S10.E19: Yes-Woman

[paulvdb]

In an effort to be less negative, Claire is rebranding herself as the girl who says “yes” and inadvertently approves of Luke’s new relationship with someone from his work. Meanwhile, Phil tries to surprise Alex at school right before she receives an award she didn’t tell him about.

Airdate: April 3, 2019

[KillingAdam]

Alex is THE FUCKING WORST.

Jay is not ENTIRELY wrong.

Anyone else a permanent "NOT EVER" in regards to Cam's hangover remedy?

[KillingAdam]

FUCK.

YOU.

ALEX.

[readster]

Yeah, I think this show officially just made everyone but Jay and Phil absolutely the worst and Alex has officially crossed over to to: "yeah this show is done." 

[Caseysgirl]

Is it still a thing to say “ this show has jumped the shark” because it surely has. All the characters are so unlikeable and don’t seem to like each other very much. It was so delightful in its early years that now it seems sad to watch.

[Mystery]

1 hour ago, readster said:

Yeah, I think this show officially just made everyone but Jay and Phil absolutely the worst and Alex has officially crossed over to to: "yeah this show is done." 

And Ariel Winter is back to that unflattering black dyed hair. Is her character even supposed to be graduating? Didn't she take like a year off, what with mono and other things? Ah well, I for sure won't be watching next year to see whatever goofy storyline they have for her next. 

[queenbee24]

I'm sad. I sat and "watched" what used to be one of my favorite shows and i can't tell you half of what happened because I frankly wasn't paying attention. This episode didn't seem to go in order or something, it seemed stand alone from the rest of the season but for the reference back to the dog beds. I feel like they've just destroyed Claire and even with all her neurotic behaviors I used to like Claire. Alex is just awful now, I think the writers/show are punishing her for going off the rails so much in her personal life. Overall i'm not sure I even smiled last night let alone laugh. I can't imagine another season of this. And as a twin mother, I'm so not looking forward to the trite and idiotic "twin hijinks" clearly coming our way. It may be time to take this off my DVR list.

[seacliffsal]

So I watched this immediately after watching Schitt's Creek (DVRed both shows) and it hit me that the saddest thing about Modern Family is that it doesn't seem like any of them truly love or like each other which is in stark contrast to Schitt's Creek in which the main family has grown to love and like each other to the point that the daughter is afraid she will miss her family if she leaves for an extended time for the Galapagos Islands (which she identified as a new feeling).  I wish Modern Family would emphasize the love amongst the characters more than the tensions amongst them.

Oh, and on a side note, I had to fast forward Cam's breakdown in the club-he has just been too much for far too long.

[Roaster]

I was glad to see Amy Pietz, a very attractive character actress, on to play Luke's cougar.  If you watched The Office, she was on several episodes as a restaurant manager who had an extra-marital affair with Michael. 

[KillingAdam]

The scene where everyone showed up at Jay's house at the end was such an overt ripoff of the Three's Company schtick.

For a bunch of people who seem to all get together for every childs game/play/event and seem to all have dinner together at least 3 times a week they sure as heel keep a lot of secrets from each other.

[MaryMitch]

Wow, I really enjoyed this episode. It's kinda depressing to hear that others didn't.

I was surprised and pleased that Luke went into the house instead of hiding. That last scene was funny!

[AnimeMania]

Seeing Luke being a responsible adult parent figure to someone roughly the same age as him was a little cringy, when realizing how useful his advise usually is (he actually was giving sound advice which is definitely out of character). They seem to be trying to get Gloria and Claire to sex it up a little bit, that should hold my attention until the show finally comes to an end. Cam and Mitch had a horrible story line. Alex was being mean to her dad, but I guess they did end up bonding in the end. Jay was unintentionally sexually harassing a woman. Manny's story line was an acquired taste.

[Suzn]

I'm going to expose how dim I am, because I didn't understand the last scene.  Claire looks at Luke and turns away suddenly and says something like "never mind".  What did she see?

