S11.E17: Finale Part 1 / S11.E18 Finale Part 2

[JTMacc99]

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Mitchell and Cam settle into their new normal; Phil and Claire decide that one of the kids needs to move out; as Gloria becomes more successful at work, she notices Jay and the kids don't seem to need her as much.  The family struggles with good byes.

Series Finale

 

[chitowngirl]

Aww-That was such a good finale. I wish Nathan Lane could have made an appearance!  My only nitpick-Alex, the science nerd, should have known how large the dimensions of the apartment were in metric. 

[Balboa]

How are the Dunphy children going to function on their own when they can't be bothered to clean up after themselves or purchase their own food while living at home?

Loved the first few seasons of the show but it definitely went on several years too long.

[Quickbeam]

I laughed really hard at the “Hungry Like A Wolf” bit. 

[Blakeston]

The writers must really despise Mitchell. They gave him an absolutely miserable ending.

Not only does he move to a small town in the middle of nowhere - which he would obviously hate - but it happens right after he buys his dreamhouse. And he has to be near Cameron's godawful family. And he's rightfully bitter that Cameron put him in a terrible situation by telling him about the job in front of all their friends - and then they never even address that!

I had a faint glimmer of hope that maybe Cameron would do the right thing and tell no one about the job offer, but of course the writers wouldn't let the character be a decent human being even for one episode.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Blakeston

[scenicbyway]

Part one was definitely better than Part 2.  They should’ve ended it in the first half hour.  How do the Dunphy kids not know how to survive? No one thought to buy food? Alex can’t do basic math? I can’t believe that Cam would really want to uproot them to Missouri. To visit? Sure, but to live? No.  It was also a weird stage of life for them to adopt again.

[mtlchick]

It was...ok.  If I felt that they were going out with a solid season, I would have felt more moved by it, but it wasn't.  

I don't know what I cringed over more, Cam getting the job where I had hoped they had dropped it (but hey they needed an exit for them) or the Dunphy kids can't buy their own food.  The only part that was charming was Jay finally learning some Spanish and one last look at Stella (RIP pooch.)

The show has its place in history, which I commend.  But the quality of the writing has certainly suffered in the past few years.

[CleoCaesar]

I really enjoyed the documentary with the cast before the finale. The finale itself left me cold.

Cam uprooting Mitchell and Lily's lives so he can be a football coach in the middle of nowhere - and with a new infant no less - was just irritating. No point to it, and Cam has been a whiny baby for years and seeing Mitchell give in was a sad ending for one of my favorite characters.

I'd comment on the rest but none of it hit any real emotional notes, so meh.

 

[Katie111]

I thought it was terrible.  Didn’t make me laugh and it didn’t make me cry.  And I always loved the show.   Just felt like lazy writing.  

[Sparger Springs]

Welp, that was something.

[Nordly Beaumont]

52 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

Alex can’t do basic math?

My first thought was "they don't have a single Alexa?" - Phil loves gadgets, they'd have many Alexas to answer such questions. I have three and my house is 600 square feet (56 square meters - thanks Alexa!)

I liked it, it worked for me. I'm glad we've got the re-runs so I can still watch it!

[Eolivet]

I wouldn't say the finale left me cold, but I think it tried to do too much. I lost track of who was leaving who where and when. Did we know Jay was going to Colombia with Gloria? To me, the learning Spanish made no sense without that knowledge.

Oddly enough, my favorite moment was Haley, Alex and Luke after the "Woofie" video. It was the kind of "make a comedic moment sentimental" timing this show used to excel at, and that instant where it sunk in that the siblings were leaving each other rang true to me. Claire and Mitchell at the skating rink was great, too.

Otherwise, it felt overstuffed. I couldn't really say a proper goodbye to the characters without trying to remember where exactly they all were going.

I will remember all the times the show made me cry with laughter, or choke up unexpectedly. Those memories of a better show kept me hanging on til the end.

Fare thee well, Modern Family. And the circle of life continues ...

[Fostersmom]

So... big last family group hug and Lily and the new baby are missing. Seriously, what the hell? Dylan makes the picture, but not Lily. 

This was possibly the worst final episode of anything, ever. Yeah, they all are supposedly going of to wonderful things, but yeah, I honestly couldn't care less about any of them at this point. This just seemed so trite and hollow. Half way thru I hit the DVR remote thinking there had to only be like 5 minutes left, it had been dragging on for so long and yeah, I was at minute 34. All I can say is it's over so I can stop hate watching now. 

