The Last Thanksgiving is the seventh episode from Season 11 of Modern Family. It aired on November 20, 2019.
Plot Summary[]
Cameron and Mitchell's friends mistakenly assume they have split up and have definitely chosen a side; and Haley attempts to cook Thanksgiving dinner as a thank you for Claire and Phil's support with the twins. Meanwhile, Jay invites Phil and Dylan out to fly his model plane and Phil thinks this is his chance to reclaim his dignity after their first outing 1 decade ago went so wrong.[1]
Episode Description[]
As Cam and Mitch have to shop for Thanksgiving, they agree to split up the list which is too long for both of them. Bumping into Ronaldo, Mitch creates accidentally a misunderstanding when he says they split-up, leaving Ronaldo thinking that they actually divorced. In order to cheer him up, Longines invites Mitchell to his house for a party, but when Cam learns it, he is furious at him, and forces him to apologize. Meanwhile, Jay invites Phil to a flying lesson, in which Dylan invites himself. During this time, Phil wants to redeem his dignity but accidentally knocks out himself with the plane. At first, he is mad at Jay but then he discusses with Cameron and learns that Jay acted to him as a father who was protective over his daughter. Plus, he too acted like this to Dylan. Elsewhere, Gloria tries to use Claire to do all her work while she feels homesick from her boss status. Manny, who recently used a girl whose name was Jessica comforts her while Haley, Alex and Luke stay with a mad chief who also was Alex's ex and acts to them as a tyrant when he forces them to cook a perfect Thanksgiving meal. In the end, Phil punches Neil the chief with a mini plane, Alex then goes over and hugs her dad thanking him.Claire comes in and asks what happened to Neil and Claire tells everyone to prepare and she regains her boss status for the thanksgiving meal. Finally, as the whole family play charades, Manny compliments the twins, but when Luke says that his niece has no personality, Dylan "accidentally" punches him in the stomach with a cue stick, much to the impression of Phil and Jay stating that Dylan will be a great dad.
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[]
- Christian Barillas as Ronaldo
- Kevin Daniels as Longines
- Matthew Risch as Jotham
- Rory O'Malley as Ptolemy
- Eli Gelb as Neil
Trivia[]
- Lily does not appear in this episode. This is the third Thanksgiving without her.
- Ptolemy's name is never said or written during the episode.
- Neil seems to be bisexual as he is attracted to Luke. Also, although he says to Manny that he really does not have a name, he continues to refer to Alex by hers during the meal. Luke also seems to like Neil presence near him.
- Claire asks Gloria if she's hiding a pregnancy which is possibly a reference to the Pilot episode when Julie Bowen was pregnant and had to hide her stomach with laundry.
Continuity[]
- The seventh and final Thanksgiving episode, after "Punkin Chunkin" (2011), "Three Turkeys" (2014), "Phil's Sexy, Sexy House" (2015), "Thanksgiving Jamboree" (2016), "Winner Winner Turkey Dinner" (2017) and "Did the Chicken Cross the Road?" (2018).
- Seasons 1, 2, 4 and 5 are the only seasons without any Thanksgiving episode.
- Jotham's seventh appearance
- Longines's 13th appearance. His name is revealed (Longines St. Germaine, previously Larry Jones)
- Ronaldo's 12th appearance
- Luke wears the same pull over he wore in Putting Down Roots and Alex wears the same shirt that Haley wore in Did the Chicken Cross the Road?. Alex, Haley and and Manny are seen again cooking after Three Turkeys. Besides, this latter episode , Phil's Sexy, Sexy House, Winner Winner Turkey Dinner and Other People's Children dealt previously with meals at Jay's though the third was not a Thanksgiving episode.
- Luke and Phil previously were goods cooks but it seems that this was retconned as well as Claire's bad talent for cooking.
- This is one of few episodes that does not feature a main character in the wall before the opening, after Sleeper.
- Jay and Claire regret being bosses something they also lived in White Christmas and Crying Out Loud.
- In the latest episode named Red Alert, Mitch was able to cry but he seems that now he can't do it anymore.
- It also seems that Manny has totally forgotten about Sherry in this episode as he mopes because a girl named Jessica broke up with him.
- Dylan's 50th episode.
- Longinus's last episode.
Cultural references[]
- Manny references Raymond Chandler's famous quote: “There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.”
- One of Mitch's friends sends a Tammy Faye Baker Crying GIF.
Reviews[]
- The A.V. Club gave it an "A-"