[Suzn]

7 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

Seeing Luke being a responsible adult parent figure to someone roughly the same age as him was a little cringy, when realizing how useful his advise usually is (he actually was giving sound advice which is definitely out of character). They seem to be trying to get Gloria and Claire to sex it up a little bit, that should hold my attention until the show finally comes to an end. Cam and Mitch had a horrible story line. Alex was being mean to her dad, but I guess they did end up bonding in the end. Jay was unintentionally sexually harassing a woman. Manny's story line was an acquired taste.

I realize that I am probably all alone in my dislike of Phil, but I thought he was being the typical oblivious idiot and it didn't reflect well on Alex.  He needs to catch a clue when he doesn't know what he's talking about.

[TheLastKidPicked]

8 minutes ago, Suzn said:

I realize that I am probably all alone in my dislike of Phil, but I thought he was being the typical oblivious idiot and it didn't reflect well on Alex.  He needs to catch a clue when he doesn't know what he's talking about.

The thing you have to understand about Phil in order to enjoy his character is that Phil is not dumb.

The issue is, things pop into his mind the same way they pop into most of our minds.  But while most of us would have a filter and think,  "I can't say that out loud.  It's ridiculous."  Phil's imagination comes right out his mouth, "Is there a safe amount of helium you can give a baby that would make it float?"

Edited April 4, 2019 by TheLastKidPicked

[WhosThatGirl]

Yeah, another week of me watching this show and not understanding how they are going to get another season out of this. This episode was just boring.

And everyone for the most part seems to be phoning in it. 

[Suzn]

28 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

The thing you have to understand about Phil in order to enjoy his character is that Phil is not dumb.

The issue is, things pop into his mind the same way they pop into most of our minds.  But while most of us would have a filter and think,  "I can't say that out loud.  It's ridiculous."  Phil's imagination comes right out his mouth, "Is there a safe amount of helium you can give a baby that would make it float?"

I don't want to get into a whole thing about Phil, but it's not that I think he is truly dumb - he has many areas of competency - but there is sort of a blundering lack of self-awareness and I never enjoy him.  And nowhere in my imagination would I think of turning a baby into a helium float.

[joanne3482]

48 minutes ago, Suzn said:

I'm going to expose how dim I am, because I didn't understand the last scene.  Claire looks at Luke and turns away suddenly and says something like "never mind".  What did she see?

Earlier in the episode she and Gloria were looking at a picture of Yoga Woman's boyfriend's abs on the phone and they both expressed appreciation for them.  Later she saw Luke's abs when he raised up to grab the bowl because his shirt rose up and I guess it weirded her out.   Hindsight being what it is, (and I'm not trying to fat shame Manny's actor) but how Claire could see those abs and think they were Manny is beyond me.  Not only is Manny NOT built like that, but his skin tone/color would be different than Luke's. 

For some reason I was mildly amused by Cam trying to pick a fight with himself in a mirror. I know it is an old trope. but it did make me laugh. 

37 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

The issue is, things pop into his mind the same way they pop into most of our minds.  But while most of us would have a filter and think,  "I can't say that out loud.  It's ridiculous."  Phil's imagination comes right out his mouth, "Is there a safe amount of helium you can give a baby that would make it float?"

The real issue is, how can he have that much of a lack of self awareness and be a competent enough realtor that he seemed to do extremely well in LA. I lived there for a bit.  Not all Angelenos will be charmed by his bumbling good humor. 

[Suzn]

25 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

Earlier in the episode she and Gloria were looking at a picture of Yoga Woman's boyfriend's abs on the phone and they both expressed appreciation for them.  Later she saw Luke's abs when he raised up to grab the bowl because his shirt rose up and I guess it weirded her out.   Hindsight being what it is, (and I'm not trying to fat shame Manny's actor) but how Claire could see those abs and think they were Manny is beyond me.  Not only is Manny NOT built like that, but his skin tone/color would be different than Luke's. 

