What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 2, Episode 17 “Two Monkeys and a Panda” (B+)

In this week’s installment, we have three distinctly separate storylines that aren’t all at interconnected, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less effective. The most outwardly entertaining, as tends to be the case, is also the loudest, and that’s the drama between Cameron and Mitchell. This is yet another shining example of this show proving extraordinarily relevant to its audience. As a hyphenate myself, coming from a family where both my parents combined and hyphenated their last names, which is rather atypical, I didn’t have to face this issue. Yet it’s fun to see Cameron get so flabbergasted, and rightfully so! As we learn with Jay and Gloria, sometimes planning too far ahead can be disconcerting. This show always manages to have surprisingly serious and affecting moments involving Jay when he realizes just how mismatched he seems with Gloria, and this episode was no exception. Phil’s trip to the spa is very much in character, and it’s amusing to see him get advice from all of the women there that definitely doesn’t quite line up with his take on the situation. It’s rare to find a character quite as gleefully unaware of his behavior, and, more importantly, capable of actually rising above that to say the right thing and roll with the punches as he should, as he does with Claire when she needs his support most. Haley definitely had the best line in this episode, in reference to the guy from "Back to the Future" on Alex's shirt, better known as Albert Einstein.