"I'm Like A Bird. I'll Only Fly Away" (First Impressions - "Spread Your Wings" - Season 7, Episode 11)

Sigh.  Another press release, another expectation diminished (for now).  There are also promo photos in this article, but nothing involving Alex.

"While I'm Waiting I'll Be Stargazing" (First Impressions - "Playdates" - Season 7, Episode 10)

No, that title's not a misprint - "Spread Your Wings" has been pushed back to January 13th. This is the episode that airs next.

“Welcome Back, To That Same Old Place That You Laughed About”

A little news about an upcoming episode (albeit maybe one that's a bit far down the road) with loads of potential:

"The Waiting Is The Hardest Part"

No real news to speak of (the press release for "Spread Your Wings" should come out some time next week - the commercial that aired during last week's episode hints at a possible Alex and Phil story *), but if you missed last week's "White Christmas" and Alex's beautiful singing, ABC is repeating it next Wednesday night.

This week has two re-runs from last season: tonight it's "Grill, Interrupted" and tomorrow night "Connection Lost" returns.

Oh, and Merry Express Christmas!

*[EDIT: Never mind - a new commercial aired this evening and it appears Alex is in an entirely different story.  I'll guess we see Alex and Phil together in the next one.]

“Silent Night, Holy Night” (“White Christmas” Recap)

OK, there's no way that I could not use the opening line from that song for my recap post title tonight. Not after that performance – can we retroactively nominate Ariel Winter for a Grammy? That was such a nice surprise to let her show off her singing talent.

"Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful"

Well, if you're going out to the mountains to try and celebrate a "White Christmas", then, yes, warmer than expected temperatures would probably be considered "frightful".  The promo commercial for tonight's episode does seem to indicate that at least we will see snow by night's end (unless it's fake snow - Green Acres pulled that trick once).

So, what do I think the final episode of 2015 will bring - presents or coal?

“Yes, It's Over. Call It A Day.” (“Clean Out Your Junk Drawer” Recap)

Well, so much for AlBen. Or was it LexBen? Or maybe ReubEx?

"And All You Wanted Was Somebody Who Cares"

No, I didn't go away or anything - there just wasn't anything happening in the past week or so - even the commercial for this week's episode had nothing interesting (it stayed totally away from Alex's story and focused solely on the group therapy session the adults will be having).  And I've yet to see any sneak peaks for tonight.

But, tonight has finally arrived (well, today anyway) and with that, it's time to look forward to "Clean Out Your Junk Drawer":

Woof Woof Woof, Woof Woof Woof, Woof Woof WOOF WOOF Woof (First Impressions - "White Christmas" - Season 7, Episode 9)

In case you are wondering what in the world that title is - it's my rather crude interpretation of the opening line to "Jingle Bells", as sung by The Singing Dogs.

So why would I do this? Because, sadly, based off the press release for this year's Modern Family Christmas episode, it looks like it might be a bit of a dog (they're going off to the mountains to celebrate, and this show's history with travel episodes is spotty at best). Or a howler.

“You And I, And Something More(?)” (“Phil's Sexy, Sexy House” Recap)

OK, I already knew there was more coming between them from reading the press release for the upcoming episode which I saw earlier today, but, I still have to say it....

"In The Sweet Spot" (First Impressions - "Clean Out Your Junk Drawer" - Season 7, Episode 8)

SpoilerTV has a two-for-one special today: links to both the press release and promotional photos for the next episode (in two weeks) on the same Web page.  The press release is a little bit interesting, the photos, meh.

“Here's The Key To Unlock The Door”

After seeing all of the sneak peeks (5!) posted for this week's “Phil's Sexy, Sexy House” with not one sign of Alex in any of them, I was beginning to wonder if this wasn't going to be Alex-less episode number 2 after all (despite what I though originally about the whole family being together likely precluding that – there is precedent [“The Incident”, “Closet? You'll Love It!”] for a family gathering to not include Alex).

However, not to worry – I found a video of the promo commercial and she is in that. But does that make this episode any more interesting from her standpoint?

“Didn't Wanna Leave You With The Wrong Impression” (First Quarter Review)

Time flies when you're having fun. And sometimes when you're not. I wouldn't exactly call the first quarter of Season 7 fun for Alex, but it was interesting (and very emotional, for the first 3 episodes anyway) – a lot more than I had any right to expect.

“There Must Be Some Misunderstanding” (“The More You Ignore Me” Recap)

And boy am I ever happy about it. Well, at least relieved. Never mind – I'm happy.

And, no, it turns out I'm not crying as I type this, even though I thought I would (from relief) even if (as happened) Alex's story didn't end badly.

"You'll Never Make A Living From Reading Minds"

So we're now about 12 hours (15 on the West Coast) from having to "rip off the Band-Aid" and finding out what happens in "The More You Ignore Me".  In other words, I've reached the point of "let's get it over with":

"Waiting...To Fall Apart"

Some sneak previews of tomorrow night's episode have been released, and the fourth one shown at this link is the important one, the one where Phil and Claire catch Alex sneaking out of the liquor store with that case of tequila.

“I'm Being Taken Over By The Fear”

The promo commercial for “The More You Ignore Me” is now available online. While it focuses on the part of the main Dunphy story where Luke is getting into trouble, the part which would reveal whatever trouble Alex ends up getting into is (ironically?) ignored.

