It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post on an episode of Modern Family. Now that it’s summer and I have more spare time, I’m going to try and get caught up on doing blog posts on my thoughts on all of the season two episodes of Modern Family, and other TV shows; that being said, here are my thoughts on episode 2x02 “The Kiss”.
My general opinion of this episode is that it’s a great episode. It has a lot of really hilarious moments, but it also has a lot of heart to it as well. According to the producers, they had always wanted to do an episode in season two that explained why they didn’t show Mitchell and Cameron kissing in season one. Some viewers seem to believe that the writers only did this episode to get the viewers to stop complaining about Mitchell and Cameron not kissing and that it hadn’t always been planned. I’m inclined to believe the writers when they say they had always planned to do an episode that explains why Mitchell and Cameron weren’t shown kissing in season one. I honestly never thought about that too much, because even though they aren’t shown kissing all of the time, they have always seemed like a real couple that has been together for years to me. I’ve always loved the way they complete each other’s sentences, regardless of whether the response was the desired response or not. People seemed to get very upset about the fact that they hadn’t kissed after they showed Phil and Claire kissing each other with Mitchell and Cameron being shown in the same camera frame simply hugging each other in the episode “Airport 2010”.
When the producers talked about this episode before it aired I was worried that the entire episode would revolve the whole issue with Mitchell and Cameron kissing, but it didn’t. Instead, it focused mainly on Jay’s inability to show people affection and how that had affected Mitchell and Claire growing up and Alex anticipating and fearing her first kiss. I love that in the end, it was the fact that Phil spent the whole episode trying to help Jay set up his new printer, only to have Jay give Phil a rather half-hearted thank you once he finally got the printer to work be the thing that really brought the issue to a head.
Here are some of my favorite lines from the episode:
Claire is trying to organize Tupperware containers, but the ratio of lids to containers isn’t equal.
Claire-How come we don’t have the same number of containers and lids? Why would they ever get separated?
Phil-Built up resentment? Money issues? Met a younger lid?
About a minute later.
Phil-He blew his lid when she tried to contain him.
Cameron is trying to pick a shirt to buy, and asks Mitchell which one he should pick.
Cameron- Okay, the house is on fire, I only have time to grab one shirt; which one do I take?
Mitchell- The correct answer is, take Lily.
Cameron talking about Mitchell not being comfortable with public displays of affection in a couch interview:
Cameron-Mitchell has a problem with public displays of affection. I remember once at a New Year’s Eve party, stroke of midnight, he high-fived me. Two problems with that: One, gays don’t high-five. Two, gays don’t high-five.
Claire talking about how she’s been feeling disconnected from Alex.
Claire- I’m feeling a little bit disconnected from Alex right now. Last week, I picked up her cell phone thinking it was mine, and I accidently read a few flirty text messages that were probably from a boy in her class, which is fine. Or, they’re from a drifter.
Claire talking about what they tell their children about what their life was like before they had kids while Phil sits next to her nodding at everything she’s saying in a couch interview:
Claire- Your kids don’t need to know who you were before you had them. They need to know who you wish you were, and they need to live up to that person. If they’re gonna fall short, who better they fall short of the fake you, than the real you.
Phil- Which is why we don’t hide anything.
Claire- That is the opposite of what I just said.
Phil- I was not listening.
After Mitchell tries to kiss Cameron when they’re at home.
Cameron- Oh, let me lock the door and draw the curtains.
Mitchell and Cameron talking about what they think are kiss-worthy moments.
Mitchell- Nobody kisses at a bowling alley.
Cameron- I almost got a turkey!
Phil talking about how he’s excited that Jay just called to ask him for help installing his new printer in a couch interview.
Phil- Hell’s yes I was glad to get the call. Jay’s always around here fixing things, cracking jokes about my delicate hands and my gag response to the smell of paint. Look who needs me now? Mr. Hotdog Fingers who can’t press print with hitting three extra keys. Yeah! In my house now, Jay! Well, technically we’ll be in his house, but it will be in my area of his house!
Hailey telling Alex she needs to kiss the boy she has a crush on.
Hailey- Like a eleven, and it was beautiful. I was in Jackson Kaner’s carpeted garage.
Alex-Eleven?
Hailey- Yeah, so you better get on it, or otherwise he’s going to think you’re a lesbian.