For some reason I was mildly amused by Cam trying to pick a fight with himself in a mirror. I know it is an old trope. but it did make me laugh. 

The real issue is, how can he have that much of a lack of self awareness and be a competent enough realtor that he seemed to do extremely well in LA. I lived there for a bit.  Not all Angelenos will be charmed by his bumbling good humor. 

Ohhhhhh!  Perfect explanation.  No wonder she reacted that way when she realized that the body she had been admiring was that of her son's!

[ljenkins782]

11 hours ago, Mystery said:

And Ariel Winter is back to that unflattering black dyed hair. Is her character even supposed to be graduating? Didn't she take like a year off, what with mono and other things? Ah well, I for sure won't be watching next year to see whatever goofy storyline they have for her next. 

At least she has dialed back on the lip fillers. If she's still getting them, she's at least downgraded to a smaller size so I'm no longer distracted by those giant rubbery duck lips. 

That was my main takeaway from this episode since the show itself wasn't that interesting.

Quote

Is it still a thing to say “ this show has jumped the shark” because it surely has. All the characters are so unlikeable and don’t seem to like each other very much. It was so delightful in its early years that now it seems sad to watch.

Yep. And the main reason I continue to complain about the show trudging on for possibly another season is that I think it still being in production is holding up the possibility of them putting all seasons on Hulu for streaming. 

If the show was over, they'd probably make the whole series available and I could watch the old seasons when the show was still good. I DVR the syndicated episodes on TV, but they only seem to show a handful of the same episodes over and over.

[tennisgurl]

Phil was certainly a LOT at the function in a Phil kind of way, but Alex was just awful to him from the very start. Like, oh no, my supportive loving father is here to love and support me and my dreams! Oh the horror!

There were a few decent jokes and lines, but this was mostly just kind of sad. Do these people even like each other anymore? It seems like they either keep secrets from each other, get annoyed with each other, or not ask one damn follow up question that would clarify whatever was weirding them out!

Edited April 4, 2019 by tennisgurl

[WhosThatGirl]

1 hour ago, ljenkins782 said:

At least she has dialed back on the lip fillers. If she's still getting them, she's at least downgraded to a smaller size so I'm no longer distracted by those giant rubbery duck lips. 

That was my main takeaway from this episode since the show itself wasn't that interesting.

Yep. And the main reason I continue to complain about the show trudging on for possibly another season is that I think it still being in production is holding up the possibility of them putting all seasons on Hulu for streaming. 

If the show was over, they'd probably make the whole series available and I could watch the old seasons when the show was still good. I DVR the syndicated episodes on TV, but they only seem to show a handful of the same episodes over and over.

There is no possibility of being another season, it’s definite isn’t it? They announced that next year is happening and it’s the final season. Not sure how many episodes and not sure if they announced that the whole cast is returning but I think they might all be. I think that’s what would have made the show end if someone wanted to walk.

I agree with you, I don’t know how they are getting another season out of this though.

Also for me USA seems to  play a bunch of different seasons. At least from what I can tell. I love Fridays because they normally do a marathon every Friday. 

This season isn’t good. Even the big  Dede death at the start of the season didn’t even do anything! They teased that through the end of the summer and there’s been almost nothing to it. A few episodes here and there but they made it seem like it would be a bigger impact the way they talked about it, my  only guess is Haley will probably name one of her twins Dede to full circle it. 

Edited April 4, 2019 by WhosThatGirl

[ljenkins782]

3 minutes ago, WhosThatGirl said:

There is no possibility of being another season, it’s definite isn’t it? They announced that next year is happening and it’s the final season. Not sure how many episodes and not sure if they announced that the whole cast is returning.

I agree with you, I don’t know how they are getting another season out of this though.

Also for me USA seems to  play a bunch of different seasons. At least from what I can tell. I love Fridays because they normally do a marathon every Friday. 

