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S07.E08: Clean Out Your Junk Drawer

Artsda

By Artsda
in Modern Family [V]

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Artsda

Artsda

(edited)

 

 

Gloria won a bid at the school auction for a family seminar with famed doctor and author Debra Radcliffe, whose self-help book 'Clean Out Your Junk Drawer' encourages people get out all their emotional junk to become healthier people and in turn better partners and spouses. Jay is resistant to the whole experience and can't get away fast enough; Mitch and Cam decide to keep it very surface level so they can come off as super stable; and Phil and Claire also make it competitive and strive to be the best and strongest couple of the group. Things quickly escalate, though, as junk starts flying. 

 

I enjoyed all the couples being together.

 

No Manny or Luke?

 

I didn't think I could dislike Andy & Haley more, but I do. Her still sleeping with him after he basically assumed the only reason she'd text him would be for a booty call doesn't make her a better person. 

Edited by Artsda
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WhosThatGirl

WhosThatGirl

I enjoyed the adults tonight a lot. The thing with Haley and Andy is I did like them but now Andy's engaged and he and Haley sleeping together is not going to endear the couple to people. I don't get why shows do this. I don't think it's going to be a funny development, and this show is a comedy. It makes me sad because this situation kind of ruins Haley a bit, she's helping someone who is engaged cheat. And I really like the character of Haley so I kind of hate this.

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SoothingDave

SoothingDave

Andy showing up at the end to say "I broke off my engagement cause i'm in love with you" would have been awesome.  

 

Them continuing to cheat on Beth, not so much.  C'mon, show.  Let's do this right and stop jerking these characters around.

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readster

readster

I enjoyed the adults tonight a lot. The thing with Haley and Andy is I did like them but now Andy's engaged and he and Haley sleeping together is not going to endear the couple to people. I don't get why shows do this. I don't think it's going to be a funny development, and this show is a comedy. It makes me sad because this situation kind of ruins Haley a bit, she's helping someone who is engaged cheat. And I really like the character of Haley so I kind of hate this.

Exactly and if they want it to be: "Well, see Beth is a controlling bitch, so root for Andy and Haley." its not going to work. This points them both horribly, Andy doesn't have the balls to either break off the engagement or had to play along with Beth's little break up and get back together drama she played for years with him until someone else was interested in Andy and she knew it was both ways. Then it was: "He's mine and no one can have him." It also makes Haley look like both an idiot and one thing she has never been shown as is in a relationship with one person cheating on the other. Go into her on and off again things with Dylan which she got tired of or what ever hook ups she did, she was never with someone having an affair or anything. Plus, this stuff with Alex has to stop, its horrible. Its not funny, she is now in with an obsessed guy who is: "I have a hot nerd girl. I can't live without her!" 

  The best was the adults minus the therapist, because it hit on everything we have said about the characters' marriages for a while now. I really felt for Jay in the end and how Cam really does realize, he is a drama queen, but if he wasn't there for Michell the guy would fall apart. Phil wants to not be the old guy, he wants to keep having fun. Nothing wrong with that and Claire realizes she isn't as awesome as she believes she is. Now, if that would translate to her job and realize that either they need to respect her, or they can get out.

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AriAu

AriAu

Will this lead to a Haley pregnancy storyline later this season and into next season?

 

I hope not, especially since I am pretty sure that Clare started putting birth control pills in her breakfast cereal a long time ago!

I did like the Haley/Alex interaction-funny and genuine for sisters, especially that pair. Alex is a pretty and normal sized person, but she looks even bigger next to Haley, who is a stick figure...and who looks MUCH older than her.

Basically, noting about the therapy was funny-may have been a true look into the marriages, but it wasn't funny.

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ari333

ari333

The therapist thing could have been hilarious, but it was flat for me and I say that as a Catharine O'Hara fan.

 

"All our junk is out!"

 

"I know what you're all thinking and yes, I will take over as group leader."

 

"Me likey."

 

Sleeping with a man who she knows is engaged seems kind of whorey of Haley and whorey AND cheaty of Andy. I don't care what sort of bitch  or whatever the fiancée is.

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Eolivet

Eolivet

The ending was shocking, but more shocking to me was the insinuation that Andy and Haley had sex in Phil's sexy house two weeks ago?! Can't a kiss just be a kiss anymore?

 

I'm not sure what to think of this, though I was pleased to see all the adults together in a scene (a la "Las Vegas"). I knew Jay was faking his sadness when the dog was named Checkers. Be original, Jay! And "Are we going through ages 14 to 6" as covert score communication was clever.

 

Catherine O'Hara! That's who that was -- thank you!

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ari333

ari333

'Mitch is playing a flute...at least I hope that's what he's doing..' Made LOL a lot.

 

HEE!

Here are some more.

 

"Chapter one: Hey, get a handle on it! "

"Chapter 3: Scary dreams; expired creams."

