"Come Fly with Me" is the third episode from Season 1 of Modern Family, it aired on October 7, 2009.
Plot Summary[]
Jay tries to spend some time alone with his new model airplane, but Phil ruins it. While Manny takes time out to play with Luke, Gloria accompanies Alex in shopping for a dress, and Manny ends up having a heart-to-heart talk with Claire. Meanwhile, Mitchell and Cameron go shopping at Costco, but Mitchell feels that he is too good to shop there.
Episode Description[]
At the Dunphys' house, Phil is invested in a baseball game. Claire opens the door to throw out the trash and sees Dylan standing outside. He had texted Haley that he was waiting outside her house and she had replied that she was going to be down in a minute. Dylan is then invited in by Phil to watch the last of the game, with Dylan being uncomfortable with sitting next to his girlfriend's father on the sofa. Phil then metaphorically says that the guy on the screen is "stuck in second base and he is trying to steal third which is a terrible, terrible idea", implying Dylan trying to have sex with Haley.
At the Pritchett household, Manny wants to stay at home with Jay and fly his model plane with him, but Gloria wants him to spend time with Luke because Claire invited him over and family needs to spend time together. Jay gets offended when Manny calls his plane a "toy". Gloria says that men need their hobbies, whether they're risking their lives by doing dangerous things such as skydiving off helicopters (like her ex-husband, Javier) or flying little planes from a safe distance (like Jay).
Cam is driving with Mitchell to Costco and has to remind him that this is where they get their new baby, Lily's, diapers from. Cam then says that Mitch is a snob, recalling the time they first met, when Mitch wouldn't look at him because he was a "hick from a farm in Missouri".
Back at the Dunphys', Dylan, unable to bare the awkwardness of sitting with Phil who keeps intimidating him, goes to wait in the car. When Phil tells Claire that he's past being awkward with Dylan, she reminds him of the fact that Phil has still been trying to avoid Claire's dad, Jay, for 16 years, to which Phil tries to defend himself, saying that Jay and him are "total buds".
Gloria and Manny come over to the Dunphy house. Manny has brought his favourite game 'Empire' to play with Luke, who is in the backyard, jumping on a trampoline with a box over his head to which Manny gives a disapproving look. Alex comes in to show Claire the outfit she's wearing to Claire's friend's wedding. Claire states that she needs to wear a dress and, if needed, borrow one from Haley, while Alex complains that Luke, who is playing in his underwear, should wear pants. Claire, who just realises what Luke is wearing, exclaims, "Why does he do this?".
At the Pritchett household, Jay is fixing his plane and Phil is standing silently and awkwardly, not doing anything. Phil describes Jay as a non-hugger and non-talker. He recalls Jay running over his foot with his car, but defends Jay by saying that he had just given up smoking at the time of the incident. Jay says that Phil just awkwardly standing there is making him feel uneasy finally tells him to help him. Phil feels uncomfortable sitting next to Jay on the sofa but does so very awkwardly.
At the Dunphy house, Gloria tells Alex that she should come shopping with her, but Claire tells Gloria that shopping is not Alex’s thing. Alex tells Gloria that she'd love to go and tells her mother that she doesn't know what Alex's 'thing' is. Claire realises what Alex is doing and says that her thing is to provoke, "just like your Haley's thing is to never come out of her room, and Luke's thing, well, there's your brother's thing" pointing to him on the trampoline, still in his underwear.
At the Pritchett house, Phil says in an 'interview': "The thing about me and Jay is our relationship's always been stuck in that primal place; where it started..." He compares their relationship to Jay being an old silverback ape who is protecting his females but when a younger, stronger gorilla (Phil) comes along, the ape ladies (Claire) come running, presenting their nice scarlet behinds. Papa ape wants to stop all that, but can't. Phil feels that Jay doesn't like him because he took his daughter from him. We go back to Phil and Jay fixing the plane, sitting in awkward silence. Jay finally cuts the silence by asking Phil if he wants to go fly it now.
Back at Costco, while shopping, Cam begins to talk about his farm life but Mitch starts rolling his eyes. In an 'interview', Cam states that they met at Pepper's legendary game nights and that Mitch would roll his eyes everytime Cam would get a little boisterous. Mitch tries to defend himself before realizing that he did that. Mitch recalls when they were playing charades and, unsure of what to do, he did a little hand movement for "Casablanca". Without missing a beat, Cam guessed the movie.
