Modern Family
Episode 23: Games
People Play
By: Carlos Uribe
Modern
Family is a show about three branches of a family.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
A
whole sub-genre in film are road trips movies. They tend to be
comedies and follow what happens when a group of characters are stuck
in a small vehicle as they travel the country. Modern Family has it's
own version of a road trip adventure when Phil gains access to a
recreational vehicle. He decides to take his family down to the beach
as a test run to a possible trip to Yellowstone. He thinks it's a
great idea because he thinks his family will have a great time.
Claire doesn't agree because she thinks her kids turn into monsters
when they're stuck in a vehicle together. She doesn't think the
family will be able to get along which would make the trip more
frustrating than rewarding. She doesn't voice her opinion at first
because she wants Phil to understand why a Yellowstone trip is a bad
idea. The only way to get this across is to go forward with his trip
to the beach. Only she's shocked when her kids actually get along.
They actually seem like a model, picturesque family rather than the
chaotic storm she was expecting. She's disappointed because she
wanted to be right. She might not have told Phil that it was a stupid
idea but she wanted it to be true because that's what she had told
herself. It's what she had told the audience. This motivates her to
actually try her best to start a fight by pressing buttons only to
actually bring the kids closer. She's frustrated as her kids are
getting along just as she was expecting them to do the opposite. Her
desire does get met when a bee finds itself in the RV. This bee is
able to breakdown the family unity and causes the trip to fall apart.
Claire is able to prove herself right as Phil storms off in
disappointment. He's not the only one as he's able to relate to other
dads who have had their dream vacations crushed by their families.
The guilt of disappointing their dad leads to the kids actually
getting closer as they reveal their recent failures. Luke is failing
per-algebra, Alex was recently in the middle of a love triangle but
both boys dumped her, and Haley auditioned to be a Lakers girl but
didn't get the job. The trip has actually brought the family closer.
They might have fought but it's led to revelations that Claire
wouldn't have gotten otherwise. She had no idea what was going on in
her kid's lives but this trip allowed her access she hasn't had in a
while. She changes her mind and she's able to convince Phil to put
the Yellowstone trip back on the table when he walks back into the RV
to his kids practicing Haley's Lakers audition dance. This leads to a
hilarious end scene where Alex is tutoring Luke while Phil is
practicing Haley at the same time. It's a pretty basic plot that
basically plays out how you would expect it.
While
the Dunphy family is on a vacation, Cam and Mitchell support their
daughter in a gymnastics competition. Lily is apparently really good
and has a shot at making pre-team or something. I must share in
Mitchell's confusion as to what that actually means and it's a bit
disappointing that Cam didn't explain it. I guess that it's common
knowledge that I don't share or something. Anyways, the two are
really proud of Lily and the two basically become very competitive.
Cam might have tied up a competitor's hair wrong while Mitchell roots
for other little girls to fail. This all culminates in a hilarious
scene where they react to Lily helping out another girl. They didn't
see what she did and they're worried that the other parents are
seeing them in a negative light due to their competitive behavior.
They think that Lily might have picked up on their actions and
emulated their unsportsmanlike attitude. When a parent brings up
Lily's great gesture, Mitchell and Cam break into a monologue about
how they don't think that's how a winner acts. Lily might have won
the competition but her parents are banned from being able to enter
the gym. It's a pretty predictable plot up until that ending twist
that was actually pretty inspired. It had some funny moments before
that twist but it was largely the ending that saved the plot from
being forgettable and dull.
While
Cam and Mitchell are at the gymnastics competition, Jay and Gloria go
to their home to pick up Manny's backpack. Only they discover that
Cam and Mitchell had thrown a game night that they weren't invited
to. The two start to bicker over why they weren't invited. The two
blamed the other for being bad at pictionary and it's basically all
very petty. In the end, it doesn't even matter because they were
invited. Manny had gotten the invitation but he had forgotten to give
it to them. He tries to get out of trouble by putting the invitation
in Mitchell's briefcase but he made the mistake of putting it there
after Gloria had already snooped in there. His parents managed to
figure it out but they believe it was a plot to ensure they didn't go
to his Poetry Night. They're right that Manny doesn't want them to
attend because he's written poems that he doesn't want Gloria to
hear. With titles like “A Jail Called Mom”, it's understandable
why he's afraid of how she would react. The plot has some great
running gags, such as their snooping, but nothing really notable
happened. It was very low-stakes and the situation to get them there
was kind-of contrived.
Overall,
Games People Play was an episode of Modern Family that had pretty
basic plots. The Cam and Mitchell story was basically the two
becoming Little League Dads but with gymnastics and a neat twist at
the end. The whole Jay and Gloria plot was basically an excuse to
have them argue over pictionary but without a twist or the energy to
really make an impression. The whole RV plot worked the best as it's
simply funny to have the Dunphy family be stuck in a vehicle for
hours. The actual plot was pretty basic and the ending with Claire
changing her mind turned out to be predictable. Overall: a good and
solid effort of Modern Family but one that doesn't really stand out.
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