[LadyintheLoop]

Rex means king. The baby could keep that name regardless of where he lives.

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The only part that was charming was Jay finally learning some Spanish and one last look at Stella (RIP pooch.)

They actually had an episode years ago where Jay started learning Spanish. Gloria loved his heartfelt declaration of love, because he sounded just as stupid as she did in English.

Gloria's distress at Jay's odd behavior evokes something that the show never really addressed: in a few years Gloria, still in her prime, may be married to a man who's developing age-related disabilities. Meanwhile, he's accompanying her to Colombia, so maybe Stella will move into Claire and Phil's empty nest.

[jmonique]

Was there a weird jump into the second episode, or was that just me?

Also, yeah, most other long-running shows make me at least a little misty-eyed when the characters (and actors) start getting teary, but for this I had nothin'. Just goooooooo already. The many false departures just felt a lot like last season's build-up to the end, only to announce ANOTHER season.

[pennben]

“Hamtrak”/“Guber”.  Oh!  I just got it ( I’m from the Midwest, so I’m slow), the Midwest is backwards and doesn’t have modern transportation options. How clever.   God, this show has been tired for years & ended on a boring, laughless episode. 

[freddi]

2 hours ago, mtlchick said:

It was...ok.  If I felt that they were going out with a solid season, I would have felt more moved by it, but it wasn't.  

I don't know what I cringed over more, Cam getting the job where I had hoped they had dropped it (but hey they needed an exit for them) or the Dunphy kids can't buy their own food.  The only part that was charming was Jay finally learning some Spanish and one last look at Stella (RIP pooch.)

The show has its place in history, which I commend.  But the quality of the writing has certainly suffered in the past few years.

Oh, did Stella die in an episode I missed? 

[SHD]

6 minutes ago, freddi said:

Oh, did Stella die in an episode I missed? 

The dog that played Stella passed away after the season finished filming. 

[Robert Lynch]

Joe's haircut was great. As for the rest, it was forgettable.

[bamlou]

Despite all the teary goodbyes and multiple emotional moments that were packed into this finale, I finished watching not feeling much of anything. So much of what happened felt so rushed that it was difficult to empathize with everyone saying their final goodbyes.

And with so much time devoted to giving all the characters a sendoff, it left little room for any actual comedy. I laughed at Claire and Mitchell realizing how sexual their skating routine was in hindsight, and I thought that Jay's storyline learning Spanish did the best job at being both funny and heartfelt. But I wish the finale had leaned more into the farcical humour or the sight gags and word play that it used to be so sharp at executing, which would have made this a more memorable and enjoyable finale to me.

[Robert Lynch]

I still think the finale to Boy Meets World was more emotional than this. I just felt nothing. Trust me, I have seen bad finales over the years or shows that had zero closure, but just like Fresh Off The Boat, they were limping to the finish line.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Robert Lynch

[vb68]

4 hours ago, Sparger Springs said:

Welp, that was something.

I felt like it wasn't much of anything, actually.

It felt like everyone just couldn't wait for the whole thing to be over, so they just rushed something out going through the motions without any deep thought.

For example, we are suppose to be happy for Mitchell and Lily? Both are going to be MISERABLE. I feel like there's suppose to be a follow up episode with Mitchell back saying, "What was I thinking?"

And Luke somehow mysteriously got into a really good university all of a sudden?  Right. Why do I think he's moving there to basically party with someone he knows who actually goes there?

 

[Everleigh]

This show has always been easy light-hearted viewing and I'm grateful for that (especially now) and while the quality may have declined, it'll be nice to have 11 seasons worth of reruns to mindlessly watch in syndication. 

Also I chuckled when Haley said she and Dylan had to finish packing their singular "book". That might be my only takeaway from these particular episodes. Everything was fairly obvious and predictable but it did the job of wrapping things up. 

How many years down the line till they try for a reboot?

[Snow Apple]

I think they should have shown the documentary after the episode. Any fuzzy and nostalgic feelings I got watching the documentary quickly faded watching the actual show. Sad that a once great and we'll written show went out like that.I

At least it's not the worse series finale in the history of television.

[Blakeston]

I really have no idea why they did that whole scene with Alex and her new boss. Was it meant to assure us that Alex has found herself a good man?

Apparently his thinking was, "I'll document myself being romantically involved with someone I'm hiring as my subordinate. Then no one can have any ethical objections to our relationship!"

