Pool Party is the fourth episode from Season 11 of Modern Family. It aired on October 16, 2019.
Plot Summary[]
Mitch and Cam help Lily overcome her insecurities about wearing a bathing suit to a pool party but discover their own. Meanwhile, now that Gloria's new internship is taking up so much of her time, Jay is feeling particularly neglected.[1]
Episode Description[]
Mitch and Cam learn that Lily is too body sensitive to go to go to a party they've been invited to. They talk to her about self-acceptance and accompany her to the party, only to discover that the pool party is actually one for gay men (they'd assumed the 'younger' people attending would be teenagers, whereas it's actually a bunch of twenty somethings). Although Lily now has no problem been seen in her swimming costume, Mitch and Cam are now anxious about being seen in only their shorts and hide out in the upstairs gym with Ronaldo, Longines and several other men who feel the same. Lily finds them and chews them out for not following their own advice. Realizing they were hypocrites, Mitch and Cam lead the guys outside in their shorts and all jump into the pool.
Meanwhile, Gloria and Phil learn that their sale's advertising had been stolen while they tried to sell a house. Phil unsuccessfully tries to find the culprit, but it turns out to be Jay who actually felt neglected because Gloria wasn't at home and he got an accomplice, Sam, the owner's son who didn't want to move out. Phil offers the job to Gloria.
Claire tries to show her daughters that she can be both a mom and a careerwoman only to gets bitten by her own snake because of an error.
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
- Lily Tucker-Pritchett
Dylan Marshall
Guest Starring[]
- Rob Riggle as Gil Thorpe
- Christian Barillas as Ronaldo
- Kevin Daniels as Longines
- Marsha Kramer as Margaret
- Sam Lloyd as Bobby
- Josh Pins as Evan
- Julia Fowler as Madge
- Dominic Burgess as Nate
- Kasey Mahaffy as Dom
- Rahnuma Panthaky as Josie
- Elaine Madelyne Kim as Roselyne
- Hunter J Mitchell as Sam
- Maggie Gwin as Lindsay
- Edith Fields as Neighbor
- Daniela Bobadilla as Trish
- Kevin Bernson as Raymond
- Christopher Wolfe as Barber
Trivia/Goofs[]
- Luke and Dylan do not appear in this episode, making the first time that Reid Ewing is credited even if he does not appear at all.
- Lily's 150th episode.
- The penguin Alex faces appears to be an African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), which do not live in Antarctica.
- This episode marks Gil Thorpe's final appearance.
Continuity[]
- This episode aired exactly six years after The Late Show.
- The only episode to feature "Party" in the title, other than The Party
- A pool has been featured in Coal Digger The One That Got Away, Little Bo Bleep, Marco Polo, Queer Eyes, Full Hearts,Closet? You'll Love It!, Ringmaster Keifth,Brushes with Celebrity, Kiss and Tell and Red Alert
- Longinus' 11th episode (Dance Dance Revelation, Boys' Night, Go Bullfrogs!, Snip,The Wedding (Part 1), The Wedding (Part 2), Fight or Flight, Patriot Games, I Don't Know How She Does It and Spanks for the Memories)
- Margaret's 11th episode (First Days, The Verdict,Promposal, A Stereotypical Day,Do You Believe in Magic, It's the Great Pumpkin, Phil Dunphy, Tough Love, No Small Feet, In Your Head and Clash of Swords)
- Ronaldo's 12th episode (The Help,The Wedding (Part 1), The Wedding (Part 2),Fight or Flight, I Don't Know How She Does It, We Need to Talk about Lily andSex, Lies & Kickball)
- This is the fifth episode in which he appears without Pepper after Blindsided, Wine Weekend, Clash of Swords and Can't Elope
- Gil Thorpe's eight appearance after Flip Flop, Career Day, The Feud, The Day We Almost Died,Do It Yourself, Catch of the Day and Kids These Days
- Also, Sam Lloyd is the fifth actor to play different roles in different episodes as he was previously Lester in Marco Polo. Others were
- Sarah Baker (Disneyland, Basketball and In Your Head)
- Fineas O Connell (Best Men and Won't You Be Our Neighbor)
- Elaine Stiff (Connection Lost and I Don't Know How She Does It)
- Michael Churven (Dear Beloved Family, Daddy Issues and The Escape)
- Raymond returns from The Verdict which also was an episode in which Claire tried to give a lesson to her daughter.
- The Dunphy House only appears in short scenes.
- Both Dom and Josie return for this episode. Dom appeared in She Crazy, The Verdict, A Stereotypical Day, and he appeared with Josie in The Alliance,Heavy is the Head, It's the Great Pumpkin, Phil Dunphy and No Small Feet. They appear for the last time, as well as Raymond and Gil Thorpe.
- Nate also reappears from Stand By Your Man. Luke was the only Dunphy kid to be present in this previous episode, and here, he is the only kid who is absent. Moreover, Nate's sexuality is revealed in this episode.
- Besides Lilly, there is only one woman in the Party.
- Strange fact that Skip Barnum, Phil's rival in Queer Eyes, Full Hearts and appeared in Commencement was not even mentioned once in this episode.
Cultural References[]
- Cam shows Lily Golden Girls to work on her sass
- Cam names Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington
- Phil says "Son of a Preacher Man!" as a swear
- Claire sings "She Works Hard for the Money"
- Cam said that Scarlett Johannson could play Lily, a reference to Johannson's infamous statement about playing Asian or trans women.[1]
- Phil compares himself to Celie from The Color Purple
- Cam hasn't felt this white since he loved Green Book
- Jay sent "🍆🍑", apparently unaware of its sexual meaning
- GLoria mentions "racist lawn statues," probably a reference to lawn jockeys.[2]
- Jay calls AA an "alcoholic cult."
- Cam's friend danced on a Paula Abdul tour, probably a reference to the Under My Spell Tour (1991-92)
- Lizzo's "Boys" plays at the end
Reviews[]
- The A.V. Club gave it a "B".