One Last Season Finale for Now

     I didn't think I was going to do this, and that is because I didn't think I was going to see anything special. I started watching with a feeling of ..."Meh..."just as I have watched all recent episodes of this show

     And then...here was American Skyper.

     The 144th episode and season 6 Finale features Alex's graduation party at Jay's house. Phil, however, is stuck in Seattle with an ear infection. His solution? A telepresence robot, hence the pretty clever title.

       What has bogged Modern Family down for me, the last couple of seasons, has been that they seem too comfortable falling back on sitcom cliches, like add-a-baby, farcical misunderstanding, and the like. And characters who were once realistic and a little edgy, and not afraid to sometimes be unlikable...well, they had become cookie cutter and stereotypical.

     I'm not saying one good finale stirs the show back to its brief former glory, but it reminds, perhaps.

      Oh, and I love a good bird pun. And I love a bad one even more.

     Mitchell has secretly lost his job, been sending out his resume, and playing checkers in the park with an old man named Spencer and his bird, George. He's ashamed to let Cam know, so he's hiding it. Cam sees texts on Mitchell's phone from Spencer, and finds s receipt in Mitchell's wallet from "the Avian (ah-vee-aan) hotel"

      The confrontation: (probably not verbatim)

     " it sounds seedy"

      " it is, and it's pronounced Ae-vee-an. It's where I picked up George"

     "So there's two guys?"

      "I'm talking about a cockatoo"

      "oh just one or two! How blase!"

     Add to that, Andy's girlfriend Beth being jealous of Haley, but in a subtly psycho way, and it was fun. "Perfect Beth" could probably kill you in your sleep without losing her smile and penetrating stare. I kid you not, there is a scene where she simultaneously demonstrates a takedown on Manny while setting Haley on fire. If she and Andy don't work out, I hear Dexter reactivated his profile on eharmony...

     Not sure why they are making Claire into a shrewish alcoholic. Kind of a sad, unfunny choice. Maybe they will figure out what the hell they want to do with her next year. As of this time, she is the least developed character.

      But the finale did it's job, made me somewhat interested in what comes next.