 

Phil: "We have three happy children... one with a bright future." 

 

Mitch: "Im gonna need some booze for this."

 

Cam: "Arent we wasting a great opportunity to learn more about ME?"

 

Haley: "They said it was some sort of therapy, but I kinda think it's an intervention for Mom."

 

Alex: "I sorta have a high school boy toy."

 

 

On a random note, I enjoyed Cam's kitty tiger.

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Trichromatic

Trichromatic

In a way I would like a Haley gets preggers storyline because it would continue to mirror Claire and Phil's story. But ugh, it's going down a very sleazy path of booty calls and cheating and I'm not sure this endgame fits the tone of the show at all. Plus wedding showdown will be the corniest most predictable thing ever. I did like Haley and Alex interacting though. Nice character development on that score for sure. 

 

Speaking of Alex, it seems like they don't know what the hell to do with her and they're forcing her in the show using this underage guy she's suppusedly dating. If she could have been talking about some college crush with Haley at least that would root her life in college instead of finding imaginative yet highly unrealistic ways of doing it.

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indeed

indeed

(edited)

There were some fun lines in the episode. (Pogo sticks--both real and metaphor!) Mostly I liked seeing the majority of the cast interacting and Catherine O'Hara! I had been wondering what happened to her (caught some of Beetlejiuce recently).

Don't like the college girl and her 16 and three quarters and he used to take baths with Luke boy toy. Also, find it hard to believe that Mr. Jinkies! wouldn't break things off with Beth after just one hot kiss with Haley, let alone multiple times in bed. This is all very out-of-character for everybody except Ruben.

Edited by indeed
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WhosThatGirl

WhosThatGirl

I'll say it again, I really liked the adults in this episode. I liked all the little moments, like when Jay corrected the therapist about what you can't say, "can't say always!" and Mitch like nodded his head. I'm normally not a fan of the adults, or at least not all of them but they were generally funny. 

 

I didn't miss Luke or Manny. Manny grates and Luke is sometimes funny. I missed Lilly, that child better be back next week. I would have loved to see a scene where Luke or Manny bring her home from school to the house and all the parents were freaking out and Lily made some snarky comment about "this happens all the time! They always do this when they're yelling about the lights!" and then she walks out.

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peeayebee

peeayebee

Overall I didn't like this ep, but there were some funny lines.  

 

Mitchell: I've asked you very nicely to turn off the lights.

Cam: Constantly. It's like we're Londoners hiding from war planes. (His miming afterwards was hilarious!)

 

Phil: When did you get so old?
Claire: Gasp.
Phil: I mean I LOVE YOU!!!

 

Andy telling Haley he was feeling so guilty he fronted a Zach Braff movie on Kickstarter cracked me up.

 

Mitchell hiding in the curtains after bringing up his and Cam's sex life was great. And then when Jay later asked him if he wanted to weigh in, Mitchell made a sound just like Chewbacca.

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CofCinci

CofCinci

Will this lead to a Haley pregnancy storyline later this season and into next season?

No.  It will lead to Alex's pregnancy. 

Someone will find a positive pregnancy test at the Dunphy house.  Claire and Phil will think it's Haley's pregnancy test but it turns out that it's Alex's test.

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WhosThatGirl

WhosThatGirl

(edited)

Oh I hope neither Haley or Alex has a pregnancy. I think the show will more than likely, if they wanted to go that route, make Haley pregnant. As someone said before, it seems they're trying to do parallels with Haley/Andy and Phil/Claire.  

 

Truthfully, if the show was going to add a baby to this show-which they don't need to- I would want them to have Mitch and Cam go and start adopting again. That was a plot I enjoyed and was really sad when it didn't work out for them. 

Edited by WhosThatGirl
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Latverian Diplomat

Latverian Diplomat

(edited)

So, do people still have "calling circles"? I mean, the most common observation about cell phones today is that no one actually uses them as phones anymore.

 

And Jay, the DVR has been invented, and I'm pretty sure it's been established that you have one. No need to worry about missing "the big game".

 

So, a couple of jokes from the '90s crept in there, I wonder if this was originally a Frasier script or something?

Edited by Latverian Diplomat
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CleoCaesar

CleoCaesar

As much as I LOVED no Manny, Luke or Lily (the trifecta of horrifically bad acting) and loved the Alex/Haley sister scenes (one of my favorite aspects of the show, rare as it is), the episode fell flat for me. The therapist bits weren't funny and felt too cartoonish.

 

Zzzzzzz Andy. I really don't get what Haley sees in him. And now he's officially a cheater. If he'll cheat with you, he'll cheat on you.

 

Surprised they got a few raunchy jokes in, particularly with Mitch and Cam.

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paulvdb

paulvdb

And Jay, the DVR has been invented, and I'm pretty sure it's been established that you have one. No need to worry about missing "the big game".

