"Caught in the Act" is the thirteenth episode from Season 2 of Modern Family, it aired on January 19, 2011.
Plot Summary[]
It's Phil and Claire's anniversary, and when the kids go to surprise them with breakfast in bed, they get a surprise of their own. Jay and Gloria's plans for a Vegas vacation are ruined because of a brutally honest email accidentally sent to Claire, and Mitchell and Cameron try to get into a new restaurant owned by a mom at Lily's preschool.
Episode Description[]
The scene opens with Jay and Gloria getting ready to go to Vegas, and Gloria wants to send an email to Claire telling her that she is not going to be at the bake sale this week. Gloria says that Claire is a controlling person and wants to word the email nicely; as a joke, Jay writes an email saying Claire is a control freak and accidentally sends it, freaking out Gloria.
Meanwhile, Mitchell and Cam are getting tired of their restaurant that they have to eat at all the time and realizes that there is a nice restaurant, Amelia's, that opened up close to their house. No one can get reservations, but Cam and Mitchell realize that Amelia is a mother at Lily's school. They concoct a plan to set up a play date with Lily and her son and get to know her to get into the restaurant.
At Phil and Claire's, the kids decide to surprise their parents with breakfast in bed because it is their anniversary. Unfortunately they're so quiet that, as they open the door, they catch their parents having sex. Haley drops the tray full of food and runs screaming from the room with Luke and Alex while Claire and Phil try to "adjust" themselves. Phil tries to comfort Claire by saying the kids probably didn't see much.
Meanwhile, Jay and Gloria are heading for Vegas while Manny is with his father for the weekend and Gloria asks him to try calling Claire. He does, but Claire is too upset to talk. Gloria thinks that she is mad at her and tells Jay to turn the car around.
Mitchell and Cam meet with Amelia and Jackson, her son, on the play date and Cam slyly asks what she does for a living. When she mentions her restaurant, Mitch and Cam butter her up to try and get in. Just as she's about to reveal a secret, she is interrupted by the phone. As Cam and Mitch excitedly contemplate being "special" at Amelia's, they hear Amelia upstairs yelling at someone demanding that they sue them through the baby monitor. Although they are frightened, they agree to watch Jackson while she takes care of some business.
At Claire and Phil's, Claire is freaking out about how to fix the situation. Phil is on the floor eating the breakfast they brought up and tells that they can start with a joke. Claire doesn't like the idea. Downstairs, Haley and the kids decide to get out of the house. However, Jay and Gloria are there and she asks how Claire is doing. Due to the misunderstanding, Gloria thinks Claire is upset with her.
Meanwhile, Cam and Mitchell try to clean the stain from the juice they spilled on the rug and Cam mentions that it is a $50,000 rug. Mitchell panics more and they wonder how to fix the situation. As Phil and Claire come downstairs, Gloria explains that the kids were upset and that she had the same thing happen to her, but with a female. Claire is confused and explains that they are talking about the fact that the kids walked in on them having sex. Gloria is relieved and uses Claire's computer to erase the email, telling Jay that she is in the clear.
Jay tells that Claire should have put a lock on the door and Claire reminds him that she walked in on Jay and her mother. When she tells her father that he could've made it easier by discussing it, Jay starts to talk about the moment and she is disgusted. Phil goes in the kitchen and Gloria tries to get him to tell her Claire's password. She tells him that she sent Claire something by mistake and needs to erase it. Claire comes in and asks what she wants to erase. Jay tells Claire that it is a naked picture of Gloria. Claire goes right away and erases it before any opening it. They leave and Phil thinks that Claire is coming on to him.
Cam and Mitchell tell Amelia that Jackson started drinking the strawberry juice. Amelia grabs the epi-pen and is about to inject Jackson with it because he is allergic to strawberries, but Cam stops her and tells that he stepped on the bag and tells that they panicked. Mitchell says that he is sorry and accidentally knocks over her vase and breaks it.
The next scene shows them eating at their original place. The cook knows Mitchell's name though. Claire and Phil talk about the incident with their kids and they are only smiling and nodding. The flashback to when the kids were at the gas station and Haley tells them to smile and nod and think of something else. They all agree with Claire and Phil and Claire feels good that they talked. Haley walks back in the living room and sees them kissing and asks if it is going to stop.
Later the kids give Phil and Claire an anniversary gift; a lock for the bedroom door. Unfortunately this backfires as the lock is very loud whenever it is used, meaning the children will now know every time their parents get intimate.
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[]
- Rachael Harris as Amelia
- Munda Razooki as Counterman
- Tristian Eggerling as Jackson
Continuity[]
- Second episode to revolve around Phil and Claire's wedding anniversary ("Great Expectations").
Trivia[]
- Manny does not appear, although he is mentioned by Gloria and Jay.
- It is revealed that Gloria has a brother when she falsely tells Phil that she is sending an e-mail to him in Colombia.
- In the Greek version of the show, there are some parts of the episode that change:
- In the original version, when the kids are ready to surprise their parents, the camera stays on them and when the kids open the bedroom door and catch the nasty surprise, the camera moves towards the door to find Phil and Claire having sex in the middle of the bed. But in the Greek version, when the kids prepare the surprise, the camera instantly switches to Philippos (Phil) and Faye (Claire) having sex at the end of the bed and then suddenly the kids open the door and scream when they see what's going on. Also, because Philippos and Faye were "doing it" at the end of the bed, they end up falling off it when their children enter and scream when they catch their parents having sex.
- In the original version, Amelia finds the stain immediately but in the Greek adaptation, Thespesia (Amelia) finds the stain after Dimitris (Mitchell) says "We had a little accident" and points to the stain.
- In the original version, Mitchell breaks the vase. In the Greek version, it is Labros (Cameron), rather than Dimitris who breaks the vase in Thespesia's house. Also, before this happens, she attempts to lunge at Dimitris and Labros.
- This episode has no recurring characters.
Cultural References[]
- Cameron points out that Amelia's $50,000 rug was also found in Joan Collins's house, but also mistakenly thinking it was in the houses of either Diane Keaton or Anjelica Huston. Cam also mentions Prizzi's Honor and Addams Family.
- Jay mentions to Claire that he and his ex-wife DeDe were watching a particularly racy episode of Hart to Hart and then Jay mentions Stefanie Powers.
Gallery[]