"What A Difference A (Third Of A) Day Makes"

Oops. looks like I jumped the gun (again)...

On the same message thread on the IMDb board about the Christmas episode where the ABC press release I mentioned earlier was shared, another poster (lynlyunderwood) later posted a link from Jesse Tyler Ferguson's (Mitch's) Instagram account, where yesterday he posted a picture from filming of the Christmas episode (with guest star Andrea Martin from the old Second City TV days).

So there will be a Christmas episode as expected.  What role if any Alex has is still TBA.

"Do They Know It's Christmas?"

[EDIT: It turns out the first half of this post is now moot - and per the next post there will be a Christmas episode - no worries.  Sorry about that.]

An interesting press release was issued by ABC listing  some of their holiday programming coming up in a few weeks. (I didn't find this one myself, BTW - credit to a poster named sannozz94 on IMDb's board who did.) What's interesting is on the night (December 9th) that the rest of their Wednesday comedy lineup has their Christmas episodes, there's no mention of anything for Modern Family.

"If It's Getting Cold, Reheat It" (First Impressions - "Phil's Sexy, Sexy House" - Season 7, Episode 7)

Well, I dodged a couple of bullets today.  First, last night I thought I made a major screw-up at work and wasn't sure if I would still have a job when I came back on Friday.  Thankfully for me when I asked about it this morning it turned out to be no big deal.  Not that there's even a hint of correlation but hopefully that's a good omen for Alex's story next week.
 
And now, I don't have to worry about whether or not the press release for the episode that follows whatever happens next week contained any spoilers about "The More You Ignore Me" - nothing at all is mentioned about Alex (i.e. no "Now that Alex blah, blah, blah..." type of information).  So I don't have to agonize over how much to say about it.

"Seven Days And Seven Nights Of Thunder"

Episode 7's title has (finally) been released: "Phil's Sexy, Sexy House".  Yeah, I don't think much will come of that one (and in more ways than one that might not be a bad thing).  We'll probably get more details later this week.   

Still nothing about Episode 8, which probably won't air until December 2nd (presumably "Three Turkeys" will repeat on Thanksgiving Eve).

And that's that.

"Couldn't See Through The Tinted Glass"

Promo photos are out for "The More You Ignore Me", but nothing of Alex (and yes, I double, double checked this set - don't be fooled if you see a lady in dark hair and glasses in some of them - that's not Alex, just the director of the episode).

My paranoid side thinks this is bad news - it feels like they're hiding something big, and that's NOT good news if they are.

"I Can See The Feathers Fly" (First Impressions - "The More You Ignore Me" - Season 7, Episode 6)

Buckle up, boys and girls, this is going to be the episode where the road's probably going to get really bumpy for Alex.

"You Made Me Promises, Promises"

OK, I found a reason to post without any new news after all.  Every once in a while I like to read some of my older posts (what blogger doesn't?), and I came back across this post from almost two months ago where I created my own Alex-centric Modern Family marathon.

“I've Got The Time And I'm Wasting It Slowly” (“The Verdict” Recap)

OK, maybe that lyric is a bit harsh considering that as a whole this was a very funny episode.

However...

"Just A Day, Just An Ordinary Day"

I'm not sure when I'll be posting a recap of tonight's episode, "The Verdict".  I have an early doctor's appointment tomorrow so I don't know if I really want to stay up until 12:30 in the morning to post it after the West Coast showing ends at 9:30.

It will all depend on how the story goes.  If not much happens, I'll post in the morning when I wake up.  But if something good or bad happens, I'll stay up and post at the usual time.

So just what am I expecting for tonight?

“'Cause What About, What About Angels?”

Just a few notes and thoughts for a Sunday pre-football:

“Miss You Like Crazy”

If this was a past season I'd say “look on the bright side – we got one of the (likely) only two Alex-less episodes out of the way early.”

But I still think this may not be a typical season, but that this instead may be a more typical occurrence for this season. In other words, I don't think there's only going to be only one more.

And, if you project out and do the math, if Alex were to miss every fourth episode, that's 24 episodes divided by 4 which gives us...

As Sanjay's mother would say, “It's SIX!”

Oh, well. At least the ducklings were cute.

"There's Got To Be A Morning After(?)"

There was finally a press release issued for "The Verdict", but there was nothing new about Alex's role nor was there anything eye-catching about the guest star list (although it does say it will air next week so hopefully they're not going to make a last-minute switch).  Also, there are now promo pictures of the episode online (most of the ones with Alex are on the second page*).

Now, getting back to tonight's episode ("She Crazy"):

"We Are, We Are, The Youth Of The Nation(?)" (First Impressions - "The Verdict" - Season 7, Episode 5)

Nothing from my usual source (SpoilerTV) on this yet but there's info on next week's (maybe - see below) episode in my DirecTV guide listings.

"We Need A Holiday"...

...So I decided to change up the front page photo to something a little more light-hearted from the mood I've been in lately.

And let's face it, Alex did look cute in that hat...

That's all for now - I've heard nothing new all weekend.  Which may not be a bad thing, for now.

Yes, Again, This Is Just Fiction, But...

I am really, really getting worried about Alex. Even more so than last year when I wrote a similarly titled post a few days after the dark events of “Queer Eyes, Full Hearts”.