We go back to Mitch and Cam shopping. Mitch wants to quickly buy the diapers and get out of there while Cam says that he wants to go to the wine section. Mitch, who has never been to Costco, is in disbelief that there's a wine section in the store. He then spots the paper shredder that he wanted and gets even more excited.
At the Dunphy house, Manny complements the cookies Claire has just baked. Claire asks if Manny and Luke are having a good time. He tells her that Luke won't take the box off his head. Manny instead wants to hang out with his sister- Claire. Claire remembers that she's technically his stepsister. Manny tells her that his mother said never to use the word "step" because it means anything not real while they are a real family. Manny then asks her "What is the matter?" as she seems sad and sympathises with her problems with her kids, especially Alex.
Gloria takes Alex out to eat while shopping where Alex tells her that she doesn't want to wear a dress. Gloria tells her that she isn't her mother and won't tell her what to wear. Gloria tells Alex to think of her as a girlfriend today and says that they will have fun. Alex asks what Gloria usually does with her girlfriends and Gloria says they go out, talk and drink wine. Alex asks if she can drink wine, but Gloria says "no" as she is too young. Gloria tells her that she ask her anything, but Alex says that whenever her mother says the same, she really can't ask her anything as Claire will just freak out. Gloria dismisses this and says that she's not Claire. To test her, Alex asks Gloria many men she has slept with. Gloria, with no hesitation, replies, "8", impressing Alex with her honesty.
We are with Phil and Jay on the fields and they are flying a plane together, Phil and Jay still have awkward air, but they do talk, Phil talks about his thoughts and Jay stops him by saying that he can play with the plane, he tells him that they can do a 'Thredding the Needle' Jay explains the game to him and gives the instructions Phil awaits for the plane to go through the hoop, but Jay gets the plane right in his face. We have a cutscene and come back to them, Phil has blood on his face near his nose and Jay is standing near him over the plane, seeing if anything is broken; not with Phils' face but with the plane.
We are back with Manny and Claire, Manny has now turned into his sisters therapist. Claire complains about
Alex turning against everything she says, Manny tells her that Alex is a strong independent woman, reminding him of Claire. Claire then defends the statement saying she was never hostile, she also says that Alexs' problem with the dress was something she never had with Haley. Manny says that Alex isn't trying to be like Haley, she's trying to create her own identity, if she's put into the wrong box she's going to break out of it, Claire then forgets her brother is only 10 years old, as he acts a knowledgeable adult. Mitch phones his sister asking if she needs Olives, she confirms and he hangs up.
We stay with Mitchell and Cam after he hangs up, he is carrying the olives for Claire in his hands and drops them in their shopping cart, we see they now have two shopping carts because of Mitchells' new found love for Costco. Cam has only just found the diapers, but Mitchell wants to carry on shopping, Mitch stops coffins, and realizes they can buy anything they want from Birth to Death, he then picks up diapers and sees how cheap they are, Mitch says he wants more for the next year or two, Cam asks where they would keep all of the diapers, Mitch spots a shed; Cam asks if they would want to be the guys with a diaper shed, Mitch ignores this and spots more things to buy, leaving his shopping carts behind he tells Cam that he is in the 'Apple Sauce isle' when Cam is told to get a 'flatbed thing'. Mitch and Cam then get "interviewed", Mitch talks about misjudging Cam and talks about what he loves, Cam calls Mitch a snob again after he doesn't remember the shop they went to in Paris, but compares himself to it after, Cam compares himself to Costco; being big, not fancy, and they both dare you to not like them. Mitch tries to get back to happy by making the same gesture Cam guess "Casablanca" with.
