‘Modern Family’ 2.21 Recap: “They’re Not Real Fruit Loops, They’re Generic.”

One of the best parts of watching television on a regular basis is that it’s hard to forget about holidays. For example, I might miss the fact that Mother’s Day is this weekend on a calendar, but it’s difficult to forget after watching a half hour show about it – and a good one at that.

The Mother’s Day episode of ‘Modern Family’, cleverly named ‘Mother’s Day’, is a little fragmented and suffers from a desire to put too much into one show, but it’s very good overall. After a season that was very much up and down, the show seems to have evened out into a series of pretty solid episodes.

There are a few really good moments in this episode in terms of building character and helping to show different sides of people, even if there aren’t all that many laugh out loud moments.

A common theme in this season’s episodes is showing different sides of Jay, which tends to work nicely. Getting to see Jay hang out with Mitch and Cam a few episodes ago was great, and the interactions between Jay and his brother were done wonderfully.

This week, we see Jay dealing with memories of his mother and crying in front of the family. It really helps to build his character and show that he’s not the emotionless, invincible man that he tries to show to everyone else. It’s effective again, but I’m a bit worried that Jay might be weakened too much if the show keeps relying on it.

Claire and Gloria decide to take the kids on a hike for Mother’s Day, and everyone ends up fighting. The moms ditch the kids for a bit and go off on their own. Claire vents about her kids, and after some pressure, she gets Gloria to vent as well. Manny overhears it and he doesn’t take it well. Then things start to get a little weird.

Cameron is dealing with the fact that Mitchell thinks of him as a mother figure. It’s a big problem for him, which seems a bit odd since Mitchell has clearly been the fatherly influence in the family. Still, as feminine as he may act sometimes, Cam doesn’t want to be thought of as a mom, even if it is complimentary.

Everything wraps up nicely in the end as it should. The episode lacks a bit in the humor department, but makes up for that nicely with plenty of heart.

Next week’s episode is one to look forward to. Not only is it written by Abraham Higginbotham (who penned ‘The Kiss’), but it’s the first episode directed by Fred Savage, who has taken the reigns of some excellent shows like ‘Party Down’ and ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia’.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *