I'm talking about a television show but it wrapped some years ago so I decided to count this as a Flashback Friday. I posted in June how those ads for Whatsapp featuring the cast of, "Modern Family," reprising their roles made me want the show to come back. That hankering for, "Modern Family," resulted in me re-watching a bunch of episodes, and during that process, one new thing stuck out to me--Phil Dunphy can actually be quite dangerous and incredibly smart when a situation calls for it. Dare I say that the character played by actor Ty Burell should be ranked among other T.V. villains? Yes, I do dare.
Phil Dunphy is a sweet man, a kind realtor who wants to help folks find a home and is generally the more light-spirited member of the Dunphy household as Claire (played by Julie Bowen) is a bit more strict/a fan of rules. That said, if you push Phil too far he pushes back to a degree that is kind of scary. For an early example of this look to the 13th episode of Season 4, "Fulgencio." The episode features Phil trying to solve some problems for his kids through kindness as Claire usually handles things more aggressively. Then, Phil's efforts to be nice fail and it results in him enlisting the help of his son Luke to get revenge we witness via a montage that homages the classic film, "The Godfather." Balloons that were blocking Phil's billboard get shot out, a birthday party one child got disinvited to has rats released at it, a lemon tree that caused issues with snapped limb is outright run-over, and one kid who picked on Luke (and who has a fear of Zebras) wakes up to find the head of a stuffed Zebra in his bed. Loveable Phil Dunphy orchestrated all of that.
Episode 11 of the sixth season is titled, "The Day We Almost Died," and is about the Dunphy family processing how they narrowly avoided getting in a grisly car accident. Phil responds by becoming shockingly aggressive to a fellow realtor he usually lets pick on him (he tells the man, named Gil, how he will kill him if he ever makes a rude remark about Claire again) and manages to talk an appliance store into fixing a problem for an in-law after being vaguely threatening. Eventually, Phil realizes he's in a state of shock from almost dying and being mean to others...but it goes to show yet again what Phil is capable of doing.
In the 11th season (the final one) of, "Modern Family," the 5th episode is titled, "The Last Halloween." It features Phil spending months on a prank of sorts so that he can scare Claire for Halloween--something she likes to do to everyone else and says Phil could never do to her as he lacks the skill. It involves an elaborate, "Haunted house," a fake skeleton, and Phil pulling a, "Psycho," and pretending to be an old woman with a sharp weapon. It's both funny and impressive to witness Phil, yet again, being a bit of an evil genius throughout the series.
Perhaps it goes to show even the kindest people have a dark edge, as besides these episodes viewers of, "Modern Family," will generally see Phil being his sweet and goofy self. Push him too far though, and he's up there with other television baddies. God, I really wish they would bring back, "Modern Family," even if it isn't as great as the earlier seasons and more like the weaker later ones.
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