“Just The Foolish Beat Of My Heart” (“The Closet Case” Recap)

If you want to hate me for jinxing things this morning with my “very low” rating for heartbreak tonight, please get in line – once I've completed melting into that puddle of my own tears (God knows how long that will be) you may proceed.

"She's Smiling, An Invitation To The Dance"

One quick scheduling note: USA Network begins airing Season 6 episodes tomorrow night, with the first four episodes starting at 9:00 (in the middle of an all-evening marathon).  Of more import to the early part of this year's schedule, they air 4 more next Thursday, but neither "Halloween 3: Awesomeland" or "Three Turkeys" (i.e. the two holiday episodes, which were the sixth and eighth episodes) are on the schedule.  So it looks like ABC is holding on to both of them for now, presumably to air as repeats near their respective holidays.  Neither is a surprise to me.

Anyway, so what's on my mind about tonight's "The Closet Case"?  Not a lot, really.

“You're A Little Late, I'm Already Torn”

OK, so for most of you the weekend has long since ended, but since I have Mondays off (for now) I still have a few hours to go. So here's my “upon further review” post about “The Day Alex Left For College” I mentioned:

(NOTE: much of this post will be readable from the home page, but I do have some thoughts that involve “that” future episode so, again, don't click “Read more” if you don't want to see them.)

I'll still a bit disappointed by this episode, but the more that I watch “The Hug”, the more I realize how much that scene's ending made up for the rest of the show being not what it could have been.

As for the farewell at home, why didn't Claire go with Haley and Alex anyway? I know Alex wouldn't have been happy, but if Claire wanted some more time with Alex before she let her go she really should have taken advantage of the opportunity – it wasn't as if she was that excited about going to Lily's soccer game.

By the way, unlike with his missing Alex's graduation (the date of which he knew before going on that business trip), here Phil gets a pass for not going – he was relying on Alex telling the truth about her departure date when he planned on when to schedule the open house, and this time a last minute switch wouldn't have been feasible - he had a client relying on him to be there.

Having said all that, I still think Alex should have let them have their moment.

One other thing that I wish happened – I wanted to see one private camera scene for Alex to share her thoughts. She doesn't get many to begin with (e.g. she only had 3 all last year) and now I wonder if she'll have any at all this season.

And now, for the thoughts about how what happened last week may affect the future:

"Miss Me Blind"

Oops...

Once again I've managed to miss something completely under my nose - a few days ago I posted a link to promo photos for this coming week's episode ("The Closet Case"), and said Alex was in just one photo, on a computer screen presumably talking to someone in her family.

BUZZZZZ

"The Beat Goes On And On And On And On And" (First Impressions - "She Crazy" - Season 7, Episode 4)

No, that's not a typo - that's how that line in "Boom Clap" ends.

And that line pretty much says it all about the press release for this episode.

“I Always Needed Time On My Own” (“The Day Alex Left For College” Recap)

Before I start the recap there is this little bit of possible good news from this recent article:

”Although Alex will be leaving for college, the show's co-creator, Christopher Lloyd, has assured viewers that she will still be very much be on the show for the upcoming new season. He mentions that her family will be visiting her a lot in college and that she would also be frequently coming home on the weekends to see her parents and family.“

I've not found an article with a direct quote from Mr. Lloyd confirming this, but maybe I have less reason to worry that this will be a season of mostly only seeing Alex on Skype (if at all). But given my “not only is the glass half-empty, but it has a leak” frame of mind...

Anyway, so about tonight:

“So Remember Goodbye Doesn't Mean Forever”

Well, tonight's the night, “The Day Alex Left For College”. OK, that last sentence just went through a spin cycle in the time-space continuum – at least it didn't meet up with Eddy.

Anyway, here's my not-so-deep thoughts about the episode:

"Call Me, If You Need Someone To Talk To"

Promo photos for "The Closet Case" have been released, and there's good news and bad news.

[UPDATE (10/3):  Actually the bad news isn't so bad as I explain in this later post.  I'll leave in my original thoughts without striking through but a lot of this post is now outdated.]

"Quietly, Take It Or Leave - There Is Nothing To See(?)" (First Impressions - "The Closet Case" - Season 7, Episode 3)

Just like last year with "The Cold",  the press release for the third episode took a while, but it's finally out. 

“But I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles” (“Summer Lovin'” Recap)

OK, give or take about 138 miles (the distance from Stanford to CalTech)...

“Where Do We Go From Here, Now That All Other Children Are Growin' Up?”

And so, it finally begins again. The first episode of Season 7, “Summer Lovin'”, airs tonight. And with a new season, comes a new type of post.

I've decided not to do “Upside/Down(side)” posts this season (but I probably will do some best/worst case scenarios as we go along), but instead will do a slightly different form of “pre-game” post. This is a work in progress, so what you see right now won't necessarily be how I do these posts from week to week

So, what can we expect from this week's episode?

“So We Don't Worry About The Price We Pay(?)”

I'll start with the good news first, then get to the bad (namely my thoughts on the spoiler stuff I mentioned a couple of days ago).

Promo pics are up for “The Day Alex Left For College”, and it looks like we're going to see Alex's new roommate in this one after all. But apparently there's been a change in plans, as (based off the earlier press release) her roommate is now someone named Maisie and not Alaina (the actress' name is Chloe Csengery). It looks like they will somewhat hit it off at the start (though in one photo Haley looks more excited for some reason) – how long it stays that way is another story.

