MODERN FAMILY: NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED

"The Butler's Escape" was one of the episodes ofModern Family that could have greatly benefited with a little bit of subtlety. Instead, every joke and reveal seemed to be hammered in our faces, stopping ever so short of attaching a laugh track. There's nothing wrong with humor in plain sight or anything, but it's one of the reasons I'll always prefer to re-watch Arrested Development for the umpteenth time over Modern Family -- there are no hidden little gems. Compare last week's bench gag to the one Arrested Development did much more delicately, not to mention, first. I don't think "The Butler's Escape," nor any episode of Modern Family is hiding these fun Easter eggs that make some great sitcoms like AD so compulsively re-watchable. Instead, the writers make an extended effort to make sure we catch all of the jokes right away. It doesn't make those gags less funny the first time or anything, but their longevity... isn't really on the radar.


Anyway, I generally liked this week's episode, but for every strong point, a problematic weaker one was just around the corner:

Good: Jay's Hotel Scheme
Bad: Manny's Hotel Sanctuary
Sure, Gloria being a snorer was a little obvious, but I always enjoy a good over-complicated-white-lie trope, and this show is usually pretty great at delivering them. This storyline also lent itself to a lot of cute Stella moments, and Manny's "I got you these nasal strips. In the commercial, the old man's angry red sound waves turned to gentle blue!" was probably one of the best lines of the evening. But is Manny really allowed to hang out alone in hotel lobbies? The detail felt so strange and forced that it took me out of the otherwise cute reveal.

Good: Cameron Failing on His First Day
Bad: Mitchell Failing to Be a Good Partner... Again
Sure, it was over-the-top, but Eric Stonestreet pulled off Cam totally eating it on his first day back in the working world pretty well (though I do have high tolerance for Schadenfreude). Mitchell failing, on the other hand, was hard to watch because you knew he was going to lie to Cam about his shortcomings. Do these guys even like each other anymore? Cam seeing Mitch's lies as overcompensation and some sort of love-deception may have worked for him, but as a viewer I seriously cannot watch another episode where Mitch is a jerk to his partner. A somewhat tender hug at the end is not a loving couple make.

Good: Mean Girl Alex
Bad: Alex's Goth Friend
Haley going away to college has allowed for a lot of fresh material over in the Dunphy home, and it's nice to see the writers give Alex something to do. I loved Claire's evil plot to have Haley humiliate Alex via video chat, too. My biggest concern: Does anyone else feel like Alex's new goth friend -- especially when she was in the scene with Cam -- is a direct rip-off of creepy Orin from Parks and Recreation? Just me?

Good: Luke and Phil
Bad: Future Luke and Phil
Luke and Phil is always a quick recipe for success, so Luke wanting to quit magic and Phil refusing to let him made perfect sense -- I'd be lying if I said the reveal that Luke was getting bullied didn't tug at my heartstrings a bit... after laughing out loud when Luke used a smoke bomb before storming off when Phil first freaked out. I just wonder where the show is going to take these two from here. The writers haven't ignored the fact that the youngest Dunphy is getting older, but at this point I'm not entirely convinced they know what they're going to do when Luke enters his less-adorable teenage years.

Good: Claire's Moments in the Sun...
Bad: ...The Wings Starting to Melt
Claire has quickly become my favorite character on this show, but as I mentioned before, without subtlety, it just won't last. Take the scene where she popped up in the background of Cam and Mitch's kitchen and started to sneak away -- Julie Bowen's exaggerated skulking around was genius. But bringing her back so that she could bust her brother? Not so much. Then there was yet again another callback to Claire's happiness about Gloria's weight gain. There's nothing worse than making the viewer retroactively hate a joke because you cannot stop beating it into every scene.

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