I do remember catching a Friday marathon one time when I got snowed in at work due to a freak blizzard and had to get a hotel room. (That night was truly the most sitcom-y experience I've ever had, you know that old sitcom trope where unlikely characters end up sharing rooms because "all the hotels in the city are booked"? That actually happened! All of the trains shut down during a popular event in the city and no one could get home. The train station was like a Walking Dead episode with people just wandering around bewildered. Anyway...) 

It's possible that my DVR is only recording a certain channel, I'll have to check to see if I get USA in my cable package.

I guess I keep hoping they'll change their minds and just wrap it up. This season has been so bad. Though maybe they can pull a "Frasier" and somehow get some decent episodes in their final season after several true dud seasons. I think they had changed writers and then the original writers came back at the very end and put out some classic episodes in the final run. 

But the Frasier actors had mostly kept up their level of acting throughout the series, which I can't say for the MF actors. Dylan and Haley have not aged well, acting-wise, their spacey, shallow qualities were amusing in high school students and they played it well, but it seems like they're trying to recreate that as adults and it's just not working. 

[WhosThatGirl]

24 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

I do remember catching a Friday marathon one time when I got snowed in at work due to a freak blizzard and had to get a hotel room. (That night was truly the most sitcom-y experience I've ever had, you know that old sitcom trope where unlikely characters end up sharing rooms because "all the hotels in the city are booked"? That actually happened! All of the trains shut down during a popular event in the city and no one could get home. The train station was like a Walking Dead episode with people just wandering around bewildered. Anyway...) 

It's possible that my DVR is only recording a certain channel, I'll have to check to see if I get USA in my cable package.

I guess I keep hoping they'll change their minds and just wrap it up. This season has been so bad. Though maybe they can pull a "Frasier" and somehow get some decent episodes in their final season after several true dud seasons. I think they had changed writers and then the original writers came back at the very end and put out some classic episodes in the final run. 

But the Frasier actors had mostly kept up their level of acting throughout the series, which I can't say for the MF actors. Dylan and Haley have not aged well, acting-wise, their spacey, shallow qualities were amusing in high school students and they played it well, but it seems like they're trying to recreate that as adults and it's just not working. 

Yeah.. the Magic has work for this show. And again the actors? Most of them seem to be phoning it in.

Also Haley and Dylan’s stories are like the same every week. It’s either Haley and Dylan freaking out about having kids or Claire and phill freaking out about Haley being a mom and everything. It’s boring. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

1 hour ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Also for me USA seems to  play a bunch of different seasons. At least from what I can tell. I love Fridays because they normally do a marathon every Friday.

All you have to do is catch a rerun or two and that reminds you of just how good this show used to be.

Back when the characters were likeable, this show was hilarious.

[WhosThatGirl]

22 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

All you have to do is catch a rerun or two and that reminds you of just how good this show used to be.

Back when the characters were likeable, this show was hilarious.

Right? Lately they all seem to be going though the motions. No one seems to be doing anything. Been the ones who try are making it worse. Like Phil used to be fun now he’s just so exhausting and I like TB but it’s.. becoming a lot.

[ljenkins782]

45 minutes ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Right? Lately they all seem to be going though the motions. No one seems to be doing anything. Been the ones who try are making it worse. Like Phil used to be fun now he’s just so exhausting and I like TB but it’s.. becoming a lot.

The saddest one for me is Ed O'Neill, who's been a favorite of mine since Al Bundy. His delivery isn't as sharp, the writing for him is nowhere near what it was, and it makes me a little sad to see him going so soft, even though I know age catches up to everyone. Going back even a few seasons, he was still a very attractive, confident older man.

[TheLastKidPicked]

1 hour ago, ljenkins782 said:

Going back even a few seasons, he was still a very attractive, confident older man.

You only need to go back a few episodes.  Remember his comment about the hot mom at Joe's school, and his reaction to her?

"Sure, I engaged in some friendly email banter, and I do realize that blue shirts make my eyes sparkle.  And yes, I did some push ups in the parking lot, but those were for everybody!"

I miss that Jay.

[xander874]

I feel the Alex is embarrassed by Phil story has been done several times on this show. Phil is oblivious but Alex also sucks for not telling her parents about the award.

