MODERN FAMILY Recap: The Future Dunphys

The Dunphy’s: Claire has an angiogram scheduled so she and Phil are going to head to the hospital but before they can go they hear Haley say she is quitting her job. Not only that but Luke is trying to make the appliances better (a toaster that butters bread) and Alex is choosing to stay home instead of going on a spring break trip. Phil thinks all of this is fine – the kids should be themselves but Claire thinks it isn’t fine and she should tell the kids who to be.
At the hospital Claire and Phil are still discussing parenting when Norman an older man in the next bed tells them to let their kids be themselves, trust him. A moment later his kids come to visit and they are an older version of the Dunphy’s. I love that Justine Bateman is the older Haley. The kids are a mess, “Haley” is four times divorced “Alex” is a know it all nerd with a cat and “Luke” is on probation. Thankfully for Phil Claire has already been wheeled out for her procedure and doesn’t get to see how the kids “turned out”.
When Claire gets back from her procedure it is her turn to hear the kids visiting their Dad. She hears them say they want to take off before their Mom gets there. Claire butts into their business – naturally, they don’t listen to her.
As soon as they leave Claire calls Alex and tells her she doesn’t have to go on the spring break trip while at the same time Phil calls Haley and tells her she isn’t quitting her job, he’s seen her future and it isn’t pretty. They switch phones and Alex is told by Phil she is going on that trip while Haley is being told by Claire if she doesn’t like her job that is okay, she can find something else. They hand both phones to Luke. The girls start to freak out, they think something more serious is going on with Claire than a simple procedure and they head to the hospital to confront Phil and Claire for stressing them out and lying.
Claire’s doctor comes in to tell them Claire had perfect test results and Phil texts the kids that everything is fine. A moment later the kids get there and yell and Claire and Phil for being bad parents and stressing them out. Phil pulls back the curtain to see another family that is basically the Dunphy’s 15 years earlier giving them a judgy look.
Back at home Luke and Phil are doing some bonding by trying to master the self-popping pancake by putting popcorn kernels into the batter so they will pop and flip the pancake. It actually works and they (as well as anyone watching) are stunned.

Prep School: Manny is going with Jay to a prep school interview and he is pretty excited. When they get to the prep school they make everyone wear jackets, something Jay thinks is ridiculous. Jay isn’t very open-minded about the school at all; he did just fine in public school as he likes to point out. Manny on the other hand is ecstatic; the school is perfect for him. After a little while though it turns out Jay was just jealous back in the day before he had money and now that he does have money he wants desperately for Manny to get into this school and by proxy himself.
It is time for the one on one interviews between the prospective student and the Dean of Students. Jay sits in on the interview with Manny who is so nervous he knocks things over, moonwalks and can’t think of anything appropriate to say.
After the disaster of an interview Jay and Manny are talking. Manny thinks he let Jay down but Jay says not to worry, the only thing he wants Manny to understand he is proud of Manny he is every day and everything will be fine.

Girls Day: Cameron and Mitchell set up a Girls Day for Lilly with Gloria. Gloria has Lilly in the car and is ready to go get their nails done when Gloria says Lilly can ask her anything. The first thing Lilly says is, “Do you know I’m gay?”
Gloria turns the car right back around and brings Lilly inside. Cameron and Mitchell ask Lilly about it and it turns out she is learning about heritage in school. Her friend’s parents are Italian so her friend is Italian. Since her Daddy’s are gay she is gay. They tell her she is Vietnamese, but when Lilly asks what that is they can’t really come up with anything relevant regarding Vietnam. They make a few comments about how many bikes are ridden over there. Gloria can’t believe they don’t know anything about Lilly’s heritage. They are ashamed and Gloria says no Girls Day out instead they are going to a Vietnamese restaurant to get a taste of Lilly’s culture.
At the restaurant Gloria, Lilly, Cameron and Mitchell are eating Pho but Lilly wants a cheeseburger. When the waitress comes over Mitchell tries to get her to talk about Vietnam but Lilly keeps saying (loudly) she hates Vietnam. Gloria tells her it is important to learn about her heritage. Cameron and Mitchell say they are just going to go and Gloria freaks out, she says people don’t appreciate their heritage anymore. She is sad Manny has started to forget his Spanish and is worried about Joe even learning Spanish. She may have been doing a little projecting when it came to Lilly and her heritage. The guys tell Lilly that no matter what they are a family and they love her even if she isn’t like them.

Side Note: the waitress in that scene is the Mother of the actress that plays Lilly.

Modern Family airs 9/8c on ABC