What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 6, Episode 19 “Grill, Interrupted” (C)

I don’t particularly enjoy reviewing this show since I find myself repeating a lot of the same criticism of its comedic plotlines. This episode wasn’t all that unfunny but I didn’t find myself laughing very much. Its title was probably the cleverest part about it, though it of course described one of the more unnecessarily exaggerated elements of the episode. Leave it to Phil to get Jay a present that he objectively should love but instead doesn’t care about and then have its apparent perfection get depleted incrementally with numerous explosions and other mishaps. The greater thread of Phil seeking Jay’s approval got another inconclusive answer brought to light by Mitchell feeling guilty about never paying his dad back for the loan that he gave him years earlier that led to Claire debating a similar occurrence and whether she ought to repay her father as well. The two fur coats were a bit much even for Cam, who is always over the top. I’m all for Andy and Haley becoming a real couple, but all of this dancing around everything with Andy consistently getting caught in a compromising position with Haley and then penning the romantic card for Haley on her clueless boyfriend’s behalf is far less charming. It was mildly fun to see Manny and Luke try to be bad together and instead end up making utter fools of themselves with an ice bath to get rid of the slugs inside of them, and Gloria’s excitement at catching them was entertaining too.