S06.E03: The Cold

[maraleia]

 

Phil must make creative edits in Cam and Mitch's wedding video when footage reveals that Phil is responsible for a terrible cold that has plagued the family. Gloria and Jay try to help Manny cope with stress in different ways.

 

[Eolivet]

Baaaaaad timing for the "virus of unknown origin" episode. I cringed at the use of "Patient Zero."

 

This show doesn't really do ongoing arcs -- couldn't this episode have been moved to later in the season?

[SimoneS]

I enjoyed the episode. Gloria's reaction to Cam benching Manny was hilarious. I also laughed at Phil sneezing and setting off the cold in the family. Poor Claire, she tried her best. I loved her physical comedy at the hotel. Mitchell was so horrible with that little girl.

 

Lily grabbing Phillip and telling him that she knew, totally cracked me up. I love her.

[Runningwild]

I enjoyed the episode.  It was the best so far this season, but "Patient Zero" was really bad timing.

[Driad]

 

The actor who plays Claire got to show off her physical comedy chops, especially when she came home and slid bonelessly down the wall.

[zxern]

The whole cold storyline doesn't make sense anyway. Cam should have been sick in the first episode, then Jay and Gloria in the second  yet everyone was just fine till now.  They might have gotten away with it if had been the first episode of the season maybe.   Just poor writing and planning all around. 

[SimoneS]

I also had a good laugh when everyone was horrified by how they looked on the video except Gloria who was so excited that she looked fabulous. I love her.

 

I have noticed that Ed O'Neil looks much older this season. I hope that it is natural aging and that he is not ill.

Edited October 9, 2014 by SimoneS

[biakbiak]

I loved Mitchell's "she's a year younger than you?" when he found out that Lily's friend was six. It reminds me of my best friend's three year old who is very advanced but sometime my friend and the other parents get a little too competitive about their children's progress. 

[OpieTaylor]

Where was Jay and Gloria's baby? Did I miss seeing him or hearing where he was?

[biakbiak]

He was in his room with Andy, they showed him several times when Haley and Andy were talking.

[Everleigh]

Didn't Cam recruit Manny to the football team because he could block? Or at least move through a crowd of people when he has to get a cake to a judging table on time. When did he become a kicker? I didn't see all of season 5 so maybe I just missed it, but kicker is not the position I'd expect a kid his size to play in high school.

 

Gloria "benching" Cam at dinner was pretty funny though.

 

So Mitch being weirdly competitive with small children is a running thing now? There was that handball kid and now this little girl genius. Loved that Mitchell was forced to realize his kid wasn't the most special kid in the whole world. Too many parents never get that message.

 

Nice to see Haley and Alex acting like sisters without all the bickering. Don't really care for the Haley/Andy thing though. 

 

The whole cold storyline doesn't make sense anyway. Cam should have been sick in the first episode, then Jay and Gloria in the second  yet everyone was just fine till now.  They might have gotten away with it if had been the first episode of the season maybe.   Just poor writing and planning all around. 

 

I think we're supposed to believe it traveled through the family one by one, thus slowing the cold's progression and allowing it to linger for a couple of weeks. But for that to be believable, we should have seen someone sick with it in the previous episode. 

[hoodooznoodooz]

That didnt make sense at all, the way Phil edited the video. Wouldnt he have viewed it once before letting everyone else watch it?

[SimoneS]

Didn't Cam recruit Manny to the football team because he could block? Or at least move through a crowd of people when he has to get a cake to a judging table on time. When did he become a kicker? I didn't see all of season 5 so maybe I just missed it, but kicker is not the position I'd expect a kid his size to play in high school.

 

I was surprised about Manny being the kicker also. I thought that he was going to be an offensive lineman. He would be perfect at his size.

[AriAu]

I thought it was a pretty good premise for a story line/episode and was classic Modern Family. Unfortunately the execution was not very good and not very funny.

[peeayebee]

I enjoyed this ep for the most part. I think my favorite part was the montage of Manny kicking the ball. Also, it's nice to see Cam being competent.

 

I was very pleased to see Lily had a friend. Too bad Mitchell ruined it.

 

The video stuff didn't make much sense. I didn't get how Phil could edit it and do special effects that were clearly all wrong. But still, I thought it was funny.

 

The Haley/Andy stuff didn't really work for me, nor Claire's physical comedy.

