Spring Break (Modern Family)

"Grill, Interrupted" is the nineteenth episode of the sixth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 139th episode overall. It originally aired on April 1, 2015. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan, Brad Walsh and Jeffrey Richman, and directed by James Bagdonas.

Plot

Gathering at Jay's (Ed O'Neill) house for his birthday, Claire (Julie Bowen) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) decide to pay their father back the money he loaned them for the down payment on their respective houses. Mitchell intends on using the money that Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) has received from a recently deceased distant relative, and Phil (Ty Burrell) starts to believe the money problems are what have caused the slight rift between himself and Jay. After Phil's present (a new, state-of-the-art barbecue grill) backfires, he, Claire, Mitchell and Cameron all begin arguing in the driveway about the various monetary issues that have surfaced that day.

Luke (Nolan Gould) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez) come up with a plan to steal and drink a bottle of Gloria's (Sofia Vergara) tequila. Before they can take it, she swaps it out with water, leaving Luke and Manny suffering a placebo intoxication. They research how to sober up and try various methods, such as sitting in an ice cold bath together. Gloria appears and takes a photo of the boys, threatening to post it online if they attempt to steal from her or get drunk underage again.

Haley (Sarah Hyland) shows up at Jay's with new boyfriend Will (Nick Ballard), which disappoints Andy (Adam Devine) who believes he has a shot with her after the events of "Closet? You'll Love It!". A series of mishaps leaves Andy and Haley in bed together and, later, Haley removing her clothes due to a drink spillage, but her new boyfriend doesn't suspect Andy, not feeling threatened by him. When Haley leaves the room, Will asks Andy to help him come up with a message for a card for Haley, but once Will leaves Haley struggles to read the handwriting. She asks Andy to read it to her and gets frustrated about how clingy Will is already, before kissing Andy on the cheek and heading downstairs, leaving Andy both disappointed and hopeful.

Alex (Ariel Winter) finds out she has been accepted into CalTech, but offers strange behaviour after her parents' reaction. Claire blames herself, and begins to overtly praise Alex in front of the family, leaving Alex embarrassed and irritated. Jay later finds her with a bottle of vodka in his new car in the garage, where Alex expresses worry about being the least intelligent person at her new College and talks about how scared she is. Her grandfather reassures her that she'll do great at College, before driving out into the yard in front of the bickering family, telling Alex that one day he won't be around to lead the family anymore, and implying that in the future it will be her who keeps the family in check.

Reception

Ratings

The episode was watched by an audience of 9.30 million people, up by 0.59 from the previous episode.^[1]

Reviews

"Grill, Interrupted" received positive reviews from TV critics.

Ashley Bissette Sumerel of TV Fanatic awarded the episode a 4.2/5.0, saying "This is the kind of episode I like to see". She further went on to label the episode "intricate and fun", and also praised Luke, Manny and Gloria's subplot, by saying "In reality, this is a serious topic, and it's nice to see it being dealt with". She closed her review by stating "Overall, this is a really enjoyable, funny installment. It tries to do a LOT, but that's part of what makes Modern Family, well... Modern Family".^[2]

Lisa Fernandes of Next Projection awarded the episode a 7.6/10, praising the scene between Alex and Jay as "lovely" and stated that "Ed O'Neill acts the holy hell out of [it]". They summarised their review by stating "Some good moments, the Jay/Alex pep talk and most of the Haley/Andy storyline salvage the episode".^[3] The Christian Post praised the scene between Alex and Jay at the episode's close, saying "As they look at the bickering going on, it's clear that Jay thinks that Alex is more than capable of leading the family one day".^[4]

David Kallison of The A.V. Club awarded the episode a B+, saying that "Modern Family has no business being as good as it is. [The show] is on a tear of superb episodes lately, starting with the anti-Luddite ode, 'Connection Lost'. What makes this family different from others is the depth and heart the characters possess. The Dunphys et al. are more like, well, a real family. And that makes their schtick last longer". He further went on to praise the season as a whole, saying "This season proves that sitcoms can survive on solid characters and solid jokes. “Grill, Interrupted” lives up to those expectations perfectly".^[5]

References