Modern Family recap: Jay’s wisdom proves valuable and Phil gets a new job

With the specter of death looming over Modern Family, it has been hard to focus on the laughs, but that changed with the latest episode.

The latest episode of Modern Family has been the best so far this season and perhaps going back further than that. We had plenty of laughs, everyone was at their best, and we got a life lesson at the end. This episode was light on stories, dealing with the kids in the cast and that could perhaps be a factor behind the quality of the episode but let’s dive into it.

Phil

The episode began with Phil walking into a real estate class at Luke’s college and realizing how terrible things are going. He points it out to the instructor and the guy asks if he will please teach the class instead. A conversation with the Dean (a guy he sold a house to) later and he’s now teaching the class.

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The next day, Phil tells Luke about the job and Luke immediately tells him he doesn’t want him to take it. Phil really wants the job and tries to sell it to Luke, but he’s unmoved. When Phil breaks the news to his class that he won’t be teaching them anymore they are devastated. In the short time he was there they grew to love him.

Luke is in the class and still is unmoved. He tells his dad that this is the first time he’s had his own school and he wants to keep it that way. He then gets a call that he made the football team and calls his dad back to tell him he can stay. Phil had driven off but reverses all the way back down the road and back into his parking spot. He doesn’t miss a beat and dives back into campus life.

Mitch

If you recall, late last season Mitch got a job in the DA’s office and he’s working on his first big case. He’s excited until he sees his courtroom sketch on TV (think Vincent Van Gogh’s self-portrait but with red hair). The next day in court, Cam is behind Mitch like a boxing coach giving him tips on how to avoid another bad drawing. That’s when he sees the new sketch, and this time he’s in it too.

They finally talk to the sketch artist who reminds them that he stayed in their upstairs space at one point. He overheard them talking about him and these sketches are his revenge. Cam decides to do some digging into him to find some dirt to blackmail him with and he hits the jackpot. The sketch artist has been using the executive level in the gym by swiping the card of a retired judge. Mitch then works this information in during his questioning and the sketch artist adjust accordingly. Cam and Mitch look like models in the final sketch.

Jay

Also going back to last season, Jay and Claire are finally meeting with the young tech guys that they merged the closet company with. Jay hates their free and loose style and tells them that they need to make some changes. The next day at the office the CEO comes in to thank Jay for suggesting the changes because they’ve wanted to run a tighter ship but needed someone with his presence to make it happen.

Noticing that things are different at the office, Claire, not realizing that they are happy with the change, tries to keep things fun. She ends up breaking things and running over people in a large plastic ball.

Jay’s lesson

Alex, who had been avoiding her mother by staying at Jay and Gloria’s house, is approached by Jay and asked why. She tells him that she has been considering pursuing a singing career and, though she sounds pretty good, he tells her to stick to science. He tells her the story of his favorite daredevil and how he started his business first, then went and pursued his passion. After an accident derailed his stunt career, he had his business to fall back on.

He tells Alex to see the sciences through, establish her base, then pursue music if the itch is still there. That way, she has something to fall back on. The episode ends with an accomplished Jay relaxing in a chair.

Conclusion

Modern Family has done a great job of setting the show up to survive after Jay while also giving him a strong send-off. He’s been fixing problems all season so far and that will likely continue until the fateful change. We’ll look forward to seeing what Jay fixes next.

Modern Family returns next Wednesday at 9/8 Central on ABC.