Another average entry for Modern Family has a good number of lines but no big laughs this week.
The plot is a bit thin and all over the place again with everyone getting broken up for the most of the run of the episode. The show has been quite fractured this season and a lot of characters are left each week with little to nothing to do.
Haley and Alex in particular have had nothing to do so far this season and that is a bit of a shame as they can both be quite funny. Manny and Lilly average a couple of lines a piece, with Manny actually getting a bit more to do this week. Luke is also being used quite sparingly and his character is getting even more inconsistent. In the matter of seconds they pose him as a criminal mastermind and the next moment he is coming across as dumb as rocks. Can they have it both ways? I think I would like to see him more as a clever kid that is playing up the dumb side to get what he wants then just being one or the other unpredictably. The writing team’s insistence to make sure we know he can be an idiot makes it harder to believe his bright moments. His cops line did give me a good laugh though.
More David Cross is a good thing and he really stole the show tonight. He plays condescension and pompous great and he gets plenty of chances to do so this week. I wish he had a more interesting character than Claire to bounce off of but I will take all the Cross I can get. I hope we continue to see more of him as Claire runs for council.
The rest of the plots, as aforementioned, are particularly light, spending one scene or two tops on each through line. Phil’s debacle with the kids goes as expected, nothing happens with Sam Levine and Jay, Cam and Mitchell are reduced to a couple of physical gags, and Gloria’s, “I can help you,” story just has nothing going for it. This cast is at its best when we get them together and this season has seen way too little of the family together in large groups. The better moments from the episode were when all the family was together in the end and the fact that the writers seem determined to give us these guys together as little as possible doesn’t bode well for the current trajectory of the show; which is treading in average waters.
Bullets:
-David Cross!
-“Puggle Breeder.”
-Cross pointing to his flag lapel, fantastic
-I would punch Cam if I was in the theater with him.
-Wrong theater, didn’t see that one coming,…
-like the Godfather reference
-Sam “the Mam” Levine, A.K.A “Little Wolverine”
-Levine looks like a small child still, love his enthusiasm
-“You’ve been unconscious for two days.”
-The sisters have been producing nothing this year, did enjoy Halle walking away, even if we have seen that time and time again.
-“You’re easy on the eyes when you put a little effort into it.”
-“Wait a minute?”
-Cam chasing the car was some good visual humor
-Luke is conning the family for money, wish there were a couple more cutaways
-“I am not very liquid right now.”
-I don’t know how well it works to make Luke smart and then an idiot two seconds later.
-“Do you know why of all the dogs in the world I raise Puggles?”
-David Cross plays a great dick
-“She belongs to the people now.”
-“I am finding there is less and less for us to talk about.”
-Drunk Alex, really? She took a sip.
-“Please, aren’t the police busy winning the war on drugs?”
-“You saw the Muppet movie without me?”
-“No, no weapons.”
-Claire hasn’t shown a glimmer of being a B through the second segment, hooray for writing stronger females.
-Those names for Phil’s fists were terrible.
-Cam brushing off Jay’s shoulders, another bit of good physical humor
-“He’s slipping out of his skinny jeans.”
-“You serious, she cuts your stake.”
-“I got grass stains.”
-“You serious, she cuts your stake.”
