"The Bicycle Thief" is the second episode from Season 1 of Modern Family, it aired on September 30, 2009.
Plot Summary[]
Phil goes behind Claire's back and gets a bike for Luke,and then really ends up lying about it when the bike gets stolen. Jay has problems trying to bond with Manny, but takes advantage of Manny's father not showing up in an effort to make peace with him, even though Gloria believes that there's real peace in the household. Mitchell and Cameron begin daycare classes with Lily.
Episode Description[]
Phil, Claire and Luke are out on a family bike ride when they run into their new beautiful neighbor, Desiree, who is out for a jog. She shares that she's just staying in her new house until her divorce is final. After saying goodbye to Desiree, Claire tells Phil that they're never to have her over because rumor has it that she's already slept with two fathers at the school.
Luke has been riding Alex's old girly bike, badly camouflaged with black tape, so Phil decides it's time for Luke to get a new one. Claire thinks that Luke is not quite responsible enough to take care of such an important item. However, Phil thinks he is. Unfortunately, when he's walking home, Phil sees the bike unlocked and unsupervised. Angry that Luke has proven him wrong after mere hours, Phil decides to teach Luke a lesson by stealing the bike. However, Phil doesn't realize that the bike doesn't belong to Luke but is simply an identical one.
Mitchell and Cameron organize a play date for Lily with several other moms and their kids. One of the other moms asks if Lily is scooting or grabbing things yet as an eight-month old. Lily, however, is not yet scooting or grabbing, and Mitchell is worried so he lies in front of the other moms.
Riding the stolen bicycle home, Phil runs into Desiree, who has locked herself out of the house and asks Phil to help her. So he helps unlocks her house but finds that the bicycle he was riding is gone. He runs to the bicycle shop again to purchase a new bike (and takes the insurance this time).
Jay and Manny are working on a little project together to install a ceiling fan. Jay insists on ignoring the instructions while Manny has them memorized. Gloria has planned a weekend away with Jay in wine country because Manny's dad is taking him to Disneyland, but she is happy the boys are bonding. Gloria equates the two to a Colombian sitcom, "Salazar & El Oso," that she thinks is hysterical.
Phil brings the new bike into the house, ready to teach Luke a lesson about responsibility. He corners Luke with a little reverse psychology, and it works. Luke breaks down and apologizes for the scratch. Finally, realizing he has stolen someone else's bike, Phil decides to return the new bike to the place where he stole the first bike. However, Claire catches him.
Unfortunately, the male bonding between Jay and Manny isn't going well. As Jay tries to install the ceiling fan, apparently using the screwdriver wrong according to Manny, one of the fans comes down and hits Manny on the arm. Jay is apologetic, but Manny is upset. He thinks his arm is broken, but Jay wants him to be tougher about it. Manny would rather wait for his real dad and says he hates having to be with Jay. Jay says the feeling is mutual, but quickly regrets saying so.
Phil is trying to cover his tracks, but Claire thinks it's actually a bit funny that Phil would steal another kid's bike to teach Luke a lesson and then try to return the bike. She is more annoyed about him keeping things from her. Phil claims it got stolen while he was at a gas station, and the lie works. It's classic Phil, up to the point where the woman he helped returns it. Apparently one of her neighbors put it in her garage while Phil was in her bedroom.
At the Gymboree, Lily is still not up to speed on stacking or scooting so Mitchell decides to take matters in his own hands, by taking another kids' blocks and giving credit to Lily. The instructor is impressed and is more than happy to give Mitchell a copy of the security camera feed. Mitchell is embarrassed and wants to leave, until Anton and Scott arrive with their kid. Mitchell apologizes for making Cameron stay in first gear, but it's time for parents' dance time, and Cameron wants to dance for his baby. Mitchell tells him to make that horsey move. Cameron is a hit.
Manny is sitting on the porch in front of Jay's house, waiting for his father, Javier, to take him to Disneyland. However, Javier tells Jay (not Manny) that he can't drag himself away from a casino. He decides to run block for Javier anyway, ordering a limo to take them to Disneyland, still giving Javier credit for the idea.
Main Cast[]
(The characters striked out do not appear in this episode)
- Jay Pritchett
- Gloria Pritchett
- Manny Delgado
- Claire Dunphy
- Phil Dunphy
Haley DunphyAlex Dunphy- Luke Dunphy
- Mitchell Pritchett
- Cameron Tucker
Quotes[]
JAY: "The key to being a good dad...well, sometimes things work out just the way you want. Sometimes they don't. But you gotta hang in there. Because when all is said and done, 90% of being a dad is just showing up."
Guest Starring[]
- Brandy Ledford as Desiree
- Lindsey Stoddart as Helen
- Julia Lehman as Danielle
- Davis Mikaels as Anton
- Alex Staggs as Scott
- Kofi Natei as Bike Salesman
- Shamari Berkley as Kid
Trivia[]
- Haley and Alex do not appear in this episode.
- There are no recurring characters in this episode.
- This is the first episode written by Bill Wrubel.
Cultural References[]
- When Jay sees Luke riding his sister's old bike, he says that he looks like a Little Bo Peep, referring to the popular nursery rhyme. An episode from the third season has its title being a pun on the said nursery rhyme.
- Gloria says that Manny's father is taking him to Disneyland (which later appeared in the third season episode with the same title) and later Manny says that his dad will take him on Space Mountain, referring to the space-themed indoor steel roller coaster that's located in the same location.
- Jay mentions that Manny thinks of his dad as Superman, the fictional comic superhero.
- Gloria refers to Jay and Manny as Salazar and El Oso, referring to a comedy from Colombia.
- Cam talks with a mother at the toddler play class about movies and she mentions Mamma Mia! which featured Meryl Streep. When the mother says that she doesn't think Streep was the right choice for the part, Cam says in a monologue that Streep could play Batman and still be the right choice. He also mentions different movies that featured Streep such as Kramer vs. Kramer, The Devil Wears Prada and Sophie's Choice.
Continuity[]
- This episode aired six years before The Day Alex Left for College.
- This episode aired on the same day The Middle premiered.
Gallery[]
