Modern Family Series Finale Recap: Leave the Porch Light On — Grade It!
ABC‘s Modern Family — which out of the gate won the Emmy for Best Comedy five years in a row — wrapped its 11-season run on Wednesday night, with a one-hour finale. Did you tune in to bid the Dunphy-Pritchetts farewell?
The first half-hour found Phil and Claire living and loving the RV life, having relocated themselves to mobile home in their own driveway now that the house itself has become overpopulated with Haley, Dylan and the twins, Luke, and a returned Alex. The storyline was far and away the strongest of that half-hour, especially as we witnessed how badly life had devolved inside the house, with “baby formula and croutons” subbing for breakfast cereal. After the kids crashed their cozy RV breakfast of actual bacon, Claire (and Phil) declared that someone had to move out of the house. Sure ’nuff, each of the kids balked at the notion… and sure ’nuff, they all ended up deciding to move out — to follow a job to Switzerland with new beau/boss Arvin (Alex), to attend the University of Oregon (Luke), and to live in a million dollar-ish apartment (Haley & Co.).
[pmc_inline_gallery]
Elsewhere, Mitch and Cam delighted in their new home and new baby, whom they named Rexford (after the street they now live on). Their housewarming party, however, hit a hiccup just as the guests were arriving, Cam was offered the college football coaching job he coveted, at North Southern East Central Missouri U. (or something). Cam tried to keep a lid on his conflict, but eventually erupted in front of everyone. Later, in their basement karaoke room, Mitch assured Cam that he was A-OK-ish with making the move — especially once they realized that crazy, clingy Sal lived right down the street and had big plans for spending lotsa time together.
The first half’s C-story, meanwhile, involved Gloria feeling less needed in her household now that she is the working spouse/parent, but Jay encouraged her to seize this moment and enjoy her career.
In the second half-hour, Mitch, Cam and their fam are packed (back) up already and at Claire’s house to bid everyone an emotional farewell… only to get delayed by a tornado warning. And then by a flood, with locusts. Once they finally do leave the house, they catch the others snapping a family photo on the stairs without them. Terse words are about to be exchanged… when a Missouri hail storm holds things up once again.
During this latest delay, Claire and Mitchell plot to steal their skating trophy from the ice rink that Jay gave it back to years ago, because they kept fighting over it. That led the siblings to revisit their ice dancing routine, only to realize it was a lot more sexual than they recall. Alex and Haley meanwhile schemed to mess with Luke one last time, by duping him into dressing up as “Woofie the Dog” to “recreate” a ruined home video. Over at Jay’s, his recent run of aloof behavior led Gloria to worry that he was getting old and or losing his hearing, when in actuality he was secretly learning to speak Spanish.
After Jay encourages Phil to consider his own next chapter in life, Phil suggests to Claire they take a cross country trip in the RV, getting selfies with every MLB mascot — and she is on board for that! They later wistfully look on as Haley, Alex and Luke all pack up their things and clear out 25 years of craziness from the house. What will they do now, Claire wonders. “Leave the porch light on,” says Phil. “They come back.” And after Jay reveals to Gloria his surprise fluency in Spanish and plan to join her and Joe in Colombia for the summer, the family finally poses for that elusive selfie.
And as we get glimpses of everyone embarking on their new lives, Jay’s closing voiceover says:
Life is full of change — some big, some small. I learned a long time ago you could fight it, or you can try to make the best of it. And that’s all a lot easier if you’ve got people who love you help you face whatever life throws at you. At least, that’s what helps me sleep at night.
As the Dunphy and Pritchett homes turned out their lights one last time. No twist ending, no Suzanne Pleshette, no snow globe, no introduction of a Dutch documentary crew. Just… a warm, sweet ending.
What a great finale. While the later season may not have been as good as the early ones, it was still good. I will miss this show.
^^THIS^^
Agreed. It was a perfect finale for a show that was about family… families big, small, a little crazy and at the end of the day, they are always there for each other. Loved the throwbacks, loved the stories of support and sacrifice. And loved the laughs. Modern Family never failed to make me laugh. What an amazing sitcom with an incredible cast and crew. Deserves to be thought of with the best of the genre.
It was good & emotional. But I’m always waiting to see a “Six Feet Under”-kinda finale for this big shows…. 😣 Not with them all dying, but I don’t know 5-10 years in the future 🤭
This show has tons of potential for a reboot later, or a reunion series on Disney+, or a movie, or movie of the week, or whatever. I think this was left open for just that possibility. Too many great shows in the past put a period on the show, in a way that precluded a later reunion. I think the avoidance of that is driving more recent finales. BBT could easily do a reunion. The ending of Friends set up a series of life changes that would really alter the nature of the show on a reunion. BBT and MF learned from Will and Grace. Don’t do an ending you might have to undo later. This could go away for 5+ years and come back easily. Odds are that the actors who played Jay and Gloria would be too expensive for regular roles, but everyone else would probably be available for a reasonable amount.
