If you’re anything like me, then you didn’t know Leap Day was a celebratory holiday and probably didn’t do anything too exciting to commemorate the day that comes once every four years. Watching “Modern Family” celebrate was a pretty good way to spend the extra day, though.
The Dunphy’s go all out for Leap Day. No work, no school, just spontaneous fun. This year’s activity? Trapezing. Naturally, this makes it Phil’s favorite day of the year. Unfortunately for him the day he most loves has fallen on the day he most feared. The cycles of all three women of the Dunphy household had finally linked up and thus formed Satan’s trifecta. The emotional state of the three was aided by wasted cereal, bad cell phone reception and commercials about dogs with three legs. The second I heard Sarah McLachlan, my hand reached for the remote before I realized it wasn’t actually the dog commercial. It’s a kneejerk reaction now.
Manny, who was part of the Dunphy’s plans, gets out of there and Phil and Luke are left to find a way to leave the girls at home. Cue the Halloween blood (which they have plenty of since they go all out for Halloween as well). Claire may be emotional but she can still smell one of Phil’s plots a mile away and it looks like he won’t be flying through the air on Leap Day anymore.
Over at Cam and Mitchell’s, they are celebrating more than just an extra day they’re celebrating Cam’s 10th/40th birthday! Since it only comes once every four years, Mitchell has to make sure it’s worth the wait. He plans what would be an amazing “Wizard of Oz” themed party, but since he has been planning it for so long, he overlooks the fact that only months before, Cam’s hometown was destroyed by a tornado. Lily’s namesake, the family pig, succumbed to injuries after the tragedy. Needless to say, Cam is trying to forget the whole thing. Mitchell panics and moves the whole thing to a boat. The theme? “Life’s Voyage,” which is totally specific to Cam.
Finally, we see Jay get insecure about his young wife yet again. Donning a pink robe and eating lukewarm soup, he wonders were his fighting spirit has gone. This is a pretty minor plot, because we’ve kind of seen it before. All this episode is getting from this plot is Jay picking a fight with the boat captain at Cam’s party. Words like “grandpa” are exchanged, and Gloria punches the captain out. No captain, no boat, no party.
But wait! They’re in luck! The conveniently placed theme park with the trapeze course becomes the third and final location of Cam’s Leap Day birthday party. Phil gets to trapeze, the women take out their aggression at whack-a-mole and Cam gets the 10th birthday party he really wanted. Leap Day is saved!
Check out the episode!
Samantha Gillis can be reached for comment at [email protected].
