Stuck in a Moment is the tenth episode and mid-season finale from Season 10 of Modern Family, it aired on December 12, 2018.
Plot Summary[]
Haley wants to give the family a Christmas gift they will never forget if she can just figure out the perfect time. Meanwhile, Claire is mad that Phil has once again borrowed the family Christmas tree for a house-showing; and Jay, Gloria and Joe have to deal with some unwelcome visitors over the holidays [1]
Episode Description[]
While Haley and Dylan plan on how to tell Claire and the rest of the family about their baby, Alex - extremely stressed about keeping it a secret - begs them to reveal their baby news soon, and shows that her hair has turned grey due to stress. Meanwhile, Claire and Phil are planning a trip to Bermuda, which Phil has arranged for four separate plane rides. Claire, usually in a holiday mood, is now stressed and upset, preventing Haley and Dylan from sharing their news.
Phil, in order to make a house-showing more festive, takes the Dunphy Christmas tree, and gifts, and puts them in the other house. Angered at Phil, Claire enters the house and steals the tree back. Phil, who was in another room, believes he's been robbed and panics.
During this, Jay and Gloria receive a package in the mail from Gloria's cousins in Columbia. Inside are four Christmas sweaters, and a banana-leaf wreath. However, the wreath contains a banana spider, which Gloria informs are highly venomous, and deadly. Jay, Gloria, Manny, and Joe all flee from the now-infested house. As Gloria calls a hotel, Jay bribes Manny into going back into the house for a medicine, which ends up being Jay's elbow cream.
Mitchell and Cam take Cal to see an outdoors mall-Santa in an effort to make this a great Christmas for him. As Lily continuously pesters them for a cell-phone for Christmas, Mitchell and Cam try to persuade Santa to tell them what Cal asked for. Santa refuses, recognizing Mitchell as a lawyer who led him to do community service. Deciding not to get discouraged, Mitch and Cam bribe an elf into figuring out what Cal had asked for.
While this is all happening, Haley and Dylan continue to try to find new ways to break the pregnancy to Claire, all the while getting discouraged as Claire's mood worsens. Alex, suffering physically from the stress, keeps begging them to reveal it soon.
Claire, having placed the tree and presents back into the Dunphy house, confronts Phil, but is quickly interrupted when a card that was placed on the heater catches fire, burning both the tree and the presents. Claire is heart-broken, but is quickly delighted when she discovers Phil- who had bought identical trees and presents to replace the ones that were "stolen"- has replaced everything, making it perfect. The rest of the family soon arrives, and mingles in the kitchen.
Haley and Dylan have decided to reveal their news in the form of Dylan coming down the chimney as Santa. However, Dylan gets stuck just as the rest of the family come to take a picture. Haley, knowing there is no perfect moment, finally tells the family that her and Dylan are having a baby. The family is shocked at first, especially Claire. After a moment to process, however, Claire says the news is "Unbelievable" and the now-delighted family all embrace. Once Jay and Cam get Dylan out of the chimney using Jay's elbow cream, they all pose for a Christmas picture, while Phil and Claire wonder if everything will work out alright.
Main Cast[]
(The characters struck out do not appear in this episode)
- Jay Pritchett
- Gloria Pritchett
- Manny Delgado
- Joe Pritchett
- Claire Dunphy
- Phil Dunphy
- Haley Dunphy
- Alex Dunphy
- Luke Dunphy
- Mitchell Pritchett
- Cameron Tucker
- Lily Tucker-Pritchett
Guest Starring[]
- Reid Ewing as Dylan
- Marcello Reyes as Cal
- Steve Monroe as Santa
- Katie Wee as Sandy
- Gerald Downey as Jim
- Chris Guerra as Elf
- Matthew Iott as Sad Dad
Trivia[]
- "Diamond in the Rough" was broadcasted exactly six years before this episode.
- This is the last episode to air in 2018. This is the first episode since "Kiss and Tell" in which every family members are shown.
- Though this episode is supposed to take place in winter, the weather is exceptionally warm.
- Though in the previous episode, Luke was aware that Haley expected, he acts here as if he did not know that.
- The Pritchett-Tucker house only appears in the tag and interviews scenes in this episode.
- Also, Cal and Joe share a scene for the first time.
- Phil tries to sell a house to a couple but the woman sees the Christmas tree stolen and tells him she does not want to live in A Sketchy Area which was the third episode of this season.
Continuity[]
- The fifth episode which revolves around Christmas after "Undeck the Halls", "Express Christmas", "The Old Man & the Tree" and "White Christmas".
- Dylan's 37th appearance.
- This episode contains a flashback which shows Claire's incapacity to cook a turkey. Previously, Turkeys were the subjects of the Thanksgiving episode Three Turkeys. This is the second episode in which a turkey is eaten during a feast.
