The Old Man & the Tree

"The Old Man & the Tree"
Modern Family episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 10
Directed by	Bryan Cranston
Written by	Paul Corrigan Brad Walsh
Production code	5ARG10
Original air date	December 11, 2013
Guest appearance(s)
Elizabeth Peña (Pilar) Reid Ewing (Dylan) Rachel Andersen (Cindy) Charley Koontz (Santa) Matthew Risch (Jotham)
Season 5 episodes
Episode chronology

"The Old Man & the Tree" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 106th overall. It was aired on December 11, 2013. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh and directed by Bryan Cranston.

This is the second episode directed by Cranston, with the first being the episode "Election Day". The episode also features Elizabeth Peña's second appearance as Gloria's (Sofía Vergara) mom, Pilar.

Plot

Gloria's (Sofía Vergara) mom Pilar (Elizabeth Peña) comes for Christmas visit and she drives Gloria crazy. Gloria wants to have some time away from her, so she calls Claire (Julie Bowen) to pass by and be with Pilar. Claire who thinks she will baby sit Joe goes but at the end the two of them, Claire and Pilar, get along, and seeing the two women bonding makes Gloria jealous. Gloria tries to "win back" her mom, and she ends up fighting with Claire who also admits that she is jealous of her because her mom comes all the way from Colombia just to spend the holidays with her when her mom does not even take the bus (three hours away) for her and she instead sends her a pair of slippers as a gift every year since she was eight.

Jay (Ed O'Neill) takes Manny (Rico Rodriguez) to cut down their Christmas tree since Jay believes that the Christmas tree should be a real one and not fake. After searching for a while, Jay finally finds the "perfect" tree but it is not that easy to cut it down. First the axe breaks and then the saw stacks, so they decide to tie it in the car and pull it. Their attempts fail one after another but at the end, they manage to get the tree with the most unexpected way.

Haley (Sarah Hyland) and Alex (Ariel Winter) take a job at the mall as the elf and the wife of the Santa (Charley Koontz) respectively, but things do not go really well when the Santa decides to take a break but never comes back. Kids go crazy asking for Santa, and the two girls end up locked in the little Santa house to protect themselves.

Phil (Ty Burrell) tries to achieve his goal of the year. Last Christmas, he said that he would walk the equivalent of the length to Canada on his elliptical machine, otherwise he will banish the machine to the garage. Luke (Nolan Gould) enters the bedroom, and he tells him that there is no way to make it, but he changes his tone when Phil tells him that if he fails, he will take the machine to the garage. Luke is assigned to take the recycling out to the curb, but he missed few weeks, so he has been taking the recycling to the garage. In his attempt to earn some time to get rid of it, he tries to convince Phil that he can reach his goal and he asks for Dylan's (Reid Ewing) help to transfer the recycling.

Meanwhile, Mitchel (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) has to do some last minute shopping since he and Cam (Eric Stonestreet) did not get Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) the right present plus the "no gift" invitation from their friend Pepper for his Christmas party turns out to be a "12 gift" invitation. While Mitch tries to shop, Cam and Lily go to a charity event where Cam misinterprets the reason of the event.

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "The Old Man & the Tree" was watched by 10.61 million; up 1.14 from the previous episode.^[1]

Reviews

This episode received positive reviews.

Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A rating saying that the episode was a "Christmas-themed miracle". "It’s no secret Modern Family isn’t having its best year, and while the show remains a pleasant enough diversion, it has gradually lowered expectations of it over the last season or two. What a surprise, then, that “The Old Man & The Tree” is the nimblest, most elegantly structured episode all year, and easily the best Christmas show Modern Family has ever done."^[2]

Jordan Adler from We Got This Covered gave a good review praising the writers Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh. "Corrigan and Walsh do something terrific and unexpected: they give every character something interesting to do. Moreover, they deal with the hurried feel of this latest season by bringing all of these stories together and pushing the urgency of the date – the day before Christmas – as a way to get characters (and the jokes) moving at a more natural quickness."^[3]

Leigh Raines from TV Fanatic rated the episode with 4.5/5. "Everyone knows that the holidays can be a stressful time, full of last minute shopping and family feuds. Modern Family Season 5 Episode 10 was no exception to this rule, but the Dunphy-Pritchitt clan knows how to make it funny!"^[4]

References

↑ Bibel, Sara (December 12, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'The Middle' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers.
↑ Alston, Joshua (December 11, 2013). "The Old Man & the Tree". The A.V. Club.
↑ Adler, Jordan (December 12, 2013). "Modern Family Review: "The Old Man & The Tree" (Season 5, Episode 10)". We Got This Covered.
↑ Raines, Leigh (December 12, 2013). "Modern Family Review: Canadian Christmas". TV Fanatic.