And I have also seen the old-people-try-to-be-young-and-can't-keep-up-with-the-youngsters story repeatedly on sitcoms. It is so not new. I'm not young and I do enjoy an evening now and then of getting wild but I also enjoy boring lectures sometimes. You can have a fun evening out just the 2 of you. I don't get why Cam needed the youngsters to have fun.

I actually did like the stuff at the end with all the misunderstandings. I know that's also been done to death, but its one thing MF does pretty well. Too bad it was only the last 5 minutes of the episode.

[DrSpaceman]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 10:22 AM, KillingAdam said:

The scene where everyone showed up at Jay's house at the end was such an overt ripoff of the Three's Company schtick.

For a bunch of people who seem to all get together for every childs game/play/event and seem to all have dinner together at least 3 times a week they sure as heel keep a lot of secrets from each other.

Or Frasier, they did those sort of misunderstandings pretty often

But usually better than this one

And also Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt did a very similar episode this past season with the Cougar women figuring out it was on of their sons. 

But I actually didn't mind this one too much or the episode as a whole.  Though I agree the Alex/Phil and Mitch/Cam things seemed to be rehashed versions of plots they have done like 5 times already

I will never tire of Mitch's "I (heart) me" mug though.  Just seeing that once an episode makes it sort of worth it. 

Actually now that I think of it, this Claire plot is pretty much what she tried to do on their Hawaii vacation as well.  And makes me think of the Friends episode where Chandler tried to not be funny or sarcastic, until he just couldn't take it anymore.  "Are you dating a girl from Fraggle Rock!!!"

[mojito]

I liked this episode better than most this season. No Lilly. No Dylan. 

The Mitch-Cam scenes were a little humorous. I appreciated that Phil was making an effort to connect with Alex though I didn't think it was very funny. Alex's reaction to her father seemed normal to me. 

I thought the comedy-of-errors scene at the end was well-written, as most of the dialog was reasonable considering all that had transpired.  Many times, characters' misinterpretations of the goings-on and their subsequent dialog are awkwardly written, and seem like too much of a stretch. I didn't think this was the case here.

Please, American TV, start creating 8-episodes per season shows so they can remain fresh and leave people looking forward to the new season in 10 months or so! Quantity negatively affects quality.

[Suzn]

1 hour ago, xander874 said:

I feel the Alex is embarrassed by Phil story has been done several times on this show. Phil is oblivious but Alex also sucks for not telling her parents about the award.

And I have also seen the old-people-try-to-be-young-and-can't-keep-up-with-the-youngsters story repeatedly on sitcoms. It is so not new. I'm not young and I do enjoy an evening now and then of getting wild but I also enjoy boring lectures sometimes. You can have a fun evening out just the 2 of you. I don't get why Cam needed the youngsters to have fun.

I actually did like the stuff at the end with all the misunderstandings. I know that's also been done to death, but its one thing MF does pretty well. Too bad it was only the last 5 minutes of the episode.

They have done variations of this with Mitch and Cam multiple times - like the time they couldn't stay up to see in the new year.  It's ridiculous to begin with and tiresome to repeat. That those of us "older" people can't stay up late or go out at night is just insulting and stupid.

[KillingAdam]

3 minutes ago, mojito said:

Please, American TV, start creating 8-episodes per season shows so they can remain fresh and leave people looking forward to the new season in 10 months or so! Quantity negatively affects quality.

Oh fuck no.

If you think only having 8 episodes in a season is going to make each of them an ALL TIME BESTEST EVER PLATINUM DIAMOND EMERALD you are wrong. Plus, it is incredibly lazy.

Hill Street Blues did 24 episodes a season and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS ABSOLUTE PERFECTION.

And let's take Better Call Saul and throw it into the Grand Canyon. They do 10 episodes a season, which you would think would enable the writers to pack every episode with sparkling, dazzling Shakespearian dialogue. Instead we get 4 minute shots where they drove out to the middle of fucking nowhere set a video camera up and left then run a time lapse of what happens which is NOTHING. We get it, New Mexico is picturesque. ENOUGH.

