Kids These Days is the eighth episode from Season 10 of Modern Family, it aired on November 28, 2018.
Summary[]
Haley needs motherly advice from Claire as she considers her future with Dylan and her career; Jay and Cam's less than politically correct coaching style earns them a class on sensitivity from Manny and Phil; Mitch runs into Phil's nemesis, Gil, at an unlikely place. [1]
Plot[]
Sitting at a cafe, Haley and Dylan try to figure out what to do about the former's newly-discovered pregnancy. Dylan remains nonchalant and calm, while Haley panics. Dylan attempts to propose, but Haley quickly shuts him down. Haley discovers she's late for work and leaves, telling Dylan to give her space. While at work, Haley is unexpectedly given a promotion.
Cam, who's coaching his football team with the help of Jay, is shocked and upset when he discovers his team isn't happy with his "non-progressive" coaching methods. Principal Brown tells Cam he has to find a new way to coach, sending Cam and Jay to Manny for help.
Mitchell and Phil, who are on their way to see a Star Wars movie, stop at a gay bar Mitchell used to attend for lunch. While there, Phil spots Gil Thorpe, who he is shocked- and confused- to see. Mitch catches on quickly, and gets Gil to admit immediately that he is gay. Seeing that Gil is confused about his life now, Mitch decides to stay with him, leaving Phil to go the movie alone.
Alex and Gloria are shopping for attractive clothes for the former's weekend with her boyfriend. While they shop, they unexpectedly run into Claire. Alex, knowing her mom doesn't like talking about sex and boys with her, lies and says the clothes are for Gloria. Claire eventually catches on, however, and begins to try too hard to show that she's comfortable with Alex's sexual life.
Back at Cam's football game, Cam attempts to use a "millennial-style" coaching method, which makes the game confusing. During a time-out, Cam expresses his disappointment in the players. Jay unexpectedly begins to use modern slang to the players, defending and supporting Cam.
Back at the bar, Mitchell is disgusted as Gil begins to hit on Mitch, expecting sex because of their talk. Mitchell quickly leaves and catches up to Phil thanks to a motorcyclist from the bar. The two express their love of doing things with each other, and seeing one another as the "brother they never had."
At the Dunphy house, Claire catches Haley sitting on the floor, thinking. The two begin to discuss Phil, and how he was a mess before stepping up and acting responsible once they became parents. Haley realizes Dylan is the exact same way, and confronts him at the hospital he works at. Haley expresses her fear of having a baby, but is happy to go through it with him.
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[]
- Mira Sorvino as Nicole Rosemary Page
- Reid Ewing as Dylan Marshall
- Andrew Daly as Principal Brown
- Rob Riggle as Gil Thorpe
- Steven W. Bailey as Vic
- Margaret Judson as Madison
- Landon Klotz as Pitkowski
- Xavier Shelton as Thompson
- Alice Wen as Friend #1
- Elizabeth Hinkler as Friend #2
- Kylen Deporter as Bob
Trivia[]
- "When a Tree Falls" was broadcasted exactly six years before this episode.
- Luke, Lily and Joe are absent in this episode. It seems that Lily, since season 7, never appears in episode 8, if you count the episodes in broadcast order.
- Phil and Gloria never interact with their respective families in this episode, and the Pritchetts never talk with their spouses.
- Manny only appears in one scene in this episode, and unlike the press release said, Phil never shares a scene with Jay or Cam. Also, apart from the Manny scene, and a few scenes with Dylan and Haley, this is the first episode in which male characters and female characters never interact with the opposite gender.
- With this episode, Manny becomes the only kid to appear in every story Principal Brown has appeared.
Continuity[]
- Jay previously took a prenatal class in "Schooled".
- Cameron argued with Claire twice in "Tableau Vivant" and "Sleeper". Jay attended a class in Schooled.
- Dylan's 36th appearance
- Rosemary Nicole's 4th appearance
- Gil Thorpe's 7th appearance, though he's grown a beard.
- Principal Brown's 7th appearance. We also learn that the African-American football player's name is Thompson.
- Jay coached a team in Benched and Alex and Gloria previously spent time together in Come Fly with Me, A Slight at the Opera and A Sketchy Area.
- Dylan proposed to Haley in Dude Ranch and Rainer also proposed to her in Five Minutes which also was an episode in which Luke, Lily and Joe were absent.
- Phil previously warned Claire about Gil's bad attitude in Career Day and Mitch previously met him in Flip Flop though neither seem to remember in this episode.
- Cam also shared an interview scene with other members of the family who weren't Mitch or Lily in The Alliance. The Pritchett Delgado House only appears in a scene, while The Pritchett-Tucker House is never seen.
- Gloria was the source of Claire's jealousy in Dance Dance Revelation and Haley's 21st Birthday, whereas Claire was Gloria's source of jealousy in The Old Man & the Tree.
- In New Year's Eve, Mitch was also in a gay bar.
- The third episode in which Phil and Mitch share a science-fiction interest after The Party and Clash of Swords.
- The second episode in which someone who does not belong to the family narrates the story, after The Help in which Andy served as a narrator.
- Rosemary Nicole appears for the last time.
Cultural References[]
- Phil and Mitch go to The Empire Strikes Back and hum the Darth Vader theme.
- Phil and Mitch drive through Yucaipa, California.
- Haley gets an IRA - individual retirement account.
Reviews[]
- The A.V. Club said "It’s probably a stretch to say that Modern Family is maturing—after all, this is an episode that features a prolonged B-story about football, trigger warnings, and safe spaces, complete with all the flat jokes you can imagine—but the choice to build a lot of this season around Haley is working in an unexpected way. It allows for the other storylines to be the comedic fodder while Haley’s season-long arc can be the dramatic pull."
- TV Fanatic gave it 2.5 / 5.0