Modern Family

Episodes

Season 1	"Pilot" "The Bicycle Thief" "Come Fly with Me" "The Incident" "Coal Digger" "Run for Your Wife" "En Garde" "Great Expectations" "Fizbo" "Undeck the Halls" "Up All Night" "Not in My House" "Fifteen Percent" "Moon Landing" "My Funky Valentine" "Fears" "Truth Be Told" "Starry Night" "Game Changer" "Benched" "Travels with Scout" "Airport 2010" "Hawaii" "Family Portrait"

Season 2	"The Old Wagon" "The Kiss" "Earthquake" "Strangers on a Treadmill" "Unplugged" "Halloween" "Chirp" "Manny Get Your Gun" "Mother Tucker" "Dance Dance Revelation" "Slow Down Your Neighbors" "Our Children, Ourselves" "Caught in the Act" "Bixby's Back" "Princess Party" "Regrets Only" "Two Monkeys and a Panda" "Boys' Night" "The Musical Man" "Someone to Watch Over Lily" "Mother's Day" "Good Cop Bad Dog" "See You Next Fall" "The One That Got Away"

Season 3	"Dude Ranch" "When Good Kids Go Bad" "Phil on Wire" "Door to Door" "Hit and Run" "Go Bullfrogs!" "Treehouse" "After the Fire" "Punkin Chunkin" "Express Christmas" "Lifetime Supply" "Egg Drop" "Little Bo Bleep" "Me? Jealous?" "Aunt Mommy" "Virgin Territory" "Leap Day" "Send Out the Clowns" "Election Day" "The Last Walt" "Planes, Trains and Cars" "Disneyland" "Tableau Vivant" "Baby on Board"

Season 4	"Bringing Up Baby" "Schooled" "Snip" "The Butler's Escape" "Open House of Horrors" "Yard Sale" "Arrested" "Mistery Date" "When a Tree Falls" "Diamond in the Rough" "New Year's Eve" "Party Crasher" "Fulgencio" "A Slight at the Opera" "Heart Broken" "Bad Hair Day" "Best Men" "The Wow Factor" "The Future Dunphys" "Flip Flop" "Career Day" "My Hero" "Games People Play" "Goodnight Gracie"

Season 5	"Suddenly, Last Summer" "First Days" "Larry's Wife" "Farm Strong" "The Late Show" "The Help" "A Fair to Remember" "ClosetCon '13" "The Big Game" "The Old Man & the Tree" "And One to Grow On" "Under Pressure" "Three Dinners" "iSpy" "The Feud" "Spring-a-Ding-Fling" "Other People's Children" "Las Vegas" "A Hard Jay's Night" "Australia" "Sleeper" "Message Received" "The Wedding (Part 1)" "The Wedding (Part 2)"

Season 6	"The Long Honeymoon" "Do Not Push" "The Cold" "Marco Polo" "Won't You Be Our Neighbor" "Halloween 3: AwesomeLand" "Queer Eyes, Full Hearts" "Three Turkeys" "Strangers in the Night" "Haley's 21st Birthday" "The Day We Almost Died" "The Big Guns" "Rash Decisions" "Valentine's Day 4: Twisted Sister" "Fight or Flight" "Connection Lost" "Closet? You'll Love It!" "Spring Break" "Grill, Interrupted" "Knock 'Em Down" "Integrity" "Patriot Games" "Crying Out Loud" "American Skyper"

Season 7	"Summer Lovin'" "The Day Alex Left for College" "The Closet Case" "She Crazy" "The Verdict" "The More You Ignore Me" "Phil's Sexy, Sexy House" "Clean Out Your Junk Drawer" "White Christmas" "Playdates" "Spread Your Wings" "Clean for a Day" "Thunk in the Trunk" "The Storm" "I Don't Know How She Does It" "The Cover-Up" "Express Yourself" "The Party" "Man Shouldn't Lie" "Promposal" "Crazy Train" "Double Click"

Season 8	"A Tale of Three Cities" "A Stereotypical Day" "Blindsided" "Weathering Heights" "Halloween IV : Revenge of Rod Skyhook " "Grab It" "Thanksgiving Jamboree" "The Alliance" "Snow Ball"

Adaptations

Familia moderna
Haft Sang

Category

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