Right off the bat, I have to say that I absolutely loved this episode and I was completely impressed by it. All of the storylines in this episode were great. It had way too many funny lines and moments for me to be able to count them all. I also loved the references to previous episodes such as Claire being upset about the lack of Stop signs in their neighborhood, Phil “power walking” with ski poles, and my personal favorite: Phil pretending to be his alter ego, Clive Bixby, in the video that he and Luke made to show the members of the city council why they should put a Stop sign in at the intersection in their neighborhood. Plus, I love how they wove the storyline with Claire trying to get signatures for her petition to get a Stop sign; Gloria and Cameron looking for Jay’s dog, Stella, as well as Jay and Manny trying to get people to buy wrapping paper that Manny was trying to sell in order to raise money for a school fundraiser all together with the theme of them going door to door to do all of those things.
I know that Julie Bowen is supposed to play the straight man to Ty Burrell’s Phil who’s constantly getting the biggest laughs from the audience between the two of them, which means she doesn’t get a whole lot of chances to stand out on her own comedically, but I really feel like she’s had a lot of really funny moments in not just this episode, but the first three episodes of season three as well.
One of the main highlights of this episode for me personally was the whole subplot with Mitchell and Cameron arguing over who should clean up the mess that Cameron made in the kitchen when he made crepes for him and Lily for breakfast because he woke up in a “French mood”. Also, I loved their argument about Cameron’s lack of organization in general, especially when it comes to keeping track of important events such as when the social worker from the adoption agency was going to be coming over after she had to reschedule their home visit. The reason why I loved that storyline so much was because it reminded me a lot of one of my all-time favorite episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond where Ray and Debra argue over whose responsibility it is to put away a suitcase after they get back from a vacation.
I thought that Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson both did a great job with playing that storyline. I thought that Jesse especially played Mitchell’s visible struggle to resist the urge to clean up Cameron’s mess for him, especially when Lily asked him if she could have some raisins. I can’t believe that Mitchell told Lily that she could go get them herself. That seems like very negligent parenting on his part, if you ask me. I know that Mitchell was afraid that he would end up cleaning up the mess if he went in the kitchen, but given the fact that Lily is very short, I think she could have really hurt herself if she tried to get the raisins herself, especially considering how messy the kitchen was.
I thought that this whole subplot had a great payoff in the end when the social showed up right after Mitchell had made a huge mess around the house, which led Cameron to quickly admit that he needs to change his system for keeping track of important events. That was priceless. :)
What I liked the most about the whole storyline with Jay trying to help Manny sell wrapping paper for his school fundraiser is that it really showed how far Jay and Manny’s relationship has progressed since the beginning of the series when it was very clear that their relationship had gotten off to a rocky start and Manny couldn’t really see that Jay was a more reliable parent to him compared to his biological father, Javier, who so far has pretty much been an absentee father who constantly fails to follow through on the promises that he makes to him. Now, you can see that Manny has come to really respect Jay and look up to him and that Jay has come to think of Manny as his own son and not just his stepson.
In the end, Phil, Hailey, Alex and Luke all came through for Claire and ended up getting more than the minimum of fifty signatures that she needed for her petition for a Stop sign after she thought that she had failed in getting fifty signatures. Claire’s storyline was another storyline that I felt had a great payoff in the end. The whole scene where Claire interrupts the city council meeting to give them her petition for a Stop sign only to be surprised when Phil, Hailey, Alex and Luke show up with the remaining signatures that she needed was beyond hilarious.
Here are a few of my favorite things about this episode
- Claire’s whole rant about the movie The Blind Side after she learns that Phil still hadn’t changed the light bulbs and that he, Hailey, Alex and Luke hadn’t gotten her any signatures for her petition and the discussion between Phil, Hailey, Alex and Luke about The Blind Side after Claire leaves the room. I absolutely love that movie, so I thought that whole scene was beyond hilarious.
- The couch interview that Mitchell did where he says that he had been the messy his first long-term relationship that he had been in with a woman and he claims that that had been the reason why she broke up with him. I think it’s funny that the fact that it’s possible she broke up with him because she either figured out or at least suspected that he was gay doesn’t even occur to him at first.
- The discussion that Gloria and Manny got into about the play Les Misérables after Jay asks Manny about the school fundraiser and Jay struggling to get their attention again.
- Claire telling Alex and Hailey to stop gossiping about one of the girl’s that goes to their high school only to immediately start talking about the fact that the girl’s mother apparently has a drinking problem.
- Alex telling Hailey that she still didn’t have any lipstick on her face after Claire had to come to a sudden stop at an intersection in their neighborhood even though she did.