.
I’m not saying it WILL happen, but this finale set it up as a possibility.
yes, but sometimes things should just end when it’s their time. it’s called a FINALE, but a cliffhanger.
It was great. Perfect ending. (I always wonder who picks F for a fail. I mean – I voted F for HIMYM, but then posted a comment about how much I thought it was a fail. I think it’s funny that people feel strongly enough to vote an F but not strongly enough to tell us why? No judgement – I’m actually curious.) anyway I loved it!
HIMYM deserved an F tho haha. Loved this one tho. I gave an A
If I looked correctly, Lily was not in the final family photo. I can’t believe Cam and Mitch would up and move just like that after just buying that new house.
Ha, you made me rewind the ol’ VCR. She is there in a floppy hat, behind Gloria and Claire.
She didnt have a speaking role, though!
I actually had to rewind it to see her. I initially thought the same thing. Then I noticed her in the back wearing the floppy hat as Matt said.
It was OK just like the last few seasons were OK. The last excellent episode of “Modern Family” i recall was the one where the entire episode was the family video chatting.
I liked it, can’t say I loved it. Especially when you had every hand imaginable writing both halves. I’ll miss the show and can always find it in re-runs.
I was always hoping the show would end with us finding out they were all part of a reality show. Who is it they’re talking to when talking to the camera?
In the original pilot, it was being recorded by a Dutch exchange student who would have been a character/fallen for one of the daughters. But that element was deemed cumbersome/got scrapped/never made it to air.
Why the hell is this even posted before West Coast??!!
Again. Just because it is posted you don’t have yo read. Skip over it
Exactly….I skipped over as in India Disney+ Hotstar upload the episode a couple of hours after it airs in the US.
Loved the finale….sad to bid goodbye to one of fav shows
You don’t need to be here looking for it. They need to do their job by reviewing something as soon as it airs.
When you’re all bitching about how the NFL ruins your Sunday shows, we’ll be here in PST, laughing & telling you to quit your whining. 👍
I skipped reading this until today, after I watched it on Hulu.
I was very disappointed. I didn’t find to be nearly as emotional a it should have been.
I also hate the old standby that every character has to start a new journey. I think it is lazy writing.
If you look at Big Bang Theory. A lot happened, but yet they all stayed together. I think things like all the kids moving out at the same time is just unrealistic.
All that being said, I will truly miss the Dunphy/Pritchett family.
100% agree to this! I was saying it halfway through the episode
Maybe the part with Luke going off to college – I thought he got funding for medical paperwork app he pitched to Josh Gad’s character? – but Alex, Haley and Dylan finally moving out made sense to me, especially Haley and Dylan. Wasn’t she promoted to VP at the lifestyle company she worked for?
I really dislike finales like this one. Why have everyone leave? I would have liked it to end with one of their loud, looney family dinners with everyone talking at once.
I agree. The first thing I thought after the episode is that Cam and Mitch will either be back in CA or divorced in a year. Why do writers think finale’s have to be life changing? Remember Cheers, Sam closed the bar for the night, like any other night, but it was brilliant.
I enjoyed the finale — and all 11 seasons.
Will miss it, but it was time to go.
It was like the last few years of show. It had some moments but missing the magic of the first four or five years.
Agree! The first half was better than the second half (which seemed awkwardly directed and edited), but overall it was lackluster and disappointing. I thought the Dunphy storyline about kicking one kid out was uncharacteristic of Claire and Phil (and it was obvious that all three kids would wind up leaving). On the plus side, the Mitch and Cam story was sharper and more true to their characters (with Lily having the best one-liners). As usual, the weakest storyline was with Jay and Gloria. The bathtub scene with Manny and Gloria was odd. I expected better for the series finale.
Completely Agree … the laughs have become more few and far between for this show that I’ll always love but was running on fumes here at the end. I was really hoping the writers would be at their best to close this great franchise out but I was bored … very few funny moments and even the emotional ones lacked the heart this show used to display. That being said it must be hard as hell to write 24 episodes a season for 11 seasons and keep the laughs coming. I salute their staff but sure wished that final episode would be one I’d want to watch over and over again … no thanks … once is enough with this one.
I liked it, but I kept waiting to feel really emotional and never really did.
I’ve been trying to figure out what was missing and you nailed it! I expected to feel emotional after watching for 11 seasons and didn’t. It wasn’t bad. Just not as poignant as I’d hoped.
Agreed. I also agree with Sarah Hyland’s criticism of her storyline this season, it would have been nice to see Hayley rising to the challenge as a working mother. They just portrayed her as overwhelmed and stressed out with motherhood.