So I guess that makes him a good match for Alex, who's too dumb to buy food?

[readster]

It wasn't a bad finale, but there were so many: "Oh come on, that's a cheap joke that isn't even funny." From the 3 Dunphy Kids who don't know how to clean up, let alone how to buy groceries. To Cam's entire job situation. They could have lead to Cam getting the new job and the baby and still not made it look like everything was thrown in at the end. Plus, great for the writers to prove to everyone that Dylan who is not only a nurse, does clinical trials for money too. Showing he is getting more brain dead. Alex not knowing square footage was a real WTF? Joe's hair cut was great and the mrs and I cracked up at the Hungry like a Wolf retrospect and even how Claire and Mitch got the trophy out. 

  So, goodbye Modern Family, I wish your last 3 years were like your first 7 years, but at least this wasn't a bad finale. 

[JayD83]

I'm sad. This was certainly my favorite show of the 2010s and I'll miss having new episodes to watch. I'm hoping for a Mitch and Cam spinoff - but at this point, I guess that show would look like Bless This Mess.

[Robert Lynch]

I don't know. Any spinoff is somehow doomed to failure. Remember AfterMash?

[readster]

18 minutes ago, JayD83 said:

I'm sad. This was certainly my favorite show of the 2010s and I'll miss having new episodes to watch. I'm hoping for a Mitch and Cam spinoff - but at this point, I guess that show would look like Bless This Mess.

Good point, of course I'm kind of tired of TV acting like Missouri is some hick town place full of morons. I've been there many times and have several friends that live in the area. Looks like a regular place in the midwest. Still shares of: small towns, big cities, farms, rural and more urban areas. Problem is, they never mention the mountains or range areas. Sure Mitch would hate it, but Lilly be all: "Wow, look at all these places!" "Can we go to Branson?"

[Mrs. Hanson]

So there are no head coaching jobs in the southern California area?  You have a dream house, a teen, a baby and you move far away?

The biggest WTF moment for me was:  Claire and Phil WANTING the kids the stay - like hell to the no.  No way no how are all those people freeloading off of me.  No, I don't want my twin grandkids living with me but hey thanks for asking.

I am from Minnesota (not Missouri I know) and yes was have Uber, UberEats, Lyft and no, tornados, floods and locusts do NOT appear in one day.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Mrs. Hanson
because a teen baby and a teen, a baby are two really different things

[readster]

6 minutes ago, Mrs. Hanson said:

So there are no head coaching jobs in the southern California area?  You have a dream house, a teen baby and you move far away?

The biggest WTF moment for me was:  Claire and Phil WANTING the kids the stay - like hell to the no.  No way no how are all those people freeloading off of me.  No, I don't want my twin grandkids living with me but hey thanks for asking.

I am from Minnesota (not Missouri I know) and yes was have Uber, UberEats, Lyft and no, tornados, floods and locusts do NOT appear in one day.

I think it would have worked better if all of a sudden, Claire and Phil getting their wish and even flashbacking to season one where Claire told Mitch and Cam: "Come back in 7 years when they are all gone!" They could have had Claire go: "it took 11 years... not the day is here." Could have been a real emotional moment, and then they have all three come in acting stupid and it was like: "Thanks, cheap joke." The dog video with the three was better written, performed and emotional. 

 Also, flooding wouldn't happen that fast down south and if there was that bad of a super cell storm to create both a tornado and flooding. Locus would be very far away. 

[Lizzing]

The Woofie video & the Claire & Mitch routine were cute, as was Phil misinterpreting Jay's request for a spoon.  Seeing as the writers had the whole season to wrap the show up, they did a poor job for most characters. It wasn't great, but it could have been a lot worse....I'm still pissed at the HIMYM ending and can't watch it in rerun.  At least with this, the nightly reruns won't have me diving for the remote.

[Ottis]

8 hours ago, jmonique said:

Also, yeah, most other long-running shows make me at least a little misty-eyed when the characters (and actors) start getting teary, but for this I had nothin'.

The only thing this finale made me think about was where I was at 11 years ago and how much my life had changed. The characters? Not so much. I did enjoy Joe this ep.

As in real life, I don't understand people who refuse to move forward when moving forward is the actual goal. Do you want Luke at home forever? Do you want Dylan and Haley in your home forever? Do you want Alex at home instead of in the world, using her gifts? The whole point of being parents is to help your kids be happy, independent people, not to make you feel worthwhile because they need you. Gloria.

