So, boys and girls, what have we learned from “Starry Night”? Well, I’m not too sure but it gave me more proof of the aliens’ imminent invasion. Also, I probably have ADHD (did my keyboard always have that “scroll” button?). What was I talking about? Modern Family shook things up a bit and mixed some of the families for some huge laughs and (seriously, a “pause” button, too? Why do I need that?). Let’s just take a look at what went down.
Cameron and Gloria
It’s about time the 2 biggest personalities spent some alone time together. But, life doesn’t always go smooth and poor Cam spent most of their date a nervous wreck. Let’s rewind: A couple of weeks ago, Cam was talking about some of Mitchell’s Ivy League friends, “Honestly, I wish that tart would go back to Columbia and take that weird little Brown friend with her.” Gloria overhears and ¡ay Dios mío! Cam tried to explain and…awkward. Back to now: Cam is overcompensating trying to make sure Gloria likes him. He tells her that he made reservations at an exclusive restaurant, but Gloria is not in the mood and suggests a small hole in the wall she likes instead. She orders carnitas diablos and despite being warned that it will be too hot for him, Cam orders the same. You see where this is going, “It feels like I ate the sun.” Cam explains that he just wanted her to like him, but he’s been doing everything wrong like picking the wrong restaurant. Gloria relaxes him, they are friends and can go out whenever he likes and the reason she did not want to go to an expensive restaurant was because she felt guilty buying a very expensive dress that she did not need. She then shows Cam her old dilapidated apartment – showing that it is important to never lose touch with who you were. They go back to the car and it’s on cider blocks with the tires gone. Make no mistake about it, Gloria from the block can hold her own and went on a rampage looking for the culprits.
Jay and Mitchell
Mitchell is excited that he and his dad get to spend some time together over one of their few shared interests – watching a meteor shower. It’s one of the few times they have together and SLAM! Manny is there with one zing after another at Mitchell’s expense. The day goes from bad to worse and Mitchell gets sprayed by a skunk. The only thing in the car to change into is Gloria’s new dress. ZING! Tired of being the butt of jokes, Mitchell just wants to go home. In a tender moment between Jay and Mitchell, Jay explains that Manny is being picked on at school and invited him along so he and Mitchell could bond as brothers. It was a nice little moment which brought the odd-brothers together.
Phil and Claire
Homework is a bitch. There, I said it. Phil and Claire have different approaches to getting the kids to do theirs: Claire sits over them and makes sure they do it; Phil encourages them to be creative and leaves them to their own devices. While Haley has tricked Claire into baking cupcakes for her school, Claire delegates Phil to helping Luke with a van Gogh presentation. Phil goes all ADHD and gets distracted for a while, when Claire checks up on Luke, he is playing with a Mr. Potato Head. Looks like Claire’s method wins. But before Phil has a chance to go back upstairs, Luke comes down with his van Gogh presentation – complete with Mr. Potato Head ears to represent the ear van Gogh cut off. Game, set, match: Phil for the win. And the cupcakes Haley tricked Claire into baking? They were thrown away so Haley can bake them herself since Claire showed her how. ZING!
“Starry Night” is why Modern Family is good TV: It switched families around – keeping it fresh; it had one funny line after the other; it was sweet without being sappy and…what the hell do I need with a “break” button? Is that like self-destruct?
