entirely maddening, but there were a few little things that I liked. For one, I liked that none of the various people's methods of coaxing Lily out of her shell were successful. Alex's science-based approach, and Gloria playing up the goddess/blossoming angle, were both met with no success. At first I thought Haley was going to be the one to get through to her, but that didn't work either. Even if the plot overall was clunky, it was somewhat sweet that Mitchell and Cam finally cut through the drama and got through to her in the end. Also, it was admittedly satisfying to hear Lily telling Manny to f**k off. We were all thinking it.

Phil's plot thread was harmless, but somewhat fun. Probably only because the actor is so good at physical comedy, and at playing the enthusiastic yet bumbling goofball. I liked the part where he repeated the director by saying his line in a British accent, and when he started weeping as he tried to show off the kitchen island. Sure, it's a cliche that Haley would be freaked out about impending motherhood, but I like that Phil is getting in on the worry as well, and that Haley gains confidence through taking care of her father. That was all quite sweet, if predictable.

That's all I have for now. I'm a broken record at this point, but... this show is really struggling under the weight of its many seasons.

6/10