The season finale of Modern Family was more surprising than expected, so click through for the full recap only if you’ve seen “Baby on Board”!

Wow. Did you guys see that coming? Modern Family wrapped up by not giving Mitch and Cam a baby, but giving one to Gloria instead. Plus Haley got into college, and Alex took off her glasses. Role reversals galore!

Bambino Drama

Remember how Mitch and Cam were adopting another baby? Well, they got a call – a mother in Calexico had chosen them, and she was having the baby today. So off to the border town they went, along with Gloria as an interpreter.

What followed was a telenovela just like the one Jay refuses to admit to watching. It was hilarious, but then it was heartbreaking. A grandmother had come into the picture, and Cam and Mitch would no longer be getting a baby.

Mitch broke down in the desert, and it was so sad. Much sadder than I’m used to from Modern Family. I felt so sorry for them when Cam said “It must be so exhausting always keeping it together for the both of us.” Poor Mitch. Poor both of them.

Babysitting

With the last minute trip to adopt the baby, Lily was left with Jay and Manny. The two oldest people in the world, who got all crotchety and annoyed when she kept asking “Why?”

Later, Lily refused to go on stage at her ballet recital. She missed her dads, and she didn’t want a new baby brother. That scene with Jay and Lily? It was adorable, like bring tears to your eyes adorable. And despite offering her fifty bucks, the only way he could get Lily to go on stage was by joining her. That was maybe the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.

Once Lily was asleep, Jay wearily said to Manny “I tell ya kid, I’m too old for this,” and Manny responded “You and me both.” But they’ll have to – because the car sickness Gloria had experienced when traveling to Calexico with Mitch and Cam wasn’t car sickness. It was pregnancy nausea. Gloria is pregnant! That was another surprise I didn’t see coming. (Well, I kind of did during the episode, but you know what I mean.)

Gap Year

Alex went off to prom with a gay date. Alex knew, Phil and Claire knew, but the poor kid himself didn’t know. As Alex said, she was basically his beard…pre-beard…stubble.

Since she hadn’t heard about college, Haley decided to take a gap year after high school. You know, take some community college courses (please say at Greendale!), have some life experiences and obviously work at the Gap. Oh, and also? She planned to move in with Dylan. Yeah, that went over like a lead balloon with Phil and Claire.

Phil and Claire tried to convince Haley that living with Dylan would mean unwanted pregnancy and Alex’s hand-me-downs, and they weren’t really getting through to her. But then Luke dropped the next bomb – Luke had been hiding Haley’s college acceptance letter because he was going to miss Haley. Even Dylan knew going to college would be the best thing for Haley. And then he asked Haley to go to the prom, which was probably the one and only time I’ve ever liked Dylan.

This was a surprising season finale for Modern Family. I really expected everything to end on a pretty happy note with Mitch and Cam coming home with a new baby. Instead, things ended in sadness and disappointment for them while Gloria has exciting, but life changing news to deliver to Jay. That could change a lot for them next season, and I’m curious to see how Jay takes that news. He’s a grandfather – to teenage grandchildren, in fact – so having a baby at his age, that’s not exactly the life plan I think he’s had in mind.

And yet, I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes. It’s new material, and it’s further exploring the idea of a “modern” family and what that can mean these days. Plus, the finale was a really strong episode, and I’m glad the show went out on a high note. What do you guys think?

Favorite Quotes & Moments:

• Gloria:”Jay! Manny! Good news! Mitch and Cam are getting a new baby today!”
  Jay: “Really? That’s fantastic!”
  Gloria: “And it’s latino!”
  Manny: “How’s that giant fence working out for you?”
• “That’s charcuterie? I’ve been avoiding that on menus for years. They’re killing themselves with that name!”
• Alex’s date doing jazz hands when Phil takes a picture and then says “Now one with flash”.
• “Guess what? Suddenly you’re sixty years old wandering toothless and alone in a post-apocalyptic wasteland!” – Phil
• “Listen, I know that you’re concerned, but I’m designing t-shirts now, and they’re gonna be huge. Also in medium and small.” – Dylan
• All the mail Luke has been hoarding away!
• The Prius product placement made me cringe. There is no joke funny enough to make me care about how roomy the backseat is. (OK. There might be some jokes.)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Couchtime/~3/Ev3MJGg7GGQ/