We are back with Gloria and Alex, with Gloria telling Alex that she has a flower tattoo on her ankle and a butterfly on her- and replaces an inappropriate body part with her thigh, Alex asks how high up, and she replies with pretty high. Alex asks three questions: Did you do it to look sexy? DId you do it for a guy? Does Grandpa like it? Gloria responds with 'no, no and yes' Alex seems repulsed by the third answer, Alex goes to ask another question, but Gloria stops her, asking her a question: Why she doesn't wanna wear a dress. Alex says she doesn't want to look like Haley and her friends, Gloria reminds her that she wears dresses and doesn't look like Haley, but Alex tells her she is Haley, 40 years older. Gloria tells her 10 years older, but Alex and Gloria make a deal on 20 years older. Gloria asks her why she is fighting her on this, Alex tells her that she is not pretty like her sister, Gloria tells her she is beautiful, but Alex thinks she's not, but that's okay because she is the smart one, Gloria points out that the guy serving her fancies her and they are the only ones receiving bread. Gloria tells her that she is going to want to date a cute boy and she'll want to look beautiful when she does and she'll wear a dress. Alex is fine with this and asks Gloria if she's either kissed another girl before. Gloria declines and says that that's no way to talk to her Grandmother.
We are back with Claire and Manny who are still talking, Claire talks about her younger self and her Mom being hard on her growing up, Gloria and Alex come back and interrupt Manny and Claire's talk, Claire tells Alex she doesn't have to wear a dress, Alex says she already bought one, Claire thinks that she is provoking her, and tells Manny, Manny says they'll have another therapist talk next week. Phil and Jay come through the door, Jay is helping Phil walk, Phil explains that Jay tried crashed the plane into him, and Jay acts like he didn't mean to, however Claire knowing her Dad, already knows the truth and compares the plane situation to the earlier mentioned Jay running over Phil with his car. We switch to Jay and Claire by the stairs and they whisper/argue about Phil, Gloria overhears that Jay has never told Phil that he does likes him, however she switches 'like' with 'love', Jay also corrects Gloria saying Phil isn't his son, Gloria then asks Jay if he thinks of Manny as his son, Jay says that he does whish Manny could have been there. Gloria then asks for which part? Hinting whether or not he wanted him there to replace Phil or beside him and not getting hurt. Phil and Jay have an awkward 'heart to heart' and Claire and Gloria awkwardly watch as Jay tries to compliment Phil.
We see Mitch and Cam come into the Dunphy house, Cam asks what's going on and Gloria tells them Phil and Jay having a heart to heart. Mitch points out that Jay has never said he loves Cam either, Cam says it's okay but Gloria forces Jay to do the same to Cam, which results in Cam, Jay and Phil hugging and Jay telling him that he likes him too as he can't use the word love.
Claire looks over Phil, Jay and Cam hugging as music plays over. We end with Jay and Gloria being "interviewed" in which Gloria says she always wanted a daughter and to dress her up in pretty dresses, do her hair, nails and make up. Gloria then shares a secret than no one knows: for the first year of Manny's life, she dressed him up and told everybody that Manny was her daughter, she then says that she only did it a few times, she didn't want to mess with his head, when Manny found out, she said that it was his twin sister who died. Gloria receives a look from Jay that he gives to the camera.
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 (No speaking lines)
- Mitchell Pritchett
- Cameron Tucker
Guest Starring[]
Trivia[]
- Haley does not appear, marking the first episode in which Dylan is seen without her.
- Luke appears but has no speaking lines in this episode, and is not credited.
- Gloria says that she used to dress Manny up and stopped before things got serious; when Manny found out, she said that it was his dead twin sister, as well as having sex with eight people.
- We find out that Mitch and Cam met playing charades at Pepper's party nights.
- Phil says that Jay stopped smoking but in others episodes, his plots revolve around cigars such as Spring Break, The Verdict, The Party, The Alliance and It's the Great Pumpkin, Phil Dunphy.
Continuity[]
- Dylan's second appearance.
- This episode aired six years before The Closet Case.
Music[]
(None used in this episode)
Cultural References[]
- Cam and Mitch go to Costco to buy diapers for Lily and they end up buying lots of other things because of Mitchs' new found love for the shop as well.
- Mitch says that he and Cam met while playing charades and when he didn't know how to act his clue out, he was doing a specific gesture that Cam acts out as "Casablanca".
- Claire says that her mother was hard on her growing up because back then everything was Betty Friedan, and Gloria Steinem, referring to the two activist, feminist writers and journalist respectively.
Gallery[]
