(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.
...
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.