The Future Dunphys is the nineteenth pisode of the fourth season of Modern Family. It aired on 3rd April, 2013.
Summary
At the hospital Claire and Phil see the older version of their family; Mitchell and Cameron plan a day for Lily and Gloria; Manny and Jay go to a private school to look around.
Synopsis
At the Dunphy household, Haley wants to quit her job because it’s boring. Claire doesn’t agree with her children’s choices while Phil finds nothing is wrong. All will have to wait because Claire has to go in for an angiogram. At the hospital, Claire and Phil meet the future Dunphys – three adults whose personalities mirror the little Dunphys. This version of “Haley” has been married four times and is unhappy in another marriage, “Alex” is a cat lady, and “Luke” is a man-child. Phil comes to know of the error of his ways while Claire realizes the error of her ways. Both, separately, call their children who interpret the strange behavior of their parents as Claire being really sick. They arrive at the hospital to see their parents okay and realize it’s just another overreaction.
Jay takes Manny to interview at a private school. Unresolved issues surface as Jay relives his history with snotty private school boys with small noses – he worked for the privileged and wasn’t treated well. Jay realize, as the tour of the school continues, he wanted to be the snotty boys with the small noses. His enthusiasm leads Manny to bomb his interview. Manny apologizes to Jay since he knows it was important to Jay. Jay reciprocates – if Manny feels this was the first time Jay was proud of him, then Jay is the one to say sorry.
Gloria is busy with Lily on a girl-day. It all comes to a halt when Lily declares she’s gay. Mitchell, Cam, and Gloria
realize Lily is equating heritage with gay – her friend is Italian because of the parents, therefore, logic dictates she’s gay. When Cam and Mitchell tell Lily she’s Vietnamese and grasps at finding anything to say about Vietnam, Gloria voices her disappointment because they don’t know anything about Vietnam. They go to a Vietnamese restaurant. Lily makes a scene when she declares she hates Vietnam. Gloria says that this is what’s wrong with children in America: they want to forget their culture and just assimilate. This stems from Manny forgetting his Spanish and Joe will probably never learn it. Gloria doesn’t want to be the different one in the family. Lily feels the same – she wants to be like the rest of her family. They tell Lily that family is about love, not about appearance or heritage
Cultural references
- Claire says "Just because he's behind a curtain doesn't mean he's a wizard," is a reference to The Wizard of Oz.
- Phil calls "Future Luke" a "Jeff Bridges hippy."
- Nicole Kidman appears in Picnic in the school play.
Continuity
- Claire's heart trouble from "Heart Broken" reappears.
- Lilly mentions she was told not to say "pho", a reference to her use of "f--k" in "Little Bo Bleep." Pho was also mentioned in "Run for Your Wife."