Modern Family: ClosetCon '13

Modern Family Season 5, Episode 8

ABC, Wednesdays 9:00pm

By Nicole Sandoli

            This episode is called ClosetCon ’13 for a number of ingenious reasons.  ClosetCon is the name of the convention that Claire and Jay are attending to do some networking. Cam, Mitch, and Lily are visiting Cam’s farm and family in Missouri, where Cam still has yet to tell his grandma, “Gram Gram,” he is gay. Back at Jay’s house, Phil gains access to Jay’s closet that is usually locked with all his keepsakes.  This week, we are back to the mockumentary tv formula with multiple plot lines happening at once.

            At ClosetCon, Jay is less than enthused to be there, while Claire is excited for the experience. Jay runs into an old colleague named Rita, who gets Claire to thinking Jay has had an affair with. She is only given this idea because of what the bartender says to her moments before, “Let’s just say when the name tags come on, the wedding rings come off.” Jay mingles with some old friends, but him and Rita seem to be closer than the rest.

            Cam and Mitch being in Missouri is hilarious in itself.  Mitch is clearly out of place, while Cam thrives as a farm-body. Cam’s over-touchy mother continues to make Mitch uncomfortable, and Lily starts to use Cam’s southern lingo.  Perhaps the best part in this story is when Mitch tells the camera, “Missouri…misery, huh?” This line could not be more perfect to describe exactly how he feels about Cam’s ridiculous farm life and chores.

            Back at the Pritchett's, Phil, Luke, Gloria, Manny, Alex, and Haley have plans to go out for dinner.  Haley and Alex fight over the pizza delivery boy and who likes him more. Phil gets sidetracked before their reservation, and starts to play with Jay’s collectibles that are in a closet in the kitchen.  He has a blast going through Jay’s stuff because that door is usually locked.  In there, he finds a plethora of airplanes and baseballs, but is specifically infatuated with a replica of the Apollo 13 aircraft. What happens next is predictable Phil – he knocks it on the floor and it shatters into a hundred pieces. As they all panic, Phil makes Gloria cancel the reservation, which is ironically at a place called Houston’s.

            At ClosetCon, Claire happily attends all the sessions and meets up with her father before dinner.  She finds him with Rita outside their door, and her suspicion continues. What she doesn’t know, is that Rita and Jay have a tradition of hanging a skeleton in the closet to scare someone they know, which in this case is Claire. When Jay blows Claire off for dinner, and she asks him about his situation with Rita before they both go to bed.  He explains that he only used Rita once to try and get Phil to move away and break-up with Claire.  Naturally, this wasn’t what Claire was referring to, so more information is revealed – coming out of another “closet.”  She corrects him and meant about the affair, but is now angry that he tried to split them up and goes for her coat in the closet to leave the room  She sees the skeleton and is not amused as she heads for the front door. Jay fires back that he received a call from immigration when he was dating Gloria, which shuts Claire right up and puts her back in bed.

            Mitch has had a change of heart and decides to embrace Cam’s upbringing, emerging in overalls and a plaid shirt.  In the meantime, Cam’s grandma showed up unexpectedly, and still doesn’t know that Cam has a partner and a child.  Cam pretends that Mitch is their helper named Bud, which causes a tiff between them and discussing acceptance. When they are locked in the basement because of a tornado warning, Mitch agrees to pretend he is the help and Lily is his daughter. Right before Mitch can elaborate too much, Cam stops him to break the news to his grandmother. Naturally she isn’t happy when he says he has a child with a man and she comments, “Now I know why God gave us this storm.”

            Phil and the boys have his dad on Skype, in hopes of him helping them glue the plane back together.  Alex and Haley get stuck to the same airplane propeller, and they fight over who will answer the door for the pizza boy. They continue to bicker, and apologize to each other right before Gloria threatens to cut their hair. Phil orders the boys to leave the garage so he can add the finishing touches, and the rest of the family watches from the new security system Gloria had installed. It is humorous to see everyone gathered around the screen barely breathing, as if it were an important surgery.  He glues the final piece together, and they all let out a huge sigh and celebrate with Phil's favorite gesture - hugging.

