What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 4, Episode 22 “My Hero” (B-)

This episode was actually quite entertaining, but I found the framing device that was used highly artificial. Manny walking around and crossing members of his family off the list as they disappointed him was funny but staged, and it was redeemed only by the C- that he earned for settling on his entire family as his hero. Luke being worried that his father wouldn’t approve of his mother being his selection for his hero didn’t quite make sense since Phil always extols praising Claire, and his disappointment in not being selected would surely have been made up for by the fact that she was the one he chose. The sudden omnipresence of Teddy was peculiar since no one has ever even made mention of him, and given how everyone feels about the highly showy Cam, it’s odd to think that they would have come to accept them if they had in fact loved the seemingly perfect Teddy. Jay’s comforting words to Cam were nice but completely out of character, and I didn’t find Phil teaching Gloria how to rollerblade, for once not objectifying and drooling over her, terribly interesting. Alex and Haley’s bonding moment during their joint flirting, on the other hand, was sweet, and I like when we’re reminded that they’re just teenagers who aren’t all that different despite all the obvious surface dissimilarities. Though Luke and Manny often have their mature moments, it’s best when this show lets its kids be kids, which even Lily got to do in this hour as she said cute things that her fathers took credit for teaching her instead of complaining the whole time.