MODERN FAMILY: The Butler’s Escape

Boom! This episode starts off with a bang, literally. Luke has been taking magic lessons and his loud smoking suitcase scared everyone in casa de Dunphy. Speaking of loud, Jay can’t deal with Gloria’s obnoxious snoring and Mitch has to put up with Cam’s singing (but Lily didn’t put up with it, she unplugged his keyboard).

Cam is ready for his first day as a middle school music teacher. He is a little anxious about leaving Lily with Mitch all day (because she is a handful) but Mitch insists he shouldn’t worry and he has everything under control. 

Luke wants to quit his magic lessons but is afraid to tell Phil. He shares his concerns with Claire and she tells Phil, but he is not going for it. He thinks Luke is a natural talent and can be a professional magician. He will not let Luke quit. Luke wants a say so because it is his life, but when Phil shuts him down, he makes a fire and disappears. Wow! The kid is pretty good.

Cam is doing his best with his music class but the students are not receptive and he is failing miserably. Luke and Manny are in the class and they are a little embarrassed for him. Mitch is at the store with Lily and she disappears on him. Cam called to check on them and knew to find her in the dairy case. Cam and Mitch are both having a tough time adjusting to their new tasks.

Jay had a meeting in San Francisco and was to spend the night there but his meeting finished early. When he got home and heard Gloria calling the hogs home with her snoring, he looked at the dog and said “You never saw me” and went to a hotel for some peace and quiet.

Phil comes up with the idea the he will let Luke quit magic if he performs The Butler’s escape magic trick successfully. It is a very difficult illusion where he is shackled in a suit upside down and escapes. This ought to be good. Luke does it in a flash and says “I quit!” Phil was really impressed.

Mitch wants to hear all about Cam’s first day over a wonderful dinner he cooked. Cam is surprised Mitch had time to cook anything after a long day with Lily. We see Claire sneaking out of the kitchen with her pots because she really cooked the dinner. Seeing how successful Mitch was with Lily, Cam breaks down about his awful day. Mitch still takes the credit for everything until Claire walks in and busts him. Surprisingly, Cam is relieved because he knows if Mitch called Claire for help his day was worse than Cam’s.

Jay is relaxing in his hotel room and Gloria calls to tell him she is in “Frisco” (San Francisco) and he panics. He starts packing his clothes and rushes out to go back to San Francisco. When he gets off the elevator Gloria is there waiting for him and she slaps him and walks off. Uh Oh, he’s busted.

Manny needed some peace and quiet too and was reading in the hotel lobby when he saw Jay check in. Gloria asked if he was having an affair and he told her the truth. He told her he wanted one night away from her snoring because she is huge, loud and it is like sleeping with Rush Limbaugh (hilarious). He didn’t want to hurt her feelings but he was exhausted and wanted some sleep. She was upset that he didn’t tell her, but she took the hotel key and told him to take Manny and she would see them in the morning.

Phil attempted to do the Butler’s Escape trick but was not as successful as Luke. Luke apologized for wanting to quit and said they can return some of the magic stuff they bought. Then Luke admitted that his three Houdini wands were broken because some kids at school messed around with them. Phil shared that he was teased at school too. Phil told him the minute he stopped caring about what other people thought and started doing what he wanted to do was when he finally felt free. He told Luke he would support whatever decisions he made for himself. Seeing his Dad shackled (and still trying to escape the suit), Luke told him how to easily complete the trick. Phil was free and they hugged. So sweet!

One of my favorite things about this show is that no matter how crazy and funny things get, the family is always there for each other in the end. Love it!

Modern Family airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on ABC.