Can't We All Just Get Along?

This episode Claire went up against Gloria, Jay went up against Phil, and little Lily went up against everyone.

Gus the janitor

Claire is such a control freak so it makes perfect sense that she would want to run her son’s school dance. When Gloria decides she wants to help run it as well, I knew Claire was going to have a problem with it.  You know Claire was proud of the little setup she had at the school: the other moms look up to her and Gus the janitor has a little crush on her. Obviously it was hard for Claire to deal with Gloria swooping in and taking over so easily. It’s always a competition with these two, and it was a little sad to see Claire come up short. The worst part was when Gus, focused all his attention on Gloria, completely ignoring Claire during her time of need (some kid poured juice all over her dress during the dance).  I thought this was kind of funny though: Claire getting all jealous that Gus now has a crush on Gloria…it was like she was back in middle school. Even more like middle school is how the two of them make up in the girl's bathroom during the dance. 

Phil taking revenge on the cologne guy

Jay and Phil also had some issues during their trip to the mall. Jay kept picking on Phil for being too soft: Phil didn’t get mad when someone stole the parking space he'd been waiting for, and he let someone cut in front of him at the check out. Jay isn’t the type to let anyone walk all over him, and when his son-in-law does it, it really upsets him (especially when it happens in front of Manny and Luke).  I loved how Phil kept his feelings to himself until some poor department store employee sprayed him with cologne without his permission. All of Phil’s pent up anger just came out! Seeing Phil chase that man around the store with a bottle of cologne was too funny. Glad he got it out of his system. A part of what makes this such a great show is that Phil and Jay are such opposites…they’re always clashing. Although Jay has started to break away from his tough guy mentality (ever so slightly), I think Phil and Jay are going to keep butting heads. And it makes for great comedy. 

Cam and Lily right after she bites him for the 1st time

Speaking of great comedy, seeing Cam and Mitchell handle Lily’s teething/biting problem is quite comical. Up until now Lily has been a sweet, perfect little angel. That changes when she starts biting everyone in sight. I think it’s tough for Cam and Mitchell to admit that their little girl isn’t so perfect. They don’t even believe it when a parent says that she bit another kid.  But when Lily bites Cam (repeatedly), they have to face the truth. Leave it to her parents to blame each other for what is considered to be a natural occurrence in a baby’s life. This episode made me realize that I’m looking forward to Lily getting older so that we can see what kind of personality the writers give her. I could definitely see her having some attitude like Cam. Can you imagine Mitchell having to live with two drama queens? That would be entertaining!

I watched this episode with two friends who don’t normally watch the show and they were cracking up (as was I). So I guess this means it was a good episode!

The Breakup

Haley and Dylan during happier times

Well, it finally happened. The day Claire has been waiting for: Haley and Dylan are no longer together! I’m not sure who took it harder: Haley or Phil.  Phil’s reaction to the break up was sweet and sad at the same time.  It was nice to see that he really empathized with Dylan about being dumped, especially since Claire was so harsh about the whole thing.  But come on Phil, you’re a grown man, get over it. This wasn’t your relationship. Dylan's not even your kid. I don’t think it’s appropriate for a father to hang out with his daughter’s ex-boyfriend right after they break up. But of course Phil isn’t exactly the most appropriate person. He saw Dylan as a son (or maybe as a friend since Phil can be just as immature as this teen boy). I’m not sure that Haley and Dylan are really done. I think they’ll eventually get back together. Let’s be honest, they’re perfect for each other. But now that Haley can start dating different guys her storyline might get a little more interesting.  Think of all the weirdos she could bring home. Claire might actually end up regretting that she pushed Haley into dumping Dylan.

Barbara and Mitch: Too close for comfort

Inappropriateness seemed to be a theme in this show as Cam’s mom, Barbara, was a complete mess! I’m not really surprised that she was strange because Cam is a bit off, and I was sure his mother would be as well. Turns out she’s a groper (didn’t see that coming). And leave it to her to touch her son-in-law, a man who has issues with boundaries. I felt so bad for Mitchell. That lady had her hands all over his skinny body, and Cam was completely oblivious. When Barbara overheard Mitch confronting Cam about it I was so sure she would deny it and cause a scene. But she actually apologized. She did it while Mitch was taking a bubble bath (oh the irony), but at least she apologized.

I didn’t really care for the Gloria and Jay’s storyline. The writers keep portraying Gloria as this cold woman. This time she didn’t believe that Jay was sick, she thought he was just being a baby. Turns out he had appendicitis.  Boring. Even Manny couldn’t save this. I’m not even going to waste my time talking about it anymore.

Overall a decent episode, although I didn’t laugh nearly as much as I did last week. I hope that Gloria, Jay, and Manny get a better storyline next week.