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"Australia" is the twentieth episode from Season 5 of Modern Family, it aired on April 23, 2014.

Plot Summary[]

The entire family goes to Australia when Phil hopes to fulfill his mother's wish to visit the country where he was conceived, but the locals aren't quite ready to welcome him as a native son. Meanwhile, Jay and Claire find it hard to leave work at home and Mitchell and Cameron run into an old acquaintance whom they don't really like but is now a well-known celebrity in Australia.

Episode Description[]

Luke is balancing on his head and later says that since they are in Australia, they are at the bottom of the globe, making everyone there but him to be upside down.

In one of the usual wall break scenes where the characters talk to the camera, Phil states that he was conceived in Australia, Claire then stating that Phil's mom left him money for him and Claire to take a trip to Australia, then stating that their family decided to come along.

While Phil's, Jay's, and Mitch's family are walking across, Alex is talking to her phone about Australia, later to be revealed as thoughts that to be put on her college essay, Alex later saying that the college she is writing her essay for (Harvard) likes for their future students to be worldly. Phil then asks that they should climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge after his mom's request, they all decline. Mitch and Cameron both leave saying that after Cameron posted on Facebook that they were going to Australia, that an old friend (Fergus) who lives in Australia contacted them to meet up, later stating that their friend is annoying. While Claire and Jay are taking their time on the trip for business instead of fun. Manny and Luke both want to go to the beach too because they heard that the beach they are going to is a topless beach.

The scene switches to the beach, while a surfer tries to hit up Haley, she declines and states that she is not going to pick the first man who approaches her their, while Lily wants to buy a toy, Haley says that she should not pick the first toy that appears. Jay and Claire both leave for another business issue, while Phil and Gloria have fun on their own. Luke and Manny both leave to check if the beach is true to what Manny said it would be.

Mitch and Cameron than have lunch with their friend from Australia, they both seem as if they want to leave so Cameron tells him that both him and Mitch have to leave to spend time with their family. They are later approached a couple stating that they are huge fans of Fergus Anderson. And would like to have a picture with him. Mitch and Cameron both realize he is popular and decides to stay and spend the day with their friend which is apparently really famous in Australia. We then go back to the beach in which Phil and Gloria are having a conversation while standing in the water, Phil is later bitten by a fish. Luke and Manny are both talking about how they are seeing no topless women, but then later spot some in the water, Luke goes after them but then is impacted by a giant wave. Luke says that he has lost his swimsuit, then one of the topless women awkwardly helps him find it by diving in while Luke is pantsless.

Mitch and Cameron are then seen having a good time with Fergus. Than while Haley, Alex, and Lily are walking around, Haley admits that it was a bad decision not to hook up with the surfer that she met at the beach earlier. The group are now all together and decide to go on a hiking sort of activity with a tour guide. Mitch and Cameron both leave because they get a text from Fergus inviting them to go with him on Hugh Jackman's boat for a party.

While on their hiking trip, Jay and Claire once again leave to deal with more business, leaving Phil and Gloria back together again. While Phil and Gloria are conversing, they find a kangaroo, Phil approaches it and is later punched by it. Mitch, Cameron, and Fergus arrive at the dock where Hugh Jackman's boat supposed to be but Fergus than tells them that he and Hugh had a fight and that the party was over. Fergus later suggest they get a boat of their own have fun without Hugh, they agree. It turns out the boat that Fergus got is very small and that Mitch and Cameron are both seen not having a lot of fun, they ask Fergus if they can leave to spend time with their family, he agrees.

While Lily is looking for a toy to buy for a souvenir, she seems to be very puzzled on what to get, causing Haley to buy the toy for Lily herself being annoyed of what she said earlier. Haley is later approached by another male and looking back on her past bad decision, accepts to spend time with him. Manny later approaches Luke in the woods and then talk about how they messed up. They are then approached by a group of guys asking for them to join their walkabout, after some dispute, they join.

