‘Modern Family’ kicks things up this week with one of the funniest episodes of the season. ‘Caught in the Act’ is absolutely hilarious – at least most of it is.
It’s Claire and Phil’s wedding anniversary, so the kids decide to make breakfast in bed. “They’re impossible to buy for,” says Haley. “We think. We’ve never really tried.”
Good intentions don’t always work out, though. The kids end up walking in on their parents having sex. The kids scream, the parents scream, and everybody is nice and traumatized. No one comes out a winner on this one.
Claire and Phil stay in the room, trying to think of a way to talk to the kids about what was going on. Meanwhile, the kids try to deal with it themselves. We’re treated to two conversations about the same situation, both of which are incredibly funny.
Jay and Gloria come into the picture when Gloria accidentally hits Send on a mean email to Claire. When they can’t get through on the phone, they end up going over to talk to Claire personally. The build-up isn’t amazing, but there’s a big payoff when they finally get to the house.
The first real laugh-out-loud moment happens when Gloria is talking to Claire about the email, while Claire thinks she’s talking about the incident with the kids. The actual conversation is funny, but Phil’s reactions are amazing.
The second comes when Claire confronts Jay about a similar incident when she walked in on him and her mother. Jay’s explanation includes a reference to ‘Hart to Hart’ and ruins both sex and boots for Claire.
When the show first came on, the Cameron/Mitchell storylines were often my favorites, but that’s changed this season. It seems like their stories always have to do with telling a lie or an unpleasant truth. ‘The Old Wagon’, ‘Earthquake’, ‘Strangers on a Treadmill’, and ‘Mother Tucker’ all share the same basic theme.
Things start off great when they meet Amelia, a mom from Lily’s preschool and the owner of a hot new restaurant. There’s some great banter between the trio. When she leaves and the couple has to decide on whether to be honest about some spilled juice or not, I just start to lose interest. We’ve been here before.