- Cameron talking to Mitchell on the phone about Stella missing and says that Gloria’s heartbroken about it only to have Gloria who’s in the background immediately say that she hopes that Stella has gotten sucked into a black hole.
- Cameron’s fixation with the play/movie A Streetcar Named Desire.
- The city councilman played by David Cross being upset with his coworkers for not getting him an ice cream cake for his birthday
- Cameron whimpering and crying silently as he begins to clean up the mess he made in the kitchen.
- More of Phil’s expletives, I always love them. :)
- The return of Phil’s alter ego Clive Bixby, and the whole video that Phil and Luke made to show the people on the city council.
- The couch interview that Phil, Hailey, Alex and Luke did about how they love it when Claire gets distracted with a project and that they like to take advantage of the situation when that happens, followed by footage of Phil and Luke answering the door not wearing any pants when the pizza delivery guy comes.
- All of Jay’s expressions that he tells Manny, and Manny not understanding what they mean.
- The screaming match between Gloria, Cameron and the little girl who had taken Stella. I think it’s even funnier that Jay and Manny heard them from several blocks away and didn’t know what the sound was.
Here are some of my favorite lines from this episode:
- Phil doing a couch interview about Luke being disappointed with him for saying that he can’t work on their YouTube video, because he has to change some light bulbs for Claire.
Phil: I’ve always said that if my son thinks of me as one of his idiot friends, then I’ve succeeded as a dad. If he wants to go the wrong way on the escalator, I’m on board. If he wants to go into a restaurant and pretend we’re Australian, then…(Imitates Australian accent) G’day, Mate. Toss a few shrimp on the barbie for me and my joey. Yeah? Right? Nicole Kidman? Men at work?
- Phil and Luke trying to capture the basketball bouncing off of Phil’s head and into the basketball hoop on tape for their YouTube video.
Luke: Wow. You know, my arm’s starting to hurt a little.
Phil: Really? ‘Cause my face feels great.
- Jay and Manny trying to sell wrapping paper to a man who’s concerned about the environment.
Jay: Hi. Ugh, Jay Pritchett here. Holidays are just around the corner.
Neighbor: I’m sorry. I don’t believe in wrapping paper.
Jay: What do you mean you don’t believe in wrapping paper? It’s not Bigfoot. It exists.
Neighbor: It’s not eco-friendly. It’s wasteful.
Jay: No, not this stuff. This paper was made from 100% recycled materials.
Manny: I don’t think so.
- Claire asking a neighbor who’s a carver to sign her petition.
Carving Neighbor: I really don’t like people coming to my door unannounced while I’m working on my carving.
Claire: I understand, but a Stop sign is really important. (Pauses) What exactly are you carving?
- Jay and Manny trying to sell wrapping paper to a Jewish neighbor.
Manny: Hello, Ma’am. Do you love Christmas?
Jewish Neighbor: Actually, I’m Jewish.
Manny: Oh, well, then you must appreciate a good value.
Jay: Oh, jeez.
- Claire’s rant about The Blind Side.
Claire: Phil, don’t even. I have been out there, trying to do something good for our community, because let me tell you, change doesn’t just happen. It is forged by empowered women like me, and Norma Rae and the lady from “The Blind Side.” Do you know what the difference is between me and her? Blind Side’s family had her back.
- The conversation between Phil, Hailey, Alex, and Luke about The Blind Side after Claire leaves the room after going on her rant about The Blind Side.
Phil: Okay. (Clears his throat) Huddle up, everybody. Your Mother’s right. She’s the quarterback of this family, and we need to protect her like Blind Side did.
Luke: She just said the mom was Blind Side.
Phil: Well, she’s confused. Blind Side was the black kid who played tight end.
Alex: Offensive line.
Phil: Sorry. African-American kid.
Hailey, Alex and Luke all stand silently in confusion.
- Phil surprises Claire at city council with more signatures.
Claire: Well, um, wow, Phil. (Under her breath) What are you doing here?
Phil: (Under his breath) I’m your husband. I’m blindsiding you.
Claire: Uh…
- Phil pretending to be Clive Bixby talking on the phone as he drives through the neighborhood on the video that he and Luke made for the city council.
Phil: Clive Bixby. Can I meet you at Harry’s Bar in two minutes? (Trying to sound sexy and seductive) Baby, I can do anything in two minutes.
All things considered, I thought that this was a really great episode. All of the storylines were great, and it definitely had way too many funny lines and moments for me to be able to count them all. All of the storylines were great, and I thought that the whole cast did a great job in this episode, especially Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Nolan Gould.
With that being said, I give this episode a rating of an A+.
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