After a rocky start followed by two consecutive stellar episodes, "Modern Family" appears to be making a triumphant return to its inaugural season's charm. While we'll reserve final judgment for a few more weeks, our enthusiasm for the show is at its peak this fall. Much like last week's episode, this one hit the mark perfectly—hilarious, heartwarming, and slightly eccentric throughout. A significant factor in this sudden surge seems to be the show's rediscovery of its knack for executing awkwardness with finesse. It's not the smug type that gleefully employs every hint of discomfort as a punchline, nor the type that delights in making viewers squirm in empathetic torment. Rather, it's the kind that builds subtly, simmering gently throughout most of the episode, often going unnoticed until its full impact is revealed.
We had harbored hopes that this would be the season's first episode to avoid exploiting Gloria's Colombian heritage as a plot device, but those dreams will have to wait another week. At least this time, she's the one doing the blaming, not Jay, which makes it feel more like a well-deserved self-deprecation rather than Jay's faintly xenophobic ramblings. Teasing her husband for letting a minor stomach ache deter him from an afternoon of mall-wandering, Gloria shrugs, "In Colombia, we wouldn't rush to the hospital for every little sniffle or dislocated shoulder." (Flashback to another time when she slammed herself into a window frame to pop a dislocated arm back into place during a ping-pong match—one of the rare physical comedy bits Sofia Vergara has delivered sans cleavage in recent times. We crave more! Dress her in a turtleneck and let her channel her inner Carol Burnett, please!) She brushes off Jay's ailment, but Manny, armed with a self-diagnosis website (definitely not WebMD), sides with him. ("Describe the pain." "It's like I'm being stabbed, but like I ate a bad scallop stabbing me from the inside." "That's vivid, but there's no option for that.") Turns out, it's more serious than food poisoning, leading to a cliffhanger! I'll refrain from spoiling the suspense further, but it was heartening to see the narrative potentially circling back to Jay's pseudo-health scare towards the end of last season, albeit with him displaying far less concern than everyone else—especially Gloria, whose second-best moment of the episode could very well earn her an Emmy nomination for Best Gurney Clutching. (Cast of "Grey's Anatomy," beware!)
Since their big kiss-out earlier in the season, Mitchell's intimacy and personal space issues have been relatively under the radar. However, this week, they resurface due to an unexpected catalyst: Cameron's mom! It begins innocuously enough with her visiting from Missouri and Cam overflowing with admiration ("I don't want to exaggerate, but my mom is the greatest woman who ever lived. She raised four kids, two barns, and a whole lot of hell."), but things quickly turn odd for Mitch. He knows Cam loves her and wants to love her too, but here's the catch: Barb (Celia Weston) just can't seem to keep her touchy-feely Midwestern hands off the poor guy. He tries to make her overt familiarity ("It was like she was blind and wanted to feel what my thighs looked like!") obvious to Cam, but only ends up appearing to make the clumsiest passes ever ("Rub your fingers all over your fanny—your magic fingers!"). We're growing weary of Mitch and Cam being at odds every week—they're so great together, at least in our hazy recollections of a time when they were allowed to be genuinely happy for extended periods!—but this led to one of their best fights yet: "Show me on Lily's doll where my mother touched you." They eventually sort it out, but perhaps not entirely, as the issue only grows stranger when a bathtub becomes involved.
The Pritchett-Dunphys' Week: A tapestry of complexities amidst the absence of Luke
Despite our unwavering affection for Luke and his conspicuous absence from this particular episode, this week marked one of the brightest spots in the Dunphys' recent timeline. A myriad of events unfolded, intertwining numerous ongoing conflicts within the confines of these fleeting screen moments. Haley, while displaying moments of naivety, exhibited a peculiar kind of wit ("What? We only indulge in this when I solve a math problem correctly!"); Claire's obsession with finding a superior suitor for Haley beyond Dylan's reach; Phil's burgeoning admiration for Dylan, tinged with nostalgia ("I was quite similar to you in high school, albeit with shorter hair and a flute instead of a guitar"); Dylan's heart-wrenching rejection by Haley via text ("Sadface emoticon! I can sense the ache resonating through the digital realm!"); and Haley's burgeoning bond with her father, marked by tender moments.
Even Alex, who vanished after the initial minutes, contributed some memorable lines: "I'm merely stating the facts — she'll never secure a job, and how can we ascertain that the perfect Middle Eastern businessman wouldn't treat her wonderfully?" The plot was somewhat convoluted, peppered with missed connections, misunderstandings, and an exquisite waffle-bowl ice cream sundae that we'd gladly trade any limb to savor in reality. Yet, these intricacies served as the bedrock for exceptional comedy and an unusually profound character evolution. Phil is unmistakably in the nascent stages of a profound midlife crisis or desperately in need of some male camaraderie, pronto!
For the first time this season, the show struck a harmonious balance — it exerted effort without overreaching, and for that, we are as grateful as we are relieved that this wasn't contorted into a schmaltzy Thanksgiving episode.
