I rewatched every episode of Modern Family and this is by far the worst
It would be an exaggeration to call myself the biggest Modern Family fan in the world, but I'd like to think I would at least crack the top 10%. And as a dedicated viewer, there is one episode I skip every time I rewatch the ABC sitcom.
For those who have yet to tune into the award-winning comedy, Modern Family aired from 2009 to 2020, and won 22 Primetime Emmy Awards in total - so, yes, it was a pretty big deal.
Much of the family drama's success can be chalked up to its stellar cast, hello Sofia Vergara and Ed O'Neill, alongside its mostly relatable storylines. Like the title suggests, the series follows various branches of a 21st Century family as they navigate modern America.
And as you expect from any contemporary family, politics get involved. To its credit, this drama skilfully explored polarising subjects, that is until season eight.
Episode 20, titled 'All things Being Equal,' takes a swing at exploring feminism - and sourly misses. The 2017 instalment is centred around a women's march that members of the family are keen to attend. While travelling to the peaceful protest, the women of the family - Gloria, Claire, Hailey, Lily and Alex - are derailed when their car gets a flat tyre.
Realising this is a brilliant teaching moment for Lily, who doesn't understand why feminism is important, the all-female crew decide to ask another woman for help, instead of calling a male professional. At this point in the episode, I was impressed by the comedy's ambition. It is a hefty task to explain any political movement in twenty minutes or less, so I was eager to see the story unfold.
But, as I quickly learned, this scene turned feminism into the butt of an ongoing joke. After enlisting a leather jacket-clad 'shero,' the ladies learn an important lesson on the power of working together. They also learn the very valuable skill of changing a tyre.
In a disappointing twist, Gloria's car gets stolen by the very woman that helped them.
Now, I love a comedic misdirect as much as anyone, but this felt like a missed opportunity for the sitcom to cement itself among the greats - think The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - who perfected the balance between comedy and social commentary.
Instead, the characters' attempt to embrace even the most surface level feminist principle is immediately snuffed out, almost suggesting that the movement is a waste of time.
As if that didn't hammer home the message, Manny (Rico Rodriguez) and Luke's (Nolan Gould) own discovery of gender inequality left me rolling my eyes.
Unlike Gloria's group, the young men make it to the march, where they run into their schoolmate Danielle (Gabrielle Elyse). While he is initially uninterested in the protest, Luke quickly becomes well-versed in some of the issues that the women are protesting, and recounts this new knowledge directly to the audience, stating: "Woah, she [Danielle] blew my mind. Society treats girls like second-class citizens."
However, you guessed it, another joke squashes the potential for real character development. As the march heats up, Danielle takes a megaphone and tells the crowd that she will remain celibate until women achieve true equality. This, naturally, turns Luke off from his crush and the whole equality movement. Are you starting to sense a theme here?
At this point in the episode, I expected the show to scrutinise Luke's close-mindedness and offer a fascinating analysis on false allyship. However, the instalment once again retorted to seemingly pointing and laughing at feminism, continuing to starve its characters of any real development.
What's worse, Manny, who is actually a feminist, is mistreated by Danielle throughout the episode and often depicted as the 'punk' in this scenario.
Ironically, the sharpest commentary from this episode comes from Jay (O'Neill) and Phil's (Ty Burrell) storyline, which briefly touches on workplace inequality.
If nothing else, this episode proved that Modern Family firmly belongs in my 'comfort' watchlist. But I would hesitate to name it among the sitcom greats, many of which took time out of their comedy schedules to offer viewers something real to chew on.
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