            Overall, this episode was pretty so-so. The laughs were there, but I wasn’t hysterical the whole time.  The title of the episode was great for tying in the three separate stories, though. It was important they tied the themes together, as it unified the episode.  Claire acts like Phil at some points in this episode, which is interesting to see his characteristics rubbing off on her. Jay runs as the dominant male out of the three families, and it’s nice to see him as powerful at the conference – knowing and mingling with everyone. Mitch and Cam always end on a happy note, being strong for Lily and showing their love for each other. Phil somehow always manages to pull through, despite his clumsiness. Alex and Haley make up…until their next fight. It was a typical Modern Family episode, but hopefully the next episode will hold my attention better.

How I Met Your Mother

Season 9, Episode 9

Starring Josh Randor, Jason Segal, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders & Neil Patrick Harris
CBS, Mondays 8pm

By Nick Palumbo

            With only 27 hours left before the wedding, Barney and Robin are still searching for someone who can officiate their wedding due to the death of their previous minister. When it seems like all hope is lost, James (Wayne Brady) Barney’s brother, comes to save the day. James’ father, Sam Gibbs (Ben Vereen), is a minister and agrees to perform the entire ceremony. Upon this good news, Barney’s father Jerome (John Lithgow) arrives at the wedding with his wife. After not seeing each other for many years, Barney begins to wonder how his parents will react to seeing one another. Barney, excited after seeing that Jerome and Loretta still get along well after all these years, thinks there is a possibility of the two actually getting back together.

         After careful thought, Barney put a plan into to action to get his mom and dad back together. The plan consisted of sending his stepmother in a limo ride with Ranjit (Marshall Manesh), and getting Jerome and Loretta trapped on an elevator together. Once Barney had trapped his parents in the elevator he provides them with a champagne dinner and also drenches them in water in an effort to get them to disrobe. Realizing what Barney is trying to do, both his parents refuse to go any further with the game he is playing. Finally, James comes to the rescue and takes Loretta and Jerome out of the elevator. James tells Barney what he is doing is wrong because he is trying to get Sam and Loretta back together. Both Barney and James begin to argue who is better for their mother and only seem to think their own father is better. Soon both James and Barney learn that Loretta and Sam had actually resumed their relationship from when the gang originally found Sam in Long Island. Even though Barney is initially upset with the news, Robin convinces him that James needs his parents to get together after all he is personally going through. After realizing that and the happiness of his mother, Barney agrees and gives Sam and Loretta his blessing.

            As all of that is going on, Barney has entrusted Ted with an autographed photo of Wayne Gretzky, which is to be a gift to Robin at their wedding. Ted leaves it in his room, only to come back to it covered in his calligraphy ink. The ink has covered the entire photo and it must be fixed. Ted not convinced this was an accident, begins his investigation on who spilt his ink. The three main suspects are, Billy Zabka, Robin’s one cousin, and a waiter at the hotel. The number one suspect in Ted’s eyes is Billy Zabka, who he believes did this in order to reclaim the best man position. However we learn that Zabka was getting a massage at the time, and when the other two suspects are discounted, Lily convinces Ted that he is being paranoid and that his own carelessness caused the accident. However, both Ted and Lily discover new information. Lily finds out that the photo covered in ink is actually a picture of Zabka and Ted finds out that Jerome was actually getting a massage in Zabka’s name. They both go to confront Zabka where he confesses that the "bad guy" roles he played in the 1980s led to widespread hate, and being temporarily promoted as best man was a rare affirmation of his character. Zabka intended to be the 'good guy' by finding a replacement for the photo in hopes to regain the best man position. However, even though his intentions were good Zabka realizes that he allowed himself to truly become a bad guy and he apologizes for that. Feeling sympathetic, Ted tells Barney Zabka’s version of the story, however Barney doesn’t reassign the best man duties.

            Now away from the wedding, Daphne and Marshall seem to finally get along well together. However things change when Daphne’s daughter tells her not to attend her Model UN speech upon hearing her mother might not make it anyway. Daphne explains that her daughter, who lives with her ex-husband, doesn't understand that Daphne spends time away to support the family. Marshall insists that they go to speech because if her daughter sees her she will forgive her. Daphne however, thinks differently and says it would just upset her more now because she asked me not to come. Eventually Marshall drives to the school that Daphne’s daughter’s speech is at and tells Daphne she made it and has to go in. When they get inside they see Daphne’s daughter about to give her speech. Daphne is proud when her daughter gives an aggressive speech that praises oil and denounces environmentalism. Marshall, feeling uneasy, says farewell to Daphne and excuses himself and Marvin to continue their journey to Farhampton.