[mojito]

Quote

If you think only having 8 episodes in a season is going to make each of them an ALL TIME BESTEST EVER PLATINUM DIAMOND EMERALD you are wrong. Plus, it is incredibly lazy.

I don't know of any comedies nowadays that remain funny for 20+ episodes, even in their first season. 

Some shows are lousy shows. So the fewer the better with bad shows, too. 

Right, Hill Street Blues. That was some 30 years ago. It was a fresh format with an ensemble cast, which was an original thing in TV. It was also written more intelligently. TV dramas now are incredibly dumbed down. I can't decide if writers are the ones who are less intelligent or the viewers are. I wonder if Hill Street Blues would even be successful if it premiered today. 

[Aryanna]

On 4/4/2019 at 10:17 AM, AnimeMania said:

Jay was unintentionally sexually harassing a woman.

I don't mean to be rude about this but I hate when people call something that's not sexual harassment sexual harassment. It trivializes actual sexual harassment when this is done.

Although I've never heard golfers called swingers it was just a misunderstanding. If a guy from England asks a girl in the US for a rubber, is he sexually harassing her? In England a rubber is what we call an eraser in the US. But the girl in the US would understand it as a condom. The same word had 2 different meanings to 2 different people. It's a misunderstanding. It's not sexual harassment.

[AnimeMania]

4 hours ago, Aryanna said:

I don't mean to be rude about this but I hate when people call something that's not sexual harassment sexual harassment. It trivializes actual sexual harassment when this is done.

Although I've never heard golfers called swingers it was just a misunderstanding. If a guy from England asks a girl in the US for a rubber, is he sexually harassing her?

Yes, if a guy from England asks a girl in the US for a rubber and he says "because when you come over to my place to study tonight, I think we are going to make a lot of mistakes".

[Mystery]

On 4/3/2019 at 6:08 PM, KillingAdam said:

Alex is THE FUCKING WORST.

I think the show treated this character terribly. Tonight I saw the Season 3 rerun where she got out of the truck with Haley and Cam, pulled the hair tie out of her hair, and sauntered over to a group of boys to get them to give back the helicopter they took from Manny and Luke. The group of boys is starstruck by her. Then she tells Haley "You have your fans, and I have mine. Someday, your fans are going to work for my fans." 

There were so many early episodes where Alex was cute and funny and aware that boys liked her, even if they were different from the boys who liked Haley. And the show turned her into a really miserable shadow of herself. 

[Everleigh]

It was shitty of Alex to be embarrassed by Phil, even if he was being annoyingly silly, but I always feel compelled to cut Alex some slack when it comes to her family because they generally don't treat her very well or consider her much. In fact, they've done a handful of storylines about either Phil or Claire not feeling connected to Alex and thus having to go out of their way to make that connection, by way of wacky hi-jinks of course... but alas their newly found connection and mutual understanding never lasts more than one episode because a couple of seasons later the storyline will repeat with one parent or the other. I think this might have actually been the third such story I can remember with Phil, in particular, trying to connect to Alex after realizing he doesn't have as good a relationship with her as he does with his other kids. The storyline is stale and repetitive and it always makes me feel kind of sad for Alex that her own parents don't bother to have much of a relationship with her but are best buddies with Haley and Luke.

[possibilities]

They did that episode where Alex went to therapy and sobbed in Claire's arms after, and then it was like that never happened and the show went back to the same exact dynamic. That would be crushing to anyone, and I always think of it during episodes where they make Alex the focus.

[tribeca]

I liked the end with Alex and Phil playing trivia wearing hats and eating hot wings.  

Its funny Alex doesn’t connect to her family but is dating a man who is much like her dad and brother.  

I am the black sheep of my family so I have a soft spot for Alex.   