I appreciate what this show was for the first 4-5 years. Thanks, show!

Edited April 9, 2020 by Ottis

[Pj3422]

I enjoyed it (especially Hungry Like the Wolf), but considering the Schitt’s Creek series finale was the day before, Modern Family suffered by comparison.  This was sweet, it was funny, but it didn’t leave me wanting more. 

[Kiddvideo]

2 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

At least it's not the worse series finale in the history of television.

That's a very low bar. It's embarrassing when people have no pride in their work.

[Mrs. Hanson]

56 minutes ago, Ottis said:

As in real life, I don't understand people who refuse to move forward when moving forward is the actual goal.

I agree - so encouraging your adult kids (one is married with TWO kids for crying out loud) to stay at home because of what YOU want is a good thing?  Listen, I am all for an emergency (hubby suddenly passed I am broke can I stay here?) but they are ALL employable or in Luke's case, going to college in Oregon....far far away.   Dylan is a nurse, Hailey is very employable, I would be on the first plane OUT to Switzerland.....bye!  But then again I have an unnatural seething that Hailey did not end up with Andy, that is on me.  I have two kids in college and when they are done......bye!!!  Love you to bits and we are very close but don't you want to be an adult?  Thought so.

Alex can't compute meters to feet?  My hubby, who is very smart and is a Math Guy, figured that out with a bit of giggle juice in him!!!  His response?  "For Switzerland count your lucky stars!!!"

I also thought it was gross when Hailey suggested that Alex's boss wanted to meet her in person just to check her out to date/sleep with her.  EWWW!  

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by Mrs. Hanson

[tennisgurl]

42 minutes ago, Ottis said:

The only thing this finale made me think about was where I was at 11 years ago and how much my life had changed. The characters? Not so much. I did enjoy Joe this ep.

 

Yeah, It kind of hit me that while the characters haven't changed much in eleven years (amazingly) my life has changed a whole lot since I watched the pilot. I mean, I was a teenager when this show first came out! I watched this through college, grad school, a couple of jobs, moving across the country, for good and for bad, this show and I have been through a lot. 

There were a few funny lines and emotional moments that actually worked, like Mitch and Claire and their ice skating (and realizing that it was more sexual than they remembered) and the kids re-making the dog video and then getting emotional when they realized they were all going their own ways, and when Gloria realized that Jay learned Spanish for her, it had a few moments. Really, it hardly even felt like a big series finale special, it felt like just another episode from this season. A giggle or two, a cringe or several, and mostly just boredom. Claire and Phil really need to look back and question their parenting as they become grand parents, considering how incapable of even basic life skills their grown ass kids are, even being confused by the concept of breakfast. This whole family is such a codependent hot mess that has basically been living in a state of arrested development (hey, thats the name of another show!) where they have hardly changed as people in eleven freaking years. If anything, they've gotten more selfish, more stupid, and seem like they alternately hate each other, and cant live without checking in with each other over the course of the show. Really, this show should have ended ages ago, it hit its creative peak a few seasons ago and its been all downhill. That being said, the ending wasn't awful or anything, it wasn't the How I Met Your Mother finale or anything, I can still enjoy the early seasons without a finale that ruined it, but after such a long run, its shocking how how hum this was. 

Oh, and we get a few more stereotypical jokes about the Midwest (Its all tornadoes, pigs, and hicks! They dont even have Uber, what yokels!) and Columbia (watch yourself, everyone is sketchy!) because the only time these writers have ever left southern California is for the vacation episodes. Classy! 

[AriAu]

 

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I wouldn't say the finale left me cold, but I think it tried to do too much. I lost track of who was leaving who where and when. 

EXACTLY!!! I actually lost track of where the hell Manny was going and how come Joe isn't learning Spanish and when did Luke apply to any colleges and was the new baby ONLY in Lily's arms and....

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I think they should have shown the documentary after the episode. Any fuzzy and nostalgic feelings I got watching the documentary quickly faded watching the actual show. Sad that a once great and we'll written show went out like that.

Great point...and I too loved the "first" hour.

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I'm hoping for a Mitch and Cam spinoff.

NNNOOOOOOOOOOO. While much of the episode was fine, ok, meh, whatever, Cam's scene with Gloria and the dripping neediness that they gave his character was soooo over the top bad that I cringed. (altho I did like the meta/breaking the 4th wall comment about how they have only had like 8 times together) And that is without mentioning, as many have above, how ridiculously selfish and stupid the whole coaching/Missouri storyline was.

