MODERN FAMILY RECAP: CLOSETCON 13

Jay and Claire are off to ClosetCon 13 where organization is the name of the game. Claire is excited for all of the panels and breakout sessions, while Jay believes all business is conducted at the bar.

While the spouses are away, Phil, Gloria and the kids meet at Gloria and Jay’s to go out for a family dinner. Phil realizes that Jay’s secret room is unlocked (he tries to open it every time he’s there but it is always locked). He opened the door and it is filled with collectible toys and gadgets including an Apollo 13 spacecraft model. Phil takes it out to show the kids and of course he breaks it. That’s when the plans change. Dinner is cancelled and everyone’s mission is to fix the model before Jay finds out it broke.

Mitchell, Cam and Lily take a trip to visit Cam’s family on their farm in Missouri. Cam fits right in and even does an ear piercing pig call (that Lily enjoyed and Mitchell hated) that his sister proudly said was the loudest pig call in the county. Mitchell doesn’t really fit in and referred to Missouri as Misery (clever Mitch). Cam gets annoyed when Mitchell corrected Lily from saying “Y’all” and accuses Mitchell of being stuck up for not embracing where he is from.

At ClosetCon, Claire saw her father being very friendly with a woman named Rita and wondered if he ever cheated on her Mom. Jay and Rita were planning a rookie prank on Claire (since it was her first ClosetCon) but Claire thought they were flirting with each other. She overheard them discussing a “deal” they had 20 years ago and convinced herself that they had an affair. What Claire didn’t know was the “deal” they had was Jay asked Rita to offer Phil a job in Texas so he would move and be out of Claire’s life. Jay wasn’t too fond of Phil back then and tried to get rid of him.

Alex and Haley got into a spat about a pizza delivery guy they both were interested in. Somehow, they both got their hair stuck in one of Jay’s airplane models and blamed each other for it. Gloria was fed up with their bickering and left them tangled, and said it should be “Sisters before Misters” and left them to work it out.

Back on the farm, Cam’s grandmother stops by and they never told her that Cam was gay because they feared it might push her over the edge; according to Cam she was on her second death bed. So Cam asked Mitchell to pose as a new farm hand named Bud. Mitchell doesn’t want to live a lie in front of Lily so it causes tension. Mitchell just wanted to take Lily and go to a hotel (well a motel in that area) but the tornado alarms were going off and they were stuck.

At Gloria’s place, Phil, Manny, and Luke make a video call to Frank (Phil’s Dad) to help them put the Apollo 13 model back together. Alex and Haley finally made up and Gloria easily gets their hair untangled from the airplane model.

Back on the farm, everyone went in the basement. Mitchell went along with Cam’s plan even though he didn’t want to. Cam’s grandmother thought Lily was cute and said she wished she had a great-grandbaby to spoil. Cam thought this was the perfect time to spill the beans and he told her that he was in love, and had a daughter, and was about to get married to Mitchell. She was happy until he got to the “Mitchell” part. She said, “I know why God sent us this tornado.” Ouch.

At ClosetCon, Claire asked Jay about Rita. They get their signals crossed because she thought he was admitting to an affair, and he thought she found out he tried to get rid of Phil. Once he had to explain the real “deal” he had with Rita, Claire was furious. Jay reminded her that he got a call from immigration when he was dating Gloria and we realize how much Claire is like her Dad. Claire settled down and all was well after their chat.

Back at Gloria’s everyone is patiently waiting as Phil puts the finishing touches on the Apollo 13 model. When he finished it successfully, everyone celebrates and hugs. Way to go Phil! Phil’s celebration was cut short when baby Joe had the remote to an airplane and sent it flying right into Phil’s face which sent him to the floor. Hilarious! Baby Joe fits right in this wacky family.

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