Modern Family: The Wild (10x17)

Yeah, so... I wanted to like this episode. I was close to liking this episode. But it just didn't come together for me quite as much as one would hope.

Cons:

There were jokes in this episode that were just so painfully predictable that I kept waiting for a twist that never came. A group of people fail to build a crib properly, because the directions are challenging? You don't say! Gloria laments that she's turning in to a "white woman" and we get a bunch of cliche, predictable jokes about going to spin class, kale restaurants, and more. A group of men go out into the woods together and they end up talking about their feelings, because that's what happens on TV shows. It's not that there was nothing to enjoy in any of this, but for the most part it was pretty uninspired.

I want to drill down specifically on Gloria's little plot thread. The resolution involves her taking a paintball gun and shooting bicyclists, which makes for a fun image, but a really troubling statement about her Columbian identity. She's a "white girl" for most of the episode, and the thing that gets her back in touch with her Latin roots is... gun violence? Not cool. I also hated it when Claire announced that her insecurity had been solved, and Gloria remarked upon it in this kind of meta way, like she was acknowledging that in this plot thread, they each had a key insecurity that they needed to overcome. It was annoying.

One last note: there's a fat joke made at a random guy's expense, when Haley is mistaken for him by facial recognition because of how big she is now. That was stupid and mean-spirited.

Pros:

Within the somewhat lackluster premises and weak moments, there were a few little gems that I'll highlight.

For one, although Gloria struggling with being too "white," and Claire failing to build a crib were both cliche problems to have, I did like that in the background, Haley and Alex were dealing with their own insecurities that they overcame by the end of the episode. I liked Alex's random little driving mishap, and how she had to drive at the end of the episode to save the day. And while it's pretty superficial that Haley is so worried about her looks, it is true to her character, and it is pretty funny that her confidence is so boosted when she finds out that her looks are good enough to get her into a frat house.

The whole pizza delivery sequence was actually pretty great. It didn't really go anywhere or have any particular emotional resonance, but it did make me smile with how absurd and over the top it was. It's nice to see them going for some wacky situations, instead of keeping everything in the established sets. I liked the giant Minions, the poor delivery guy who Haley knows very well, Claire re-cutting the pizzas in order to make an extra... that was all pretty amusing.

The guys have a more emotionally resonant story. I'm not totally convinced that every beat lands, and some of it just straight-up doesn't feel earned. Like Mitchell having trouble telling Jay that he loves him, and then Jay saying "I know." That was supposed to be incredibly touching, I gather. It was fine. I didn't cringe at it, but it didn't really hit the spot, so to speak. That said, I did like the emotionally mature conversation they all had, where they revealed their insecurities. Phil is always so chatty because when he's quiet and alone with his thoughts, he starts to worry about something bad happening to his family. Cam is flamboyant because he knew he would never fit in, so he decided to take ownership in standing out. Mitchell is worried about early mortality, and thus hates taking risks, and Jay is worried that he's becoming a burden to his family in his old age.

Each one of these concerns feels true to the characters, and it makes sense of their psychology in a way that isn't exactly new or surprising, but still somehow feels insightful. Jay is a character that this show doesn't seem to know how to write sometimes, but this week was a good summation of his role in the story. He's still got lots of life left in him, but he's reaching a point where he's starting to worry about things with which nobody else in the family can sympathize. I also thought the part where Jay finally saw a bald eagle, but didn't tell the others so they could all come back the next year, was quite sweet, if perhaps a little bit too cheesy.

That's where I'll stop for now. This episode was a mixed bag for me. I didn't hate everything, but there were multiple aspects that left me feeling less than warm towards this show.

7/10