Modern Family: Planes, Trains & Cars

KIP MOONEY: This week’s installment was just a great, low-stakes bit of comfort food. There were no big speeches or anything that was howlingly funny. It was just a consistently chuckle-filled half hour, and sometimes sitcoms need those.

After Lily loses her favorite stuffed animal on the subway, Mitch and Cam debate whether they should look for it or let her grow up without it. Mitch thinks Lily should get over it, since he lost his Luke Skywalker doll (in shorty robe!) as a kid and Jay didn’t look for it. “And I want you and our daughter to have as great a relationship as you and your dad,” Cam retorts. They eventually find the toy, but it’s in the clutches of a sickly hobo. So much for that.

Meanwhile, Jay plans to take Manny and Gloria to Pebble Beach for a high school reunion. He wants to pull out all the stops: expensive watch, private plane, etc. to impress his old teammates, but of course things don’t go as planned. Gloria refuses to ride in the puddle jumper, so they make the drive only to get a blown tire along the way. Eventually, Gloria forgets her fear and takes a ride in a helicopter from the shady mechanic, all to make Jay happy.

But the episode started with Phil ditching his lease on a Cadillac to buy a ’91 Porsche convertible, egged on by his buddy Kevin Hart (remember he guest-starred a few months ago–man, this show really drops the ball on new characters). Claire holds her tongue at Phil getting such an impractical car and takes it out for a joy ride up the coast, only to lose the keys on the beach. When Phil comes to bring her the spare key, they make a pact to return to the beach once a month like they used to. It’s a nice moment for a little episode, but one it was impossible not to enjoy.

BEST LINES:
Cam: “We’ll just get on the next one until they catch up.”
Mitch: “Trains don’t catch up. That’s called a collision.”

Jay: “It’s either this or the motel.”
Manny: “Uh-oh! You lose a lot of amenities when you go from an H to an M.”
Jay: “When I met you, you were eating cereal out of a bucket.”

Phil: “When you’re driving the kids, they’re in the back, they forget you’re there. You learn a lot about them. I’m like Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist. Except gorillas make less chewing noise.”