In case you were greeting trick-or-treating pirates or visiting every West Hollywood kickback, Wednesday night’s new episode of “Modern Family” tackled the theme of hiding secrets.
Jay and Gloria help their son Manny and his cousin Luke with a charity yard sale for their school, and secrets come out of the closet. Literally.
Alex feels pressure from her family to ask her new boyfriend if he is gay because of his flamboyant composure. When he professes that he is in fact straight, Cam and Mitchell, a homosexual couple, feel bad for convincing their niece to call her boyfriend out.
Manny and Luke find luggage with a ventriloquist’s dummy, and determine that it belongs to Gloria. She reveals her secret that she used ventriloquism in a beauty pageant years ago and is ashamed of her performance. After persuasive rallying, Gloria performs her talent at the yard sale, and it becomes evident that her dummy is a representation of pessimistic Jay.
Phil tries with great effort to prove his masculinity to his father-in-law Jay yet again. He takes Jay’s motorcycle out for a spin after; Jay recounts a man at the sale trying to buy it for $100. During Phil’s ride, the motorcycle gives out, Phil falls off and gets trapped under the bike. Phil’s off-road experience on the Harley-Davidson is documented by his smart phone, and he is certain that he is going to die. When he finally makes it back to the yard sale, he confesses his fear of riding a motorcycle to his family and decides not to buy Jay’s bike.
Cam decides to donate pre-weight-loss clothes to the boys’ yard sale, but his partner Mitchell sneakily hides them in the car. Cam holds a grudge when he finds them, and he admits his fear that keeping the “fat jeans” will be an omen for putting on the weight once more.
This week’s “Modern Family” approached big issues like secret-keeping and outing seemingly gay individuals. The writers made a bold move by entertaining the idea that it is acceptable to call people out on their sexual orientation. Whether they involve long-term fears, hidden talents, or homosexuality, viewers are left to decide whose role it is to reveal deep secrets. Or should they be left in the dark?
