Australia (Modern Family)

Plot

The Dunphy-Pritchett clan heads to Australia, a country with personal significance for Phil. He was conceived there, and his great-grandfather also hailed from the country, so he hopes the trip will help him feel closer to his late mother and his roots. To explore, Phil hires a local guide. However, Jay and Claire spend most of the vacation making excuses to slip away from the group.

They are focused on a work project they believe will help them beat the rival company, Closets Closets Closets Closets, in an upcoming competition. Their constant disappearing act frustrates both Phil and Gloria. Left to their own devices, Gloria and Phil attempt to enjoy the sights, but a string of mishaps makes Gloria question whether she can keep Phil out of harm's way. He gets stung by a jellyfish, bitten by mosquitoes, suffers an allergic reaction to a vegemite sandwich, and gets punched in the face by a kangaroo.

Feeling defeated, Phil thinks the country has rejected him, until a local man shows him his own collection of scars and explains that Australia is friendly to visitors but harsh on its own residents. Meanwhile, Haley turns down a handsome surfer who hits on her. She reasons that Australia’s main export must be attractive surfers, so she cannot simply settle for the first one she meets. She applies the same logic when Lily is given money by her dads to buy just one souvenir.

Haley, Lily, and Alex then spend the entire day browsing souvenirs, searching for the perfect single item. Luke and Manny, convinced that Bondi Beach is a nudist beach, are eager to go there to see topless women. They spot one, and Luke dashes into the water to talk to her. A powerful wave pulls him under and causes him to lose his swim trunks.

The woman notices something is wrong and, upon learning what happened, offers to help him find his trunks, noting that the clear water should make the search easy. This offer sends Luke into a panic.

Reception

In the U.S., the episode "Australia" drew 9.59 million viewers, an increase of 0.59 million from the prior episode. When it aired on Australia's Network Ten, it pulled in 1.05 million viewers, competing against the highly rated TV Week Logies and My Kitchen Rules, and became one of the network's biggest audiences of the year. A 30-minute special, "An Aussie Adventure," featuring behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews, preceded the Australian broadcast and ranked sixth for the night.

Critical reception was split. Leigh Raines of TV Fanatic gave it a perfect 5/5, calling it an incredible episode to film. Madina Papadopoulos of Paste Magazine scored it 5.4/10, finding it lacking in humor and overloaded with six storylines instead of the ideal three. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club assigned a C−, noting the script was quietly elegant but not a structural marvel, and unfavorably compared it to the "Las Vegas" episode, which he considered a classic.

Jordan Adler of We Got This Covered offered a mixed review, arguing that too many plotlines made the episode rushed and randomly plotted, relying on situational jokes rather than character-driven humor.