Also, it looks we will get the obligatory hugs from Phil and Claire, and at the dorm it looks like Alex and Claire will have some sort of issue.

So at least we have this to look forward to. But how badly will this episode's events be overshadowed by the dark turn that appears to be coming in a few weeks? (Again, if you don't want to be spoiled, don't click “Read more”.)

"I Said No, No, No" (Potential major spoiler alert)

And it's not a good one, either...

"Baby I Swear It's Deja Vu" (First Impressions - "The Day Alex Left For College" - Season 7, Episode 2

Sometimes, the light at the end of the tunnel is a good thing.  But, sometimes, it can just be a runaway train about to flatten you.  Such is apparently the case here, based off the press release.

"When The Gales Of November Came Early" (Upcoming Title Update)

Well in one sense things are happening fast and furiously: the titles for Episodes 5 and 6 have been released.  With the presumption that last year's Halloween episode will likely air on October 28th, this means they've already revealed the title of the first episode of the first sweeps period (probably airing November 11th, since I'm pretty sure there's a music awards show of some sort scheduled for the 4th).

I need a coat just thinking about that, even though the temperatures around here may be back near 90 next weekend.

"Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End" (First Impressions - "Summer Lovin'" - Season 7, Episode 1)

Finally, the press release for the season opener has arrived.  And while there's no mention of what role Alex might have in it, there's one little interesting tidbit in the guest list: Sanjay is making a surprise early re-appearance (for some reason whomever writes the press releases keeps misspelling his name as Sunjay).

“'You Could Do So Much Better”

I'm still waiting on the press release for the season opener – usually it comes out about 2 weeks before the episode airs, often on Monday but I figure the holiday is holding up things this week. I'm still not expecting anything special from it, but at least it gets us closer to the start of things.

I meant to do this last week, but here's my idea of a better Alex-centric marathon than what USA Network gave us last Tuesday (they made mostly good choices, but left out a few obvious ones. And, seriously, USA, “Regrets Only”? Yes, Alex gets to get under Haley's skin in that one, but the story's not even close to being about her).

"If Today Was Your Last Day"

No, don't worry (or, alternatively, don't break out the sarcastic applause) - today's post title does not mean it's the end of this blog.

“Oh, Crystal Ball, Crystal Ball, Save Us All - Tell Me Life Is Beautiful”

Two more episode titles have been released.

The third episode is titled “The Closet Case”, which in and of itself doesn't hold promise for an Alex story (obviously some combo of Jay, Claire and possibly Mitch, if “case” refers to a legal issue).

The fourth one is harder to gauge: “She Crazy”. I would guess it probably refers to something involving Haley and psychotic Beth, or possibly Gloria and her (also psychotic) sister Sonya. But if the title relates to Alex somehow it could be very interesting.

OK, having gotten that out of the way, time for my Season 7 questions and predictions. A word of warning, much of this may not be pretty (and many of my guesses will belie the title of this post and be very pessimistic, especially the final and most important (to me) question):

“Another Year Over, And A New One Just Begun”

Well, that went fast.

 Yes, one year ago this evening, I pressed a few keyboard buttons, clicked a few mouse buttons, and, voilà! - “Are You Smarter Than Alex Dunphy?” officially became a real live Internet thing.

(OK, it was actually 11 days later that I revealed that Alex was going to be the subject of this blog – you can't blame a guy for wanting to build up some suspense, right? Right?)

My first order of business for Year Two – predictions about what will happen with Alex this upcoming season. I'll probably come up with something late this week.

"Who Would Have Guessed (That It) Could Be Something As Simple As This"

The first two episode titles for Season 7 have been released.  I'll post the link at the bottom (just to change things up a bit - one of them has quite a bit of spoiler potential).

And unlike last year's first two episodes where neither title ("The Long Honeymoon", "Do Not Push") left any clue that Alex would be prominent in both episodes, it's almost a safe bet based on this year's first two titles she will be in one of them.   And it gives Alex something that not every character has had yet.

“Am I The Same Girl? Yes I Am, Yes I Am.”

I'm about 80% indifferent to the story about Ariel Winter and her surgery that broke out today (and no, I'm not posting any links about it – sorry folks, but here Google is your friend). It changes nothing as far as I'm concerned – Ariel is still the same talented actress and vocalist that she's always been, and more importantly she still is an amazing human being. And it's her life to live – even if I had the opportunity and desire to stick my nose into what she does I wouldn't.

The other 20% is strictly happiness that Ariel is happy about doing it, and that's she no longer in pain (both physical and emotional).

And that's all I have to say about that. For those just looking for my opinions about this, you can skip the rest of this post. (It's OK - I'm not mad at you.) For those who want to hear what little new info there is about Alex this coming season, please continue.

“You May Be Wrong But You May Be Right” (First Spoilers About Alex?)

It's about time we have something to discuss, as two articles I've found have small Modern Family Season 7 spoilers. This article contains the first hints as to what we might see for Alex this upcoming year (well, at least the first part anyway). There's not a lot of details (heck they haven't even started filming yet – the table read for the first episode was just today) but there are couple of items for speculation.

