User Reviews

In Don't Push the Dunphys go to Caltech university for Alex's future admission, while Gloria and Jay are trying to get perfect presents for their anniversary and Pritchett-Tucker family is taking a family photo. And they all have some trouble.

Alex is determined to go to MIT, because Caltech is too close to home and she's willing to be as far as possible for more independence, finally. Regardless, she attends open house day with her family, which tries to be supportive in the biggest decision she's going to make. Phil, Haley and Luke decide to participate in an experiment, promising to reward participants with fifty dollars. They are left in a room with red button saying Do Not Push (pictured above). As they think this is part of the experiment, they seek for solution and the process of doing so brings number of family problems to the surface.

Meanwhile, Alex meets some nerdy guy and changes her mind about MIT, understanding that it's not that bad to be around family.

Jay sculptures a bunny for Gloria as a reminder of their first date. But she thinks that her favorite bracelet is hidden inside so breaks the present right in front of husband.

Lily is troubling her parents while taking a family photo. She gives that awkward, forced smile and of course, Cameron and Mitchell are panicking. After number of photo sessions, they finally get that their daughter is quite determined about her smile. Don't Push was not laugh-out-loud episode. There were definitely some good jokes but nothing Modern Family-ish. I liked Alex's scenes, especially with her new boyfriend. They had some witty chats and good humor. The rest of Dunphys was not as good as used to be. I found the experiment scene a little boring, kind of.

I've said before, I like Lily's lines and she always nails those two words in every episode. Here she is becoming a troubling little girl who tries to out stand with weird smiles and laughs. She making fun of Cameron's face was the best thing in this episode.

This episode while being a well told sweet story, it fails to deliver what's the most valuable thing about Modern Family - fun, jokes and emotions. Gloria had a good scene, but it did not turn into something hilarious. I don't want to think that the writers have a creative crises and I really hope that will be the worst episode of this season, cause I know they can do it better.

I wished they did write more for younger characters, because they have potential and they need some good, huge lines.

I never digested the blunderous fact that valedictorian Alex Dunphy would choose a colllege because of a boy and not because of her own choices. Didnt like the idea of this.

(Someone told me that as of now, 12 episodes of this season have already been filmed. Well, three episodes out of the five already aired have been pretty mediocre - not a very promising start. I sure hope this review gets the attention of someone related to the actual show.

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This episode - 6x02 - perfectly exemplifies everything that is wrong with Seasons 5 & 6.

The show's problem lately can be best stated as "trying to have its cake and eat it". All the characters are affected by this.

For example: Jay: He is supposed to be the strong, silent macho type. And yet he has this "sensitive side".

Manny: he's a nerd. But he's remarkably self-confident, even participates in the drama club. Recently he's also an athlete.

Gloria: she's a rich glamorous housewife. But she's also this forthright girl from a poor foreign village.

Haley: she's a hot heartbreaker. Yet she's also a college dropout stay-at-home loser

Alex: she's a nerd. The character is supposedly plain-looking, yet she's played by a very pretty actress. Alex is also quite secure (like Manny), even though she's a friendless social pariah.

The writers keep their characters so loosely defined that over time all sorts of mutually exclusive characteristics have piled up, with no attempt to address this issue. Well, this sorry arrangement can't possibly work for much longer.

The solution that I propose is: Return to the Roots. Bring the actors and their characters back into harmony.

Jay: Make him manly again. Let him do African safari, a fist-fight, a gun shooting, get him drunk on pure ethanol, have him have an affair, let him get into a serious all-out confrontation with one of his children or their spouses.

Phil and Claire: redefine or re-define their characters. Make them less of a joke. Give them new occupations they'll be good at, new hobbies. They both need to become more important to the household. Let Claire have a dramatic change in her life – pregnancy or world travel or a political career.

Alex: Make Alex less arrogant and sarcastic. Give her some friends. Let her finally have a beautiful relationship with an interesting guy. Acknowledge, on screen, that Ariel Winter is a) very pretty b) 40 pounds overweight. (Turn her plumpness into a plot point.) Define her character better – what she listens to, watches, reads, likes. Show her interacting with classmates at school.

Gloria: Let Gloria shed her accent little by little. Six years in America, immersed in the English language 24/7, will surely affect one's speech, won't they? (I know, I know - in real life Vergara speaks exactly like Gloria, but she can also speak a much better, less accented English when she tries.) Gradually make Gloria speak in accordance with the way she lives. It'll be less jarring.

Haley: either intensify her on-screen sex life, or have her become an actual fulltime loser. The "ephemeral sluttiness" thing is no longer working, as she's no high-schooler anymore. We need to get to know her better. Settle down or saddle up – make Haley decide. Also, have her and Alex have an adventure together and, in an unrelated episode, a serious falling-out.

Mitchell: let him have some more job-related ordeals, spiderman-suit-style. Mitch is only interesting when he's doubting his professional value and social skills.

Cam: make him less annoying, more endearing, less of a joke. Have some uproariously funny gay-related stuff happen to him.

Manny: define the character better. Spell out the source of his cocksureness. Show him doing something impressive – in sports, in theatrics, in a relationship.

Luke: make him interesting again. And don't give him any dramatic lines – only mischievous and silly ones. The guy also has a fantastic singing voice, if I remember correctly. (As do Haley and Alex. Let them all sing!)

Maybe there's a way for the show to return to perfection without using any of the ideas listed above. I'd be quite intrigued to see that, actually.