Modern Milestones

Spoiler alert! The Modern Family finale reflects on the happiness and heartache that parenting entails

There are few shows as relatable as Modern Family, where multiple generations support, teach, and sometimes just tolerate each other in the name of kinship. The show’s second season wrapped up last night, and we loved the episode’s emphasis on the various challenges of parenting (especially when peppered with the cast’s spats, slip-ups, and signature documentary-style commentary). ***SPOILER ALERT***

While preparing for Lily’s dance recital, Cameron and Mitchell get the call so paramount to adopting parents—their second baby is on the way. This one born to Latino parents in the border town of Calexico, California, the couple grabs Gloria en route to the hospital, where a scene side-splittingly similar to the characters’ favorite Spanish soap opera, the fictional Fire and Ice, ensues. Yet after all the couple’s anticipation, Cam and Mitch leave without a baby.
Claire and Phil, meanwhile, face milestones typical to raising teenage girls. While Alex gets ready for her first prom, Haley reveals her hasty plan to move in with her on-again boyfriend, Dillon. Her parents rely on scare-tactics (Claire plays on her vanity, while Phil relies on a dystopian view of the future) to talk her out of her decision, until Luke steps in with a college acceptance letter that solves the problem for them, and induces a huge sigh of relief.
The episode grows increasingly sentimental, from the girls coming downstairs in their prom dresses to Jay dancing in front of an audience with his tiny, stage-frightened granddaughter. But the sweetest moment comes with the final monologue, when Gloria reflects on the beauty and magnitude of motherhood. “When I held Manny in my arms for the very first time…I didn’t know what I was doing,” she tells the camera. “But the more he becomes the little man I know today, the more I know I would do it all over again.” And she will. Very soon. —Laura Carroll