- This is also the second episode in which it's been said that Claire is a terrible cook after Do It Yourself. Curiously, these are the only episodes in which this problem is mentioned, while in others, Claire seems to be a good cook.
- With this episode, every family member have been sick or injured at least one time, or twice.
- Jay had appendicitis in Mother Tucker and hepatitis in A Hard Jay's Night. He was also injured in the foot by Gloria in The Day Alex Left for College and by Joe in the arm in Promposal.
- Gloria had her ankle broken in Bad Hair Day and fever in Alone Time
- Claire was sick in Chirp and The Cold an episode, in which almost every family member, save for Alex, Lily and Luke were ill as Jay had bronchitis, Cameron had clogged ears, Phil a cold, Gloria vertigo, Manny and Haley, nausea, and Claire all of this. She also suffered from cardiac arrhythmia in season 4.
- Phil said in Chirp that he caught Claire's illness. He also had to go to hospital in Up All Night for renal problems, in Brushes with Celebrity for his testicle and in Dear Beloved Family for his gallbladder. He finally broke his ankle in Spring-a-Ding-Fling.
- Mitchell said in The Cold that his ankle burned. He also broke his ankle twice in Up All Night and Putting Down Roots. A brief flashback in Good Cop Bad Dog showed him sick , though we did not know his illness.
- Cam was sick in Good Cop Bad Dog as he suffered from a bad flu. He also had his face disfigured due to a wasp in Do It Yourself and had to go to the hospital for an MRI, following a head injury in Heavy is the Head. In The Cover-Up he suffered from a arm injury and bumped his head as well.
As for the children,
- Haley shared a cold with Claire in Chirp and fainted from poison patch in The Escape. She also was hospitalized due to a lipstick accident in Did the Chicken Cross the Road?.
- Alex fainted after she saw a labor pain in Arrested which was an episode in which Luke had to go to hospital due to an allergy from soja he ate. Alex almost choked due to Cam ignoring her hazel's allergy in Ringmaster Keifth. And she had mono in the first part of the eight season.
- Lily was injured at her eye and her neck in Party Crasher.
- Manny had his wisdom teeth removed in Crying Out Loud.
- Joe had a fever in Closet? You'll Love It! and faked injuries in The Graduates but he and Luke during flashbacks of this episode, seem to suffer from food poisoning .
- Luke broke his arm in Fizbo and Phil injured him in Spring Break.
- This is the second episode after Undeck the Halls where Mitch and Cam interact with a Santa and the third we see Santa's and his Elves after The Old Man & the Tree.
- This is the second episode in which a kid is forgotten by his parents after Joe was left asleep in Gloria's car in I Don't Know How She Does It and the third episode after The Old Man & the Tree and The Alliance where we see characters dressed as Christmas characters.
- This is the fourth episode in which there is a fire, after Tableau Vivant, The Long Goodbye and It's the Great Pumpkin, Phil Dunphy though only the two letter had domestic fires.
- This is the second Christmas episode after The Old Man & the Tree in which a family portrait is taken , with non-members of the clan, though Dylan maybe considered as a future member and this is the second Christmas episode after White Christmas in which Mitch and Cam sing "Deck The Halls".
- This is the second episode in which a character bumps his head, after Cam in The Cover-Up and this also marks the fourth episode in which there is a blackout after Three Turkeys, The Storm and Basketball.
- For somewhat reason, Manny was not included in the press release regarding Jay's story this week.
- This marks the ninth time that Phil tries to sell a house after En Garde, Open House of Horrors, The Big Game, Rash Decisions (though in this, it was fake sales), The Day Alex Left for College, I Don't Know How She Does It, Blindsided and No Small Feet.
Cultural References[]
- The title references U2's "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of."
- Gloria finds banana spiders in their banana-leaf wreaths. In reality, the danger posed by "banana spiders" is wildly exaggerated; spiders are very rarely found in banana shipments, and those that are are generally not venomous. The only dangerous species, Phoneutria nigriventer, doesn't even live in Colombia.
- Mitch and Cam sang "Up on the House Top."
- Claire inadvertently resembles The Grinch.
Reviews[]
- AV Club gave it a "B" -- “Stuck In A Moment” is the latest in a string of solid episodes, ones that keep the drama low-key while also executing some laughs. [...] Lily’s never had much to do or been much of a fleshed-out character, but her transition into a child who’s clearly tired of her parents’ shenanigans has been delightful. However, the spider subplot was criticized: Yet again, Jay, Gloria, Manny, and Joe are the worst part of the episode. [...] Modern Family doesn’t seem to have any idea how to tell stories about that family anymore. Manny’s girlfriend is absent, Joe’s a nonentity, and Gloria and Jay have nothing new to add at this point.
- TV Fanatic scored the episode 4.0 / 5.0.