For scripted tv I have no problem with watching later and staying away from spoilers, but sports is the one thing that I would have to watch live. I don't have the patience to watch a match later on dvr knowing that I can just go online and find out who won.

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Latverian Diplomat

Latverian Diplomat

For scripted tv I have no problem with watching later and staying away from spoilers, but sports is the one thing that I would have to watch live. I don't have the patience to watch a match later on dvr knowing that I can just go online and find out who won.

I'm not a sports guy, but having watched a prerecorded game or two, you should give it a try.

 

Most sports programs are incredibly padded with ads and other downtime. It's not hard to take in a lot of events in a third the time of watching them live. Soccer is the exception, I guess.

 

In any case, doing it one time when Gloria wants to do something else on a Sunday afternoon doesn't feel like much of an imposition. 

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Blergh

Blergh

I'm with Phil, HATE so much when people say Me Likey. Like rage levels of hate.

 

 I can excuse those under who are five years old and under (or have that mental age) but otherwise, I agree.

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qtpye

qtpye

It was weird to hear Gloria comment on her neck looking old, when her husband looked absolutely ancient with his head cradled on her lap.  It must have been a bad angle, because I have never seen Ed O'Neil look so old before.

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jhlipton

jhlipton

I didn't think I could dislike Andy & Haley more, but I do. Her still sleeping with him after he basically assumed the only reason she'd text him would be for a booty call doesn't make her a better person. 

 

For her to cheat with Andy after saying "I want to be a better person" wasn't shocking or funny, just depressing.

 

For scripted tv I have no problem with watching later and staying away from spoilers, but sports is the one thing that I would have to watch live. I don't have the patience to watch a match later on dvr knowing that I can just go online and find out who won.

 

And if Jay had money on the game (which I wouldn't doubt at all), he'd want to know what was happening in real time.

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DrSpaceman73

DrSpaceman73

I hate "Me Likey" ....so childish. Whats weird though is I'd expect that to be something Phil says, not Claire. More his style.

Watching a football game after the fact when you know the outcome is liking watching a great drama and someone gives you every single spoiler ahead of time. No fun and pointless. The shortened timeframe doesn't make up for the loss of drama and build up and the entire experience of watching and experiencing it live.

And I do watch replays of games all the time. NFL replay shortens games to 30 minutes and I watch other teams I am not invested in or don't care about as much though. I am not wathcing my favorite teams that way though.

Its not a bad episode with all the adults and their "junk drawer". I really though we were through with the Haley/Andy will they/won't they though. I thought after last week they'd just be together now and tell his fiancee......but I guess not, we have to drag it out the whole season to sweeps week.

As for Alex......very disappointed in her really. You're off at college which is where you wanted to be, a chance to grow and be a new environment with people of your similar interests and intellect. Instead you go back home and date a 16 year old. Don't really care about that storyline. Grow up, move on

No.  It will lead to Alex's pregnancy. 

Someone will find a positive pregnancy test at the Dunphy house.  Claire and Phil will think it's Haley's pregnancy test but it turns out that it's Alex's test.

Oh I hope not. And I didn't get the impression Alex had gone THAT far with whats his name. I think they just kissed and .....kept their clothes on

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DrSpaceman73

DrSpaceman73

Alex mentioned that they kissed and he got "some of these" as she pointed to her chest.

Right. which I didn't take it to mean they had done much other than some under or over the clothes breast action......I'd rather not go further i the thought

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biakbiak

biakbiak

Green Bay on Thursday illustrates why many of us want to watch games live, it's not the same when you know you can fast forward to the end. I did like Jay telling Cam the score in therapy speak!

I also thought they explained why Alex would hook up with Ruben well. I like Hayley and Andy but not a fan of the cheating storyline.

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readster

readster

 

As for Alex......very disappointed in her really. You're off at college which is where you wanted to be, a chance to grow and be a new environment with people of your similar interests and intellect. Instead you go back home and date a 16 year old. Don't really care about that storyline. Grow up, move on

 

 I completely agree, they could have had Alex in her environment or seeing that college wasn't as free as Haley found out a few years ago (still think it was stupid how she got kicked out). However, its written so Alex can't grow up and now having a 16 year old cope a feel or squeeze of her is not moving her forward. So, she got some action, doesn't paint the character as moving up in college or dating. Just makes her look desperate. I believe that the writers have no idea how to use Alex, Luke or Lily right now. Lily has been out of few episodes, with barely a mention. Alex is spinning: "college is hard." Luke comes across as so stupid now I'm surprise the air isn't trying to kill him. Manny is the same old, same old, no real change there. 

