What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 7, Episode 3 “The Closet Case” (B-)

It’s something about this season – this show isn’t bothering me nearly as much as it has the past few years, and even though it’s not the show it once was, I’m glad that I didn’t stop watching it. This episode wasn’t as solid as the two that started out the season, but it was still largely fun. Mitchell has always been a solid straight man even though he often gets to be the comedian too, and his bafflement at both Cameron and Jay telling him not to say “closets” a fourth time was probably the best moment of the episode, so great it happened twice! The rivalry is absurd, but it’s entertaining to see just how much Jay and his nemesis Earl Chambers get into it, fighting over the rolodex and now over the loyalty of the second generation. Gloria going to school to make sure Manny got treated right wasn’t all that great, but I liked that Cameron was there to intercept her at every turn and then step in to make some magic happen. Luke going to visit Alex just to try to get with her hot neighbor was predictable silliness, and kudos for the show to turning it into something dramatic by having Luke pass up a sure thing to take care of his sister. Claire trying to let Phil be the bad guy was fun, and resulted in something that usually manages to be hilarious, which is more of Dylan, whose completely lack of awareness of the world around him never ceases to be astonishing. Phil decreeing that he didn’t want to know about anything that was happening was a solid effort but obviously not the finite punishment that Claire felt was more than deserved by the dopey Dylan and duplicitous Haley.