 

Some of the lines/phrases I really liked were "Amuse douche," "the Pinkeye Apocalypse," and "With great hotness comes great responsibility."

[CleoCaesar]

This felt like Modern Family of yore. Thank goodness.

 

Lots of things to like: Julie Bowen's physical comedy, "Amuse-douche", Alex and Haley being sisters, Gloria's delight at looking good in the video, and I even like Haley and Andy (he was less annoying than usual).
 

Baaaaaad timing for the "virus of unknown origin" episode. I cringed at the use of "Patient Zero."

 

This show doesn't really do ongoing arcs -- couldn't this episode have been moved to later in the season?

 

Heh I didn't even think about Ebola until I read this thread.

[Traveller519]

I enjoyed the episode, but still could have done without the Andy stuff. At least they were talking about feelings and thoughts like adults until they were fighting over who is more of a heartbreaker.

 

Mitchell watching his dancing in the dark was fantastic. I shudder to think of what I look like when I dance.

[cpcathy]

Wow, that was awful. I only started watching this show a few months ago after wondering what everyone at work was talking about, and it seems I waited too long. What a mess this episode was, the situations are absurd, the characters are getting ridiculous, and none of the kids can act, as far as I'm concerned (maybe Manny, but now he looks like he's twenty!)

[zillabreeze]

 

Mitchell watching his dancing in the dark was fantastic. I shudder to think of what I look like when I dance.

I could totally relate, too.  "Amuse Douche" would prob describe me on the dancefloor.

Not a Claire fan, but did chuckle when she was being dragged by the luggage cart in the lobby.

[Brooke0707]

I used to love this show so much.  I'm really disappointed with this season.  The characters are like caricatures and it feels like most of the time, people are reading lines in an OTT way.  All of Phil's and Luke's scenes were like this IMO (NG is horrible).  I think that part of the problem is relying on the younger actors, whole were able to pull off certain things when much younger (or mute in Lily's case), and now, IMO they tend to just suck.

[truthaboutluv]

Yeah this episode was the worse one for me. Even if I didn't absolutely love the first two, there were things about it I enjoyed and laughed at. Not so much this week. I was impressed with Julie Bowen's physical comedy and was very happy the writers didn't extend the gag to her awkwardly trying to get through the meeting with the guy. I liked that it ended with her just giving up and passing out with a sort of "hell no" when he mentioned going to the rotating restaurant.

 

I did smile at Phil's inadvertent smile when Luke was trying to get him to cry by mentioning his going to college and Phil honestly saying "I didn't think you'd get in." Luke's reaction was cute. Everything else was just so predictable and not very funny. And I'm sorry, I can't with Andy. I don't find him funny or very interesting or good looking so there is nothing there to hold my interest. Like Dylan worked because the character was hilarious because he was such an idiot. Andy is kind of just there and the actor and Sarah Hyland have zero chemistry. 

Edited October 10, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[CleoCaesar]

I used to love this show so much.  I'm really disappointed with this season.  The characters are like caricatures and it feels like most of the time, people are reading lines in an OTT way.  All of Phil's and Luke's scenes were like this IMO (NG is horrible).  I think that part of the problem is relying on the younger actors, whole were able to pull off certain things when much younger (or mute in Lily's case), and now, IMO they tend to just suck.

 

I wonder if Ty Burrell is just over MF. He seems very "off" this season to me. In the early seasons Phil seemed like a happy, smart, lovable goofball, but now he seems to be a manic, unrealistic, very sitcom-y character. Like the "do not push" button nonsense last week or the stupid video editing plot this week. None of it feels genuine. As for Nolan Gould's sudden stiltedness, my guess is it's the self-consciousness that often comes with an "awkward teen" stage.

[cpcathy]

I notice in the older episodes that Nolan Gould has a strange way of speaking, meaning his mouth seems to struggle getting the words out, but this didn't seem to matter since he was supposedly young and cute, but now his voice has changed it just makes it even more pronounced.

[DrSpaceman]

I don't really care for Haley and Andy together. She and Dylan seem a much better fit.

We already knew Manny was the kicker. In an earlier episode when Cam first takes over as coach, he kicks the extra point to win the game. He meant to miss and hit it. Plus often the kicker on a high school team will also play another position, he could be a lineman as well.

