Modern Family Review: The Prescott (Season 11 Episode 10)

Modern Family is back from a brief hiatus for the second half of its last season, with a well-balanced mid-season premiere. 

Jealous of and encouraged by Alex’s new luxury living situation, (almost) all of the family is up to no good in Modern Family Season 11 Episode 10, “The Prescott.” 

It’s a stand-alone episode that’s goofy, over the top, and featuring nearly the whole cast — which is truly the show’s sweet spot. Along with holiday or vacation episodes, stand-alone episodes don’t really need context to be enjoyable and are always good candidates for casual rewatches in the future. 

For a show whose strengths are quips and hijinks, rather than character development or drawn-out storylines, the premise works well: presenting the characters with the temptation to get something they really want, as long as they’re sneaky about it. 

The only thing is, we’ve sort of seen a version of this scenario already this season. In Modern Family Season 11 Episode 3, “Perfect Pairs,” the Dunphy family members take turns “babysitting” Haley’s kids for access to special privileges, and they all get caught in the end.

Granted, “The Prescott” does a better job of keeping things light and on-brand for the show. The stakes are lower — a luxury apartment Alex isn’t paying for v.s. two living, breathing infants — and the motivations, albeit still selfish, aren’t quite as intense. 

Well, except for the random new feud between food blogger Phil and internet troll Jay. Honestly, these personas make a lot of sense — Jay has internet troll written all over him.

I wonder if we’ll see any more from “Foodie in a Hoodie.” Could this be a replacement hobby for Phil’s magic tricks?  

What seems bizarre is the guest appearances of David Beckham and Courteney Cox as themselves.

What’s more unbelievable, that these stars be neighbors in an LA high rise instead of mansions in Beverly Hills, or that they’d be working together with a bowling coach for a charity event? 

It’s random, yes — but also wonderful. The two celebrities make great scene partners, offering a calm and cool balance to the Dunphy-Prichett-Tucker family madness and the chaotic helpfulness of concierge, Higgins (perfectly played by Stephen Merchant). 

Altogether, the episode feels balanced. We get a good amount of screen time from almost everyone (Haley, Dylan, Lily — see you next week, maybe?), and aside from Gloria’s slide meltdown, there’s not too much in the way of being overdramatic. 

A few additional thoughts:

• Why do none of them try just asking Alex for a favor? 
• If her company is paying for the place, why does Alex get billed hundreds (thousands?) of dollars for her family’s nonsense? 
• Is this a thing companies actually do — put their employees up in furnished apartments with cruise-ship-like amenities? 
• How does Higgins have time to cater so acutely to each of the family members’ needs? What about everyone else who actually lives there? 
• How do you know when it’s time to say goodbye to a character? Maybe when he graduates from innocent pranks to innuendo about his slightly younger step-uncle’s ~personal~ time. We’ve come a long way, Luke.

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What did you think of this episode of Modern Family? Do you think we’ll get to see any more special guests in the show’s final episodes? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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

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