Modern Family: The Prescott (11x10)

I think this episode was trying to mimic some of the greats from the past - the Vegas episode, or some of the big holiday episodes, where there's so much action, so many character beats, crammed together to create a fast-paced and energetic story. And this episode... well, it did that, I guess, but I definitely still have some stuff to complain about.

Cons:

Fresh off the high of Schitt's Creek's season premiere yesterday, watching this episode made me realize how sexist a lot of sitcoms still are these days. Modern Family was so fresh and innovative when it started, and now it feels woefully out of touch in comparison to so many other comedies on the air. There are so many gross jokes about sex and women being gifted to men in this episode. You've got Higgins promising to "deliver" Gloria to Phil, and nodding along with all of his inadvertently sexist statements. You've got Manny and Luke trying to hook up with older women, and having conversations about who gets who. I don't know, there were just so many moments that felt icky to me, in a sort of general, unspecified way.

On the nitpick front, it was stupid that Claire's hair dye came out entirely in the pool, with just one dunk of her head... I know it's new dye or whatever, but that was a stupid farce for the sake of some not-so-funny physical comedy.

Pros:

I thought this set-up was going to be a flop, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Basically, Alex is staying in a fancy hotel because of her job, and the whole family sneaks in to use the cool amenities, even though they aren't supposed to do so without being accompanied by a resident.

Phil is there to try a slider at the restaurant and talk about it in his food blog. Jay wants to use the movie theatre, but then discovers that the "Foodie in a Hoodie" is in attendance, and wants to find his internet nemesis. So they spend the episode evading each other, with Phil trying fruitlessly to eat a damn slider, and Jay trying to catch the unknown food blogger and give him a piece of his mind. I liked the comedy with Phil's blogger name, and how various other people had heard of him. Apparently he's quite famous! And everyone pronounces it differently, trying to make the two words rhyme, when, as Phil says, "it rhymes on the page."

Meanwhile, Claire wants to get her hair colored by a fancy hairdresser who Gloria hates for stealing her hair coloring formula. I liked the comedy of people not recognizing Claire with darker hair, because when I was a kid I totally had face-blindness and recognized people through hairstyles!

Cam and Mitchell trying to get each other out of the way so they could meet celebrities was really funny, especially when you contrast Cam wanting to meet David Beckham, with Mitchell wanting to meet Victoria Beckham. Eventually, they team up and do meet David, but he's accompanied by Courtney Cox, with no Posh Spice in sight. Cam and Mitchell have sort of a... competition-based marriage, which is unhealthy in so many ways, but undeniably funny to watch onscreen a lot of the time. I loved how Mitchell faked an injury to send Cam away, but Cam spotted him working out through the window. And it was funny that in the end they got what they wanted, or at least Cam did!

David Beckham and Courtney Cox were funny cameos, and not at all distracting. They had their own comedy bits in the episode, about their bowling tournament for charity, and David's abysmal performance. I wasn't so crazy about Luke and Manny hunting down women to sleep with, but I did think it was funny that Luke was going to chat with David Beckham and see how things went. I wish it wasn't just a punchline to a joke that would never be explored, but it was still mildly humorous all the same.

The real star of this episode was Higgins, the concierge. He basically popped up everywhere, in every possible location that any of the characters might need him, completing insane tasks like hunting down special candy for Jay, climbing up a water slide to help Gloria, sending sliders all around the hotel for Phil, arranging multiple different rendezvous in the hot tubs on the roof, and even being willing to do some role play to join in Cam and Mitchell's sex life. This character was so funny, and I liked how he was just ubiquitous, showing up everywhere and anywhere he was needed, seemingly able to complete all tasks single-handed.

All in all, this was a good outing for the aged Modern Family. I don't think it fully captured some of the chaos and energy that similar episodes have in the past, but that could be just because I, personally, am beyond ready to say a final goodbye to this show.

8/10