Modern Family Episode 3.17 Leap Day

Phil Dunphy loves leap day. He lives to do something extraordinary during those extra 24 hours that come around every four years. This time the Dunphy family and Manny are going to fly high on a trapeze. A full day of family fun is threatened when the guys realize that it's that time of the month for Claire, Haley and Alex. Phil calls this phenomenon Satan's trifecta. He says, "The day I most dreaded had fallen on the day I most love."

Phil, Luke and Manny conspire to ditch the women so they can trapeze in peace. The plan backfires. Manny decides to head home, but Phil won't go quietly into the night. He wants Luke to pour some fake blood on his finger so they can make a fake trip to the doctor's office. Too bad Luke spills the entire bottle all over his body. The jig is up. The ladies know what they are doing and why.

Gloria gets into a shouting match with a fellow soccer fan at a sports bar. Jay settles the beef by offering to buy the other guy a beer. Just like that, all is calm. Later, Jay gets the sense that Gloria wanted him to fight that other fellow. She doesn't exactly deny this. But after Javier disappoints Manny again, Gloria realizes how lucky she is to be married to a calm man like Jay.

Cameron is 10 years old. Okay, he's actually 40, but opts to stick with the literal benefits of being a leap day baby. Mitchell has a plan to fulfill his partner's high expectations for a grand celebration. He's putting together a Wizard of Oz-themed party. There will be a scarecrow, tin man, cowardly lion and at least two flying monkeys. Sounds like a great party until Mitchell remembers that Cam's family farm was recently devastated by a twister. Time to roll up the yellow brick road and come up with a Plan B.Mitchell makes some last-minute arrangements to have a party on a yacht. The entire family meets up at the dock where it smells like a blue whale has just died nearby, but that's only because a blue whale has just died nearby. Things go from bad to worse when the captain of the boat says there isn't enough room to accommodate the entire party. Then Cameron learns that Mitchell slapped this party together last minute.

Jay wants to fight the boat captain to prove he's still a tough guy. Cameron is nursing some major leap day disappointment. And Phil looks like he'd like to trade places with that dead whale instead of having to deal with the three most important highly-emotional ladies in his life. All he wanted to do was have some fun at the carnival just down the road.

Mitchell realizes the reason Cameron has been so emotional lately is because he's having trouble with the fact that he's turning 40. What he really wants is to be 10 again. That's why the entire family heads down to that carnival for the best last-minute leap day ever. Phil even gets to go on the trapeze after Claire, Haley and Alex force the attendant make an exception to the cutoff time rule he tried to enforce. You don't want to mess with the Dunphy women on leap day.