Dead On A Rival is the twelfth episode from Season 11 of Modern Family. It aired on January 22, 2020.
Summary[]
Mitchell learns a valuable life lesson when Murray, a former resident of the house, shows up unexpectedly. Meanwhile, the Dunphy's old neighbor-turned-tech-titan, Kenneth, comes to visit with a big surprise for Phil. Then, Manny's dad, Javier, shows up with a big opportunity for his son. [1]
Plot[]
Phil nervously waits for Kenneth's return. It turns out that his former neighbor has a surprise for him as he actually offers to him a travel in space with him. Phil admits that he loves the idea but confesses to Claire that he is scared actually.
Haley tries to give him advice and finally Kenneth finds an another project to do with Phil, although he is scared at his new idea to.
Meanwhile, Javier won a cruise and offers to take Manny with him. As Gloria is against this idea, she changes her mind when she , Javier and Joe attend Manny's one man show.
As for Mitchell and Cameron, they meet an elderly neighbor who grew up in their apartment and now wishes to die here. To cheer him up, they try to reunite him with an old friend who turns out to be actually an old nemesis.
Alex needs an assistant and she wants to hire a hot guy but Jay tells her to hire Margaret instead. Alex fires Margaret because she does not like her but learns that actually Margaret was happy to leave as Jay could take her back to his personal project.
Main Cast[]
(The characters struck out do not appear in this episode)
- Jay Pritchett
- Gloria Pritchett
- Manny Delgado
- Joe Pritchett
- Claire Dunphy
- Phil Dunphy
- Haley Dunphy (Haley Marshall)
- Alex Dunphy
Luke Dunphy- Mitchell Pritchett
- Cameron Tucker
Lilly-Tucker PritchettDylan Marshall
Guest Starring[]
- Ed Asner as Herschel
- Marsha Kramer as Margaret
- Benjamin Bratt as Javier
- Josh Gad as Kenneth
- Paul Dooley as Murray
- Tanner Novlan as Liam
- Damian Gomez as Cameraman
Trivia[]
- Margaret had three husbands.
- Luke, Lily and Dylan don't appear in this episode.
- Manny had one fan of his one-man show.
- This was Marsha Kramer's last episode. She died on January 23, 2020, the day after this episode aired.
- Also, Kenneth and Javier's last episode.
- The title is a reference to the phrase, Dead on Arrival.
Continuity[]
- This episode aired exactly six years after Three Dinners.
- Kenneth returns from Punkin Chunkin
- Javier's sixth appearance, he was seen also in Up All Night, Lifetime Supply, Flip Flop Patriot Games and The Graduates.
- Maragaret's 14th episode. Also her final appearance due to Marsha Kramer's passing.
- Jay previously wore several hats in A Year of Birthdays
- Garden Gnomes were previously mentioned in The Last Halloween
Cultural references[]
- Alex says "please don't say Hot Lives Matter," a reference to Black Lives Matter.
- Margaret is a year younger than Christie Brinkley (born 1954)
- Cam wants to rename the street Mary Kay Place after the actress Mary Kay Place.
- Phil and Kenneth were fans of Felicity (1998-2002); Phil wanted to tell her not to cut her hair - a change of Felicity's hairstyle is sometimes blamed for the show's dip in ratings.
- Jay used to eat Steak Diane
- Phil and Claire quote Star Wars
- Kenneth mentions Bezos, Elon and Zuck-Zuck (Mark Zuckerberg)
Reviews[]
- The A.V. Club gave it "B-"