We go back to Mitch and Cameron after they left the boat to be stuck because their taxi broke down. they are then approached by a group of motorcyclists. Cameron says that they need to get back to their kid, the motorcyclists agree and give them a ride to their destination.

Gloria than finds Claire and Jay in a tent on Claire's computer doing business stuff. Gloria has a fight with Claire and says that Phil was punched by a Kangaroo, Jay later goes after Gloria after she angrily leaves. Claire then goes to comfort Phil after he was hit in the face by a kangaroo, only to see that a wild dog took her laptop, she and Phil both fight. Claire leaves to retrieve her laptop while leaving Phil alone once again. Gloria and Jay argue about how Jay is not spending the vacation with his family but is just doing business. While they are arguing they see Luke and Manny with the group that approached them.

While Phil is walking along the beach, arguing about how Australia doesn't like him. He is approached by an Australian man stating that after you get hurt here by the wildlife, you become one of them. Phil is later accepting this but then turns around to see that the Australian man is gone. Claire and Jay both talk to each other and both accept to spend time with their kids and not do business. Mitch and Cameron arrive back with their motorcyclist friends. They then all leave.

Claire then apologizes to Phil and says she will do anything he wants to do. The scene cuts to them climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Claire saying that this isn't what she meant. Then we see the family doing a variety of sightseeing, scuba-diving, etc.

While the credits are being displayed, we see their family arriving back from Australia. It is shown that Jay and Gloria are both in first class while the rest of the group are in coach. Cameron then tells Mitch that he thought he saw Hugh in first class and goes to check it out. While in first class, Jay says out loud that he thinks this person doesn't belong here, (pretending as if he doesn't know Cameron) then the show ends with Cameron taking another glare around first class and later heading back to coach.

Main Cast[]

(The characters striked out do not appear in this episode)

  • Jay Pritchett
  • Gloria Pritchett
  • Manny Delgado
  • Claire Dunphy
  • Phil Dunphy
  • Haley Dunphy
  • Alex Dunphy
  • Luke Dunphy
  • Mitchell Pritchett
  • Cameron Tucker
  • Lily Tucker-Pritchett

Guest Starring[]

  • Rhys Darby as Fergus Anderson
  • Mark Coles Smith as Guide
  • Peter Phelps as Wise Australian
  • Ray Blackett as Biker
  • Marissa Wynne as Erica
  • Kirstie Hutton as Fergus' Fan
  • Steve Cox as Cab Driver
  • Zack Tyerman as Lifeguard
  • Jye Williams as Hot Guy

Continuity[]

Trivia[]

  • This is the first time that the family travels to a place that is not in United States, except from the camera sequences.
  • Phil was conceived in Australia.
  • Ty Burrell said that he was the only one to eat and appreciate vegemite. Ironically, his character suffers from an allergy while trying to eat it. Burrell also said he discovered scuba diving in Australia.
  • Joe is absent, but is mentioned by Gloria and Phil, where it is revealed that he's staying with Gloria's mother.
  • The Great Barrier Reef is in Queensland, not Sydney, even though Cameron, Mitchell and Lily went there.
  • This episode has no recurring characters.
  • Because this episode is set entirely in Australia, Ed O'Neill (Jay) and Ty Burrell (Phil) starred in the 2016 Disney and Pixar film Finding Dory, as Hank and Bailey, respectively.

Cultural References[]

  • Alex's quote is similar to "Sometimes one must go far to discover what is near", from The Alchemist.
  • Landmarks visited include: Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Bondi Beach, the Great Barrier Reef.
  • Gloria says that Phil must be allergic to the Vegemite.
  • Mitch and Cam look for actor Hugh Jackman.
  • Russell Crowe's much-criticized performance in Les Misérables is mentioned.
  • "To Have and To Hold", by Colin Hay, plays at the end of the episode.
  • The family flies Qantas airlines.

Gallery[]


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