Modern Family Review: Five Minutes (Season 8 Episode 18)
What is the point of watching a sitcom if you don’t laugh once or even crack a smile? Watching Modern Family Season 8 Episode 18, “Five Minutes,” is on par with getting a tooth pulled–it’s excruciating.
To be fair, though, the actual premise of having five-minute stories about the different family members is commendable. To mix up the structure of the show is interesting, however, the stories had no overarching theme, nor are any of the vignettes of much importance.
Lily, Luke, and Joe are all missing, which is a pity. Lily always brings the laughs, whether she’s rolling her eyes at her fathers or making quips. Luke is funny when he’s being a dummy and Joe is still in that stage where his precociousness is cute.
The first five-minute vignette is with Cam and Mitch, who are heading to Turks and Caicos. Who cares who’s watching Lily, right? They take sleeping pills they got from a friend and as soon as Cam zonks out before the flight takes off, it’s apparent that the episode is going to be a mess.
The “jokes” with Cam and Mitch’s story don’t even make sense. What kind of sleeping pills did they take? Why does Cam keep calling Lily Linda? Why are they acting like they’re on horse tranquilizers and can’t have coherent thoughts?
It just didn’t make sense and also, it seems like lazy writing. It was much funnier when Phil and Mitch smoked pot together. But this feels so contrived. Usually, Mitch and Cam are funny together, especially when they’re just being silly or fun.
Usually, Mitch and Cam are funny together, especially when they’re just being silly. There are exceptions to this and “Five Minutes” proves this.
ERIC STONESTREET, JESSE TYLER FERGUSON
Thankfully, the next vignette with Alex, Phil, and Claire, isn’t terrible but deserves more than five minutes. It’s finally revealed that Alex and Claire’s assistant, Ben, are dating. The scene isn’t funny, but it’s tolerable.
We finally see Alex back at college, which is a plus, but it’s too bad that her plot had to involve a boyfriend. The writers don’t know what to do with Alex and Haley if they don’t have men in their lives.
It’s sweet when Alex tells Ben how she feels, but the scene is too rushed and really, do we care about Ben and Alex as a couple? This is the first time we’ve seen them in a room together.
We don’t need a whole episode dedicated to this reveal, but it would have been fun to see more of Phil and Claire at Alex’s college and also more interactions between Ben and Alex.
Another vignette shows Haley and Rainer out for his forty-fifth birthday.
Oh, and Rainer proposes.
Although five minutes is over generous for this plot, at least it seems like Rainer and Haley may be done for good. The proposal is nothing special and both have immediate freak-outs about it. Their relationship is not interesting and seems to exist solely as a plot device. Therefore, the proposal and break-up don’t carry weight.
Plus, if Rainer is reconsidering his choice to propose to Haley because of an unpredicted thunderstorm, then he’s not someone you’d really want to marry, right?
There’s also a five-minute story with Manny, Jay, and Gloria and it’s awful. Manny is practicing parking as he drives around a cappuccino machine in the passenger’s seat and Jay and Gloria in the back.
Gloria is mad at Jay for cutting off a story she was telling at friend’s house and Jay is annoyed with Gloria’s long-winded storytelling. It’s all pointless.
While Jay and Gloria are going on and on, Manny is trying to find somewhere to park and failing miserably. He’s also being condescending and generally unlikeable.
Manny used to be a decent character–weird, but big-hearted. Now, he’s just a jerk and he thinks he’s above everyone.
Overall, “Five Minutes” is a dreadful episode with no redeeming qualities. It’s not funny and it’s not smart. There are two big moments for the Dunphy sisters but each fall flat because their stories aren’t developed in the first place. The rest of the episode is completely disposable.
Will Modern Family be able to end on a positive note with the last four episodes?
What did you think of this episode of Modern Family? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Reviewer Rating:
User Rating:
Modern Family airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on ABC.
Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Nora Williamson
Nora is pop-culture obsessed and has been since she was six years old-- writing stories about going to Hollywood premieres and dating Christian Slater. Her current favorite shows include House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, The Walking Dead and black-ish. She is a sucker for TV shows with forbidden love, bad boys and of course, a Big Bad. Nora may also be the only person on the planet who loves Fear the Walking Dead.
11 comments
This was the worst Modern Family I think I’ve ever watched … and I love the show!
Whew, at least I’m not the only one who thought so!
You may not be the only one but you’re definitely not the ONLY OPINION.
People have different ideas on what’s funny and clear this is true when I read your post. I hate lily, she’s the worst part of the show andJoe is just a little boy I have one of those I don’t need to watch on every on tv. Luke is pretty funny sometimes. I thought Mitch amd cams 5 minutes was the most ilarious of them all.
You’re like “why are they acting like they aren’t on horse tranquilizer sand who’s watching lily?? Who the f cares about the 10 year old who’s creepy
Of course there are other opinions, as you have just given yours. But I still think it was an awful episode and I stand by my review! Thanks for reading.
I agree Nora! Just watched the episode, and as a huge modern family fan it’s a shame I have to call this episode a complete and utter disaster!!! Terrible writing 🙁
We Modern Family fans deserve much better!!
Yes this was a dreadful episode! During the Manny scene I had to pause and do something else because it was so annoying. I eventually made it through to the end but it was hard, unrewarding work!
Ugh! The Manny part was the worst!! Thanks for reading 🙂
Best episode in a long time. Sorry you all didn’t like it but I thought it was original and only lacked the weakest characters. Just myou opinion though. To disagree is no bad thing. X
I absolutely LOVE Mitch and Cam in this episode! That opening scene with them in the airport is one of my favorites of the entire series. I cant watch it without laughing through the entire scene then immediately wanting to watch it again. So I hope they didnt fire those writers because some viewers “get” their humor and love it.
This is one of my favorite episodes of the show. I loved Mitch and Cam’s 5 minutes. I thought the episode was hilarious. And very original how they did the 5 minute scenes. Agree to disagree <3
Comments are closed.