"Every Day Is A Winding Road. I Get A Little Bit Closer"

Well, there's one little bit of good news as we reach the eight week mark to the start of Season 7 - we're entering the period of summer re-run season where the really good episodes from Season 6 start to re-air.  "Spring Break" airs tonight, and "Grill, Interrupted" airs next Wednesday night.  Unless they double up on a week (like last week with "Connection Lost" and "Closet? You'll Love It!") down the road that leaves one week either with no episode or with an episode from earlier in the season.


We'll get there - it's just a question of what will be waiting for us (I'm still waiting for more info on that).

“At The Edge Of The Ocean, We Can Start Over Again”

Well, in spite of its potential with Emmy nominations being announced on Thursday and a new movie coming out this past Friday, this didn't turn out to be a game-changing week for Ariel Winter.  And, depending on how a seemingly unrelated Modern Family casting change plays out, it may not end up being a good week for Alex's fans either.

"Let's Do The Time Warp Again"

It's amazing how on one hand summer seems to be going so quickly (especially considering how little I've been able to do in the past seven weeks), and yet at the same time September 23rd is still so far away (ten weeks from Wednesday).

"As The Bus Stops At The Building, The Place That I Called Home"

So, after a month of hospital/physical therapy rehab beds, I've finally made it back home with almost all my toes (and maybe almost all of my sanity - those three weeks in the rehab center were cray-cray).  No news about Alex to speak of in all that time (it is summer, after all), but at least getting back home to my computer gives me a chance to change the home page photo to a more fitting one given what I've been through.

Of course, given that from that episode ("Arrested") we learned that Alex is squeamish about blood, I doubt she would ever even have a chance to be my doctor, but maybe she's gotten over it (at least she didn't faint when she cut herself this past Halloween).

"Wake Me Up When September (Almost) Ends"

ABC announced that Modern Family will start Season 7 on September 23rd (no real surprise there - last season started on the 24th).  Hopefully it will involve Alex's moving in at CalTech, or possibly her summer vacation to Europe, but we'll have to wait and see.  After that, who knows?

Anyway, expect this site to be on my back burner for a couple more weeks due to health issues (if you can avoid developing diabetes please do so - I now have only about 9 1/2 toes due to complications).   I won't have access to a computer until I get back home from therapy (I'm using my smartphone to type this post and I'm not very good at it).

“We May Never Pass This Way Again” (Season 6 Wrap-Up)

Seventeen episodes into this season, after the Alex-less “Closet? You'll Love It!”, I was ready to make this end-of-season post a rant-fest, as in “How dare they treat Alex like that, blah, blah, blah...”

And then the last seven episodes happened, with an unprecedented focus on Alex (six out of the seven episodes had at a least a small story about her). But while they saved the season from being a near total disaster, did they save the season, period?

“Bittersweet Symphony” (“American Skyper” Recap)

My feeling at the end of the night? Numb from disappointment.

"One Day In Your Life"

Well, we're almost here - the Season 6 finale of Modern Family is tonight, and with it the finale of Alex's high school story.

“This Used To Be My Playground” (“Crying Out Loud” Recap)

Well, if nothing else, tonight's episode confirmed that Alex is indeed going to CalTech. And she'll be living with a girl named Alaina from somewhere in North Carolina (at least that's how the closed captioning spelled her name). As for Alex's story itself, I feel weirdly detached about it.

Upside/Down(side) - "Crying Out Loud"

Considering how much potential there is contained in the title this really does not look like that big a deal of an episode from Alex's standpoint - none of the promo pictures or the promo commercial or this sneak peek video look promising for her having any big emotional moments tonight (it's looks like it's Jay and possibly Mitch or Lily who might be doing the crying).

"Find One Hundred Ways"

Sorry, Post #100 isn't going to be some great and memorable post that will be talked about for years: it's just going to be me posting a link to promo pictures for the last two episodes.

“Kiss Me, Beneath The Milky Twilight” (“Patriot Games” Recap)

I'm just going to come right out and say it – although there's a small part of me that wishes Alex had kept running and won the race, in the end who cares if the race wound up being anti-climatic? Those scenes with Alex and Sanjay were so darned cute they more than made up for that.

Upside/Down(side) - “Patriot Games”

I really have mixed emotions about tonight. On one hand, not since “Under Pressure” have I been so looking forward to an episode of Modern Family. In fact, in one sense there is more anticipation: I've been waiting for this episode to air for two months, whereas the wait time for “Under Pressure” was only about 3 weeks.

But, on the other hand, I am more than a little bit nervous as to how Alex's story tonight plays out.

If The "Chariots Of Fire" Theme Had Lyrics I'd Post Them Here

A few thoughts as we draw closer to "Patriot Games":

"Gonna Fly Now"

So, with a big boxing match coming up tonight (with an even bigger pay-per-view price tag), I thought I might take a shot at writing a promo for Wednesday's "main event" in the style of an ad hyping a big fight.  So here goes nothing:

“She Needed To Come Back Down To Earth” (“Integrity” Recap)

Tonight was that “every once in a while” episode that we had really not seen this season – an episode where even Alex's biggest fans (like me) are left to wonder “just what the heck got into her?” as she does and says things that even we can't defend (e.g. like her manipulation of Claire in "Benched").

