Wow, Manny’s friend Danielle is a real piece of work, isn’t she? Time to break that imaginary friendship off.
Last night’s episode of Modern Family saw our favorite characters experiencing different forms of jealousy, with Manny stepping in to help work things out.
Cam and Gloria
Since their house was being fumigated, Mitch, Cam and Lily were spending a few days at Jay’s house. Normally, Cam and Gloria have a great friendship even though they don’t necessarily spend a lot of time together. He’s gay and fabulous, she’s Latina and fabulous. It’s a match made in heaven, and they were excited to spend some quality time together.
Except they began to rub each other the wrong way. Since both Gloria and Cam work inside the home, they were together a lot. And they began to notice things. Cam was irked that Lily was so excited to be spending time with Gloria – and we all know that Cam can get a little insecure about Lily not having a mother. Gloria said “Oh, Lily, let me fix your hair!” and Cam flinched, later telling the mockumentary camera “I didn’t know her hair was broken.” And as Cam took it upon himself to clean and organize Gloria’s kitchen, she began to feel insecure about her admittedly limited skills as a homemaker.
Mitch and Jay
Meanwhile, Mitch was getting annoyed at Jay’s relentless lawyer jokes during their stay. Jay was having a ball with it, even going so far as to plant a book of lawyer jokes in the guest bedroom. Mitch went off for a meeting with an old radio DJ that Jay idolized, so Cam encouraged Jay to stop in and meet the guy. I’m not sure if there is ever a situation in which Mitch would have been comfortable with his dad hijacking his business meeting, but after all the lawyer jokes he certainly wasn’t in the mood for it. He told Jay to leave, and the DJ was miffed – Jay was a fan and was being really nice, so why wouldn’t Mitch allow him to stay? Whoops.
Phil and Claire
Meanwhile, Claire couldn’t believe that Phil was oblivious to the fact that a client named Tad (Greg Kinnear) he was trying to woo kept kissing her right on the lips. It bugged her that he was bothered by it or jealous at all. In fact, he thought she was making it up for an ego boost.
Of course, Claire eventually realized that Tad kissed everyone on the lips like that, from his son to an elderly lady, and she loosened up around him. No longer worried he was hitting on her, Claire was free to laugh at his jokes – and that’s what made Phil jealous. No one is allowed to make Claire laugh but him!
It was a cute little storyline, especially since Claire actually liked that Phil had gotten jealous and made a fool of himself.
Haley and Alex
After calling herself a “Big Sister” in a college application, Phil and Claire made Haley actually make good on that claim and volunteer with the organization. She actually ended up enjoying it, but Alex was less than happy. The little girl named Annie who Haley kept raving about was practically a clone of Alex. Well, Annie was black so not a physical clone, but they were both smart, and the drawing Annie made for Haley with her named signed in cursive was almost an exact replica of one Alex had done four years earlier. Haley threw Alex’s in the trash (after writing “Mrs. Haley Jonas Brothers” all over it) but she planned to frame Annie’s.
Danielle Saves The Day
Of course, the episode ended with everyone making up. Claire was happy Phil got a little jealous. Haley and Alex bonded by revisiting an old pastime – dressing their brother up as a girl and calling him “Betty Luke”. And Manny tried to work things out in his household by making up stories about his friend Danielle.
Mitch realized he was taking himself too seriously and managed to make things right by arranging for Jay to be
punked (or whatever) by the radio DJ, something he’d done on his show
back in the day. It was pretty cute, and I was glad that Jay had an opportunity before it happened to tell Mitch that he really is proud of his career and accomplishments.
Neither Cam not Gloria took anything from Manny’s stories at first, but eventually they realized they’d been acting out of jealousy. Cam was touched when Lily remembered they’d purchased Cam a leopard print apron to match the coats Gloria got for herself and Lily, and next thing you knew Cam and Gloria were performing a perfectly executed culinary tango in the kitchen. They cooked as though they were one.
Overall, I really enjoyed the episode. I liked that Cam and Gloria weren’t merely bickering or getting under each other’s skin – their little tiff was rooted in personal insecurities, and once they realized that no harm was done. What did you guys think?
Favorite quotes & moments:
- “He got divorced and his whole life opened up. Guy’s living the
dream…[looks at Claire]…his dream, not my dream. I’m living my dream. You’re my dream.” – Phil - Claire: “Recently Haley got a little creative on one of her college applications and listed herself as a Big Sister.”
Haley: “Technically I am a big sister.”
Phil: “She capitalized the ‘b’ and the ‘s’.”
Claire: “Which makes sense, ’cause it was.” - “The other night when you put on makeup, I was like, ‘There she is!'” – Phil (Oh, Phil…you’ll never learn.)
- Claire and Phil taking a picture of “Betty Luke” all dressed up.
