Quick Take: Modern Family, “Express Christmas”
“There is not a soul who can touch you when it comes to shopping and Baby, you know it. Be you.” – Claire to Hayley
Review: Modern Family, “Express Christmas”
(S0310) It’s Christmas at the Dunphy house... except it’s nine days early. When Claire and Mitchell’s mom cancels their holiday plans, and Jay reveals that he’s taking Gloria and Manny to Mexico, Phil gives the family four hours to put together the greatest Express Christmas (trademark pending) possible on such short notice.
The family pairs off to cover the most ground possible, and it starts off fairly well. Phil and Manny are on groceries, Mitchell and Alex take Lily tree-shopping, Luke and Gloria are gathering decorations, and Clare and Hayley are putting all of their years of shopping preparation into getting the gifts which Jay and Cam are wrapping. Their plans are progressively dismantled, however, making everyone reluctant to try and rush the holiday spirit.
When everyone arrives back home, it soon becomes clear that only Claire and Hayley managed to complete their tasks without a hitch. Seeing the two of them get along for a change gave the other characters opportunities to interact which we don’t get to see very often. Despite the atypical character pairings, their problems are pretty standard: Cam overreacts, Phil gets hurt, Mitchell is too proud to accept help, and someone misunderstands Gloria. But for some reason, seeing the trail of damage left by these regular obstacles – this time including broken trees, broken ornaments, and broken spirits – never gets old.
Jay ends up saving Christmas – did you see that coming? – by letting everyone else work themselves up to a point where a snow machine in the middle of an apparently hot California winter becomes the pinnacle of embracing the Christmas spirit. Though I’d argue that Community does it better, and with more layered subtlety, the closing speeches in Modern Family always manage to evoke an endearing moment that lets us know that the bond between friends and family can withstand the test of any obstacle they are confronted with, especially when that obstacle is the bond between friends and family.
