Cameron records a very relaxed Mitchell with his camcorder (no pun intended) in the elevator on the way to Jay's dinner. He asks Mitchell how he felt actually napping today. "It felt
good and weird at the same time," Mitchell responds. "Like that nozzle in the infinity pool," Cameron says. "I wouldn't know because Phil was hogging it the whole time," Mitchell replies. He continues, noting that Lily, who is sitting in her stroller in the elevator with them, even seems more relaxed. The doors open and Mitchell, in his haze of relaxation, exits with Cameron following him with the camera. The doors close...with Lily still sitting inside! Cameron notices Lily is gone and screams a scream reminiscent of when they accidentally locked Lily in the car. They try to pry the doors open, but to no avail.
At the dinner table, only Manny, Luke, Phil and Claire are present. Phil tells Claire that he wants to paint her. "Oh honey," she sweetly replies, "that's so creepy." Claire wonders where everyone is. Manny doesn't know, but he wants to address the elephant in the room. He apologizes for his jacket being wrinkled, but Luke used the iron to make grilled cheese. "I had bread. I had cheese. I had an iron. What was I supposed to do?" Luke asks. "Guys," Phil replies, "We don't care." Gloria arrives and says she can't find Jay. Phil offers to go find him and leaves. Alex then arrives and Claire asks her where her sister is. Haley is throwing up, Alex explains. When Claire asks why, Alex says, "You're not going to like this as much as I do, but Haley's drunk." Claire knew she shouldn't have allowed Haley to go with those kids, and she runs off. Manny turns to Luke and says, "I bet our bathroom's still messier."
Mitchell and Cameron run from the elevator to take the stairs as Claire arrives. Phil enters, unable to find Jay. Claire informs him of Haley's current state. "Who would serve her?" Phil wonders. "We did," Claire responds, "right on a silver platter." She reiterates that she never should have listened to Phil and let her go. Phil counters that they shouldn't feel bad for enjoying themselves. Well, Claire isn't letting the kids out of her sight for the rest of the trip. As the elevator doors open, revealing Lily still in her stroller, Claire finishes, "Nothing gets by me from now on." The doors close on Lily again. Gloria enters, asking if Phil has found Jay, but he replies he has to call off the search to see to Haley. Claire says she'll handle Haley and that Phil should go find Jay. They both leave as the elevator doors open. Gloria sees Lily and finally removes her from the elevator.
Claire finds Haley, wrecked, sitting on the bathroom floor. Haley admits that some kid had a fake ID and bought some alcohol. She had one drink, and then another; she was stupid. Claire sits next to her daughter and sympathizes with her plight, "One night you're having drinks at homecoming, the next, a game of 'Truth or Claire' sweeps your high school." Haley thanks her mom for not yelling at her. That would just be cruel, Claire explains. She'll yell when Haley feels better. Haley says that she'll never feel better, and asks if this happens every time she'll drink alcohol. "Yes, yes it does," Claire replies with a side look into the camera.
Phil finally finds Jay in a hammock. Jay tells him that his back went out, and he can't get up. Phil grabs Jay's hand and starts to rock the hammock to get him out. "I'm just gonna rock you...like a hurricane. Just kidding. You're too old to get that," Phil says. Phil tries to pull Jay up, but he falls on top of his father-in-law instead. Jay tells him that his back is beginning to spasm, so Phil can't move, leaving the two in a very awkward, very funny position. A couple walks by, so Phil announces, "Nothing weird! Aloha!" He then explains that what Jay might be feeling is Phil's wallet -- he carries it in his front pocket. Meanwhile, Cameron and Mitchell are screaming for a hotel lockdown when they run into Gloria with Lily. She explains to the new dads that these things happen. S he used to lose Manny all the time, and now she's lost Jay. Phil finally gets Jay out of the hammock and helps him back toward the hotel. They see Gloria and Phil explains what happened to Jay. Phil heads toward the restaurant as Jay explains that he doesn't want what happened to his father to happen to him. Gloria would have liked Jay's dad, and he definitely would have liked her. Jay reflects that his childhood vacations weren't like the one they're on now. The old man would have been proud of where Jay is now. "Well if you keep going like this maybe you or I could tell him because you're going to kill me, Jay," Gloria tells her husband. Her legs, arms and back all hurt from the exercising they've been doing. Jay jokes that he wore her out. "Oh no. Don't get cocky old man. When I sit down, I can still get up." They laugh and head to dinner.
