What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 5, Episode 11 “And One to Grow On” (B)

This episode actually had some pretty funny plotlines, though the way they were all set up left something to be desired. Phil tricking Luke into taking a ballroom dancing class when he thought he was headed to autopsy camp is somewhat in line with his character’s usual motivations, but it turned into a series of double entendres about Luke practicing his dancing when most boys his age might be busy doing other things. Haley having eighteen unpaid parking tickets, a believable fact, led to Phil being carted off to jail ever so briefly, something that could have been a whole lot more hilarious. Claire not wanting to drive with Alex because she was too cautious a driver made some sense, though, however clever it was, Haley’s quickly-constructed lies about her parents’ true motives didn’t exactly resonate as something she would be capable of thinking up. Cameron and Mitchell trying to reunite two best friends to get their ideal date back wasn’t all that productive or amusing, and I have a hard time believing that the concierge would give their date away without even consulting them when they stepped out of the room for a moment to think it over. Jay wanting his son to be able to recognize him wasn’t too involving, and Manny has had more than enough overeager crushes for one lifetime. I was much more enthralled with Phil’s absolutely preposterous system for hiding cash in the house, and it was fun to watch Claire try to think like him only to realize that there’s little method to his madness.