Quick Take: Modern Family, “Dude Ranch” & “When Good Kids Go Bad”
“Cam! I did a boy thing – I blew up the bird house!” – Mitchell
Review: Modern Family, “Dude Ranch” & “When Goods Kids Go Bad”
(S0301) It’s been a long summer without television’s most bizarrely-extended, extended family. Starting fresh with two Emmy awards for Best Supporting Actor (Ty Burrell) and Supporting Actress (Julie Bowen), Modern Family is everything the title promises and so much more. Although there’s nothing inspired about the mockumentary-style cuts intermingled with character commentaries (you can find the same style in such shows as The Office and Parks and Recreation), the character chemistry is pristine. Unlike most sitcoms, which are carried by only one or two leads, Modern Family boasts a stellar ensemble cast, each fully capable of carrying their own spinoff... which hopefully it’ll never come to, because they work so damn well together.
This week’s hour premiere started off with the whole family once again embarking on a vacation. At the end of last season, the Pritchetts, Dunphys, et al. embarked on a cathartic beachside vacation, culminating in Claire and Phil renewing their vows. The premiere is not much different, as the first half-hour picks up with everyone en route to a Dude Ranch. It’s clear that some time has passed since we last saw our favourite “relative” relatives, as is most evident with Cam and Mitchell’s adopted daughter, Lily (the newly cast Aubrey Anderson-Emmons), especially in the final half-hour.
“Dude Ranch” picks up on a lot of the lingering tensions between family members that have been developed thus far. Phil feels that Jay doesn’t respect him, not only as his stepson, but as a man – when asked who his stepson is, Jay replies with “Phil is,” pronounced like Phyllis. Claire’s stubbornness pushes Hayley into acting more or less like she did when she was a teen, or so we’re led to believe. And Cam and Mitchell confront their own macho-ness when faced with the prospect of adopting a son. Just to name a few. The kids are up to their usual hijinks as well, with Luke looking to blow something up, and Alex finding herself torn between her head and her hormones when she meets an ironically confident dullard who steals her first kiss.
Hayley’s almost not-quite rock-star boyfriend, Dylan (recurring star Reid Ewing), also accompanies everyone on the trip - much to Claire’s chagrin. When Phil points out that Claire is treating Dylan like Jay treats Phil, Claire tries to make amends, a gesture which Dylan misinterprets as an offer to fulfill every eighteen-year-old’s fantasy. He respectfully declines before she even realizes what he’s thinking and runs away in disgust – but really, who actually knows what Dylan is thinking? That night at the campfire, he makes a grandiose proposal to Hayley, which Claire immediately shoots down. Hayley then runs away upset, only to shoot Dylan down herself, leading to his disappearance and ultimate decision to stay behind to be a rancher.
Although the stories often revolve around very typical family problems, the show definitely pushes itself to its extremes to get the best laughs out of situations that we’ve all faced – or are at least bound to – growing up surrounded by a loving family. The second half-hour, “When Good Kids Go Bad,” is a prime example, revolving around Lily’s reaction to the news of getting a baby brother, and Claire’s incessant need – her “sickness” – to always be right. At one point, Cam goes so far as to not even utter the word “baby” around Lily, lest a chillingly cute “kill the baby” be heard from around the corner. Lily has always been a bit of a problem child – past episodes have dealt with her biting and hitting phases – and now the mixture of Cam’s intense coddling and Mitch’s inability to share have made quite the impression on her. I am beyond excited for Lily to finally be speaking - the innocence of childhood is so wonderfully hilarious when there’s an ace writing team coordinating it all.
I guess the only people I haven’t really mentioned are Gloria and Manny. Gloria’s ears are plugged for the first episode, so she yells a lot – louder than usual, I suppose. Manny gets himself into trouble at school, and so like any awesome mother would do, Gloria subtly threatens the principal with a “Colombian necktie,” and then breaks into one of Manny’s classmate’s lockers to stash the evidence of any wrongdoing. The show’s creators are continuing to exploit Sofia Vergara’s Colombian heritage and talents, which provide a deep pool from which to fish around for details regarding Gloria’s mysterious past. Just why, exactly, does she need to know how to shoot guns, ride horses, and pick locks? I’d wait ten more seasons to find out.
Totally agree -- this is a superior comedy that does it the "old fashioned" way via strong writing, strong characters, strong acting. And it's funny -- that never hurts.
But beyond the now modern but fairly typically mockumentary one-camera style, there's nothing fancy at work here at all.