Modern Family Ep. 3: Come Fly With Me

We open this episode with Phil in Claire. Phil is in the middle of watching a baseball game. His wife doesn’t understand that he can’t just stop to do things in the middle of the game. In the middle of the game their daughter’s boyfriend (Dylan) comes over. Phil as usual tries way too hard to be cool. Claire asks Phil why he tries so hard to be friends with Dylan, but he never tried to be friends with her father (Jay). Phil believes that him and Jay are buds with “an invisible asterisk”. Phil seems to have the same uneasiness around Jay that Dylan had around him. Jay compares his relationship with Phil as conflicting alpha male gorillas. During this time Claire and Manny begin to spend some time together. Claire begins asking Manny for advice about how to deal with family issues.

            Gloria walks in with Manny to see Jay working on a model airplane. Manny tries to get Jay to play with him, but Gloria explains to her son that every man needs his hobby. Gloria takes Manny over to play with Phil and Claire’s children, specifically their son Luke. Manny and Luke are two very different boys. Gloria takes Phil and Claire’s youngest daughter (Alex) shopping. Jay takes Phil out to fly his model airplane, but soon discovers that the two of them have absolutely nothing in common. There is a significant generational gap between the two of them. Jay asks Phil to hold up a hula-hoop so that he can fly the plane through it. The plane ends up hitting Phil right in the face. I feel like this was a pre-meditated act. Instead of checking to seek if Phil was okay, Jay checked to make sure the plane was still in working condition.

            Mitchell and Cameron are on their way to Costco to buy diapers for Lily. Cameron believes that Mitchell doesn’t want to shop at Costco because he’s too good for that store. He accuses Mitchell of being snobby. Mitchell’s real problem is that he doesn’t want to go to Costco because he knows that the two of them won’t be able to go in there and just purchase diapers. They end up purchasing a lot of pointless items that they don’t even need and spending hundreds of dollars.

            It was difficult for me to figure out the theme of this episode. I think it was that people are more important than possessions. By the end of the episode all of the characters realize that their family is more important then their hobby. Jesus often teaches that it is very important to show love to others. All the things that we acquire in this life will one day come to pass.

            In the bible it talks about in all things moderation. This particularly makes sense for this episode. We should never get so caught up in our possessions or hobbies that we fail to keep relationships a priority. Never let things hold you back from spending time with others. Relationship with those around you is much more important than the satisfaction that material possessions can give you.