Dear Beloved Family is the twelfth episode from Season 9 of Modern Family, it has aired on January 10, 2018.
Plot Summary[]
Gloria has to rush Phil to the hospital for an emergency surgery after he experiences some intense stomach pains and rallies the entire family to be by his side.[1]
Episode Description[]
Phil volunteers to help set up a party for Joe's football team. Gloria thanks him for his help, especially after Jay bluntly shot down his attempt to start a new family tradition—the Dunphy Games—the night before. Phil begins experiencing sudden, intense stomach pains, so Gloria decides to rush him to the hospital.
The whole family is alerted to the emergency, and hilarious chaos ensues as they start calling each other for favours when they’re forced to drop their plans to rush to the hospital. While Claire searches the Dunphy home, Joe’s bedroom and the now-blond Manny’s college dorm for Phil's favorite's teddy bear, Cam forces Mitch to come clean about his thoughts on remarriage should Cam die before him.
Meanwhile, Jay and Gloria receive Joe's team at their home. Gloria inadvertently dampens the spirit by telling Joe that death can come for anyone at any moment, depressing him and his teammates, to whom he has spread the information.
The whole family, save for Haley, shows up and comforts Phil after his procedure by hosting the annual Dunphy Games, hospital edition—spearheaded by Jay. Back at the Dunphy home, the kids express concern for their dad’s propensity to create a farewell video for them every time he comes across a mild danger.
Main Cast[]
(The characters striked out do not appear in this episode)
- Jay Pritchett
- Gloria Pritchett
- Manny Delgado
- Joe Pritchett
- Claire Dunphy
- Phil Dunphy
- Haley Dunphy
- Alex Dunphy
- Luke Dunphy
- Mitchell Pritchett
- Cameron Tucker
- Lily Tucker-Pritchett
Guest Starring[]
- Fred Savage as Caleb
- Fred Willard as Frank Dunphy
- Michael Churven as Superman
- Jessica Gardner as Jackson's Mom
- Jodie Bentley as Wesley's Mom
- Tatiana Varria as Elsie
- Jaiden McLeod as Joe's Friend
- Sawyer Jones as Tyler
- Warren Sweeney as Schwartz
Trivia[]
- This is the 200th episode.
- Manny shows up at 14:00.
- Michael Churven appears again in Daddy Issues and The Escape, but in different roles.
Continuity[]
- This is the third time that Phil gets injured and has to go to the hospital and the second time for this season. The two previous were in Up All Night and Brushes with Celebrity.
Cultural References[]
Reviews[]
- The A.V. Club gave it "B-" saying Jay’s complete lack of character definition is representative of a larger problem with the show at the moment. So many stories from week to week rely on characters acting in a way that doesn’t feel right. Alex, Haley, Luke, and Manny in particular are empty character archetypes that can be molded to fit whatever the conflict of the week happens to be. That’s why so much of “Dear Beloved Family” doesn’t feel like it earns its emotional payoff: we have no sense of who these character are anymore. but praised Claire's and Cam and Mitchell's storylines