"The Sun Is Shinin' Down, School Is Finally Out" (First Impressions - "Crying Out Loud" - Season 6, Episode 23)

The press release can be found here.

“You Were The One That Was Wrong” (“Knock 'em Down” Recap)

OK, I wasn't that wrong – Alex was only in two scenes tonight (two more than I expected, though).

This coming up with a line or title from an Avril Lavigne song (and not repeating songs) for every post title in the month of Avril..er...April has proven more difficult than I thought – I've had to use songs that weren't among my favorites and even songs I've never heard before (this one was from a song titled “Forgotten” from her second album “Under My Skin”). We might need Alex to run away from home next week for me to use something from my favorite Avril song, “Nobody's Home”.

“You-u Said 'Hey, What's Your Name?'” (First Impressions - “Patriot Games” - Season 6, Episode 22)

Well it took me a while, but I finally got a lyric from Avril's song "Smile" into a post title...
 
OK, calling my thoughts on the press release for this episode as “First Impressions” is more than a bit of a stretch, since I've been basically discussing this episode for almost two months, but since that's what I've been doing with them all season...

"I Always(?) Get What I Want"

Could we actually be ending this season with three episodes where to one degree or another Alex is a focus?  SpoilerTV posted synopses for "Patriot Games" and "Crying Out Loud" - one looks like a "nailed it", the other...

"Hold On Tight To This Rollercoaster Ride"

It's no big surprise, but ABC confirmed that the season finale ("American Skyper") will air May 20th.  They also released details about the episode, which at least gives us a little something to look forward to as her graduation will not be totally ignored.

“I've Got The Scene In My Head. I'm Not Sure How It Ends”

If someone had told me with five episodes to go, we'd see 5 major Alex stories, and 4 minor ones, and that it was known there was still at least one major story left, you'd think I'd be very happy today, right?

So why am I more depressed than Death Valley?

"Hello Heartache" (First Impressions - "Integrity" - Season 6, Episode 21)

The press release is here, the sighs of disappointment are down the hall.

"Lay Back, It's All Been Done Before" (First Impressions - "Knock 'em Down" - Season 6, Episode 20)

The press release can be found here.

"Keep Holding On"

Still in the calm before the storm, as there's not much new news about the rest of the season (other than "Haley's 21st Birthday" is confirmed as the repeat for April 15th...yawn).

If anything breaks (except our collective hearts?, again?) I'll let you know.

“All My Life I've Been Good, But Now...” (“Grill, Interrupted” Recap)

One endgame down, one endgame to go?

“Every Turn Leads Me To A New Dead End” (Third Quarter Review)

Well (for the most part) there's two months of my life I'll never get back. My room isn't as big a mess as the third quarter of Season 6 turned out to be for Alex, although it did get interesting as it ended.

“The Mother We Share” (“Spring Break” Recap)

Another week, another heartbreak for Alex. At least tonight's story was a lot more well done than her story in “Rash Decisions”.

Upside/Down(side) - “Spring Break”

So, exactly one month after we last saw Alex (well, images and sounds of her on Claire's laptop) in “Connection Lost”, we finally get to see her in a brand new episode tomorrow night. And, wonder of wonders, she has a story about her for the first time in almost two months (which hopefully lasts longer than that last story in “Rash Decisions”), as she takes time away from worrying about where she goes to college to go to a music festival with Haley. At least I think it's a story about Alex, but...

"All The Things She Said"

It sounds like Ariel just let a cat out of the bag, according to this E! Online spoiler chat article (there are spoilers for other shows in the article, obviously, so you're forewarned if you go there and don't want to know about goings-on at other shows):

"You're A Queen Inside And Out" ("Grill, Interrupted" Update)

Promo pictures are up for next week's episode. [UPDATE: It looks like they've taken down the full-size images for now (12:30PM 3/24) - the thumbnails are still up]

"Que Sera, Sera"

For the few of you out there (if any?) wondering why I haven't posted in a week, it's pretty simple - there's been virtually no news out there about the rest of the season (the promo commercial for this week's new episode "Spring Break" didn't even mention Alex).  The only thing of note is that Modern Family is done filming for Season 6, so whatever happens has already been filmed.

That, and I'm on staycation, so I've kind of put my brain on cruise control for now, but I will have at least a recap after Wednesday's episode.

"I Don't Understand The Meaning Of It All"

The final episode's title has been released: "American Skyper".

As you can tell from the title of this post, the title leaves no clues as to where Alex may (or may not) fit into this - I'm not even sure her graduation will even come into play here.

I'll try to come up with some possibilities when I make my third quarter review post after next week's episode.

"Fooled By A Smile" (First Impressions - "Grill, Interrupted", Season 6, Episode 19)

The press release can be found on this page, but you'll have to scroll down and click the "Modern Family" section on the list to reveal it.

"You're Gonna Cry 96 Tears"

Episode 23's title has been released: "Crying Out Loud".  If there's a Dunphy story related to that theme I'd say it's a toss-up between Alex and Haley.  Also, that means probably no two-parter to end the season like last year's wedding.

Oh, and Sarah Hyland posted on Instagram pictures of the cast at this year's final episode table read (i.e. basically the first rehearsal of the finale) - note that Adam DeVine (Andy) is in a couple of the pictures (Ariel's in a couple of them also).  While that means a Haley/Andy story is in the works for the finale, it doesn't yet close the door on an Alex graduation story, so let's keep those fingers crossed.

