Sex, Lies & Kickball[1] is the fourth episode from Season 9 of Modern Family, it aired on October 18, 2017.
Plot Summary[]
Jay's best friend, Shorty, is back from Costa Rica and stays at the house so they can catch up and reconnect. However, Shorty is spending more time with Gloria and seems to be avoiding Jay. Meanwhile, Alex is ready to shed her good-girl image and is going to prove to Claire that her relationship with Ben is definitely a sexual relationship.
Episode Description[]
Claire won a erotic paint kit while attending to a bachelor party. But she and Phil are interrupted by Jay and Alex. Alex can't stand the fact that Claire dislikes Ben and wows to get revenge by using the kit with him.
Phil and Claire are disgusted, but Luke likes it. Phil and Claire plan a dinner with Alex and Ben and Phil helps Claire realize that she mirrors Jay's behavior toward him.
As for Shorty, he comes back to town and hangs out with Gloria all day, causing Jay's jealousy. But Shorty reveals that he lied to Jay. In fact, his business went out and Darlene left him. However, he did not want to pose as a loser, but Jay tells him that he will be here for him.
Gloria, on the other side, misses Manny and he concludes that she can sometimes visit him.
Also, Mitch and Cam meet Lionel who happens to be Pepper and Ronaldo's adopted son. Lonel convinces Lilly that she is lucky to have both a home and a family but her dads mistakenly believe that Lionel does not like his.
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[]
- Nathan Lane as Pepper Saltzman
- Chazz Palminteri as Shorty
- Joe Mande as Ben
- Christian Barillas as Ronaldo
- Cedric Joe as Lionel
- Leaire Nicole as Theatregoer
Continuity[]
- Pepper's 9th appearance
- Ronaldo's 7th appearance
- Shorty's 5th appearance
Cultural References[]
- The title references the film sex, lies, and videotape.
- Gloria calls Hannah Montana "Hannah from Montana".
- Pepper can barely stand Shakespeare in the Park and says he hasn't seen so much artificial color since Ted Turner got his hands on Casablanca, referring to the infamous 1984 colorization.
- Jay and Shorty watch Wicked.
Trivia[]
- Mitch and Cam discover Pepper and Ronaldo adopted an African-American boy named Lionel.
- Haley does not appear in this episode, Luke only appears in one scene, and Manny only appears in the tag.
- Gloria mentions that since Manny has moved out, she and Jay have an extra bedroom, so Shorty can stay. However, in the episode Fulgencio, it is clearly shown that Jay's house has a master bedroom, a second bedroom for Manny, Jay's office (later turned into Joe's nursery) and a guest room.
Reviews[]
- The A.V. Club gave this episode a "C", saying "I have a feeling that the deeply strange story of Claire and Alex going to war over what’s sexually appropriate in the Dunphy household is going to be haunting me for some time.".