Modern Family's Fantastic Finale, "The One that Got Away"

Oh thank you oh powerful and creative "Modern Family" gods for giving us another finale. Another finale you ask? On the May 11th "Modern Family" , they aired a great new show, that seemed like a finale. It was a graduation with the usual - the family getting together despite all of the obstacles yada, yada, yada. It would have been a great way to end the season, however, the creative geniuses on this show had another fantastic episode this week which was their actual season finale.

The finale was all about Jay's birthday. As the patriarch of this funny, yet loving, family, as well as a a step-dad with a young wife and almost teenage step-son, if you are a fan, you know Jay's birthday is not going to go the way he wants it to. But you also know, he will probably give into it in the end. Jay has definitely become softer, in his old age I suppose, as the show has progressed. Don't worry, he can still be the same stick-in-the-mud we all love, but when his rare tender side does show up, it certainly is a sight to be seen.

Jay wants to go fishing on his birthday. Nothing more, nothing less. He has given in to letting the family give him a party at night, but during the day, he wants to be alone on a lake, in a boat, fishing. This does not happen. Not even close. Unfortunately, he has his and Gloria's cell phone, so when the dog groomer calls to say it's time to pick their dog up, Jay has to go.

Claire and Mitchell try to recreate a picture their mom and dad (Jay) took of them as kids - Mitchell in a sailor suit and Claire with braids and a very seventies looking t-shirt. They put on the outfits and head over to their old house to ask the family that lives there now if they can take a picture in the backyard. The picture is a present for Jay. When they get to the house, no one is home, so they of course, jump over the fence, all Claire's idea. When a dog runs into the yard, they climb the tree house and have to call Jay to pick them up and bail them out. Yup, still no fishing.

Cameron dropped off his daughter Lily with Gloria because he and Mitchell needed a break. Lily is going through a period where she is crying a lot, and they need a break. Because Gloria now has Lily, she asks Cameron to pick up Jay's cake at the bakery. Unfortunately, he is giving Jay's step-son Manny advice regarding a girl he likes over the phone, but he sounds like a child predator and gets kicked out of the bakery. He has to call Jay to come get him and the cake from the bakery. After all, Jay still has Gloria's phone too, so he is the one who gets all these calls for help.

Phil happens to see Gloria while he is out in town, and when an old college buddy he was jealous of shows up, he acts like Gloria is his very hot wife. The college buddy sees her in a dress shop, trying on sexy dresses and tells Phil how lucky he is, however, he wondered who married Claire Pritchett because he was always jealous of Phil who dated her in college. Now Phil feels like an ass because he realizes his wife is hot too, and he is a lucky man which he tells her over and over when he sees her. I think we can all relate to this story.

In the end, Jay does not get to fish. The newly groomed dog knocks over the cake from the bakery. The wine Claire brought as a gift is empty since she and Mitchell drank it when they were stuck in the tree house, and the video the kids worked on all year apparently, and then tried to edit, only lasted thirty seconds because all the takes they got were not exactly warm and cuddly.

But Manny is the saving grace. When they look to see where he went, they go outside of the house and there is Manny, in a fishing boat in the middle of the pool, waiting for Jay. It is a touching moment, I had a tear, between a step-son and step-father, and although Jay is Jay, he is upset he did not get his alone day at the lake, he is more than pleased with what Manny did for him.

Brilliant!

"Modern Family" airs on Wednesday nights on ABC. New episodes will start in the fall of 2011.

"Modern Family" May 11th
The Character Haley Dunphy on "Modern Family"