Last night’s episode wasn’t perfect, but who can complain when we get a half-dozen vasectomy puns from Phil?
The Dunphys
Uh-oh. Phil’s getting a vasectomy, or a “Snip-A-Dee-Do-Dah,” an “assectomy,” a “dumbassectomy” or a “vasecto-me, not a vasecto-you.” That’s at least four vasectomy puns packed into a single opening segment.
He’s scared about his surgery, but after Gloria got pregnant, he and Claire decided they don’t want to take any chances. Plus, they say they’re getting sick of the kids, who just complain and whine and are irresponsible.
Claire’s busy running errands. Haley’s at college, moaning that she has no clothes. Alex goes emo and plans to shave the back of her head when Claire comes in, frustrating him and causing him to accidentally shave a part of his friend’s hair off.
Haley and Alex laugh about it over video chat later – Claire’s actually a great mom, but they can’t tell her that because her ego would blow up. Claire overhears this and beams.
Meanwhile, because Claire’s so busy, Jay takes Phil to get his vasectomy. Upon seeing a previous vasectomy patient gripping his crotch, Phil panics and ditches his appointment (did anyone catch Jay saying, “What’s the plan, Phil?” in a reference to Season 2’s premiere, “The Old Wagon?”). Phil ends up sitting on a bench bearing an advertisement for his realty company and unloads to Jay, unknowingly posing for a picture next to his face on the bench. He ends up turning around to get his vasectomy.
Just before his procedure, Claire gets to his room and tells him about the kids making her happy, and they smile at each other and decide to wait to get the procedure done.
The Pritchetts
While Jay’s with Phil, Gloria takes Manny to lunch, where he says his school lost its music teacher. Gloria is convinced that she’s not showing yet, but she clearly is and she doesn’t have any maternity clothes. Manny tries to tell her that she looks pregnant and needs new clothes, but Gloria won’t hear it until her sweater pops open in the middle of the street.
The Tucker-Pritchetts
Cam’s bored around the house. Mitchell concocts a plan to get him a job at a designer store where their friend Longinus works – a store that has all Cam’s favorite shirts. It seems like a done deal, except Cam overhears that Mitchell has been trying to set him up with a job – which Cam, overreacting as always, interprets to mean that Mitch thinks Cam’s lazy.
Cameron flairs up overdramatically and in a stroke meant to prove that he loves his life, reveals his master project to Mitchell – it’s a green mermaid costume he’s been sewing for the cat, made of Lycra. Cam realizes the absurdity and declares his life is unfulfilled, and that he misses being a music teacher.
To connect the pieces, it’s revealed at the end of the episode that Cam will be the music teacher at Manny’s school.
Why the episode works
It’s twofold. Firstly, the vasectomy portion with Ty Burrell is flawless. It’s hilarious, from the writing of the puns and humor in the script to Phil’s fear – and any bonding moment with Jay is good for a laugh. Here, when it’s such an uncomfortable issue, the awkwardness between father and son-in-law is hilarious to watch. It was a great concept for the episode, which drove it forward and made it memorable.
The second reason is the connection at the end. The best Modern Family episodes are the ones that connect back to the characters. It’s brilliant how something Manny mentions in passing becomes a life turning point for Cam, and that’s another reason why the show is so well crafted – it builds off these nuances and subtle references to build the believable family atmosphere and wittiness that we love.
What could have been better
Compared to the other two highly funny and well-crafted segments, Gloria and Manny’s scenes seemed flat. Perhaps it was because it was an issue that’s been explored several times in episodes – Gloria’s looks – and just became a bit stale. It was funny when her sweater flew open and her clothes ripped, because Sofia Vergara played it up highly.
raghavendran@umdbk.com
