Quick Take: Modern Family, “Me? Jealous?”
“You can kiss my wife, you can take her to bed, but you can’t make her laugh.” – Phil
Review: Modern Family, “Me? Jealous?”
(S0414) What’s the key to keeping a Modern Family happy? Apparently, separate houses. When Cam and Mitchell need their house fumigated, they take up lodging with Jay and Gloria for a few days. Even though they’re the ones who are intruding on Jay and Gloria’s space, they can’t look past their own inconveniences and leave it to other people to solve their problems.
Housing situations are causing a bit of a rift between Claire and Phil as well, though in a much different way. While Phil is busy trying to woo a house listing out of his partner Tad (guest-star Greg Kinnear), Tad seems to be trying to woo Claire, showing up at their house with wine and an excuse to fix a chair without a shirt. Claire tries to share her concern with Phil – especially after Tad kisses her on the lips – but he thinks that she’s just feeling underappreciated and lets it slide.
The casting director for Modern Family continues to outdo themselves by planting yet another seed for a potential recurring guest-star. While Kinnear’s Tad comes off as a tad sleazy, Claire realizes her misconception when she sees that Phil’s co-worker kisses everyone on the lips – his daughter, his son, even his weathered grandmother. Phil finally feels threatened when Claire lets go of her tension and laughs at one of Tad’s jokes, storming out early to catch the kids in the midst of their own devices.
When Cam and Mitchell do finally adopt the son they’ve been teasing us with all season, there will be as many children on the show as there are adults. Though not quite another member of the family, Haley joins the Big Sister program and brings home her appointed Little Sister, which makes Alex jealous. They get caught up in their typical sibling rivalry only briefly, as Luke finally tells them off for being terrible sisters – both to each other and to him. Reaping the consequences of messing with the natural clash of sisters, Luke is targeted for a vicious retaliatory dress-up session, introducing viewers to “Betty-Luke.”
Manny, meanwhile, is able to sow subtler seeds of reconciliation back home. Cameron and Gloria each feel jealous of each other’s motherliness, and they both take the other’s gestures of good-will to be some devious threat to their matriarchal supremacy. Manny makes up stories about a girl in his class to try and show them how they’re acting; it takes a while for them to soften up, but after a cutely choreographed routine in the kitchen, Cam and Gloria see the light and bond over the stove.
Manny is one of most favorite characters on all of television.
Was catching up on an episode from a week or two ago this week -- the one where the family dog keeps jumping in the pool, to Phil's dismay -- and Manny runs outside after the pooch took a dive and worriedly admits that he had lost track of time as he had been caught up in his couponing. That is comedy, kids.