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Modern Family Season 11 Review

The eleventh season of Modern Family ended things off on a solid, though decidedly safe and predictable manner.

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“Life is full of changes. Some big, some small.

I learned a long time ago you can fight it

or try to make the best of it.“

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New Kids on the Block represents everything that is bad and good about this season. Mitch and Cam are good themselves. They got a fine arc (more on that later), and here they are so much fun with Cam’s twist reveal being very amusing. But I found Haley’s parenting boring as this season’s least interesting storyline, and Alex working at the South Pole should have been more exciting at the end of the day.

Snapped is fine in Gloria’s subplot with Phil. I liked them working together and their dynamic is great. The smart fridge storyline was fun, but too ridiculous. As for Claire being embarrassed by her family, well, she continues to get more obnoxious and unlikable as the seasons go by, which is really frustrating. Perfect Pairs is one of the worst episodes of this season with none of its subplots working whatsoever.

Pool Party is forgettable in others’ storylines, but solid and amusing in Cam and Mitch’s titular pool party where they are embarrassed at their bodies. I also liked a bigger role for Lily throughout this season. The Last Halloween is an expectedly strong Halloween episode with Phil finally scaring Claire due to extensive preparation being the most charming highlight.

A Game of Chicken is utterly forgettable, but The Last Thanksgiving is another fun holiday episode that features a terrific Jay and Phil bonding subplot as well as a hilarious story where the gays think Cam and Mitch broke up. Tree’s a Crowd is a boring episode about hippies and also Manny. I found his beef with Luke over a girl so tiring.

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The Last Christmas is another good episode centering on holidays. Cam’s reveal that the two will be leaving for Missouri was very moving and powerful. The Prescott is one of those situational comedies that this time around unfortunately doesn’t quite work and is too obsessed with celebrities. Legacy at first starts out uninspired, then it becomes heartbreaking when Phil’s father dies. Though moving, we should have gotten a bigger, more tragic episode centering on this important storyline.

Dead on a Rival continues Alex’s not that interesting professional storyline and all of the other subplots are also not great here. Paris is amusing and lightweight throughout, but Mitch pretending to be a Frenchman was by far the funniest part, which was unexpected as this character is rarely this funny.

Spuds finds Lily having a first date. She deserved even more screen time, but still I find her wonderful and much better utilized than before. She became this feisty, badass and snarky girl whose lines are always among the best in this season. Baby Steps is only worthy in the Mitch and Cam storyline where they decide that they are having another child.

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I’m Going to Miss This is a solid transitional episode whereas Finale is overall very good. It could have been even better, but still they ended everything on a really nice, sweet note. It was sad that the kids were leaving Phil and Claire, of course Mitch and Cam leaving was very sad too, and the highlight was the sweet moment where Gloria realizes that Jay is learning Spanish for her.

Overall, I liked this season. It was an improvement upon some previous seasons, but still it mostly felt just fine and safe without ever being great or particularly funny. Mitch and Cam are the highlights, but the finale ended everything quite well. Though this show suffered in later years, I am glad that we got to at least have a solid final season for it.

Worst Episodes: Perfect Pairs, Dead on a Rival and Spuds.

Best Episodes: The Last Halloween, The Last Thanksgiving and Finale.

My Rating – 3.7

You can get the eleventh and last season of Modern Family on Amazon.