Phil tells the camera that the rest of the vacation went better. With the scenes playing out under his voice, Phil says, "Haley's room stopped spinning." She comes to breakfast with a bad hangover. When Claire offers her creamy eggs and Alex bangs on her plate, Haley just turns around to go back to bed. "Jay got back to the vacation he always wanted," with Jay reaching one hand to hold Gloria's, and the other to grab a cheeseburger. "Mitchell and Cameron went sightseeing on a working banana plantation...where they promptly lost Lily again." The two dads run around the tall plants searching for their daughter. "Why did you dress her in jungle print?!" Mitchell asks Cameron. "I thought it would be cute," Cameron replies. "She's going to think she's back in Vietnam!" Cameron exclaims.
"Me and Claire had a great time, but not a honeymoon," Phil says in voiceover as he and Claire descend some outdoor stairs. Phil remarks to Claire on the steps, "Like you said, the thrill is gone." "I never said that," she replies. "No, it's all over. But wait...," Phil continues, "put a few seconds back on the clock." He points to a grassy field where their whole family is gathered. Flower petals are laid down for an aisle, and a musician and officiant are standing beneath an archway. Further, Jay is standing at the start of the aisle with a bouquet of flowers. "The kid still has some moves," Phil says. "I realized we couldn't have a honeymoon because we never had a wedding." He brings a shocked Claire toward the scene, and says, "I can't tell if you think this is really lame or really cool." "Oh, it's incredibly cool," Claire replies. Jay tells her he gets a chance to walk her down the aisle, although when he moves to do so, his back acts up, so he asks her to walk him down the aisle. Claire and Phil renew their vows, and the officiant introduces "Still Phil and Claire Dunphy!" as a ukulele player strums and sings "Eye of the Tiger."
In the episode tag, Claire and Phil are seen in first class of their Continental Airlines(!) flight home. She tells him that if something were ever to happen to her, she'd want him to remarry. "OK," Phil immediately replies. "That was a little fast," Claire retorts. "I just want to make you happy," Phil responds. Claire then asks him if he's ever thought of whom he would pick in such a situation. Before she can even finish her question, Phil replies, "Vicki Conroy. She's very organized, the kids love her...." Alex pops up from the seat in front of her parents. "Are you talking about Vicki? Mom, she's awesome!" Alex says before plopping back down into her seat. Phil, seeing his wife's expression, begins "Just in case something happens to me..." "Oh, something's going to happen to you," Claire replies.
Commentary
Trips to exotic places or family vacations are usually one of the gimmicks sit-coms use many seasons in to goose ratings. They are a ploy, a trick for dying series. Modern Family, on the other hand, took a family vacation to Hawaii in its first season, and not even for the finale, and it couldn't have been better. This is further proof that the creators of the show have found a great groove with this series and are willing to break convention because it serves the series well. I loved this episode for all the reasons Modern Family has been praised this season. There was great physical comedy (Phil and Jay in the hammock. The sheer length of silence as Phil lay on top of Jay was just hysterical.), the kids were fantastic as always (especially Manny and Luke), and some very witty writing ("She's going to think she's back in Vietnam!"). Further, the show continued to make these characters all the more "real" by addressing Jay's insecurity about his age and health, the circumstances surrounding Claire and Phil's original shotgun nuptials, and the fact that yes, parents sometimes lose their kids (scary, but true. I remember when we lost my brother in a toy store vividly). Lastly, the humanization of Phil is complete. We knew he loved his wife, but setting up the vow renewal (and the way the scene was delivered by Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen was expertly done) cemented as a really sweet, if not sometimes oblivious, husband. The character has beautifully progressed from the pilot to the end of the season, and that should be a wonderful testament to the work done by everyone involves in the show.
So, what did you think of the episode? Do you want to head out to Maui (I'm going in six weeks!)? How do you feel the characters have changed (for better or worse) over the season? Where does "Hawaii" rank as an episode? Please leave your comments below, and as we approach next week's network upfront presentations, be sure to check out TVOvermind for info on all of the renewals, cancellations and pick-ups as they are announced. I'll be back next week with a recap of the Modern Family season finale, "Family Portrait." Until then, I'm off to get an extra long straw so I can avoid doing a sit-up.
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[...] would be able to match the fantastic run it went on at the end of Season One when it brought us "Hawaii" and "Family Portrait." Halfway through the final two episodes of Season Two, I have to say the [...]