  Same goes with Mitchell, the unemployment story line was suppose to be longer but the writers interviewed said that they painted themselves in a corner with it. Saying the plan was to just have him run his own firm or run the legal actions of Jay's business but didn't want Jay's kids all under the same roof. Thinking it was too simple and same goes for the other apartment in their duplex. Those wacky and crazy tenants they were suppose to get lasted two episodes. Do they even outline their stories anymore or are they too busy with trying to make the Andy/Haley crap work they can't look at anything else outside the ducks.

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spanana

spanana

(edited)

I think they partially don't know what to do with Alex on the college front because the writers have just assumed that Alex would have no trouble in college on the academic front.  Which is true to some extent, but there is often an adjustment when kids that are used to being at the top of the heap in high school go to college and are thrown in with a bunch of kids who are also overachievers.   So instead of exploring anything remotely interesting with her, they are continuing to dwell on the Alex is a pathetic social loser front.  Which is stereotypical and lazy, but the writers of this show have proven to be nothing if not lazy.  Then again it's not like Haley is treated any better as a character.

 

Also not that I really want to go into detail about it, but I think we are supposed to assume that Alex is still a virgin.

Edited by spanana
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readster

readster

I think they partially don't know what to do with Alex on the college front because the writers have just assumed that Alex would have no trouble in college on the academic front.  Which is true to some extent, but there is often an adjustment when kids that are used to being at the top of the heap in high school go to college and are thrown in with a bunch of kids who are also overachievers.   So interesting of exploring anything remotely interesting with her, they are continuing to dwell on the Alex is a pathetic social loser front.  Which is stereotypical and lazy, but the writers of this show have proven to be nothing if not lazy.  Then again it's not like Haley is treated any better as a character.

 

Also not that I really want to go into detail about it, but I think we are supposed to assume that Alex is still a virgin.

I'm agreeing on all your points, except the last one. I really think her Sanji did it and another reason why Alex is so upset. The classic: "I gave him everything, including my virginity and this is what I get!" Happened with some girls I knew in high school and even ones who were still dating their boyfriends during freshman year in college and went into the same funk after their boyfriends decided to go after different women or got caught in college themselves. I have no problem believing that but to put Alex with this high school loser nerd, that's just too much and makes Alex really look pathetic. She has so much else for her and the writers don't want to do it because they don't care and find it boring to write. However, I haven't liked what they have done with any of the kids this season outside of Joe and Lily because they write Joe and Lily like kids. However, its the same old stuff and now they've made Haley a cheater, Alex a desperate freshman, Luke is too stupid to even breathe and Manny is still being Manny. The only difference is that they have made it so Manny is dating and so forth but really, can't he just get a regular girlfriend for a bit without Gloria going crazy or once again: "Do you think my sandals are too much with this outfit?" Grow up Manny!

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qtpye

qtpye

What is stupid is academic issues for someone as brainy as Alex are not uncommon.  Colleges like MIT and Cal Tech have the brightest minds in the country as their students.  It is sometimes a complete shock when a kid realizes that they are not automatically the smartest person in the room anymore.  It can be particularly difficult for someone whose whole identity was based on being the "smart kid" .  A lot of people crash and burn at the level (I think one third of the students at MIT do not make it to graduation).

 

However, the writers think the worst thing for a female is not professional or academic disappointment, but not to be desirable to the opposite sex.  The Reuben thing is so silly and it really makes no sense from what we know of Alex's character.

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Perfect Xero

Perfect Xero

What is stupid is academic issues for someone as brainy as Alex are not uncommon.  Colleges like MIT and Cal Tech have the brightest minds in the country as their students.  It is sometimes a complete shock when a kid realizes that they are not automatically the smartest person in the room anymore.  It can be particularly difficult for someone whose whole identity was based on being the "smart kid" .  A lot of people crash and burn at the level (I think one third of the students at MIT do not make it to graduation).

 

However, the writers think the worst thing for a female is not professional or academic disappointment, but not to be desirable to the opposite sex.  The Reuben thing is so silly and it really makes no sense from what we know of Alex's character.

 

I think the entire point of the Reuben thing is that Alex has been having academic issues/not feeling like she's the smartest among her peers for the first time in her life now that she's at college and has been using Reuben as an easy distraction because he's a link back to high school where she was clearly the smartest and best student.

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qtpye

qtpye

I think the entire point of the Reuben thing is that Alex has been having academic issues/not feeling like she's the smartest among her peers for the first time in her life now that she's at college and has been using Reuben as an easy distraction because he's a link back to high school where she was clearly the smartest and best student.

 

I understand, but why the heck would making out with Reuben be her link to High School?  He was a geeky kid that hung out with her brother, not someone that was part of her high school experience. 

 

A more fitting scenario would be Alex being an advisor for the academic team or chess club and taking that job way too seriously.  However, then we would not have hilarious jokes about him unhooking her bra or falling out of her bedroom closet.

 

I guess Reuben adores her and that is enough to make her feel special again?

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