Modern Family: SuperShowerBabyBowl (10x15)

I found the bulk of this episode to be charming and funny. Let's start with a few little complaints, though.

Cons:

Manny and Phil's dumb argument about Manny's latest attempt at film making was... uninspired. I didn't laugh at any of the jokes, I didn't think the repeating gag of Phil getting his line wrong was funny. There was only one good moment to come out of it, and that was Lily's line: "So no one's wondering why Uncle Phil's starring in a laundromat movie?"

This isn't the show's fault, but I did laugh when we see a clip of Jay and Cam watching the game and they yell out "touchdown!" in a celebratory way. The Super Bowl this year was a boring slough with only one touchdown, and that by the Patriots. You're telling me that this family, who live in California, wasn't rooting for the Rams?! Ha.

Pros:

I loved that the focus of this episode was on Dylan. Haley's pregnancy story-line this year has offered us so much in the way of interesting new conflicts and avenues to explore. We've seen that Dylan is pretty well-adjusted, and excited about being a father and a partner to Haley. But here, we see that just because Dylan has gotten his life kind-of-sort-of together, doesn't mean that he has no insecurities. I loved the comedy of Dylan misunderstanding various phrases from the family, out of context, so he thinks that everyone dislikes him and thinks he'll be a bad father.

One of Modern Family's longest recurring bits is the dichotomy between Phil and Claire in terms of their opinions on Dylan. We don't really need to do a scene sorting out the relationship between Phil and Dylan, because Phil has always been a big fan of him. Claire? Not so much. I loved their moment of connection, and how Claire basically gave her blessing to welcome Dylan into the family. It was one of those moments that I didn't know I needed until it happened. Very sweet!

Haley and Alex didn't have big parts to play this week, but I like that Haley is (predictably) freaking out over the physical changes that pregnancy brings, including acne and greasy hair. It was also sweet that Alex took her role as party planner so seriously, and did everything she could to make sure Haley had a good baby shower.

Jay and Cam's plot thread was actually pretty great, and I usually don't have many nice things to say about Jay. Both of them are really excited to make chili together before the big game, but both think the other has forgotten about it, and they spend the day angry with each other about it until the truth comes out. Cam fills in so many of the stereotypical aspects of a gay effeminate man, but his love of sports has always given him this bridge away from being just a one-note caricature. It's also given him a bridge to Jay, and it was fun to see the comedy and the heart of this relationship play itself out.

Mitchell and Gloria cracked me up. Their plot thread was the most strange. Mitchell believes that a murderer that he just prosecuted has escaped and is texting him threatening messages. In the end, it turns out that it's Lily's friend who got into a fight with her and has been texting Lily back on her dad's phone. It's a simple setup with a satisfying punchline as Mitchell screams in fear when he sees a preteen girl outside of the house. I didn't know where it was going, and every aspect of it worked for me on the comedy level. Gloria was so impressed and interested in Mitchell for being brave that he felt like he couldn't admit his fear, which added a whole additional aspect to the comedy. We see Gloria paired off in stories with Phil quite a bit, and with Jay, obviously... Mitchell and Gloria are a slightly more rare pairing for a story, and I had a lot of fun with it!

That's all I've got for now. This was a really fun episode. I'm getting mighty tired of this show, but I'll admit I do still want to see what happens with all of these beloved characters. The family is growing, and I'm still along for the ride!

8.5/10