            Overall this episode is one of many “filler” episodes in the last two seasons. Of course you get your typical comedy and things you love out of the show but moving forward this episode only told you two major things. One that Barney wants Ted to be his best man no matter what and two Marshall is that much closer to the wedding. Personally I thought the episode was just ok. I really looked forward to Season Nine having a bigger story with “The Mother”, but only three episodes have actually had her in it. I think that eventually “The Mother” will become a bigger part of the season but until then we might have to see some “fillers” till then. 

How I Met Your Mother

Season 9, Episode 9

Starring Josh Randor, Jason Segal, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders & Neil Patrick Harris
CBS, Mondays 8pm

By Nick Palumbo

With 31 hours left before the wedding, things haven’t looked too good for Robin. With the news, from last episode, of her mother not coming to the wedding Robin just can’t stop crying. Barney, Ted and Lily try to comfort her and make her feel better, only for Barney to take on the challenge of making Robin stop crying. Robin, being how she is, tells Barney that she has to get through this on her own. However, according to Barney once he has accepted a challenge he has to complete it.  Lily then claims that Barney never finished a challenge to pick up diapers and samosas in the fall 

of 2012, a challenge we later find out was given to him by Robin and herself. Hearing this Barney then recounts the story of why he never finished that challenge.

The story opens up with the Barney discussing to the gang that there is no male/female relationship that is platonic. A platonic relationship, for those of you who don’t know, is that of a male and female who have no chance of “hooking up”. However Barney then retracts his statement to say that he knows only one relationship that is like that, the one between Marshall and Lily. Barney points out that Marshall would never hook up with Robin even if all their lives were at stake. Barney still running his plays on women, continuously keeps saying “challenge accepted” to picking up different women. Lily, finally fed up with Barney's own creative plays to pick up women, dares him to take up challenges that she and Robin will choose. First on the list was getting a woman's number while speaking like a dolphin. Once completed a second challenge was given. This one was getting a girls number while wearing a garbage bag and not using any word that has the letter E. Seeing that Barney has passed all their challenges, Lily and Robin decide to make him do an errand for them, he had to buy Lily a pack of diapers for Marvin and samosas for Robin. Barney quickly realizes that this is an errand not a challenge and to make him do it Lily added in picking up a girl while getting these items. Barney once again was off to complete his challenge. 

Barney buys the items and then attempts to pick up a woman. As he approaches this random girl and she turns around, we see that it is “The Mother”. Barney tries to make his move on her only to get turned down. “The Mother” sees through the little game Barney is playing and calls his bluff. She tells him that “everything is going to be ok” and walks away. As she walks away Barney tries to pick up another woman only to return to “The Mother”. Eventually Barney opens up to her and tells her the entire story about him and Robin. Eventually he realizes that he his just a short time away from possibly getting Robin back. However, “The Mother” tells him something different. She says, “This will take all your time, all your effort and all our resources.” Realizing this Barney goes home to write his last and final play, “The Robin”.

While this is going on Marshall and Ted are at a Harlem Globetrotters game versus the Washington Generals. While at the game they discuss Ted’s true feelings for Robin and if he will do anything about it. Ted tells Marshall that he isn’t interested in Robin and will not pursue her again. Marshall disagrees of course and tells Ted that people change and that Robin could have feelings for Ted now, that she may have changed her mind. During the game Ted receives a hone call from his old boss Hammond Druthers (Bryan Cranston). Druthers is calling because he wants to offer Ted a job in Chicago with all the success he has had over his GNB building.  Ted initially refuses the job, but then tells Druthers he would consider it. When Marshall and Ted return home from the game, Ted sees Robin eating olives. Surprised by this, because in the pilot episode we know Robin hates olives, Ted calls Robin out on it only for her to say, “I guess I changed my mind.” Thinking about the conversation that Marshall and him had earlier, Ted calls Druthers back to tell him he can’t take the job. Ted now thinks he has another shot with Robin, but he has no intention to pursue her immediately, that he wants to let fate bring them together.

