“And Then He Walked Out” (Quick Takes On “The Last Halloween”)

Well, I was right this time.  Why it only seems to happen when it's about something bad is one of life's little mysteries.

One reason why I am going to wait until tomorrow night or Friday to post a full recap is I'm not really sure how unhappy I am with Bill for breaking up with Alex.  Yes, she made a mistake, but I thought he loved her enough to be more forgiving than he turned out to be.   And it was at least partly his fault those photos ended up with Creepy Craig.

Assuming this is the end (of course things could change like with Sanjay, but I wouldn't bet on it), I hope Luke is right and that Alex does find someone more in her league.   It was a sweet touch for them to support each other.

That's it for now – I'm more numb than depressed at the moment (maybe because Alex wasn't nearly as emotional as I thought she'd be?) but I feel like at some point sadness is going to hit me.

“Because Of You, I Am Afraid”

OK, that's a bit of a stretch because that lyric's song is definitely not a Halloween song, but it does have the word “afraid” in it, so, let's call it “good enough for government work” and move on to more important things.

That is, if ABC lets us – as of now “The Last Halloween” is still on for tonight, but, with the World Series going to Game 7 tonight, there is a chance the network makes a late decision to substitute reruns tonight.  And unless that happens in the next couple of hours, I may not find out about it until I try watching the recording of it when I get home from work tonight.

Now, two years ago (the last time there was a Game 7), ABC made no changes (even though at least one of the other networks did).  But that doesn't mean that things will stay the same this year (two years ago the ratings for Modern Family were two-tenths lower for the corresponding episode than the ones that aired before and after it, and that might factor into their decision).

But, for now, let's go with the premise that we will see tonight's scheduled episode as planned, which includes the season debut of Bill.  But will it also be the last we see of Bill?

"And You Light My Morning Sky With Burning Love" (Potential Spoiler Alert)

I know I'm late getting to this, but Ariel was on Ellen last Thursday (somebody I've never heard of was guest hosting), and while the interview itself didn't shed any new light about Alex, the clip they showed just before she came onto the set did give us a quick peek at what might happen between Alex and Bill this coming Wednesday (sorry but the linked video doesn't show that clip so I'll just have to describe it to you, after the page jump in case you don't want a potential spoiler).

"Fancy Poultry Parts Sold Here" (First Impressions - "A Game of Chicken" - Season 11, Episode 6)

The press release and promo photos for the November 6th episode are now available.  There will not be an episode the following week due to the annual Country Music Association awards show.

There is zero sign of Alex in any of this, and I have a feeling that unless something pops up showing otherwise, she probably won't be in this episode at all.   I hope I'm wrong about this, but I probably won't be.

"I Want Candy" ("The Last Halloween" Update)

ABC has posted an updated press release for this episode, and, I'll just let it speak for itself:

“I Can Program A Computer(?), Choose The Perfect Time” (“Pool Party” Recap)

So, I guess tonight is the beginning of Alex's new career¹?  I wish we knew more about what that corporate offer entailed – I have no idea whether she should accept it or not.

(Although, given the reinforcement we saw tonight of how miserable she really was in Antarctica, I probably would lean towards yes.)

“Swimming, Swimming In Blue”

When I thought that there was about a 50/50 chance that Alex might not even appear in tonight's episode (“Pool Party”), I really wasn't looking forward to it.   Does the fact that she will show up change things?

"But Giving Up The Ghost Would Feel So Good" (First Impressions - "The Last Halloween" - Season 11, Episode 5)

There's no mention of Alex in this episode's synopsis (it's not even called a press release - e.g. no listing of any guest stars), but she does appear in some of the promo photos (no hint of a Halloween costume though) in the above link (including one which appears to be a private camera scene), so hopefully there will be a little something for her.

Getting back to this week, Alex does appear in this promo for tomorrow night's episode, so we should be spared an Alex-less episode (before I saw this I thought the chance would be very high):

It's all about confidence! Join us for a pool party on #ModernFamily this Wednesday! pic.twitter.com/1yNtyIulFM

— Modern Family (@ModernFam) October 15, 2019

More about that in the morning. 

“Take My License, All That Jive“ (“Perfect Pairs” Recap)

Just a couple of quick thoughts about this one.

One reason why I thought Alex was going to use the twins to stir up things with Bill was because I wasn't sure how they could get from Point A to Point B with the other scenario, where she uses them to move her professional life forward.

I guess they found a way after all.

“It Takes Two To Make A Thing Go Right”

Two quick things before previewing tonight's “Perfect Pairs”:

If you haven't yet seen last week's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, do so, like yesterday.  I'll probably say more over the weekend¹, but for now I'll just let my tweet from shortly after the episode aired do my talking:

For almost six years now, I've felt that @arielwinter1 had A-List talent and potential. After her incredible performance playing an imperfect but sympathetic victim on tonight's L&O SVU, I'm tripling down on those thoughts. WOW! #SVU21

— Joe D. (@noahproblem) October 4, 2019

And the first Modern Family rerun of the season will be upon us in a hurry – there is no new episode two weeks from tonight (the opener re-airs).  Presumably the Halloween episode will follow on October 30th.

And with that out of the way, let's get to tonight.  For the first time this season, we have some idea what Alex will be doing ahead of time – like the rest of the Dunphys, she'll be dealing with Haley's twins, looking for a way to use them to cross off something off her “to-do” list.  We just don't know what that is yet.

“Mmmmmm, If I Could Melt Your Heart” (“Snapped” Recap)

I don't know if anyone else here was worried, but when Claire'\s interviewer mentioned that Alex was (still) in Antarctica, I was beginning to think that we wouldn't see Alex after all tonight.¹  So, yes, there was a sigh of relief when she showed up at the start of the second act.   As it turned out, that scene I found in that Instagram post wasn't from tonight's episode (maybe next week?).

“Get Out (Leave)”

I can't think of a lot to say about tonight's “Snapped”, except for one question.