Edited April 9, 2020 by AriAu

[LucyEth]

11 hours ago, Fostersmom said:

So... big last family group hug and Lily and the new baby are missing. Seriously, what the hell? Dylan makes the picture, but not Lily. 

I was just going to write the same thing.  That was strange.

[rejnel]

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considering the Schitt’s Creek series finale was the day before, Modern Family suffered by comparison.  

The exact opposite for me--Modern Family wrapped things up on a similar model with everyone going their separate ways, but managed to do it without making me picture David Rose getting a handjob. (If you're out of ideas, Dan Levy, just say so.)

Like many, I may have liked the MF retrospective more than the actual finale, which felt rushed and sometimes awkward, but it had a lot of heart and some genuine big laughs.  

[Robert Lynch]

12 minutes ago, rejnel said:

The exact opposite for me--Modern Family wrapped things up on a similar model with everyone going their separate ways, but managed to do it without making me picture David Rose getting a handjob. (If you're out of ideas, Dan Levy, just say so.)

Like many, I may have liked the MF retrospective more than the actual finale, which felt rushed and sometimes awkward, but it had a lot of heart and some genuine big laughs.  

I think the main problem was once a show is passed it's due date, the characters don't grow at all. They remain stagnant and never go with the times. Happy Days was pretty much guilty of that.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Robert Lynch

[readster]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

Yeah, It kind of hit me that while the characters haven't changed much in eleven years (amazingly) my life has changed a whole lot since I watched the pilot. I mean, I was a teenager when this show first came out! I watched this through college, grad school, a couple of jobs, moving across the country, for good and for bad, this show and I have been through a lot. 

Oh, and we get a few more stereotypical jokes about the Midwest (Its all tornadoes, pigs, and hicks! They dont even have Uber, what yokels!) and Columbia (watch yourself, everyone is sketchy!) because the only time these writers have ever left southern California is for the vacation episodes. Classy! 

That's the problem with most shows, especially sitcoms, they all go: "Yeah we've been on X-amount of years, but our characters haven't changed, even if they have aged and done things most people natural are in life, but F-that!"

Alex was still belittled or made to feel bad that she is smarter than everyone else. Haley still acts like she is 17 and in high school. Luke still can't put 2+2 together. Gloria complains how much of a man-child Manny became, but then reveals she loves the fact he can't live without her. Mitch no matter how much he hates where Cam grew up and how more dysfunctional his family is and "obsessed" with "the farm". He HAS to go with Cam, even though Mitch has been unemployed and quit more jobs than Cam ever has. Ect. 

TV series want it both ways, they want to say that characters have "Grown" and moved on, but then write and show the complete opposite and then call it: "our brilliant writing". Yeah, with an entire year to wrap the show up, everything felt rush since about 3 episodes ago. It wasn't like they were told mid way: "This is your last season, so wrap it up." If anything, season 10 felt more natural, but oh no, TPTB convinced ABC and Disney that they "needed" one more season to wrap it up and it would get more money in syndication. Yeah, good to know.

[DrSpaceman73]

It was an OK finale

I knew as soon as Phil and Claire told all the days one had to move out that they would all end up gone. 

I didn't see the Cam thing with the coaching job coming, but makes sense in retrospect. 

They really could have done this in half an hour.  The second half hour was repeatedly "Goodbye!"....."Lets say goodbye again"  "Now they will say goodbye"  "Now these two say goodbye".....etc. 

I did like Mitch and claires dance.  I wish that would have been longer. 

I didn't notice Lilly missing at the end, that is odd. 

I can see Claire and Phil being sad.  Going from a house full of family, even if they are overwhelming, to EVERYONE suddenly moving away is a huge adjustment

It was ridiculous that none of the ADULT children in the Dunphy family can shop, clean, maintain a single room in the house?  All of them are in their 20s. 

 

And now I will repeat my consistent criticism of the show, which is that for the sitcom that was supposed to be so liberal minded with, not the first, but one of the most prominent gay husband-husband couples in a prime time mainstream family sitcom, no show at the same time reinforced more both white privilege and red state/blue state dichotomy more than this one

Lets recap :

Cam somehow gets a COLLEGE HEAD COACHING JOB when he has never had a coaching job outside of a single high school to that point, extremely unlikely that would EVER happen

He was a substitute teacher that somehow ends up as vice principal was it?

