Tonight's episode welcomed back two favorite characters from last season: Shelley Long's DeDe Pritchett -- mom to Claire and Mitchell and ex-wife to Jay, and Cam's beloved alter ego Fizbo the Clown. Shelley Long plays the former Pritchett matriarch pretty perfect -- with a smidge of crazy, a dash passive aggressiveness, and a whole lot of acid-tongued wit. Her banter with Claire felt like real mother/daughter bickering, minus the unrelenting sexual undertones of course. DeDe did not arrive empty handed, however. She came toting a shaggy-haired, slightly rough-around-the-edges Matt Dillon as Claire's not-so-bright, limo-driving ex-boyfriend, Robbie. While Dillon didn't have a whole lot to do tonight, it was fun to see him pop up in this random role, and of course to see him make out with Shelley Long! The big question of the night was who was DeDe there to screw (metaphorically for her family, literally for Robbie I guess) – Claire, Mitchell or Jay.
They were all convinced she was after them – "It's not you it's me," they all said. Turns out it wasn't about any of them, she was after Gloria! Poor drugged-up Gloria. Who saw that tackle coming? Not me. But luckily, Phil was there to save the day, yelping, "I got Gloria, I got Gloria," as he rolled to her rescue. I always forget about Phil's crush on Gloria, but I love when it rears its awkward head.
Unfortunately we only had brief encounters with Fizbo, a shoe tease here, some leftover makeup there, but we did get to see Fizbo in his British incarnation as a court jester to go with the Princess theme of Lily's party ("me thinks a court jester is right as rain"). Here's to hoping we see Fizbo another day.
This episode was packed with so many smaller clever moments, here are some honorable mentions:
-Luke trying to be "adorable" by talking in baby talk.
-Alex's aptly-timed cello notes as DeDe enters the house.
-Manny sipping his espresso and pushing to buy Lily a cashmere throw.
-Gloria's problem with answering machine beep.
-Matt Dillon's earring!
-Gloria's bear voice while recording the story for Lily.
-Mitchell to Cam: "Cue the gasp!"
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Home » tv squad » 'Modern Family' recap: A Family Affair
'Modern Family' recap: A Family Affair
Posted by Shazy on Thursday, February 17, 2011
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