"My Sister, My Sister, Tell Me What The Trouble Is" (First Impressions - "Spring Break" - Season 6, Episode 18)

The press release can be found here.  Alex's role was actually hinted at in a synopsis posted at SpoilerTV a few hours earlier, but I wanted to see if the press release added any information before posting this.

Another Small Puzzle Piece

One more piece of news concerning Alex came up a couple of days ago in this Entertainment Weekly article - Principal Brown (whom we last saw taking Coach/Sheriff Cam to the woodshed for the dodgeball fracas in "Under Pressure") returns for an episode airing in late April or early May in a story concerning whether or not Alex will be valedictorian.  If that time frame is correct then this is not part of the season finale.

“And I Miss You, Like The Deserts Miss The Rain”

No real recap for tonight (just a couple of thoughts), since this show had everything but the girl (Alex)...

(There really needs to be a <rimshot> HTML </rimshot> tag ...)

"The Search Is Over - Love Was Right Before My Eyes"(?)

Normally I don't comment when an outside source posts pictures from upcoming Modern Family scene shootings (partially for spoiler reasons, partially because sometimes the scene never shows up), but there's no way I couldn't with this article. (If you are coming from the main page of my blog don't click the "Read more" link below if you don't want to hear about an unofficial potential spoiler).

"There's A Shortage In The Switch"

Just a quick note: according to SpoilerTV's episode database (you might have to click the "Upcoming Episodes" tab once you get there) it looks like "Integrity" and "Grill, Interrupted" are swapping places (they were episodes 19 and 21 now 21 and 19) - that would put "Integrity" and "We're Number One!" (episode 22),  the two titles most likely to hint of an Alex story, back-to-back.  I know the first two episodes this year both had Alex stories but since they rarely do this for her this is not encouraging - now I really hope "We're Number One!" gets pushed back to the end of the season.

“The Rest Is Still Unwritten” (Thoughts On Alex's Yale Essay)

I wanted to say it was amazing how once again a little story involving Alex wound up being more important to me than the main story of the episode (i.e. just like her sad 2 minute story in “Queer Eyes, Full Hearts”), but since this blog is all about Alex it really isn't – it's probably expected.

In the case of this past week's “Connection Lost” episode, it was her college essay to Yale which for me stole the show from the filming experiment and the main story about Haley's whereabouts. There was actually quite a bit I wanted to say about it once I got a chance to read it, and while I could have shared my thoughts in the recap, I figured there was enough to say that it merited its own post.

"I'll Be Here A While, Ain't Goin' Nowhere"(?)

Last Wednesday, after "Connection Lost" Ariel was kind enough to answer questions from her fans on Twitter (I sent her a question about the college essay - I'll share her reply to me when I post my thoughts on the essay).  There was one question from another fan about Ariel staying on Modern Family once she goes to college after next season, for which Ariel gave an answer that may or may not say something about Alex's future:

"In The Merry, Merry Month Of May" (Upcoming Episode Title Update)

The titles for episodes 21 and 22 have been released, and while #21 doesn't look that intriguing ("Grill, Interrupted"), #22 ("We're Number One!"), which right now I would project to air on May 6th (hence the title of this post - I'm guessing the finale will be on the 20th) is very much so.

“I Get The Message” (“Connection Lost” Recap)

I guess in the end I was about 75% wrong about this episode – while the computer screen gimmick was overwhelming at times (but in fairness at other times it played quite well with the story), the story itself was very, very good and more than made up for those moments. It wasn't quite as much of a “better than I had any right to expect” episode as the wedding episode(s) were last year but it wasn't far off.

Now, on to Alex:

"I'm In A Worn Out Nervous Condition Over You" (First Impressions - "Closet? You'll Love It!" Season 6, Episode 17)

The press release for this episode finally showed up on SpoilerTV today.  To say that I was not thrilled when I read it is a serious understatement.

“No Disappointments. No Expectations On Your Whereabouts.” (“Fight Or Flight” Recap)

I guess I have to work after all. <sarc>Poor baby</sarc>.

"It's Been One Week..."*

...since the first Alex-less episode of the season reared its head - now we just have to wait and see if #2 follows on its heels tonight ("Fight Or Flight").  Sadly, my guess is it probably will.

“Don't You Leave Me Brokenhearted Tonight”

Well, it's not like we didn't see it coming...

OK, this isn't an actual recap column, since with no Alex there's nothing really to recap (unless you count the line about her still needing lunch money). There was a small glimmer of hope when they started the episode in daylight we might briefly see her (or Haley, Luke and Lily who also had the episode off) but once they quickly went to nighttime it was pretty much game over.

Unfortunately save for the inevitable catfight and Phil's sweet words to Claire on their front lawn, the rest of the episode fell too flat to make up for it.

And the prospect of the double whammy with another potential Alex-less episode next week is very much in play. I guess the one thing that really bothers me about this is they're doing this during February sweeps – way to show confidence in your kids, Modern Family Powers That Be.

And up here we've got more snow on the way this weekend – oh, joy (and I've always been a snow lover until now).

