Going through past reviews, I found that Modern Family hasn't done a single plot episode since the Halloween episode 6 episodes ago, only briefly dabbling with everyone together during Manny's birthday (that episode was still in mid-November). The biggest problem of the three separate plots format is that with each plot occupying an exact third of the episode, everything must be on point. In addition, the time alloted to each plot leaves tons of room for underdevelopment. When will we see more complete family and is the frequency decreased?
After not seeing Alex last week, it was kind of disappointing to see her slide into the background while Phil and Claire took over the plot. Luckily, the couple trying to top Sanjay's parents by watching a snooty French film instead of the octopus crocodile 3D movie was pretty great.
Mitchell and Cam engage in a very awkward case of misidentification with both believing that Mitchell has a child with his ex. When they go Chloe's house, they have a gift for the child--but he's actually a red-haired midget. Oops.
The Jay and Gloria plot is confounding to no end, with no relevance or direction, throwing random awkward scenes into the episode. I guess it tangentially relates to everything else because it is about a misunderstanding, but it's still not remotely funny.
Score: 8.5/10
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
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