"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.