by JADA MINAYA Staff Writer
Season five of “Modern Family” came to an end on May 21, 2014, finishing off with the anticipated wedding of the famously gay couple Cam and Mitch.
Season five started on September 25, 2013, and mainly focused on Cam and Mitch preparing for their wedding since homosexual marriages are legal in California now. The season finale was broken into two episodes (The Wedding Part one and two).
In Part one, the couple wakes up on their wedding day to their friend/wedding planner, Pepper, his assistant/partner, Ronaldo, and breakfast in bed. As time goes on, Mitch calls his sister Claire, who is his “best person” for the wedding, and they talk about how their mother will not be attending due to an injury.
As the day goes on, the couple deals with various problems that affect the wedding. Cam’s dry cleaner gives him the wrong tuxedo, which leads them to going to the dry cleaner to pick it up himself.
The dry cleaner happens to be closed, so they try to sneak their adopted six-year-old daughter, Lily, in through an express box door. When trying to grab the suit, she gets stuck on the hanger. The owner receives a call of robbery at his store and comes to give them their tuxedo.
Meanwhile, Jay, Mitch’s father, and Gloria, Mitch’s stepmother, are hosting Merle and Barb, Cam’s parents, at their house. Barb reveals to Gloria she’s unhappy with her marriage, and she feels she cannot speak to Merle about her feelings. Gloria tells her it is not healthy and she should just let it all out.
Jay and Merle are in a sauna and Jay talks about how happy he is that he left his first wife as he is much happier with Gloria, which gets Merle thinking. Both men also agree they are a little uncomfortable with the fact that their sons are gay, referencing an argument Mitch and Jay had in a previous episode where Jay revealed to his son that he was a bit ashamed of his son being gay and Mitch holds a grudge for it.
A few hours later, the characters and guests show up to the venue, which is in a beautiful clearing in the middle of the forest. However, there is a wildfire and firefighters show up to evacuate the area, but give them 30 minutes to complete the ceremony. Just as the vows begin, Sal’s, Mitch and Cam’s friend and marriage officiant, water breaks, which leaves them with no one to marry them.
Phil, Claire’s husband and Mitch’s brother-in-law, volunteers, claiming he “spent $30 online to become a marriage officiant,” but the firefighters say they have to evacuate immediately and Pepper finds a new venue that a couple had just canceled on, so everyone boards the buses and heads over.
Before boarding the buses, Merle and Barb start to argue and both proclaim they want a divorce. Jay and Gloria, feeling they are the blame for their crumbling marriage, decide to try to help them and solve the problem.
The new venue is gorgeous, but the wedding is interrupted again by the prior marriage that was canceled, leading the guests to Mitch and Cam’s apartment to get married. Cam and Mitch try to accept the fact that their marriage is not going to be what they always wanted it to be, but are afraid these are all signs it is not meant to be.
Gloria and Jay are both trying to talk to Merle and Barb about saving their marriage, and finally convince them they are better off together. As Cam and Mitch are about to walk down the “aisle” (a two-foot walk to their fireplace in their living room), Jay stops the wedding and offers to pay for a new venue and reception area, and give them the wedding of which they have always dreamed.
As the episode comes to a close, Mitch and Cam are at their final venue during sunset overlooking a beach. Jay offers to walk his son down the aisle, and Gloria jumps in as well. Merle and Barb also decide to walk their son down the aisle, and they have a beautiful, sentimental wedding as Claire reads her heartfelt yet funny speech to her brother, Mitch.
The two episodes were a great end to season five that included both comedy and sentiment to them, leaving the audience laughing then breathless. Season six begins in September 2014 where we can look forward to more comedy and sentiment, in which “Modern Family” excels.
Do you plan on watching the new season of “Modern Family”?