“At Least I Can Say That I Tried” (“Good Grief” Recap)

This morning I wondered why they'd do the death episode for Halloween.   After seeing it, I still wonder why.  Light-hearted comedy and sad stories don't mix too well – they tried too hard to be both.  I think this really should have been a stand-alone episode.

Alex's story was just as oddly toned as everyone else's.  I did not expect her to be the most emotional of the three Dunphy kids over DeDe's death (but, truth be told, even she wasn't “cry her eyes out” emotional).  The only thing I could think of is after her other grandmother (Phil's mother), with whom she had a very close relationship, passed away, the sadness never really went away, leaving Alex feeling worse now that both of her grandmothers were gone.

I'm guessing that's why she also changed out of her Ruth Bader Ginsburg Halloween costume to regular clothing.

And then her reaction took a sudden 180 as, while Bill was consoling her, she decided that now was a good time to make love to him.  Weird, but, come to think of it, remember their relationship started due to a near tragedy so maybe that is what Alex needs for a relationship to work (yes in more ways than one that's a scary thought).

And while the show kept going back and forth between funny and sad, you can probably guess which way I'm going with Alex's best line, from when Bill was consoling her:

Alex's Line Of The Night: ”It''s not just hard for you. My brother can't stop cracking jokes, my sister is eating like a bear about to hibernate, and, meanwhile, I'm just sitting here thinking, wow, you're here one second then, poof, you're not.”  Maybe that's what caused her sudden change in reaction.

I thought I'd have a lot more to say tonight, but this episode left me too bewildered. Maybe later?