7.6

Modern Family: “When a Tree Falls” (Episode 4.09)

By Dalene Rovenstine  |  November 29, 2012 | 10:30am
TV Reviews Modern Family
Modern Family: “When a Tree Falls” (Episode 4.09)

This week’s Modern Family episode, “When a Tree Falls,” gave Alex purpose again. She just wasn’t the same without Haley around. Thank goodness she got kicked out of college. Now that she’s back home, she has to do community service, or what Luke calls the “chain gang.” This gives Alex the perfect opportunity to get payback since Haley posted a terrible photo of her on Facebook. The whole plot wasn’t really that funny; it did teach Alex about karma, but it was nice to see the sibling rivalry back in action.

Cam and Mitchell are also spending the day outdoors as they attempt to save a tree. Cam wants to show Lily how to stand up for something, but gets called up as the understudy in the local production of Cats. He then guilts Mitchell into taking his spot in the tree. The best thing to come out of this scenario was Cam’s return to the tree in full costume … and then him falling out of the tree in full costume.

Manny, Luke, Phil and Jay get to spend the day at Doug-lympics, “all boys, all sports, all day.” The Jay/Phil dynamic has come a long way since season one. Jay told story after story, embarrassing Phil in front of the other dads (and Phil will most likely always be the butt of Jay’s jokes), but at least they can put on pairs of oversized gloves, duke it out, and have a man-to-man chat.

And in a giant Costco advertisement, Claire and Gloria go shopping. Jay asks Claire to babysit Gloria since she has pregnancy brain. Overly dramatic (as all things Gloria usually are), this storyline might have been the funniest. It was nice to see Claire and Gloria interacting without the typical rivalry that Claire brings.

Best Lines:
“I’m torn. On one hand, I’m like, ‘Ugh, I have to pick up garbage all day.’ And on the other hand, I’m like, ‘Look at me in orange.’”—Haley
“They are literally chainsawing paradise to put up a parking lot.”—Cam
“Change out of those wingtips. You’re a kid, not Nixon on the beach.”—Jay

Discuss:
Why was “Let’s get Phils-ical” not part of the closing credits?
Is Costco really that serious about accidental shoplifting?

 
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