What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 5, Episode 22 “Message Received” (B+)

For the first time probably since the pilot installment of this show, this episode surprised me. I’ll get to the comedy of the episode later, but there was one plotline in particular that tugged very unexpectedly at the heartstrings. What seemed like an innocuous competition between Cam and Mitchell over whose heirloom was worth more – Mitchell won before dropping his comic book in the mud, less funny that but reminiscent of Phil physically destroying his mint baseball card – turned into something much more serious which resulted in Mitchell telling his father that he didn’t have to come to their wedding. Jay being stuck in his ways is nothing new, and it’s always worked out somehow, but hearing his father say that he wasn’t really on board with the idea of a gay wedding triggered something in him that made this episode end on a dramatic note. It was especially poignant after hearing Mitchell’s voicemail for Claire that told her Jay would come around to the idea of her being pregnant before she was married. On the lighter side, the answering machine pranks were great, highlighted by Haley and Luke both snapping at Alex for encouraging them to rise to their potential and Claire reassuring Phil that she was happy she ended up with him. Manny, Jay, and Gloria forcing each other to try new things ended up being pretty hilarious, and Manny was all about the classic one-liners in this episode. “All the cool kids with their leather jackets and their pickles” was my favorite, though his disappointment at himself for not making a pickle pun was a close second.