Modern Family: The Last Christmas (11x09)

Yeah, this was a pretty decent installment, even if one or two things still had me rolling my eyes.

Cons:

Manny is so annoying. I actually liked the idea of Luke having genuine feelings for Sherry, and how that might affect the whole family. There was this idea of Manny's parents and Luke's parents defending their sons, and Luke developing emotionally, and Manny having to learn to be more mature as well, and get over his heartbreak in an adult way... but no. We get some setup and promise in that direction, and then it all blows up immediately. I'm just so exhausted by Manny as a character.

I like it when Modern Family does big ensemble stories like this, because it means even if every plot thread doesn't it the mark, there's enough going on that it doesn't matter. That said, I didn't care about Jay trying to get Claire to work with him in his dog bed company. It was just entirely shrug-worthy for me.

Pros:

Haley was actually my favorite part of this episode, even though she didn't really have a story-line of her own. Essentially, she is done breastfeeding and so she's drinking wine and meddling in other people's drama. She had the two best jokes. One, when she compared Joe to a "sad ham" and then apologized because she's drunk and upset. Her line delivery really cracked me up. The second is when she talks to Mitchell about Cam's family being poor because they "eat plants and animals they find in their backyard." Ha!

Cam is really determined to make this Christmas a great one, but everyone else's drama seems to be getting in the way. It turns out, he's so determined for a good holiday because he might be getting a job that would move him, Mitchell and Lily away, meaning this would be their last Christmas all together in the same place. This is a great setup for ensemble shenanigans, and it leads to a great moment as everyone around the dinner table starts talking about potential plans to leave - Alex might have a job opportunity in New York, Haley might have one in Paris... maybe Jay and Gloria will move to Palm Springs, Manny might go to school in London. It's a nice moment where the family realizes that this phase of their life might be over, and they settle in for a happy holiday together to cherish what time they have left.

Sitcoms need a status quo changer at the end, and the idea of the family moving on to new phases of their lives works really well. I think we all saw it coming that Cam and Mitchell might move away, but it works even better if most of the characters are moving on to new things, especially the Dunphy kids, who have been stagnated for so long.

Gloria and Phil fight about their future together in business, which I thought was great. Gloria has been interviewing elsewhere, because she worries about putting a strain on their family relationship if they work together as well. Phil admits that he can be sensitive to Gloria's critiques, but also that he needs someone to help him stay relevant. I like the idea of them working together. It gives Gloria some much-needed narrative momentum.

I love Lily, agent of chaos. I know some people think this kid is an annoying actress, but she cracks me up. I don't have a lot more to say about that, I just love how happy she is to see so much chaos around her!

And I think that's all I've got for now. I enjoyed the sentimental tone of this episode quite a bit - it reminded me that there's still a beating heart to this show, underneath all of the treading water.

8.5/10