What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 4, Episode 7 "Arrested" (B+)

After a few off weeks, this episode was a terrific breath of fresh air. Haley getting arrested wasn’t surprising, but the circumstances of her arrest turned out to be even more entertaining than expected. The video of her jumping onto the police officer and then identifying herself by her name was the perfect follow-up to the argument that it might not even be her, and I loved Mitchell’s enthusiasm about showing off his lawyer abilities in the rather dramatic trial. Haley readily admitting to a whole bunch of wrongdoings was definitely overkill, and having her back home trying to hold a steady job should be fun, as evidenced by her quick undoing of everything that Alex had changed in her room. Phil’s obsessive talk about waffles was hilarious, as was Claire rewarding him by taking him for the waffles after his disciplinary performance. Cam babysitting Alex and Luke was a blast, mainly due to his excitement about his “fauxken disgusting” soy bacon, which served to poison Luke almost immediately. The ER trip was great, particularly due to Alex’s donning of a lab coat and subsequent accompaniment of the doctors on their rounds. The return of Jay’s ex was much more productive than ever before, mainly because she’s so nutty, even in her sane state, and got to have fun sympathizing with Gloria about Jay’s general uselessness. Deciding to go to the spoken word festival with Manny was a wonderful ending to her presence, and I do look forward to seeing Jay try to be a dutiful parent.