“Hoping That The Answer Will Come Down”

When yesterday started, I was pretty much expecting this pre-show post for tonight's “A Sketchy Area” to be full of doom and gloom, with the main talking point being how big a chance it would be that it would be the first Alex-less episode of the season¹.

And then this happened:

Not knowing what life after graduation will be like is normal, but we're not sure if Gloria is on the same page. #ModernFamily pic.twitter.com/wxsM9GQ16x

— Modern Family (@ModernFam) October 10, 2018

I don't blame Gloria for being confused – I might have thought the same thing if Alex had told me she was thinking about becoming a “fellow” - apparently that was shorthand for “acadenic fellowship” (according to this article about this sneak preview).

So there is something for Alex this week after all – but just how much?

Anticipation Level: Medium. Enough for me to be intrigued by tonight's episode, but my instinct is to not get too carried away – I'm guessing she's more likely to be just an aside in a story about Joe's first day in first grade and how he has to cope with it (based off this scene, I'm not sure Alex is the right person to ask – and now I wonder how well she could help Lily to cope with whatever her issues might be with being smart).  But it's still better than not being around at all.

Emotional Moment Potential: Low to Medium. Obviously we've already seen some emotion from Alex.  How high this ends up being depends on how much more we see of her tonight – if she's an integral part of the story we'll probably see more of stressed-out Alex.

Game Changing Potential: Low. I'd go higher here, but for now given that we know she'll be gunning for a high security government job later this season I'm guessing she's not going to try for a fellowship for the time being.

Are There Any Other Questions? How much of Alex's comments about first grade is from personal experience, and how much was her projecting her current day stress?  Again, maybe we'll find out later.

I guess that's all I've got for now – I'll see you guys tonight for the rest of the story.
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¹ It was going to be at least “Very High”, if not more – I figured about a 25% chance, and even that was going to be conservative.