Modern Family Review - 3.11 'Lifetime Supply'
Posted by Michael Adams on 01.04.2012
Phil prepares for his demise after a routine check-up at the doctors, Jay and Manny go off to the races with Manny's father and Mitchell competes with Cam to see who has the biggest trophy! 411's Michael Adams checks in with his full review!
The Modern 411...
- Phil is at the doctor getting a check up. He has some pain in his arm, so they are going to run some tests on him, but not before the rectal exam! I dread the day this happens to me.
- Mitchell won an award for “Distinguished Service in Environmental Law”, the Oscar of the law community.
- Last night, Gloria had a dream that a black mouse showed up at the house…that mouse is Javier. He’s here to celebrate Manny’s birthday by taking him to the racetrack.
- Cam has placed one of his trophies on the mantel next to Mitchell’s.
- In his 20’s, Phil won a lifetime supply of razorblades. Now he’s out. Ironically, at the same time Phil gets a message that the Doctor called with his test results. The doc is on a flight to London and Phil can’t reach him. I know it’s a stretch, but if they kill off Phil, I’m not watching anymore!
- Mr. Kleezak is coming over to play video games with Luke.
- Manny, Jay and Javier are at the racetrack picking their horses. I guess Javier is a horse-whisperer.
- Cam’s fishing trophy has gotten bigger, over-shadowing Mitchell’s. Turns out that there is some hostility between the boys over whose award is bigger.
- Gloria is at the Dunphy’s to help Haley with her Spanish.
- Jay picks a horse, despite Javier’s persistence that it will lose.
- Alex comes to Mitchell and Cam’s to get her phone and notices Cam’s trophy. Mitchell explains the situation and Alex says that she won an award last week and Claire decided to put out Luke and Hailey’s awards too.
- Phil is watching his children go about their business and he prepares to meet his maker.
- Phil and Mr. Kleezak have a discussion about death.
- Jay’s horse, Little Bacon, who originally won the race, is DQ’d. The winner is Javier’s horse.
- After realizing he’s been petty, Mitchell gets all of Cam's awards out of the garage, but drops them when he sees a black mouse.
- Jay feels that Javier is his reminder that Manny isn’t really his son. Really nice moment.
- Everyone comes to the house to check on Phil, even though Claire says nothing is wrong.
- Jay says that doctors don’t usually call on a Saturday, so the news may not be bad. Lily asks if Phil will die.
- The doctor calls Phil….to ask for a house! He’s fine, even though Javier gives him 6 months.
- The bumper is Phil on the game show 15yrs ago. He’s a pro at both American and Chinese checkers, and is a fan of East Coast and West Coast Rap. He also gives a shout out to his friend Ling and wishes Jay and Dede a Happy Anniversary. Nice references to older episodes. Ling is Phil’s cheerleading friend who died in a crash and of course we all know that Jay and Dede are no longer married.
The Dunphys...
While at the doctor's office, Phil had some tests done and was told they would call him if anything was wrong. The next day, Luke gives Phil a message that the doctor called, but he can't be reached because he's on a plane to London. Only moments before, Phil realizes that he has run out of his lifetime supply of razors. This has Phil worried. He spends the rest of his day observing his children and telling them how much he loves them. Later that day, the entire family comes over after hearing that Phil isn't doing well. Claire tries to assure them that Phil is fine, until Jay tells her that doctors don't usually call on Saturday with good news. The phone rings and it's the doctor. Instead of giving him news about his health, the doc asks Phil for real-estate assistance. Phil will live!
The Pritchetts...
Last night, Gloria had a dream that a black mouse showed up and she took that as an omen that something bad was going to happen. At the same time, the door bell rings and Javier, Manny's father, is here to celebrate Manny's birthday. The next day, Manny, Javier and Jay go to the racetrack. Javier and Manny are raking in the winnings because Javier can see the horses souls, while Jay is losing every race because he bets with the racing form. Jay's horse wins the last race and tells off Javier. Unfortunately, the winning horse is disqualified and Jay loses. During a talking-head, Jay says that he and Manny have a really good thing going, but whenever Javier comes around, it makes him realize that Manny isn't really his son.
The Tucker-Pritchetts...
After winning a very prestigious law award, Cam decides that he is going to start putting his awards on the mantle next to Mitchell's. However, every time Mitchell turns around, the award gets bigger and starts over shadowing his own. A fight ensues between he boys and Cam comes out and says he has tons of awards that he has never put out because it wouldn't be fare to Mitchell. Later on, Mitchell realizes that he was acting childish and goes into the garage to take out Cam's awards so he can show them off. As Cam and Lily are coming home, a black mouse runs by, causing Mitchell to drop the awards.
This Week's Top Quotes... Doctor: You still exercising? Phil: Clearly. I look at a Clint Eastwood or Chuck Norris and I think ‘There’s no reason I can’t stay tough like…’(the doctor touches Phil) tickles.
Javier: Golf? That is for old men. And women who like women.
Luke: It makes it more fun because he was in a real war. He says cool things like ‘See you in hell, Klaus!’. I don’t even know what that means!
Phil: Claire, I’m tender under my arm. Claire: Maybe Luke hit you with his broomstick when you guys were playing Quidditch. Phil: I’m way too fast. He never touched me.
Javier: I only know what he tells me with his eyes. Don’t ask me why, but maybe in some previous life, I was a horse. Phil: Part of a horse.
Phil: Hey, Walt. You ever think about death? Mr. Kleezak: I’m 85! Death is my roommate.
Character of the Week... Javier Delgado. For the first time ever, a guest star has stolen the top spot(it's the top spot to me!). I find Javier to be a pretty cool guy. Suave, dapper, speaks to animals...what's not to like about him. The way Benjamin Bratt portrays him is just fantastic, because you don't want to like him, but you just can't resist him. I actually feel like I am betraying Jay for liking him, but he's just so cool. The main characters didn't stand out too much to me this week, so why not, right?
The 411: Well, we are back from the mid-season hiatus and Modern Family didn't come out of the gate too strongly(take that as a pun if you'd like). In my opinion, Express Christmas was a fantastic episode and left me wanting more MF, but this was not what I had in mind. Was it a good episode? Sure it was! They're all good episodes. But it was just too...common for me. There was nothing here that made it the award winning sitcom that it is. Benjamin Bratt was funny, but you can't rely on your guest star to make your episode great. Mr. Kleezak was only necessary to get Luke in the episode. Like I've said in the past, I like consistency when it comes to my situation comedies, and this was not consistent with the other episodes in this series. Let's get our act together Lloyd/Levitan.
