Modern Family has its best episode yet this season with, "Go Bullfrogs!" and finally has a great episode for Claire to have fun in.
Claire has all the kids out of the house, we don't even see Alex and Luke only for a moment or two, and she wants to have a fun night out so she recruits the gays. Unfortunately, Mitchell and Cam are a couple of 'no fun Nancys' and are ruining the night for Claire. The character's bossiness works great here and her quest for fun will not be denied. From the slutty dress to the predictable gay friend not being gay it all worked for me and Claire had me laughing from start to finish.
Cam and Mitchell were side notes in Claire's plot and when they get on their own they don't fair all that well. Not only did they fail to give their "stolen" car story any sort of conclusion, but it's randomness around the other car owners wife attacking them was too half baked. The poor attempt to wrap things up in the post credits coda was ineffective as well.
Jay, Sophia, and Manny had a rather light plot line as well this week but were far more successful then Cam and Mitchell. Jay getting wrapped up in the soap opera and some great Gloria accent deliveries won me over even if the masturbation joke didn't. I was really disappointed that Manny was again regulated to the sidelines though, especially after the opening seemed to be setting up a lot of Manny for this episode. And while we are at it, can Manny have a purpose beyond just trying to impress girls and be a gentleman; give the guy some depth.
Phil and Haley provided a lot of laughs on their college visit, with Phil in top form this week. The sweatshirt, the back pack, and the enthusiasm works from the instant the episode opened on Phil and it worked perfectly for the character. Haley's attitude in the episode was a pleasant surprise and her being a pretty great daughter was a nice change of pace for the character. The cornball ending moment between the two even worked great and it will be interesting to see how they handle Haley heading off to college.
This week was a quite good, fun, and fast paced episode of Modern Family that is the biggest standout of the season so far. There are a couple of short comings, and one wonders why they can't create good material for all characters more consistently, but if they can make everything else work this well around these soft spots, I can accept that.
Bullets:
-"College!"
-Are you on Team Bulldog or Team Bullfrog with Phil's noise on the phone?
-Phil jumping in with cheerleaders was a great character moment for him.
-Gloria's pronunciation of puberty, amazing!
-Gone with the Wind, not good.
-"If that was your gay card, it would be revoked."
-wing faces
-"You're not the first girl to leave me at this table with a plate full of chicken wings."
-I liked the plastic surgery drinking game Claire and company are playing
-"five minutes of fabulous left."
-"Pick a side of the room lady!"
-"Ronaldo!"
-The stolen car bit really could have been something, it's a shame they wasted it here.
-"Who you talking to?" "The housekeeper."
-"It's to short isn't it?"
-"when we took back the night."
Till next week...
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