First off, a huge amount of thanks to Jordan Cramer for filling in for me a couple weeks ago. You can check out his review of “Two Monkeys and a Panda” here.
After a few weeks off, Modern Family returned with quite a funny episode filled with bits and storylines right up my alley. There was a large Luke plot (and anyone who has read these reviews knows full well my love for Luke stories), Nathan Lane returning as Pepper (the first Broadway show I ever saw was the revival of Guys and Dolls starring Nathan Lane), and even a bit of Dylan thrown in too. The inclusion of these elements was certainly enough for me to love the episode, but “Boys’ Night” also did something completely unique for the series: it had a genuine serious moment. Not just a sentimental or reflective moment, but a “wow, that just stopped me dead at how serious it was” moment.
Of course, I am talking about the scene where Mr. Klezak shows up to bring the Dunphys onions and states that he used to be a firefighter and would never hurt a child. I kept waiting for the punch line, but there never was one. There was just a clear statement that not every un-neighborly old man i some kind of predator waiting to lure children into his lair. Men like Mr. Klezak are still people who should be respected and attended to; not ignored because of perceived crotchetiness. I honestly can’t remember another time in the series where such a serious note was sounded. Even in the most recent episode, where Jay and Gloria spoke about death, it was done humorously and then with great sentimentality when Jay said he just wanted to be next to Gloria in the end. This situation was a whole other ball of wax, and something that while wholly surprising, was actually quite welcome.
All in all, I thought this was a fantastic episode for the above, as well as the rather adept displays of comedy during Phil and Claire’s jumping/crashing/falling reaction to Mr. Klezak waking up, to Dylan not wearing shoes about town, to Gloria completely selling Jay out to Pepper. As usual, everything in the episode was well-acted, well-written, well-directed and well-performed. Unfortunately, for me, this was not a perfect episode. In opposition to my love of Luke stories, readers of these reviews will know one of my major pet peeves: the treacly musical conclusion. As Mitchell summed up one of Modern Family‘s more obvious themes (sometimes people are deeper than they appear and can surprise you), that infernal music started piping in, clearly warning the audience, “Here’s comes this week’s lesson!” This is wholly unnecessary. First off, the audience is smart — hearing what Mitchell us saying is clearly sufficient to understand the theme the creators want to illustrate. Second, since there is no music used at all throughout the episode, or any episode of the series (save the title theme), when it starts at the twenty-one minute mark, it sounds more like a blaring siren, alerting all within earshot that the moral of the story is about to be delivered. I don’t know, maybe I’m not like other viewers. Maybe it doesn’t bother anyone else. For me, however, I wish the music would just stop. The show doesn’t need it.
With my gripe out of the way, let’s finish up this review with some of the best lines of the night:
Jay: Buddy, don’t close yourself off from new things. Did I ever tell you the story about me and crabcakes? Thought I didn’t like them. Tried them. Loved them.
Manny: Wow! Are the movie rights available for that one?
Luke: Boys rule! Girls drool!
Alex: You drool all the time. Mom had to take you to a specialist.
Luke: I’m still growing into my tongue.
Mitchell: Saturday night we’re having dinner with our friends Pepper, Longeness and Crispin.
Cameron: Those are or gay friends.
Mitchell: I think that was clear.
Jay: You two go in and have a great time. I’ll see you later.
Gloria: And what are you going to do?
Jay: I’m going to walk like a man, fast as I can, to that bar over there. And if you knew Frankie Valli you’d be cracking up right now.
Mitchell: When I was 12 years old, my father walked into my bedroom and caught me doing the most embarrassing thing that a boy can do…..dancing to Madonna’s “Lucky Star.”
And one more from Luke, of course!
Luke: And just so you know, a lot of people think I’m adorable.
So, that was “Boys’ Night.” What did you think of the episode? Were you as struck by that serious moment with Mr. Klezak as much as I was, or do you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about? What were some of your favorite lines? Anything else that made you laugh hard (Haley saying she’s a great babysitter while Luke pulled out knives was pretty hysterical)? Please leave your comments below. I’ll be back next week with another review. Until then, I’m off to be old enough to know I don’t like opening aspirin bottles.
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