# Modern Family 1/23 - Simply brilliant **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183 "2013-01-24T03:58:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/21 "2013-01-24T21:43:34Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …and judging from what has been said about their family I’m sure laundromats are common even if they don’t have in-house washer and dryers so she wouldn’t really be expecting to take laundry to a river. That said, it was funny, just not believable. I always imagined Gloria’s family to be somewhat well-to-do and and having servants in lieu of household appliances. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > Either Jay is being stereotypical about his gay son, or Mitchell literally wore dresses as a kid. Either way, it’s a gay son joke. I think there were reference before to Jay & Claire wearing eachother’s clothes when they were kids in a past episode. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/22 "2013-01-24T21:43:39Z")
I burst out laughing when Gloria’s sister appeared in the background with the basket full of laundry and said, “where’s the river?” ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/23 "2013-01-25T00:00:17Z")
Agree that it was one of the best episodes. We talked in an earlier MF thread about the parallels between the characters and last night had a great example when Clair clued Jay in on the parallel between Gloria’s mother’s disapproval of Jay no matter how hard he tried and Jay’s relationship with Phil. Stated a little more obviously than usual. Liked that Claire ended up being the one that was teaching Lily the “attitude”. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/24 "2013-01-25T00:08:09Z")
It was a good episode. My only problem with the series (well, aside from the frequent moralistic endings) is the actress who plays Lily is abysmal even by child actor standards. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/25 "2013-01-25T00:19:02Z")
Oh man, that _Godfather_ Christening scene was incredible. > [@Sampiro](#): > > My only problem was the “St. Olaf Syndrome” with Gloria’s sister: she’s obviously been to the U.S. before so she would know L.A. (or wherever the show is set) isn’t a village (plus Colombia has plenty of metropolitan areas), and judging from what has been said about their family I’m sure laundromats are common even if they don’t have in-house washer and dryers so she wouldn’t really be expecting to take laundry to a river. That said, it was funny, just not believable. I didn’t really think about it at the time, since it wasn’t clear to me until late in the episode that Gloria’s sister had been to the US. As a fankwank, I’ll suggest that perhaps the sister was deliberately playing the martyr. Even before Jay’s revelation, she might understandably have felt jealous and resentful towards Gloria. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/26 "2013-01-25T00:27:09Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > It was a good episode. My only problem with the series (well, aside from the frequent moralistic endings) is the actress who plays Lily is abysmal even by child actor standards. Really? For some reason, her totally dead pan delivery cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/27 "2013-01-25T00:42:34Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Really? For some reason, her totally dead pan delivery cracks me up. Agree! One of the few child actors that age I find more funny than annoying. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/28 "2013-01-25T00:44:41Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > It was a good episode. My only problem with the series (well, aside from the frequent moralistic endings) is the actress who plays Lily is abysmal even by child actor standards. She’s fantastic. She’s got the instinctual comic timing of a tiny Rodney Dangerfield. (Plus, real-life three-year-olds are not particularly known for their vast range or depth.) ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/29 "2013-01-25T00:48:06Z")
Also…happy to see Dylan still around. I thought he was too good a character to completely write out when Haley broke up with him. His clumsy, uncomfortable conversations with Claire were hilarious (to me anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/30 "2013-01-25T00:57:10Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Really? For some reason, her totally dead pan delivery cracks me up. > [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Agree! One of the few child actors that age I find more funny than annoying. > [@friedo](#): > > She’s fantastic. She’s got the instinctual comic timing of a tiny Rodney Dangerfield. (Plus, real-life three-year-olds are not particularly known for their vast range or depth.) You’re all drinking crazy sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/31 "2013-01-25T01:13:54Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Also…happy to see Dylan still around. I thought he was too good a character to completely write out when Haley broke up with him. His clumsy, uncomfortable conversations with Claire were hilarious (to me anyway.) I wondered if his being a limo driver was an homage to the limo driver killed in The Godfather. Either way, it worked. And the zebra… damn. I almost wet the bed thinking of it later. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/32 "2013-01-25T01:20:51Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I think there were reference before to Jay & Claire wearing eachother’s clothes when they were kids in a past episode. I’m guessing Jay never wore Claire’s clothes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/33 "2013-01-25T01:22:46Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > It was a good episode. My only problem with the series (well, aside from the frequent moralistic endings) is the actress who plays Lily is abysmal even by child actor standards. I agree with you here. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/34 "2013-01-25T16:10:22Z")
I like the current Lily. Perhaps that’s in part because in comparison she’s head and tales above the first, cement encrusted one. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/35 "2013-01-25T16:58:01Z")
Absolutely freakin’ brilliant. Did we know that Dylan was a limo driver? Last I remember seeing him, he was a Dapper Dan. And I confess to being whooshed: how did Jay’s story about how he met Gloria cause the sister to realize what happened? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/36 "2013-01-25T16:59:57Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I always imagined Gloria’s family to be somewhat well-to-do and and having servants in lieu of household appliances. I am not sure why, they have wrung a lot of humor out of the fact that Gloria had a rough and poor childhood in Columbia. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/37 "2013-01-25T17:18:23Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > And I confess to being whooshed: how did Jay’s story about how he met Gloria cause the sister to realize what happened? I’m not getting your whooshiness here. The story was about what happened. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/38 "2013-01-25T17:23:22Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Either Jay is being stereotypical about his gay son, or Mitchell literally wore dresses as a kid. Either way, it’s a gay son joke. There was a first season episode where Jay, Mitch & Manny went out at night to do some stargazing, and Mitch wound up wearing one of Gloria’s dresses because he got sprayed by a skunk. Jay made a comment like “I know you’re not that kind of gay, but you look pretty good in that dress.” > [@jsc1953](#): > > Absolutely freakin’ brilliant. Did we know that Dylan was a limo driver? Last I remember seeing him, he was a Dapper Dan. I don’t remember if we saw him as a limo driver before, but there was an episode where Claire’s old boyfriend (Matt Dillon) was DeDe’s limo driver, so it may have been a callback to that. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/39 "2013-01-25T17:44:40Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m not getting your whooshiness here. The story was about what happened. **jsc** , the sister only knows what she just learned; that Jay was really after her. She doesn’t know that Gloria also intercepted the job offer. Imagine how pissed she’ll be if she ever finds _that_ out. Great episode. It had me laughing out loud, which hasn’t happened during a _MF_ in a while. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183/40 "2013-01-25T17:52:41Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > **jsc** , the sister only knows what she just learned; that Jay was really after her. She doesn’t know that Gloria also intercepted the job offer. Imagine how pissed she’ll be if she ever finds _that_ out.. Ah. I thought that was why she was pissed; it didn’t occur to me that it was because she was really the object of Jay’s attention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-1-23-simply-brilliant/648183.md?page=3)