The Day We Almost Died

"The Day We Almost Died"
Season	6
Episode	11
Total Episode Count	131
Written By	Danny Zuker
Directed By	James Bagdonas
Production Code	6ARG13
Air Date	January 7, 2015
Episode Guide
← Previous	"Haley's 21st Birthday"
Next →	"The Big Guns"

Plot Summary

While driving out to get breakfast, the Dunphys, including Manny, have a near death experience causing everyone to reevaluate their lives. Claire resolves to be more fun and less uptight, Haley and Alex agree not to fight anymore, Manny refuses to ever ride in a car again, Luke wants to check off his bucket list, Phil decides to be a take action type of guy, and the rest of the family has to bear the brunt of all the new family attitudes of their "new lives".

Episode Description

The whole Dunphy family, along with Manny, re-evaluate their lives when they have a near-death experience while going for breakfast and almost get hit by a truck.

Claire, who was arguing with Mitch moments before the incident, decides that she has to stop being so controlling all the time and visits him at his work to apologize and take a walk with him. They go for roller skating and Claire forces Mitch to go through a dark tunnel to surpass his fear about it. Before they enter the tunnel they separated and Mitch gets mugged. He comes out of the tunnel and demands from Claire her roller skates so he can go back to work for an important meeting.

Alex realizes how much Haley loves her, since the moment of the "accident" Haley hugged her and said "I thought I almost lost you". The two of them spend the day together and Haley takes Alex for mustache waxing and to buy new clothes. Back at home, Alex discovers that Haley was actually talking to her phone when she said "I thought I almost lost you" and Alex gets mad at her.

Luke decides to go through his bucket list after realizing how many things he is missing. He even missed his near-death experience because he was listening to music and not paying attention at the moment.

Phil wants to stop being scared and takes action by first confronting Gil Thorpe (Rob Riggle) for stealing his clients. Cameron, who is with Phil at the moment, finds Phil's new behavior sexy and has no idea how to handle it, especially when Phil also confronts the salesman at the store for bringing Cameron the wrong color of washing machine. Phil manages to convince the salesman take back the wrong one and replace it with a new one in the right color. The new "feelings" of Cameron towards Phil disappear the moment Phil decides to take an alpaca home and it has to sit with Cameron in the back seat of the car.

Manny is afraid to get into a car again and Jay forces him to do it despite Gloria's objection. When Jay sees that having Manny in the back seat makes it worse, he decides that Manny will get over his fear only if he drives the car. Manny tries to do it but, he is still scared and when Gloria realizes that Manny not being able to drive in the future will be a big problem for her, she pretends that she sees the man who stole her phone and makes Manny chase him with the car. Manny is no longer afraid, but after the chasing, Jay and Mitch (who was on his way to work with the roller skates) have their own near-death experience. Jay gets out of the car to walk home while Mitch calls the salesman to demand the right color of washing machine since he has no idea that Phil has already fixed this problem.

Guest starring

• Rob Riggle as Gil Thorpe
• Joel J. Gelman as Sam
• Chris Stacy as Rob

Continuity

• Gil Thorpe reappears from "Flip Flop", "Career Day", and "The Feud".
• Phil's love for alpacas returns from "After the Fire".

Trivia

• The episode title refers to the the day where the Dunphys and Manny have a near-death experience when they almost get hit by a truck.
• Luke's bucket list:
  • Mentos Jet Pack Ramp Climb
  • Hold My Breath For 5 Minutes
  • Build a Bat Cave
  • Chew More Gum
  • Learn French
  • Clone Myself
• Lily and Joe are absent in this episode.
• In the scene of the Facebook photo, Haley's phone changes color from purple to blue.
• The man who stole Gloria's purse turns out to just be Jesse, but Gloria fakes him as the man to make Manny drive.
• Alex practices judo. In real life, Ariel Winter practices tae kwon do and she is purple belt.

Cultural References

• The title references The Day the Music Died.
• Jay tells Manny "Jesús, take the wheel", a reference to the song "Jesus, Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood.
• The song that Phil is listening to just before he swerved was "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) by Hall & Oates (1981)

Gallery

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