[WAnglais1]

It was full of hackneyed, trite writing. You could see it all coming like a Fifth Avenue bus. Just the worst. As soon as Jay mentioned his group of golfers as "swingers" I knew we were in for wacky hi-jinks.

It was like a rejected script for FRASIER which was a rejected SNL skit which was a bad improv idea. 

Clair being rude to the girl scout? The worst. 
Alex being rude to her dad? The worst. 
Cam and Mitch want to be young and one of them overreacts? The worst.
Doofus son having an affair with a friend of one of them? The worst. 

Lazy writing. Lazy conclusion. Lazy acting. Just lazy. I get it...the checks are nice and there's one more season of them. Plus, sweet, sweet syndication money for years to come. You never have to work again. That doesn't mean you shouldn't work NOW!

[vibeology]

On ‎4‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 3:04 AM, Everleigh said:

It was shitty of Alex to be embarrassed by Phil, even if he was being annoyingly silly, but I always feel compelled to cut Alex some slack when it comes to her family because they generally don't treat her very well or consider her much. In fact, they've done a handful of storylines about either Phil or Claire not feeling connected to Alex and thus having to go out of their way to make that connection, by way of wacky hi-jinks of course... but alas their newly found connection and mutual understanding never lasts more than one episode because a couple of seasons later the storyline will repeat with one parent or the other. I think this might have actually been the third such story I can remember with Phil, in particular, trying to connect to Alex after realizing he doesn't have as good a relationship with her as he does with his other kids. The storyline is stale and repetitive and it always makes me feel kind of sad for Alex that her own parents don't bother to have much of a relationship with her but are best buddies with Haley and Luke.

This. I think it's great Phil wants to spend time with Alex but Alex is an organized planner. Even if there wasn't the banquet, she isn't someone who is cool with a pop in. Had Phil planned a visit, she'd respond better. Surprises, last minute changes etc stress her out and add in Phil being very, very on in a very obnoxious and socially rude way in front of her professors and peers (because cutting into an ongoing conversation to ask if a baby can float is rude) and I get where her reaction came from even if it was flawed. She didn't want to hurt Phil's feelings but also wanted to protect her professional reputation. Alex does need to loosen up quite a bit because you can't control everything but Phil (and the rest of the family) should also try harder to understand Alex and respect that she wants boundaries between her school and family life.

Claire actually did get Alex and knew that a pop in was a horrible idea (because Claire and Alex share the control/no surprises trait) but because she was in yes mode didn't actually stop Phil. Had she suggested calling first, all of the awfulness would have been avoided.

[Suzn]

44 minutes ago, vibeology said:

This. I think it's great Phil wants to spend time with Alex but Alex is an organized planner. Even if there wasn't the banquet, she isn't someone who is cool with a pop in. Had Phil planned a visit, she'd respond better. Surprises, last minute changes etc stress her out and add in Phil being very, very on in a very obnoxious and socially rude way in front of her professors and peers (because cutting into an ongoing conversation to ask if a baby can float is rude) and I get where her reaction came from even if it was flawed. She didn't want to hurt Phil's feelings but also wanted to protect her professional reputation. Alex does need to loosen up quite a bit because you can't control everything but Phil (and the rest of the family) should also try harder to understand Alex and respect that she wants boundaries between her school and family life.

Claire actually did get Alex and knew that a pop in was a horrible idea (because Claire and Alex share the control/no surprises trait) but because she was in yes mode didn't actually stop Phil. Had she suggested calling first, all of the awfulness would have been avoided.

That was so egregious that I'd have been embarrassed to even watch Phil's performance.

[SnarkySheep]

On 4/4/2019 at 12:50 AM, Mystery said:

And Ariel Winter is back to that unflattering black dyed hair. Is her character even supposed to be graduating? Didn't she take like a year off, what with mono and other things? Ah well, I for sure won't be watching next year to see whatever goofy storyline they have for her next. 

Well, as Phil put it, Alex started taking college classes "12 years ago"...so it's not unreasonable to think she might have earned enough credits to graduate even with missing a semester.