MODERN FAMILY RECAP: A HARD JAY’S NIGHT

The highlight of this episode for me was the relationships explored with Gloria and Phil and Luke and Manny. Of course Cam and Mitchell had a great storyline, but I really enjoyed the friendship feel of this episode.

We begin with Cam overjoyed that he received a package from his Dad. It was a wedding cake topper of Cam and Mitch that his father carved out of soap. Cam loved it and Mitch wasn’t thrilled because he looked very feminine (with his leg bent) and Cam looked perfect. Mitch pretended to like it but hoped it would be destroyed before the wedding. He said they each were given 3 vetoes about the wedding and they both used them. Mitch put the topper in the tub with Lily hoping it would get messed up and even dropped it but that thing was waterproof and would not break. Looks like Mitch is stuck with it.

Gloria was off to sell the apartment she had before she was with Jay and Phil went along to help her. There was a man interested in buying it, but Gloria didn’t want to sell to him because he wanted to flip the apartment. She wanted to sell it to a nice family. They decided to wait for their next appointment in Gloria’s old hair salon. The ladies at the salon were so excited to see her. She put on an apron and started to do hair again like she never left and Phil was her shampoo assistant (although he hasn’t shampooed professionally since college).

Claire went on and on to her kids about all of her accomplishments at work. Snore! Alex, Haley and Luke looked like they were ready to scream after listening to her talk so much. They were on their way to Jay’s house for a night of family fun and they couldn’t wait to get there.

 Jay welcomed Claire and the kids and offered them appetizers. He was excited to have a dinner and game night with the family. He told Claire he heard she was busy at work and she thought he was going to compliment her, but he didn’t say anything. Haley and Alex saw how their mom wanted approval from Jay, so they tried to make her feel better.

Luke tried to convince Manny to skip out on the family dinner and go to “Christy Huge Ones” pool party in the neighborhood. Luke wasn’t invited but figured he was cool enough to crash. Manny told him they weren’t going to the party and they were going to stay for the family dinner. Ah…the voice of reason.

Cam, Mitch and Lily got there and Cam couldn’t wait to show off the cake topper. Jay knew Mitch hated it and told him that things disappear around their house all the time. He told Mitch he would help him take care of it.

Cam had a mini-meltdown when he noticed the cake topper was missing. He asked Lily if she saw it, and she said she saw the dog with it. Jay said if Stella (the dog) had it, she buried it and it’s pretty much gone for good. Cam refused to accept that and went to dig it up in the backyard. Mitch agreed to help even though he secretly hoped they wouldn’t find it.

Manny was playing scrabble with Alex and Haley and realized that Luke never came back with the dictionary. He knew he snuck out to the party. Manny went after Luke and got there just in time for Christy to open the door and say, “Manny! You made it! Who’s this?” Ouch. Luke walked off once he realized Manny was invited but he wasn’t. He thought Manny was the outsider, not him. Manny told Luke that the things people used to not like about him, are what they do like now. He told Luke to grow up a little bit (and also that women like silent mysterious men). Hilarious!

Back at the salon, Gloria and Phil were the dream team. Gloria realized she missed being with the girls (and around people who thought she was funny). Phil was having a great time being the counselor/hairdresser. He tried to get Gloria to leave to go meet the next buyer but she didn’t want to leave the shop and told him to reschedule because she had more hair to do.

After Claire and Jay both made sauce (which they weren’t happy about) and Jay ignored Claire’s attempt to get his approval for the second time, the tension between them escalated. They started throwing food and sauce at each other. Claire was about to pop Jay in the head with a baguette when Haley and Alex stopped her. All Claire wanted was approval, and Jay didn’t understand why everything had to change.

After digging up the whole backyard (and finding several treasures), Cam found the cake topper and was excited. He told Mitch he wanted to make replicas of it to give to everyone as wedding favors. That was it. Mitch finally admitted that he hated it. Cam knew it! After a little spat, Cam said he didn’t want something at the wedding that made Mitch uncomfortable. Mitch was out of vetoes, so they agreed to give each other one more. Mitch vetoed the cake topper and Cam vetoed the wedding singer (who wanted Cam to cut his performance number at the wedding so they didn’t sing the same song).

Surprise! That was Cam’s plan all along. Flashback to Cam sending a picture to his Dad to use for the cake topper and Mitch had his leg kicked back. He knew Mitch would hate it and if they got more vetoes, he could get rid of the wedding singer. Very sneaky Cam, but brilliant at the same time.

Gloria and Phil were finished at the salon and Phil used his counselor skills to get Gloria to admit that she didn’t want to sell the apartment because it was the last piece of her before she was with Jay. Phil told her that he would help her sell it whenever she was ready.

Cam came back inside from the yard and dumped a bucket full of things that were buried in the back yard. It just so happened that all of the things that were buried, were things Jay didn’t like. Claire found a clock they gave Jay at work that called him an “Old-timer” and she realized Jay wasn’t ready to hand over the company. He still wanted to be involved. She told him she was happy that he would be in his office at work whenever she needed help from him. Jay smiled and was glad she wanted his help.

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