We then flash-forward back to present day where Barney finishes telling the story of he quest to get Robin. He says that he didn’t know who that woman was, but that she set him straight. He had only one goal from that day on, and it was to make Robin fall in love with him. Upon the completion of the story Robin kisses Barney telling him his challenge is completed.

            What makes this episode special is there is a lot of foreshadowing towards the future since it was a flashback. We already know a majority of things that happen but we never truly knew how they came to be. This episode clears all of that up.  We see why Ted is moving to Chicago and we see how Barney began his quest to write his final “play”. Along with that fellow QU Bobcat, George Sloan class of ’04, wrote the episode. Overall this episode gives us great background of things we already know. 

Modern Family: "A Fair to Remember"

Modern Family: Season 5, Episode 7

ABC, Wednesdays 9:00pm

By Nicole Sandoli

One of the best things about this episode is that it is all takes place in real time and in one location. All of the characters are together at the fair participating in their own activities, with the exception of Haley. As we follow them around, we are introduced to their current conflicts that end with some strange resolutions.

            The episode starts with Alex, Haley, and Luke bringing their parents breakfast for their 20th  anniversary. They loudly make their entrance in the episode, as they stomp up the stairs to let Phil and Claire know they are on their way to their bedroom.  Soon enough, we find out that Phil plans to sing to Claire at the fair for their anniversary. We catch a glimpse of him practicing with Cam, and let’s just say he’s not much of a singer or lyrical genius.

            Jay, Gloria, and Manny are on their way to the fair because Manny is competing in the cake competition.  As they are about to pull into a parking spot, another man and his family tries to turn in at the same time. Naturally, Jay’s quick temper causes him to start a fight with the man.  While the two men bicker, the rest of their families get out of the car – leaving the men to settle it on their own.

            Cam and Mitch have their own situation to deal with, but it’s always more of Cam’s issue. Cam has been coaching the football team and is stressed because they keep losing. I think this has been one of the best elements added to the show.  Making Cam the coach of the football team gives more depth to his character, and it is kind of ironic.  Although he uses quirky analogies, like the football is their baby, he remains passionate about the sport and wants them to do well. When a parent threatens to pull his student from the team, it only increases his stress.

           Luke approaches Alex to ask for advice about a girl.  She drops a snooty comment, but wants to hear about it. Her friend Sienna comes over and greets her with a hug right before Luke can say anything else.  Sienna is new to the school and hasn’t figured out that Alex is not part of the high social status.  As they talk, Alex tries to mimic her behavior and agrees to anything she says in hopes of keeping her as a best friend.

            Back at home, Haley strolls into Jay and Gloria’s kitchen to grab a beer and sit by the pool.  To her surprise, Andy (the male nanny), is right behind her to nail her with questions and prove his authority. Ruthless as ever, Haley doesn’t let the new nanny tell her what to do. She pretends to flirt with him so he won’t tell Jay, but just grabs a beer and heads to the pool anyway.  It's a typical Haley move as she walks around like she owns the place.

            At the fair, Jay has been assigned as a fair cop with Derrick, the man who took his parking spot.  Their tension continues to grow as they ride through the fair making fake arrests and throwing people in jail.  Jay makes fun of his blouse, while Derrick teases him about his age.  The best moment between the two of them, though, is when one of their fake arrestees throws his food on Derrick.  Jay sits with him on the bench, and the scene is acted out as if Derrick has been shot. It’s hilarious because Jay tells him he is going to make it and holds his hand for support, as if he had really been wounded.

            While this is going on, Cam gives his team a pep talk. He uses the hammer game to demonstrate his strength, but he only reaches the bar “girly man.”  Alex is thrown in jail and is told by her mom that Luke has a crush on her friend Sienna. Haley argues with Manny about the beer by the pool. Gloria messes up Manny’s cake so he leave the competition and fit in with the other kids. Claire tries to get Phil to leave because the present she got Phil arrives earlier than expected.

            Just before Phil goes on stage, their pharmacist performs with The Dad Beats. He blows everyone away, and Phil says, “Turns out Harold Grossman, our pharmacist, is a rock star. His voice is the drug he should be dispensing, because apparently it’s a cure for everything.”  After following that act, Phil is called to the stage for his song.  He shouts out a fake license plate number of a car being towed and quickly walks off stage.

