S9E4 "Sex, Lies & Kickball"
Claire and Phil try to have a fun, sexy night, but Claire takes two phone calls, from Alex and from Jay, and there are some funny parallels there in how Claire treats Ben and how Jay treats Phil. Alex finds the sexy painting kit that Claire and Phil had, and she insists that she and Ben use it to prove Ben to Claire. Alex leaves the painting for Claire to see, so Claire hangs the painting on the wall. This leads to an uncomfortable dinner for Phil and Ben, until Phil speaks out about what's going on. I like the idea behind this story, and it wasn't bad, but it didn't stand out in any way either.
Jay discovers that Shorty, who had moved to Costa Rica, is back in town. He tries to spend time with him, while Gloria tries to use him to fill the Manny-shaped hole in her life. Throughout this, Gloria also criticizes Jay for calling Shorty his best friend, saying it isn't something that grown men should say. This feels totally backward, as normally Gloria would encourage Jay to express how he feels. The two friends end up going to Wicked, and there's a nice ending here when Jay tells Shorty that he is always there for him.
Mitch and Cam babysit Pepper's adopted son, and they discover that Pepper and his husband have turned the kid into a mini-Pepper, and they aren't really letting him be a kid. Mitch and Cam decide to confront them, and their dramatic reactions are hilarious. The two families go to the park where they have fun, playing kickball and such, and Pepper hilariously hates it. The story takes a funny turn when it turns out the kid likes the way Pepper and his husband parent, and they end up criticizing Mitch and Cam.
Mitch and Cam's story was the highlight of the episode, it was great. The other stories of the episode were fine, but they weren't that strong.
Score: 7.5/10
What did you think of "Sex, Lies & Kickball"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!