The main reason that this season of Modern Family was struggling to maintain the momentum of previous years was that it just wasn't building the humour around the characters. The jokes were being written first, and then slotted into fairly dull stories with the best one liners being handed out to whichever character they suited best. Sure, this can make for a passably entertaining half hour, but it's undeniably lazy writing, and not the kind of thing you'd expect nor want from a five time Emmy award winning comedy.
The last two episodes of the show - "Playdates" and "Spread Your Wings" - really got back to basics in all the right ways, and entirely rejuvenated a lackluster season. They were smart, they were funny, and they told interesting stories in appropriate ways - heck, "Spread Your Wings" even offered the most emotional Modern Family sequence in years. "Clean For A Day" keeps this standard up by retaining all of the aforementioned qualities, but this time binding them all to a theme that this season should have been addressing all along: change.
Jay decides to spice up his retirement by taking a flying lesson, but when he doesn't tell Gloria (I'm not entirely sure why) Cameron ends up coming along. Jay and Cameron are a great comedic pairing and their sequences in the plane are great fun with both actors really giving their all, but it works especially well now that the show is finally giving Jay a new direction. Hopefully this momentum can be kept up for the rest of the season. Gloria and Mitchell fare equally well while the latter teaches the former how to play golf, as Gloria wants to share more of Jay's hobbies now that he's retired. Again, a seemingly bland concept is given life and energy through its character and thematic cores: Gloria cares about Jay and wants him to enjoy this change in his life, so takes up one of his hobbies. The result is just as funny and endearing as you could ever hope for.
But, once again, the episode's spotlight lies with the Dunphy's. Claire, soon to take over Jay's business, engages the family in a massive clean out of the house, sparking up emotions when she tries to make everyone give up things they have fond memories of. This results in a brief but funny subplot where Alex goes to return Sanjay's sweater, and gets swept up in his surprisingly apologetic response. It's all very funny, but comes together touchingly in a final act reveal that brings the whole family back together in the best way imaginable. The credit sequence of Phil putting Luke's old toy, erm, out of its misery is simply hilarious.
The final reveal - that Phil has kept tonnes of the kids' stuff that they thought had been thrown away - is a heartwarming conclusion to an episode that foregrounds one simple but strong thematic idea, works out how its characters fit in with that construct, then interlaces the stories with clever and effective humour. It all just comes together beautifully. I still love the show dearly, but I can't ignore the massive step down the first ten episodes of this season represented. If the show can keep up this standard then maybe, just maybe, Modern Family will be truly great again. And, oh, how nice that would be.
Grade: A-
The last two episodes of the show - "Playdates" and "Spread Your Wings" - really got back to basics in all the right ways, and entirely rejuvenated a lackluster season. They were smart, they were funny, and they told interesting stories in appropriate ways - heck, "Spread Your Wings" even offered the most emotional Modern Family sequence in years. "Clean For A Day" keeps this standard up by retaining all of the aforementioned qualities, but this time binding them all to a theme that this season should have been addressing all along: change.
Jay decides to spice up his retirement by taking a flying lesson, but when he doesn't tell Gloria (I'm not entirely sure why) Cameron ends up coming along. Jay and Cameron are a great comedic pairing and their sequences in the plane are great fun with both actors really giving their all, but it works especially well now that the show is finally giving Jay a new direction. Hopefully this momentum can be kept up for the rest of the season. Gloria and Mitchell fare equally well while the latter teaches the former how to play golf, as Gloria wants to share more of Jay's hobbies now that he's retired. Again, a seemingly bland concept is given life and energy through its character and thematic cores: Gloria cares about Jay and wants him to enjoy this change in his life, so takes up one of his hobbies. The result is just as funny and endearing as you could ever hope for.
But, once again, the episode's spotlight lies with the Dunphy's. Claire, soon to take over Jay's business, engages the family in a massive clean out of the house, sparking up emotions when she tries to make everyone give up things they have fond memories of. This results in a brief but funny subplot where Alex goes to return Sanjay's sweater, and gets swept up in his surprisingly apologetic response. It's all very funny, but comes together touchingly in a final act reveal that brings the whole family back together in the best way imaginable. The credit sequence of Phil putting Luke's old toy, erm, out of its misery is simply hilarious.
The final reveal - that Phil has kept tonnes of the kids' stuff that they thought had been thrown away - is a heartwarming conclusion to an episode that foregrounds one simple but strong thematic idea, works out how its characters fit in with that construct, then interlaces the stories with clever and effective humour. It all just comes together beautifully. I still love the show dearly, but I can't ignore the massive step down the first ten episodes of this season represented. If the show can keep up this standard then maybe, just maybe, Modern Family will be truly great again. And, oh, how nice that would be.
Grade: A-