I haven’t watched the finale yet, but I wanted to say I was really disappointed with the final season as a whole. We barely saw the kids at all. They had been an integral part of the show for the first 10 seasons then were treated as an afterthought the last season. I always enjoyed the kids the most on the show. The adults were always lying and hiding things from each other, while the kids grounded the whole thing and made them more likable. It put a bad taste in my mouth how they were treated with so little regard. I mean why would they not even be included in the funeral for Phil’s father???!!?
I didn’t love it, but I honestly believe that’s because Haley was my favorite character for eleven years, and her ending just fell flat.
The last few years I felt they ruined all her growth and then reverted her. Although I also thought her and Andy were end game but I was wrong about that!
I agree. She should have been with Andy. Putting her back with Dylan was a mistake.
Agreed. When Andy was tossed aside and she went back to Dylan is when I checked out of this show.
Dylan was mentioned in the Pilot…he was always the end game.
Great final episode. Kudos to the writers for 11 entertaining seasons.
Thanks for all the laughs. It’s mirrored much what has become extended modern families. Excellent work actors!
Dang DVR didn’t record ir, why do things have to go over by 1Min & confuse DVRs with only 2 recordings available. Got the special beforehand. Oh well will have to wait for on demand.
I was hoping Pepper would make an appearance.
Agreed! I thought it was weird that his boyfriend was there, but Pepper was missing from the series finale. Does anyone know why Nathan Lane couldn’t make an appearance?
I didn’t like the Mitch & Cam story of moving. Plus, all the “kids” leaving the area at the same time. Overall, it was average.
It looked like Haley & Dylan and the twins moved into Cam & Mitch’s apartment. I can see C&M letting them live there for almost nothing to nothing and still renting out the upstairs unit. H&D can make sure the renters were not tearing the unit apart. Also, when Jay, Gloria & Joe come back from Columbia and Phil & Claire finish their road trip, they’ll all still live close to each other. Luke could easily come home for holidays & Alex probably could, as well. Since I’ve never been a fan of Manny’s, he can settle in Paris and be a poet as far as I care. I love the end porch light. I missed Phil saying that, so it was that much more poignant for me.
Nope. That finale was boring. This is the one time a flash-forward would be completely appropriate. Use the porch light cue and then find out how everyone fared with all their individual adventures. Especially after they stunted the growth of many of their characters. I don’t see it as an open-ended finale where I sit and imagine where life took them all and how they stayed connected as a family. It would have benefited from a little “reunion” within the farewell.
Also: no conclusion to the mockumentary after following the family for 11 years – lame. They have a built-in device to peak in to their characters’ future.
No laughs, no tears. Not on the same level as the HIMYM finale, but hovering around the bottom. This season dragged just like HIMYM’s final season. Took the series recording right off my DVR. Byeeee.
Agreed, they should have reversed the special and the final and made the special about how the documentary was filmed the family over the years.
I Hope they’re planning the first of many reunion specials. This Wednesday night staple will be sorely missed.
Good riddance to this show , which once was superb and evolved into something less than bad. S V wants it to go on forever like Law and Order ( Which as everyone knows , is long gone as well) This is the only acting job she has ever had aside from the c movies she had made- Ty Burrells’ buffoonery was hard to watch. so I will not miss this one at all
Why did you even watch the show?
It was a fine finale, but not memorable in any eye popping way. Modern Family is/was one of my top five favorite tv comedies ever. Its faux documentary style was great, and I keep thinking it would have been funny at the very end to see either whomever was theoretically making that documentary or see their camera crew packing up. The show itself was one of the best ever, but the finale was … just fine.
I enjoyed it, I gave it a B. Wasn’t entirely memorable but still way better than I thought considering the quality drop in the last few seasons.
It was super boring and, as I watched the character get emotional, it started to feel like bad acting. Soooooo disappointed.
After watching the perfection that was Schitt’s Creek finale last night. Seeing what show-runners who care for the quality they produce and the characters they have created put such a juxtaposition of what a mess of a finale Modern Family was. It was a show that went too many seasons but so did the office and they could still figure out a way to create an emotional ending that showed an earned growth in the characters. It wasn’t a train wreck like the HIMYM finale it was just very blah. A lot of cashed paychecks and empty emotion. Too bad to see what was such a smart comedy leave on such a low note.
Agree totally. Could not get invested in this at all. This last season was way below par and It seemed like they had no clue where to take the characters anymore. A fail as far as I’m concerned. Give me Schitt’s Creek over this any day.
Did they do something with Luke in that dog costume early on? I swear I can picture cute little Luke with those floppy ears and nose, but can’t remember the other stuff, like the hose bit, or the episode it would have been in.
.
Am I hallucinating?