How on earth could Mitch and cam every afford that new house they moved into briefly?  That would be literally millions of dollars.  On Mitch's on again/off again lawyer salary and Cam coaching salary?  No way

Last year Haley and Dillon could afford only a crappy room over a garage, now they suddenly can afford rent on Cam and Mitch's old place, with two children, plus I assume day care?

Phil and Claire just have spare money for a huge new RV?  That's probably half a million dollars, minimum.

Once again the idea Missouri is full of banjo playing hicks that are lucky to have TVs and radios let alone starbucks, Uber, etc.  Yes, those all exist out in the vast middle of the country between LA and NY.

The consistent theme in the show for this rich, mostly white (or married into white) affluent family was pretty much just do what you want, buy anything you want, don't worry about money or the future, somehow it will all work out for you no matter how much you screw up or what happens.  Whatever you want, you will get it somehow.  Money and opportunities will magically appear for you

I know its TV, fantasy.  And no this is certainly not the first show to perform these sort of real world blind spot plot holes.  But given the political climate of the viewers during the span of the show, you'd think the writers may be a bit more sensitive to the portrayal of the families involved. 

Oh and California is SO much better than anything in the rest of the country who are all a bunch of backwoods ignorami. 

 

[Fostersmom]

8 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

It was an OK finale

I knew as soon as Phil and Claire told all the days one had to move out that they would all end up gone. 

I didn't see the Cam thing with the coaching job coming, but makes sense in retrospect. 

They really could have done this in half an hour.  The second half hour was repeatedly "Goodbye!"....."Lets say goodbye again"  "Now they will say goodbye"  "Now these two say goodbye".....etc. 

I did like Mitch and claires dance.  I wish that would have been longer. 

I didn't notice Lilly missing at the end, that is odd. 

I can see Claire and Phil being sad.  Going from a house full of family, even if they are overwhelming, to EVERYONE suddenly moving away is a huge adjustment

It was ridiculous that none of the ADULT children in the Dunphy family can shop, clean, maintain a single room in the house?  All of them are in their 20s. 

 

And now I will repeat my consistent criticism of the show, which is that for the sitcom that was supposed to be so liberal minded with, not the first, but one of the most prominent gay husband-husband couples in a prime time mainstream family sitcom, no show at the same time reinforced more both white privilege and red state/blue state dichotomy more than this one

Lets recap :

Cam somehow gets a COLLEGE HEAD COACHING JOB when he has never had a coaching job outside of a single high school to that point, extremely unlikely that would EVER happen

He was a substitute teacher that somehow ends up as vice principal was it?

How on earth could Mitch and cam every afford that new house they moved into briefly?  That would be literally millions of dollars.  On Mitch's on again/off again lawyer salary and Cam coaching salary?  No way

Last year Haley and Dillon could afford only a crappy room over a garage, now they suddenly can afford rent on Cam and Mitch's old place, with two children, plus I assume day care?

Phil and Claire just have spare money for a huge new RV?  That's probably half a million dollars, minimum.

Once again the idea Missouri is full of banjo playing hicks that are lucky to have TVs and radios let alone starbucks, Uber, etc.  Yes, those all exist out in the vast middle of the country between LA and NY.

The consistent theme in the show for this rich, mostly white (or married into white) affluent family was pretty much just do what you want, buy anything you want, don't worry about money or the future, somehow it will all work out for you no matter how much you screw up or what happens.  Whatever you want, you will get it somehow.  Money and opportunities will magically appear for you

I know its TV, fantasy.  And no this is certainly not the first show to perform these sort of real world blind spot plot holes.  But given the political climate of the viewers during the span of the show, you'd think the writers may be a bit more sensitive to the portrayal of the families involved. 

Oh and California is SO much better than anything in the rest of the country who are all a bunch of backwoods ignorami. 

 

Wasn't the RV Phil's dad's? Or am I thinking of another show? 

[readster]

5 minutes ago, Fostersmom said:

Wasn't the RV Phil's dad's? Or am I thinking of another show? 

Yes, why no one blinked an eye. In fact just three episodes ago, Claire was trying to get Phil to get rid of it until she realized: "This is all he has left of his father and it's in pretty good shape. Let's keep it." Its when you have it where the kids who apparently don't know how to clean or go shopping on their own. Despite the fact that Alex up until being guilt-ed in quitting her job still had to go shopping for the basics and so forth. Can't do it either. Luke who has shown how to order food, or pick up things in past episodes all of a sudden is with Haley on making croutons and formula meals? Never think for one second: "how are mom and dad eating out there?"

