MODERN FAMILY: Diamond In The Rough

Luke and Manny’s baseball team tied for the final spot in the playoffs, but since no one expected it all the fields were booked. So Cam is helping Claire make a baseball field out of a dump for the boys. Cam is a jack of all trades and Claire will be mother of the year.

Luke and Manny are practicing because after 22 games of riding the bench, Manny is starting right field. He said “is right field the same as stage right?” I seriously love that kid.  Luke hits him with the ball and tells Manny that might be the best way for him to get on base since he’s really not that great at swinging the bat.

Cam and Claire come across an older woman who is selling her house for a low price. Phil and Mitchell come to see the house and they all agree it is a steal. Claire and Cam want to flip the house to make some extra money but Mitchell and Phil are against it.  Phil plays both sides of the fence by telling Cam and Claire he is on board with it, but tells Mitchell it is a terrible idea. Mitchell is on to Phil’s game and tries to call Claire but Phil answers the phone and threatens to tell Cam what really happened to the sweater he made for Mitchell (Mitchell threw it out of the window because it was itching him, but Cam thinks it was stolen out of the car) if he spills the beans. Phil wants to be the cheerleader, not the dream crusher.

Gloria is walking around the house with a microphone taped to her belly so she can talk to the baby. Jay thinks it is ridiculous but knows Gloria will do whatever she wants anyway.  She sings the worst rendition of “hush little baby” you have ever heard in the microphone (that poor baby’s ears are probably bleeding) and jay can’t take it anymore. He takes the mic and starts to talk to the baby to shut Gloria up. Hilarious!

Claire confides to Cam that she has applied for five jobs over the last few months and hasn’t gotten any. She wants to contribute to the family. He understands how she feels but at least Phil is supportive (so they think). When Cam gets home he tells Mitchell that he should be more supportive like Phil. Mitchell decides to play Phil’s game and be the cheerleader. This will force Phil to admit he is against the idea and Mitchell won’t be the only bad guy. He tells Cam he is on board.

Claire is excited when she finds out Mitchell is on board and they can flip the house. Now it is up to Phil to come clean about being against it. Mitchell and Phil get into a texting war about the house. What they don’t realize is they replied to a group text so Claire is getting all of their messages and reading them to Cam. They find out that Phil is against the house and about Mitchell’s sweater. Claire responds and they are busted!

Jay is reading the newspaper to the baby in the microphone(anything to keep Gloria from singing). She gets irritated and they start to argue. Manny points out that they shouldn’t argue in front of the baby because it is stressful. They agreed to never fight in front of the baby. Then Gloria started singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and Jay told her to stop singing because she was a terrible singer. She started to yell at him, but no yelling in front of the baby! Smart move Jay.

After Mitchell and Phil were in the dog house, they came to the baseball field and were amazed at what a great job Cam and Claire did in only one week. They decide that maybe flipping the house isn’t such a bad idea. Then Jay shows up and says it is the worst idea he has ever heard because you should not mix family and business. They wonder if he is right, but when Phil gets a call that someone else made an offer on the house they go for it. They are flipping a house!

Gloria wanted to prove Jay wrong by singing the funniest (and worst) version of the Star Spangled Banner. Her voice was terrible but she was so into it, it was priceless. Manny is up to bat, and the whole game depends on his him. He gets hit by the ball and gets on base. He ran the wrong way at first but figured it out while the crowd chanted his name. Way to go Manny!

Important lesson from this episode; don’t reply to a group text message.

Modern Family airs Wednesday nights at 9/8c on ABC.