Should you watch it, wiki it, or wait for the recap? Watch it.
The adults bring Haley to a bar to celebrate her 21st birthday, leaving Phil and Jay to pick up her surprise birthday present – a car! But Phil and Jay disagree on car buying methods, while Claire struggles with the idea of Haley getting a tattoo. Meanwhile, the kids are left to babysit Lily and answer a rather difficult question.
“Haley’s 21st Birthday” is the tenth episode of the sixth season of Modern Family. It takes place over one night – the night of Haley’s 21st birthday. Has the show been on for that long already? When we met Haley, she was just 15/16, right? Yes, it has been that long. You are that old. You’d have gone on to whatever your next phase of life would be.
Anyway, the split between the three stories isn’t along the lines of family this time, which is a refreshing change from the usual pairings and couplings. Instead, we see Phil and Jay (always a hoot), the adults with Haley, and the kids minus Haley. It does bring up the question though – where’s Andy? He’s taking care of Joe, probably, but given his relationship with Haley, wouldn’t he have been there for her birthday?
On the other hand, it’s good to see that there are no other guest stars in this episode, allowing us to focus on the ensemble performance of the cast. And that’s when they’re the strongest, isn’t it?
Highlights
Claire’s tattoo struggle
It was hilarious watching Claire attempt to backtrack on her proclamations of freedom and adult responsibility, when Haley declared her intention to get a tattoo. It comes from Claire’s character, although if you remember, Claire was pregnant with Haley when she got married to Phil, so it’s a symbol of her maturation. The best (or worst, for Claire) part came when Haley took back her intention to get a tattoo – an ironic manifestation of Haley’s maturity.
Lily’s question
It is a genuine question, and it’s awkward enough for the adults to handle it. To give it to the children adds this additional tension – will the kids mess up the explanation? Do they even know how to explain it accurately? Fortunately, this is diverted for a while by:
Luke and Manny’s roleplay
One of the strengths of Modern Family is the ironic situations that the characters frequently find themselves in. Most recently that has been evident with how Mitch is always in ridiculously apt situations when it comes to Cam’s gripes. Here, we see Luke and Manny’s relationship played out as soft toys while a slightly bewildered Lily watches on, once again giving us the visuals to accompany the ironic nature of Luke and Manny’s relationship.
Phil trumps Jay
It’s not that I don’t like Jay, but I generally don’t like the pompous attitude of old men. So to see Phil one up Jay, you know, the insecure little woobie that Phil is, is rather gratifying. It gives Phil what he needs (emotionally), while Jay gets what’s coming to him.
Letdowns
The brides-love-gay-men stereotype
What is this? I don’t even understand why there’s such a stereotype. Maybe because I’ve never been to a hen’s night, but seriously? It’s not funny, it goes nowhere, and it doesn’t even have proper closure to it – the brides and bridesmaids just leave and never return. Huh? If this was a visual gag, it didn’t work.
“Haley’s 21st Birthday” marks a sort of milestone for the series, in that we’ve seen one of our characters grow into an adult (while other characters have grown into the age that the character was when we first saw her). We’ve grown up along with Modern Family, and it’d be perfect if the series ended with her wedding (hopefully not with an illegitimate child though).
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