Alex-He’s not going to think I’m a lesbian!
Hailey- I thought you were. You totally have the sandals for it.
Gloria talking about how she convinced Jay that he has to slaps the chicken before she cooks it in a couch interview.
Gloria- I made all that up. That’s not a real custom in Columbia. We’re not lunatics, but you mess with us, and we mess with you. That’s a custom.
Luke and Manny talking about how Gloria said that she has been feeling the presence of her grandma’s spirit in the house.
Luke-Don’t be such a chicken. There’s no ghost in here.
Manny-I’m telling you, my mom said that her dead grandmother was in the house. She said she felt her here this morning, in this room.
Luke-Maybe your mom’s mentally ill.
Luke and Manny hear thumping coming from the ceiling, unaware that it’s Phil in the attic.
Luke-(Scared) Did she have a limp? And a cane?
Manny-(Scared) Aha!
Luke-Ghost of Manny’s great-grandma…if that’s really you, show yourself!
A picture of Gloria’s grandma comes out of the printer and Luke and Manny look at it.
Manny-That’s her!
Luke and Manny run out of the room screaming.
Gloria talking to Jay after Cameron tells Gloria that Mitchell is afraid to kiss him in front of Jay.
Gloria-Don’t you see? It’s because you that your son can’t kiss his own lover!
Mitchell and Cameron- (Quickly in unison) Don’t. We don’t like to say lover.
Gloria talking to Jay about how Mitchell isn’t comfortable kissing Cameron in front of him after she learns that the last time Jay kissed Mitchell was when he was twelve.
Gloria-Twelve? This is the problem! Jay’s dad doesn’t kiss Jay, so Jay doesn’t kiss Mitch, and Mitch is uptight!
Mitchell- (Defensively) Okay, okay, uptight was really not on the table. It was just more about kissing.
Gloria-Jay, kiss your son. He’s a mess!
Some other random thoughts that I have about the episode:
- I loved that the writers once again revisited the fact that Claire was a bit of a wild child when she was a teenager. I always felt like the reason why Claire is so uptight now is because she knew how fun-loving Phil was when they got married, so she figured that one of them had to be the strict parent who enforced the rules. Although, every once and a while the writers let Claire’s wild side emerge a little bit, and when they do, Julie Bowen places it brilliantly.
- One of my favorite scenes from the episode was the whole fight between Alex and Hailey after Hailey gets the text message about Alex trying to kiss the boy she liked. I thought it was classic Hailey to be more concerned about how the situation affected her than she was about Alex. It was hilarious how the fight escalated and backfired on Claire after Alex finds out that she asked Hailey to talk to her.
- This episode had a lot of funny physical humor in it too, like when Jay was using a ladle to trick Manny into thinking that the ghost of his great-grandma was touching his shoulder. For some reason, I found the way that Mitchell plopped down on the couch in exasperation while he waits for Cameron to buy some clothes especially funny. I also loved the way Cameron rolled over the couch and spilled the bowl of food after Mitchell moved out of the way when he was trying to kiss him. I for one think that Eric Stonestreet is great a physical humor.
- I also loved the callback to Phil’s method of teaching people how to use electronics is to sing the instructions to them. Jay’s way of making fun of him for that was pretty funny too.
- I think that the whole joke about Phil having a gag response to the smell of paint was hilarious, especially given the fact that I myself happen to have a very sensitive gag reflex. That kind of made me feel sorry for Phil though.
- I like how the writers handled Mitchell and Cameron’s kiss and didn’t make a big spectacle about the actual kiss by showing it in the background. All of the other characters in the room didn’t see it, but the audience saw it and knows that it happened.
- I thought all Gloria’s pranks on Jay were hilarious, telling him that he had to slap the chicken and yell loudly as he did that before they cooked was definitely the funniest one. I also loved Claire’s reaction to seeing Jay with the shoes wrapped around his neck.
- I love how Luke and Manny freaked out and threw away the picture of Gloria great-grandma after it came out of the printer, leading Phil to believe that the printer still wasn’t working.
- One last thing that I loved about this episode was the fact that Alex and Hailey had a lot of scenes together, and Luke and Manny also had a lot of scenes together. Those are two combinations of characters that I always love to watch on the show.
All in all, thought this episode had a ton of funny moments and dialogue, so I give it a rating of an A+.
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