"Mr. Telephone Man, There's Something Wrong With My Line" (First Impressions - "Connection Lost" - Season 6, Episode 16)

Fortunately, it looks like SpoilerTV got Modern Family's press release for "Connection Lost" late and added it after posting the rest of the releases, so we don't have to go too far into the post to find it this time.

"Meme"-ories

I wish I had remembered about this last week when recapping last week's episode, but about a year ago I created a meme about Alex on USA Network's Modern Family website which seems rather fitting now, considering how Alex chose to practice her college interview (fortunately USA actually made a Tweet out of it):

#MemeMonday: Can you top Joe D.'s #MOFY meme with the brilliant @arielwinter1? Make your own: http://t.co/HX3Ky462zH pic.twitter.com/kYnxt4vaZt
— Modern Family Nation (@MOFYNation) March 31, 2014

Anyway if you've never seen their meme generator you can go here to check it out (it's been awhile since anyone's made one) and some of my other Alex memes (hint: I'm the one who's done most of the Alex ones, although I have done a couple for some of the other characters).

“So Much For My Happy Ending” (“Rash Decisions” Recap)

Remember that panic button I mentioned a few months ago?

EEEP! EEEP! EEEP! EEEP! EEEP!

Upside/Down(side) - "Rash Decisions"

Honestly, while there are upsides and downsides to tonight's episode, I'm not optimistic about the chances of the upsides panning out.  The fact that Alex's story about being interviewed for a college admission didn't even rate a mention in ABC's press release or even the promo commercial probably speaks volumes.

But, just in case, and because I still want to keep one sliver of hope open given the dreary prospects for the two episodes to follow:

"When Will I See You Again?" (First Impressions - "Fight Or Flight" - Season 6, Episode 15)

Here's the press release.

Could we be looking at back-to-back Alex-less episodes? The odds would be against it, but maybe.

"I Remember What It Felt Like. Just A Small Town Kind Of Life. If I Could Only Just Go Back In Time. 17."

Well, unlike Alex, there's no question as to Ariel Winter's birthdate.  And, since it's today...

Happy 17th Birthday, Ariel!

"Oh, Did I Miss Again?" (First Impressions - "Valentine's Day 4: Twisted Sister" - Season 6, Episode 14)

Unfortunately, I was completely off base with my hopes for this episode - the "twisted sister" in this episode is neither Alex or Haley, but instead Gloria's crazy sister (from "Fulgencio").  OK, maybe Alex not being a "twisted" sister (yet?) isn't totally a bad thing but it's still yet another disappointment given the title's potential.

"Disappointment Was My Closest Friend" (First Impressions - "Rash Decisions" - Season 6, Episode 13)

SpoilerTV's episode database confirmed this is the next episode coming up, but there's no copy of the press release on that site yet, but I found it at another site (broadwayworld.com)

"Now We're Getting Somewhere"

Two separate news reports (Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter) have come out with a major detail about the next new episode (February 4th): there will be a guest star (Aya Cash) playing the role of a college interviewer who will be interviewing Alex.

No word which of the five known upcoming episodes this will be (we can't assume it's "Closet? You'll Love It!" because there have already been several switches this season) - presumably we'll know when ABC issues a press release (hopefully in a day or two).

So that's at least one big story for Alex in the sweeps period.  Hopefully there's more to come?

“Livin' On A Prayer” (Second Quarter Review)

To put it mildly, it's been trying times for Alex these past few weeks.

“Mental Hopscotch” (Happy Birthday, Alex?)

Today, January 17th, may or may not be Alex's 17th birthday. I'm far from 100% sure of this – it might have been last Saturday, or another Saturday.

“I Don't Want To Sail With This Ship Of Fools” (“The Big Guns” Recap)

What a difference a year makes – last year at this time we were wondering just how good “Under Pressure” would be (I think I finally found my socks that got knocked off by it around mid-summer).

Last night the best we could hope for was an improvement over last week's stink bomb. Obviously that was a pretty low bar, and we could only go up from there, right? Right?

“Could It Be All That Hard To Bear?” (“The Day We Almost Died” Recap)

In this case, to answer the above line snippet from another Hall & Oates song (“Wait For Me”), yes, it can.

How bad was this episode?

Upside Down(side) - "The Day We Almost Died"

There doesn't appear to be any one big upside this week, but there a couple of little ones.  There also are a few possible downsides which might not be as small.

"Tell Me Doctor, Where Are We Going This Time?"

So it's 2015, but we're still waiting on hoverboards and self-drying clothes (those will probably still come along much sooner than a Cubs World Series win).  And I'm still waiting for this nasty head/chest cold that I got for New Year's Day to break (I'm not holding my breath on that either, except to keep from coughing my brains out) - I'm just barely lucid enough from all the drowsy medicine (not grape-flavored, sadly) to crank out one quarter-decent blog post.   Fair word of warning:  if my recap of Wednesday's new episode is more incoherent than usual, you'll know why.

Anyway, one little piece of news: Tomorrow's USA Network Modern Family marathon is actually intriguing - three of my top five episodes air ("Come Fly With Me" at 7:30, "See You Next Fall" at 8:00, and "Under Pressure" at 10:00), along with the heartbreaking "Strangers On A Treadmill" kicking things off at 7:00.  It's not a true Alex marathon but it has more of her episodes than the one time they did do a marathon for her back in April.

And with that I'm off to bed, again.