“Thanksgiving Jamboree” was one of the better holiday episodes “Modern Family” has ever done. Why? Let’s see. The whole family is together and Cam has thrown a complete party with the hay bales and a petting zoo. There’s some nice humor, some of it on the darker side as Jay thinks about his mortality and Joe has his first experience of a pet (in a manner of speaking) dies. And to rest my case, we have Nathan Fillion’s quirky weatherman Rainer Shine still dating Haley, which causes Phil to really unravel.
As the family begins arriving for the jamboree, Claire is pretty surprised (as are all of us) to see Mitchell this involved. Let’s be honest, this clearly isn’t his type of a dinner party. However, not only is he silent about it but he’s participating fully. His denim overalls will attest to this fact. His sister realizes the only reason is because Mitch is hiding something from Cam. After pushing him again and again to tell her, he reveals that he mistakenly threw out the Fizbo costume aka Cam’s clown avatar.
When he finally reveals the truth to his husband, Cam is quick to forgive him. The only rational conclusion? He’s hiding an even bigger secret, which is that he spent all of their Hawaii money on this jamboree. Mitch was extremely excited for their upcoming holiday and now he won’t get one. As the duo lament on this habit of lying to each other, Lily comes in and is way too sweet, sweeter than usual some might say. You can’t say she hasn't picked up anything from her parents, considering she’s harboring a secret of her own.
On the other hand, we have Gloria’s parenting technique in which she first helps Joe befriend the goat who’s part of the petting zoo. She doesn’t want her second kid to also be afraid of animals because Manny is outright petrified. Once she perfects this for Joe, he gets super attached to Mr. Goat. It doesn’t do him any good because Mr. Goat meets an untimely death. Gloria tries to hide this from her kid but based on Cam’s advice, the tides start changing and she has to be honest and comforting to her kid — plus he catches her disposing off the goat’s body. Never a pretty sight, eh?
Jay, meanwhile, escapes the festivities with Phil and a depressed friend, Jerry. Jay wants to hide away from his family as they are worried about his health, thanks to his blood pressure monitor on his wrist. Phil wants to avoid Haley and Rainer, especially because he thinks Rainer is stealing his daughter away from family traditions. At the drugstore, they run into Jay and Jerry’s ex-wives divorce lawyer, who is quite an ass. In the midst of his boasting session, he collapses. Phil tries to help and that’s when we learn he’s an avid “Grey’s Anatomy” watcher, only he fast forwards the actual medical stuff to the romance stuff. We’re not alone in mourning McDreamy, in that case.
As Jay returns home and smokes a cigar, he’s met with Joe. His kid reminds him to stay alive for his sake, especially because he’s still bummed that his first pet passed away. This instantly prompts Jay to throw away his cigar and promise his son he’ll always be there. Phi also has a heart-to-heart with Haley and manages to tell her he’s proud of her despite the fact that she’s growing up and away from him but soon after, he manages to pack a punch into Rainer as the family football game begins. Ah, the good times.
Thanksgiving usually bubbles up the hidden feelings in a family as they come together. This episode managed to do that but with its own twist. Jay facings his fears and feelings, Cam and Mitch's approach to telling the truth, Phil and Haley's bond were some of the nicer aspects of the episode, heartfelt and humorous. What did you think of this episode? Was it one of the better holiday episodes this show has done, or should we have gotten better?
