Modern Family - The Incident - Recap - In the Moonlight (Do Me)
(Here's Desi's recap of Modern Family. I loved this episode!)
Special guest star Shelley Long has been largely advertised for this week's episode of Modern Family as the estranged mother of principal characters Claire and Mitchell. Her return creates all kinds of family tension, related drama, but mostly, a lot of laughs.
I've already been classically conditioned to cringe when I see Jay starting an episode, but I actually liked him this week. His bit with Gloria was a good kick-off for the show, which ended up being largely about inappropriate parental sexual relationships.
Long's Dede character shows up on Mitchell and Cameron's doorstep, saying that she can't get "intimate" with her new boyfriend until she has closure over The Incident. (She is very explicit in explaining, though, that they can still "satisfy" each other.) We cut to stock footage of Jay and Gloria's wedding, mixed with interviews from each participant. "Grandma got smashed," Haley says. Cameron clarifies that she was drinking a cocktail called a "horny Columbian," and she gets up to give a speech to the newlyweds. It goes downhill quickly, culminating in Phil, Mitchell and Cameron having to carry Dede out of the reception hall (overturning the wedding cake in the process.) She recruits Mitchell, her Mama's Boy, to help her apologize to the family, so he invites her to Sunday dinner. I think he missed the memo that his mother is not Nora Walker and maybe won't adapt too well to the new mixed family.
Though the story revolves mostly around Dede and her effect on the family, there are some sweet parenting moments by Phil and Gloria. Manny had gone to his first sleepover and arrived home with Sharpie covering his face. He'll probably become a favorite canvas at college frat parties. After a fight with her mother, Phil goes to comfort his daughter. "Pretend you met me in a malt shop. I'm... Markus from biology." He then asks her if her older boyfriend has tried to do anything inappropriate with her. (Maybe in this case by "sweet" I also mean "creepy.")
Mitchell finally convinces Claire to to talk to their mother, which ends in another awkward conversation about her Canadian lover. In the process, she also airs some of Claire's dirty laundry from when she was a teenager. Claire finally agrees to meet Haley's boyfriend, Dylan, and he is invited to the family dinner as well.
The first guest to arrive is Dylan, the boyfriend, guitar in tow. Cameron definitely has the best plan for the evening: in the first shot of him, he's going to town on a Cosmo. Jay, Gloria, and Manny (still covered in marker) arrive, and Gloria almost turns to immediately leave, but Mitchell (again in the argyle I so love) stands up to get the pair to reconcile. It works -- almost. Dede gets angry and attacks Gloria, and the two have to again be separated by the men.
Dylan stands up to talk about how different their family is from his, with the "hot foreigners and gay dudes and nutty people." He's somehow able to stop the argument and prevent another Incident. Phil and Claire decide that he's perfect for their daughter and agree that she can go on an overnight concert trip with him, and ask him to play a song for the family since he brought his guitar. He plays a song he wrote for Haley, "In the Moonlight."
The result is... well, I'll just leave you with the music video. I'm pretty sure I'll have it stuck in my head for a couple weeks.
Rickey's Notes: Here are the lyrics:
The stars are falling from the sky
And you're the reason why
The moon is shining on your face
And I finally found its place
Cuz maybe baby
I just wanna do you, do you
Do you wanna do me, do me?
Underneath the moonlight, moonlight
tonight
And now we're hiding in my car
I let you see my scars
Escape the dark for just one night
Your heart makes me explode with light
Chorus
Baby maybe
Maybe I will steal you, steal you
Just so I can feel u, feel u
Maybe that will heal you, heal you
On the inside
Underneath the willow tree
Wearing nothing else but me
Listen to the MP3 here:
Watch the video here:
Want to hear something awesome? Listen to Live Like We're Dying by Kris Allen here.