Modern Family Review: Legacy (Season 11 Episode 11)

Modern Family Season 11 Episode 11, “Legacy,” is a heartening episode that visits the past to share the legacy of working hard for your family with the new generation.

Phil’s storyline with his father Frank Dunphy is especially tender and moving. By the close of the episode, we are shedding some This Is Us level tears. 

Frank Dunphy, played by the impeccable Fred Willard, assures his son that he did, in fact, take on the family business, the business of adding sunshine to your community. 

Wow.

The barbershop moment explains so much about who Phil Dunphy is as a person and a father.

Phil never tries to force or pressure his kids into a particular profession or work ethic. Instead, he instills in them, and pressures them, to be the type of people who make life more vibrant for those around them. 

It comes off as sweet, goofy, and oh-so-very Phil. On, “Legacy,” it becomes apparent that his approach to life is more than just his quirk, it is a mission that he has shared with the next generation.

Phil Dunphy’s relentlessly dorky optimism is his legacy.

Sorrow surrounds the image of Frank Dunphy wandering around a grocery store, checking out the fruit and being nice to everyone. It is sad and it is funny. This may be Modern Family at its best.

Jay’s legacy story is just as strong. 

Mitchell and Claire are always a joy to see together. Their ease with each other’s high strung natures makes them both softer. 

The walk down memory lane is a blast as we get to imagine all these beloved adults as precocious adolescents. 

The Harriet the Spy outcome could not be cuter. Claire and Mitchell are right about the past! This lights up our hearts as there is little those two love more than being right. 

But, the fact that Jay lied and is lying about the past in order to cover-up a time in his life when he had to work extra to make ends meet and to get back on track with his business is incredibly sweet. 

It is also a necessary reminder that Jay practices what he preaches. He has a very comfortable and successful life. There are sacrifices, tears, and disappointment at the foundation of that success that allowed it to happen. 

Typically, Modern Family focuses on the adults and their children.

On “Legacy,” we get to spend time without the kids and just focus on the adults and their parents.  While Manny has a storyline, it really is in service to Cam and Gloria’s characters. 

Gloria and Cam’s story arc is the most laugh out loud funny on the episode. Even though it is a bit obvious and maybe even overdone, Gloria using her physique to get her way is a bit that lands. 

Cam as the doting neighbor is my absolute favorite though. 

Each of the actors, writers, directors, assistants, crew, set designers, costume designers, and support systems for those folks have created a special legacy themselves.

Modern Family loves its characters. It delights in peeling back their layers, especially when it’s a mess. 

Giving joy, voice, and love to new kind of sitcom family, more inclusive, more dorky, more modern, is Modern Family‘s legacy.

If we get to make a wish for this 11:11 episode (Season 11 Episode 11), it is that the masterful legacy Modern Family is leaving behind will be honored and carried on by the ABC family.

What did you think of this episode of Modern Family? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Modern Family airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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