[scenicbyway]

4 hours ago, readster said:

Good point, of course I'm kind of tired of TV acting like Missouri is some hick town place full of morons. I've been there many times and have several friends that live in the area. Looks like a regular place in the midwest. Still shares of: small towns, big cities, farms, rural and more urban areas. Problem is, they never mention the mountains or range areas. Sure Mitch would hate it, but Lilly be all: "Wow, look at all these places!" "Can we go to Branson?"

I don’t know, at first I was offended by the Missouri stuff but then I looked over at my mother in law who fled to my house (with no warning) for the pandemic from Missouri because her hick husband wouldn’t stop going in to work or family gatherings.  He’s in his 80’s and doesn’t have to work. So I would say it was accurately portrayed and they will all be miserable.

[scenicbyway]

4 hours ago, readster said:

Good point, of course I'm kind of tired of TV acting like Missouri is some hick town place full of morons. I've been there many times and have several friends that live in the area. Looks like a regular place in the midwest. Still shares of: small towns, big cities, farms, rural and more urban areas. Problem is, they never mention the mountains or range areas. Sure Mitch would hate it, but Lilly be all: "Wow, look at all these places!" "Can we go to Branson?"

I don’t know, at first I was offended by the Missouri stuff but then I looked over at my mother in law who fled to my house (with no warning) for the pandemic from Missouri because her hick husband wouldn’t stop going in to work or family gatherings.  He’s in his 80’s and doesn’t have to work. So I would say it was accurately portrayed and they will all be miserable.

 

How do Haley and Dylan afford Mitchell and Cam’s old place?  Mitchell was a lawyer, Cam eventually a Vice Principal but Haley who has no job and Dylan who is a nurse can afford the same place?

Also Claire and Phil taking off on an RV trip just aged them by 15 years.  Aren’t they a little young for that?

[readster]

19 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

How do Haley and Dylan afford Mitchell and Cam’s old place?  Mitchell was a lawyer, Cam eventually a Vice Principal but Haley who has no job and Dylan who is a nurse can afford the same place?

 

Haley still works for that Flake company that is suppose to be based off Gwenth Paltrow's company. She got promoted by telling her even stupider boss: "Well, I have been here a while and I want to stay with the company..." "Ok, I'll promote your senior manager." That's why it didn't make sense when Dylan was working and Haley got this promotion how they were going to live in a garage missing a roof. I mean, they could afford at least a one bedroom. 

[AncientNewbie]

14 hours ago, CleoCaesar said:

I'd comment on the rest but none of it hit any real emotional notes, so meh.

 

I have nothing to do but comment, but I was meh just because I no longer cared and can't summon much. I can get sucked into rerun marathons for an entire evening, but the end-stage characters I just didn't care what happened to them.

Dylan as a special needs husband was a fun line, because that character has never been more than a one note joke. And the slight tease of a Very Special Episode with Jay's seeming dementia symptoms was good. And that Joe actor delivers the stupidest plots with adorableness. And...that's it.

I put most of the blame on the Mitch/Cam storyline. There were a dozen ways to play up some farce about hidden news and show them as a functioning dysfunctional couple. Yet instead we get shallow stereotypes and catty behavior.

And there's absolutely no way Alex, even stressed out, can't convert to metric. I just wanted some consistency so the characters I spent years with got a nice send off and instead I got just another s11 episode.

[Blakeston]

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

The consistent theme in the show for this rich, mostly white (or married into white) affluent family was pretty much just do what you want, buy anything you want, don't worry about money or the future, somehow it will all work out for you no matter how much you screw up or what happens.  Whatever you want, you will get it somehow.  Money and opportunities will magically appear for you

It's also the same allegedly liberal-minded show that:

- Reminded us over and over again that Colombia is filled with nothing but drug lords and dead bodies

- Featured gay men who treated their adopted daughter like a forgotten pet, and made racist jokes about her Asian ancestry

- Featured Mitchell inexplicably calling his black female boss a "thug"

- Went through the entire first season without Mitch and Cam kissing, even though the same season had Phil and Claire in the 69 position when their kids walked in on them, and giving us an entire episode about their sexual roleplaying.