Modern Family

Modern Family

Episode 5: Hit and Run

By: Carlos Uribe

Modern Family is a show about a family that is supposedly modern.

Spoilers Ahoy!

So this week, the plot was a little bit different. It began differently before it managed to somewhat converge before somewhat separating again. Essentially this is what happens: Claire decides she should run for town council. Her opponent scares her enough that she wants to drop out, but she realizes that she has to face her fears of possibly losing. Phil is left alone with the kids and fails at taking care of them. Cam and Mitchell are involved in a hit and run which they react to in different ways. Then there's Jay and Manny who don't want Gloria's help.

Claire is a character who likes to win. She's also a control freak and is used to getting her way. This means that when Phil suggests she run for town council against Councilman Duane, she agrees. She goes to file the paperwork but when she's there Duane tells her he has won his last six elections. He doesn't take her seriously. When she goes to the weekly family dinner and sees the state her kids are in, she has an excuse to drop out. Gloria manages to pry enough into her and it's revealed that Claire is afraid of losing. Gloria then manages to convince her that Claire will probably lose, but she'll survive. She has to face her fear because that's the right thing. Despite Phil's lack of parenting skills she decides to run.

Phil meanwhile tries to ensure the kids are fine. He fails. He ends up hurting Luke (while trying to open a bandaid) and accidentally gives Alex the wrong allegy medicine. Under his supervision Haley is also down $900 after trying to buy illegal ids and getting conned out. More about Haley's problems later, but Phil's skills really come into question. He does redeem himself in the very end but let's hope Claire still has time for her family while running the election.

Jay has a problem with a client. Apparently the client was closets to “wow” him, which I take it to mean he's an idiot. This angers Jay but he doesn't let Gloria help him until the end (and Gloria fixes his problem). Manny is trying to do his homework but also doesn't accept Gloria's help, probably because he's growing up and becoming more independent. We never really find out why.

Cam and Mitchell are leaving the theater (after the most random scene in Modern Family history ever, in that it has nothing to do with the plot) when a guy hits them. The guy makes sure their okay before driving off. Cam tries chasing him, but Mitchell refuses. Cam and Mitchell fight about this, even though both could be right. It would be dangerous to chase the guy, but sometimes you have to face danger.

Which is what they do. Haley is forced to reveal her problem to her family. Phil, Cam, Mitchell, and Jay all end up going to the guy who ripped her off in an attempt to get the money back. Mitchell is against it, because it's dangerous and he's a wimp. When the guy tries to run away, it's Mitchell who manages to catch him and thus takes a stand against bullies. Catching him lets Jay cool off about his client and Phil feels like a hero. It also proves Cam's point, or whatever.

Then they all come back together and the episode ends on a happy note for all but Haley, who gets grounded. The episode was very uneven. For the first half of the episode, the laughs were few and between. The second half of the episode really picked up, but not enough to salvage the first half. It was a decent episode, but it did have some great moments.