[Snow Apple]

I still don't like Andy either and think he's a jerk. In the beginning of the episode, I thought his character improved and was liking him, but then he pulled that thing about how Haley would have reacted to his kiss and I'm reminded how much I disliked him last season. Perhaps it's suppose to show how he's clueless and innocent, but the actor can't pull it off and he came off as an arrogant d-bag. 

[lucindabelle]

Andy worked better for me when he was humble. His attitude was ridiculous and not funny. I didn't think of Ebola but I be had a cold all week so cringed watching (I mean the bad cold can't go to work, relapse and cough head off kind). Sick Claire was hilarious. And I loved that lily wasn't bothered by her friends achievements just Mitchell.

[ari333]

I didn't like it that the only reason Andy and Haley were having a conversation seemed to be so they could possibly out-do each other in a kiss or relationship or whatever the competition parameters were. Blarg.

[ginger90]

Cam needs to go away on a trip, and not a filmed trip. I just can't take him at all.

[Perfect Xero]

I still don't like Andy either and think he's a jerk. In the beginning of the episode, I thought his character improved and was liking him, but then he pulled that thing about how Haley would have reacted to his kiss and I'm reminded how much I disliked him last season. Perhaps it's suppose to show how he's clueless and innocent, but the actor can't pull it off and he came off as an arrogant d-bag. 

I didn't have a problem with Andy prior to this, but his whole thing about how kissing him would have "ruined" her or (or whatever it was), that was just weird and made him look like a jackass.

[ari333]

I didn't have a problem with Andy prior to this, but his whole thing about how kissing him would have "ruined" her or (or whatever it was), that was just weird and made him look like a jackass.

 

I had a problem with Andy in this eppy (as mentioned) but I also didnt' like him from the start when he had Manny running up and down the stairs on some pretense bullshit. The man-nanny plot had potential, but they aren't taking it anywhere interesting (imo).

[ByTor]

About Andy...he admitted that Haley was out of his league, but even so, perhaps her showing him some interest swelled his head.  Or maybe now we know why he & his girlfriend were constantly breaking up.

[DrSpaceman]

Haley and Andy is just forced based on what the writers seem to want instead of what works best, which is Haley and Dylan.

I just don't buy Haley and Andy at all as a couple.

[peeayebee]

I didn't see Andy as bragging. He was just stating a fact and looking out for Haley. Of course he was a bit tone-deaf.

[Kiddvideo]

Was this shown out of sequence? Why are we still talking about side effects of the wedding? Maybe if they had shown the cold running through the family in previous weeks but this was where things came to a head between Claire's martyrdom and Phil having to have the video ready for the party. Instead we're told there was a cold.

And how in the hell did Phil create sequences that "didn't land." We're supposed to believe he edited in Luke laughing after Jay talks about the anniversary of his father's death? Or Luke sitting at a table of Asian people? Or Luke superimposed on Mitchell's body?

Are the writers too rich? Is that why we're getting this dreck?

[ari333]

"Amuse douche" was the line of the night for me. But then I admit to having a low threshold. :)

[LucyEth]

I thought this episode was ok, but was it shown out of sequence?  Don't like Haley with Andy, no chemistry IMO.  Would love to see him with Alex, I think that would be a great twist.  

[JenMcSnark]

I didn't like much of anything about this episode.  I've heard Amuse douche before (and stolen it myself) so it wasn't funny to me.  I did like Claire's physical comedy, but not the storyline.  Lily was cute; normally I just find her bratty.  Obvs where she gets that from. SMH And I love Phil but this wasn't his best work.  Didn't laugh once, which continues my trend for this season.

 

How sad that this show has fallen so far.  And how sad that it still gets awards that should be going to others more deserving. 

 

One plus was that I actually thought that Cam was a bit toned down this episode, but still too annoying for me.

[Skittl1321]

That didnt make sense at all, the way Phil edited the video. Wouldnt he have viewed it once before letting everyone else watch it?

He did watch it, with Luke. They decided the edit was awful, so he played the original version for the whole family. But except Lily, everyone was to obsessed with themselves to notice Phil.

[cpcathy]

I find the early episodes amusing, but five Emmys in a row is too many. The worship needs to stop, their heyday is over.

[Milburn Stone]

Baaaaaad timing for the "virus of unknown origin" episode. I cringed at the use of "Patient Zero."

 

This show doesn't really do ongoing arcs -- couldn't this episode have been moved to later in the season?

 

Maybe--God forbid--the timing would be even worse if they held it until later.