‘Modern Family’: ‘Every gay father’s worst nightmare’
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Facing your fears is always a rewarding challenge that leads to personal growth -- unless of course you have an irrational fear of pickles, peaches or cotton balls.
The fears the “Modern Family” clan were hoping to get over are all ones we’ve all dealt with at some point in our lives: Phil’s afraid of creepy crawlies (I also think Phil would be afraid of peaches and cotton balls too), Manny is afraid of roller-coasters, Haley is afraid of failing her driving test for a third time and Cam and Mitchell are afraid that Lily won’t know to call them “daddy.’
Thankfully my fear of a subpar episode didn’t become a reality, after a few weeks off (which are always tough to fathom even if there are two repeats that night) the show came back with a punchy and fast-paced episode that was heavy on laughs and light on the sappy charm.
Like the Valentine’s Day episode, the show took this simple theme and weaved it through all the households brilliantly.
Phil and Luke decide, after annoying Claire with their constant hypothesizing, to venture into the crawlspace to see what treasures lie beneath. Phil even bought matching jumpsuits and goggles for him and Luke, which was beyond adorable. I could watch Phil and Luke interact for hours on end. They feed off one another’s goofiness, which always make for stellar laughs. You almost want to live inside of their head to see what exactly the thought process is – especially when Phil decides to send a video camera attached to a race car into the crawlspace after seeing a four-legged friend. I’m sure he saw this in some spy movie or on TV, except they usually have a monitor to watch where the camera is going.
Manny decides to pull the sick card to get out of a friend’s party, all because he is afraid of roller-coasters. Totally rational. I used to be deathly afraid of the those things -- the loops, the height, the speed, and there are still some that make me shake in my pants, but every time I’m scared there is always that one kid in line ready to get strapped in and go. We find out that Jay is also afraid of rides, and when Gloria cons them to go to Santa Monica Pier for a fishing outfit (Manny’s fishing outfit – too adorable for words) they all reluctantly get on, and it made for one delightful moment that we rarely get to see all three share together.
But, without a doubt, it was Cameron and Mitchell that really made this episode soar.
They decided – well, OK, Cam made the decision – to invite their pediatrician (you might remember her from the LOL-worthy Lily moment when she got tossed in the air wearing a Diana Ross wig) over in order to get on her good side and of course benefit Lily, especially during flu season.
But when Lily calls the pediatrician “mommy,” a gay dad’s worst fear is realized and all bets, and political correctness, was off the table.
“You know it’s because you’re Asian, right? No, I’m sorry, am I just supposed to ignore the giant panda in the room?” Cam said explaining why it happened.
What was brilliant was how the pediatrician held her own. She was funny in a deadpan sort of way the first time we saw her, and it was a great idea to bring her back. Watching her face as she started to correct them on the fact that pandas are from China when she’s Japanese before throwing in the towel was beyond hilarious. And I almost spit out my wine when they slid in the stereotype of the bad Asian driver, as she took out the trash cans and sideswiped a car pulling out of the driveway and claimed she didn’t see them. Absolute perfection. It reminded me of an accident that I had where a driver didn’t yield against traffic and demolished the side of my car and asked, “Why did you hit me?” I won’t say her race ... I won’t.
Speaking of poor driving, I felt 16 years old again watching Haley get her driver’s license. It’s such a milestone in life and as a teenager it’s life or death if you don’t get them. And because I failed my test the first time around (I ran a stop sign that was tucked behind a tree, I swear), I felt Haley’s pain. It was great that she and Alex (she was afraid no one would ask her to dance) got sub-plots that carried through the whole episode. They often get overshadowed by Manny’s charm and Luke’s dopiness.
Whatever irrational fears I may have personally (men with long fingernails, elevators, needles to name a few) the fear of another week of no new ‘Modern Family’ is this writer’s worst nightmare.
-- Gerrick D. Kennedy (Follow me on Twitter @GerrickKennedy)
Lily’s first words weren’t ‘daddy’; Cam and Mitchell celebrate. Credit: ABC
Related:
Complete coverage of ‘Modern Family’ on Show Tracker
