S9E6 "Ten Years Later"
Phil is preparing a magic trick for the Jay and Gloria's tenth anniversary party, and in his preparation he discovers that he was supposed to be offered a magic shop fifteen years earlier, but it was given to someone else because he never returned their call. It's funny when he gets dramatic when he discovers that Jay got the call and Claire decided not to tell him. In the end, Claire gets him the magic shop, which seems like too easy of a solution. This story is fairly simplistic, and doesn't really resolve anything, as Phil doesn't see how childish he is being and that Claire was focused on the big picture.
Gloria is upset that she no longer fits into her wedding dress, which is part of Phil's magic trick. Jay doesn't know why she is upset, and thinks it's because Manny isn't attending, which is because he told Manny to stay away from the house and spend time at college. Jay's attempts to make Gloria happy are funny, and Joe gets some good moments here, as he has been this season. Manny, however, I'm not really enjoying at college. His behavior is getting strange. The end of the episode, where Jay finds out why Gloria is upset, leads to a sweet moment where Jay tells her that she doesn't have to keep up with these high standards she is holding herself to.
Cam, being the attention-seeking and approval-craving person that he is, plans to perform with Mitch at the party, but Mitch doesn't want to. Cam gets Lily to be Mitch's replacement in order to get Mitch on board, since Lily is such a bad singer. It seems really petty for Cam to use Lily's lack of talent like that, but Mitch agrees. At the party, Mitch refuses to give Cam a drum solo, which makes Cam upset. It's hilarious when, while Mitch tries to comfort Cam, a few of Gloria's relatives act as Cam's studio audience. Mitch tells Cam that he wouldn't have been able to do what he did without Cam pushing him to do it, so the applause was for him too. I don't really get what this story is trying to communicate, and Cam's behavior throughout it is very annoying.
Jay, Gloria, and Joe were the highlight of this episode, as they were able to be funny without being obnoxious. Phil and Cam both got a bit that way, especially Cam. Also, what is with how Modern Family likes to have most of the kids appear in an episode but not really do anything? Luke and Alex made brief appearances, and Haley was absent this week.
Score: 5/10
What did you think of "Ten Years Later"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!