Modern Family ends simple and elegant-ish

     Last night was Modern Family's season finale, "Family Portrait".  When I had heard that the ABC show was going to Hawaii, I assumed it would be a terrible, big, over the top, season finale.  I was wrong on each of those counts.  The Hawaii episode was just as good as any other, and they didn't save it for the season finale (it aired last week).  Instead, the last episode of the show's freshman season focused on the family themselves, their interactions, and what they mean to each other.

     The main plot of last night involved Claire (Julie Bowen) trying to organize and execute the perfect family photo.  Of course, plenty went wrong, though nothing ridiculously so, with the possible exception of Mitchell's (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) destruction of his home.  No, Claire just had to fix a broken step, which of course, despite her best efforts, she could not manage to do.

     Elsewhere, Claire's husband, Phil (Ty Burrell) ended up at a basketball game with his attractive step-mother-in-law, Gloria (Sofia Vergara).  The tension, from him, between the two has been downplayed all season, thank goodness, and hopefully their kiss on the Kiss Cam will end the subplot.  It was done well, though, with a comedy of errors and misunderstandings.

     There are so many great actors in this ensemble, that it's a shame not every one of them can have a great moment in every episode.  Sadly, last night's was Cam's (Eric Stonestreet) turn to sit out, but I couldn't end this article without mentioned that in a show of comedic heavyweights, he is at the top of the pile.

     Jay (Ed O'Neill) said it best when he told his grandson, Luke (Nolan Gould) that he never got the perfect family he dreamed of, but he was sure glad that he ended up with the group that he did.  The portrait taken after the mud slinging fight had ruined their nice, white clothes showed who the family was, and how they enjoy each other.  Perfect.