            Alex ends up “escaping” jail and throws Luke under the bus while he is with Sienna.  Luke and Alex bring each other down, which results in Sienna getting creeped out and walking away.  Gloria admits she wants Manny to fit in with the kids his age so she destroyed his cake and apologizes.  After they fix his cake, they bust through the crowd to try to make it back to the contest.  As Manny plows people out of the way, Cam realizes Manny is exactly what he needs for the team.

            The best part is the ending, when Claire reveals her gift to Phil back at home. She gives him the gift of China with Chinese acrobats, and he is nothing but ecstatic. He is always happy over the smallest things, and Claire delivered the perfect gift for his personality. It was a sentimental ending to the episode, as we went through the entire day with the families.  The entire episode wasn’t focused on their anniversary, but the little, cute gestures are what defines Phil and Claire’s relationship.

Castle: "Like Father, Like Daughter"

Castle: Season 6, Episode 7

ABC, Mondays 10pm

By Nicole Sandoli

            Last week, we left with Castle and Alexis on bad terms.  In “Like Father, Like Daughter,” Alexis turns to Castle when she knows she needs him the most. One of the great things about this episode is that Alexis is the main focus. She usually makes her routine appearances at the beginning and ending of an episode, but this time she shines as one of the main characters.  This episode also gives us a break from Pi, which is sort of refreshing, as we slowly watch Alexis and Castle mend their relationship.

            We always knew Alexis was smart, but we have gotten lost in what she has been up to since Pi and studying abroad. Although Castle pokes fun at Pi and his lightheartedness, Alexis has kept her career focus and intellectual demeanor.  When she joins the Innocence Review, she turns to her father for help – regardless of their recent dispute.

            Alexis is trying to clear a man on death row that she believes to be innocent.  When there are only three days left before his execution and his last appeal is rejected, she asks Castle to help her with the case.  Castle eagerly agrees to help her, but Alexis reminds him that their trip will be strictly about the case.  As they travel to Pennsylvania, Castle tells Alexis they might not be able to prove his innocence, and he doesn’t want to let her down.

            Alexis is shown in a new light, and she’s surprisingly good at it.  Instead of Beckett and Castle on a case, it is Alexis and Castle.  Alexis takes control as she leads the interviews and gives her father background on the case. Although it is weird to see Castle following someone other than Beckett, it is interesting to see the similarities Alexis and Beckett possess.  Alexis leads the investigation, stressed because of the time limit. She is meticulous as she goes through the files and she makes sure she has all of the facts.  It is ironic to see that the chemistry of Alexis and her father mimics that of him and Beckett.  They even finish each other’s thoughts like Castle and Beckett, which I can’t tell if that’s creepy or not.

            Another element that makes this episode captivating is that we see the murder take place in the very beginning.  Instead of Castle and Beckett just arriving at a crime scene and work backwards, we are shown the suspected murder scenario as predicted by the court.  As Alexis conducts rounds of interviews for a final time, Castle is able to pick up on little details – which he is known for.  As we would love to see Castle and Alexis prove the convict’s innocence by themselves, it wouldn’t be an episode of Castle if we didn’t see Beckett, Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie.  Alexis reaches out to the team to follow up on minor things, but she surprisingly doesn’t reach out to her future stepmother, Beckett.  This causes Beckett to anxiously ask Lanie for advice, knowing that Alexis has come to her for many things before.

            Of course they prove the man’s innocence, freeing him from execution and allowing him to be reunited with his fiancé.  Alexis and Castle agreed to work on their relationship, as we knew they could never be in a fight for too long.  When they arrive back in New York, the last scene shows Beckett and Alexis talking from a distance.  While we don’t hear their conversation, the episode ends with them hugging. I personally wasn’t a fan of this because I wanted to know why Alexis recently started being cold to Beckett.  Maybe it was because she now had to fight for her father’s attention? Regardless of the reason, the ending scene makes us feel that the family is going to be happy after all.

            I loved how this episode was structured and how Alexis was the leading lady for once.  I think this is important to incorporate because she has always been Castle’s little girl.  We’ve seen her grown up throughout the seasons, and this episode confirms her maturity. It’s strategic for the writers to switch it up a bit, especially now that Beckett is back at the NYPD with the old crew.  Molly Quinn (Alexis) is a strong and passionate actress, and it was exciting to see her in the spotlight. Hopefully there will be more episodes like this one!