MODERN FAMILY: “Manny Get You Gun”

It was great to have MODERN FAMILY back this week! Dang you CMA’s for keeping it away from us last week! I missed my FAMILY!

It’s Manny’s birthday, and the whole family gathers to celebrate, despite their sour moods. Even Manny has had a rough time of it.  After Jay tells him that he’s never really thought of him as a kid, Manny fears he let his childhood slip away. He then decides he needs to try every childhood trick in the book including prank calling and mixing a bunch of sodas together. When I was a kid, I never did that – that sounds terrible! Is that a “thing” I missed out on as a child?

Anyway, while Manny is having a breakdown of character, Gloria is about to have a mental breakdown because she can’t find her keys. Now this, I can relate to. I missed an entire class in college one day because I couldn’t find my keys. Turns out, they were on my bed under a pair of pants so I know exactly how Gloria feels. After Jay finds Gloria’s keys in a jacket, he puts them in her purse where she already looked to teach her a lesson in organization.

Can I just say Sofia Vergara’s cleavage was on full display this week? Damn.

At the Dunphy house, Claire is yelling at the family to leave because they are going to be late. Luke says he’s ready even though he’s not wearing any shoes and then Phil does the same thing. I love how the writers make Luke and Phil so similar, like partners in crime. I find it really cute.

As they are about to leave, Phil decides they should split up to see whose way is the fastest. Of course, it’s not smooth sailing as Phil gets a flat tire and Claire decides to have a heart-to-heart with Luke after he says he’ll go with dad in the “separation.” The girls also cause a ruckus when they tell Phil they don’t want to go to family camp which causes Phil to cry which then makes them cry. I have to say, I teared up a little at this – I love my daddy too and don’t want to see him hurt either so I thought this was a very “real” moment in the show. Kudos, writers!

Cameron and Mitchell are at the mall to pick up a gift for Manny, but of course Cameron has to stop at every vendor to try their free stuff. They come across an old man on the second floor weakly trying to yell down at an old woman on the first floor. Mitchell says they don’t have time to help but Cameron bellows down at the old woman for the old man. He then decides Mitchell needs to stay with the man and give him his phone and he’ll go find the woman give her his phone and they can hash out their problem on the phone. Well, the old man drops Mitchell’s phone off the railing (at which point I would have dropped him off the railing!…OK, not really). Cameron says he must do this for them because without love, we are nothing. Turns out the old man has a wife and she’s not the woman he was beckoning at the mall.

Cam becomes frustrated with Mitchell who he says is always rushing around and missing out on the fun in life. Just as Cam is about to blow up, the sounds of En Vogue play throughout the outdoor mall. It’s a flash mob! And Mitchell is a part of it! Mitchell says in a confessional that this dance is his love letter to Cam. Well, Cam takes offense and says Mitchell has been cheating on him – with choreography, the worst offense.

Both back in the race, Phil sees Claire up ahead and lays on the gas to try to beat her. It turns out the other families are all getting to the restaurant at the same time and almost have a 4 way collision. In the restaurant, Manny gives a speech saying after watching the families act like children to get to there, he realized he has plenty of time to grow up. Crises are then resolved over wine, which sounds oddly like COUGAR TOWN, which everyone should also be watching.

What did y’all think of this week’s MODERN FAMILY? Did you cackle with laughter like I did at the sight of Phil at the previous year’s family camp wearing a “If you ain’t white, you ain’t right” T-shirt while an African-American man unloads their luggage from a taxi? Is cheating with choreography the worst kind of cheating (even though Jesse Tyler Ferguson is an adorably bad dancer)? Gloria with her gun! Brilliant! Comment below and let me know!