Modern Family: Season 2, Episode 12 “Our Children, Ourselves” (B+)
When it comes to awkwardness, especially concerning Mitchell and Cameron, this episode manages to outdo most, if not all, of its predecessors. Mitchell running into his former girlfriend (Mary Lynn Rajskub, a.k.a. Chloe from “24”) was amusing, and then having him see her with a redheaded child made for some hilarious musings on his part, and on Cameron’s. Their antics prove that it’s always better to come out and say stuff specifically in order not to misunderstand, and that’s how you can avoid things like giving a mitt that says “Little Slugger” to your former girlfriend’s current dwarf fiancé. Jay managed to dial up the awkwardness too by doing what many people yearn to but would never have the balls to actually go through with, just coming out and telling people that their friendship isn’t made to be. Gloria managed to recover everything well by telling her guests that he was losing his mind, and that’s where Manny’s dribble cup came in extremely handy. I very much enjoyed seeing more of Claire and Phil as dorks and comprehending how it is that they actually came to get together. Anyone who claims that third or fourth sequels are better than the original is clearly nuts (which is what makes it so brilliant, of course). Phil is very funny to watch when he’s having a blast (during “Croctopus”), and it was refreshing to see the Dunphys strike back and teach Mr. Patel how to validate his parking when the highly intelligent father couldn’t seem to figure it out.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
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4 comments:
I did not think much of this one. The Dunphy stuff was priceless, but the other two storylines (though occasionally funny) relied so much on standard sitcom cliches that they didn't really work for me. Probably the worst episode of this show I've ever seen, which says a lot about how good this show has been.
Hm. I enjoyed it. I also think that standard sitcom cliches are "standard sitcom" for a reason, and they're not all that bad. That's my main rationale for liking "Better with You," which completely reminds me of a traditional 90s sitcom.
I agree with you 100% on that point, Abe. For some reason, cliché has such a bad connotation that people forget that most shows use clichés or formulas because they work when they're done right. I've never been one to think everything has to be 100% unique and original as long as it works, and what this show has going for it is that if nothing else, the characters are unique and you want to spend time with them (I've expressed my sentiments about these characters before).
I do think that G1000 is correct that this show usually manages to stay away from such standard sitcom cliches, good or bad, and therefore it is worth noting that this episode didn't entirely do that. I still thought it was quite funny, however, and the show certainly managed to pull it off.
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