'Modern Family' Season Finale Recap: 'American Skyper'

Season 6 of the Emmy Award-winning series “Modern Family” came to an end yesterday, and the season finale closed several chapters for the characters. In the entire episode, titled “American Skyper,” Phil is seen through Skype on a tablet mounted on a robotic body. It’s Alex’s graduation, and the entire family has come out to support her while dealing with their own issues.

Phil has gone on a work trip to Seattle and come down with an ear infection. His doctor advised against flying back home because of the risk of a ruptured eardrum. Phil is stuck while his infection clears, so he is forced to attend Alex’s graduation via Skype. When the family returns home, Andy sets Phil up on a tablet with moving robotic wheels. This way, he can move around and mingle with the family as they celebrate Alex's graduation.

Claire Gets Validation From Alex

Claire wants to give Alex a meaningful graduation present, so she decides to make a keychain. The keychain is made from a picture taken of her and Alex on her first day of school. Unfortunately, before she gets a chance to give it to Alex, Mitch beats her to a punch. He gives her a lovely scrapbook filled with every note and photo he ever got from Alex.

Thinking of an alternative, Claire decides to give Alex a weekend trip nearby. Jay also upstages Claire’s idea by announcing that he’s giving Alex a trip to Europe as a graduation present. Now feeling desperate, Claire agrees to let Phil sing a song that he composed for Alex. Before they can perform, Gloria proposes a toast and makes the most touching speech. Claire feels upstaged once again and is out of ideas.

Alex approaches Claire and says she has a present for her mom. Claire is surprised, and Alex says that Claire is the last person who should be thinking of gifts for her because it was Claire who brought her to where she is. It was even Claire who pushed her to apply to Caltech. Alex tells her that she is where she is because of Claire, so she invites her mom to come to Europe with her.

Gloria’s Cousin Causes Trouble

Jay is complaining about Gloria’s cousin, who’s staying with them for a while. He says that Gloria's cousin is eating his food and drinking his booze but would not even lift a single finger to clean up. He calls her cousin a deadbeat, and Gloria is offended.

Jay feels that Gloria's cousin has worn out his welcome, especially when he finds a stash of what he believes is heroin hidden in a shelf. Gloria tells him that those are actually the ashes of her dead horse that she brought back from Colombia. She gets angry and tells Jay that he should stop being judgmental about her entire family.

After Gloria makes her speech thanking Alex for accepting her into the family, Jay feels guilty and apologizes to Gloria and her cousin. What he doesn’t know is that Gloria just caught her cousin stealing some of Jay’s cigars. Gloria pretends to accept Jay’s apology and never tells him what she saw. She ends up kicking her cousin out anyway. He leaves but not before stealing the tablet that Phil is using to communicate with the family.

Phil Figures Out Haley And Andy's True Feelings For Each Other

Andy’s girlfriend, Beth, is also in town visiting him. Haley likes Beth a lot, so she says she’s decided to move on from Andy. The two of them have become close in the past two seasons, but after meeting Beth, Haley has decided to give way.

After spending some time with Beth, Haley starts to feel uncomfortable and begins to suspect that Beth might not like her. She thinks Beth is dropping hints that hurt her because of her connection to Andy. No one else thinks this is true, so she speaks to her dad about it.

Incidentally, Andy had earlier confided in Phil about proposing to Beth. He said that one other girl is holding him back from proposing, but Phil encourages him to do it. After Haley talks to him about Beth, Phil figures out that Haley is in love with Andy and vice versa. Before he can do anything, Andy sets off with Beth with the intention to propose.

While attempting to stop Andy from leaving, Phil’s iPad, along with its robotic body, gets stolen by Gloria’s cousin. It remains to be seen if Andy manages to propose and leaves Haley heartbroken.

Cam Thinks Mitch Is Having An Affair

Mitch has been laid off from work after his company implemented some budget cuts. He’s embarrassed to tell Cam, so he’s been leaving for work every day in the past month even if he didn’t have an office to go to. He’s been ending up in the park and has made friends with a guy called Spencer. They have been playing checkers in the park while Mitch is waiting for job interviews to come in.

When Phil tells them that their offer to buy the apartment upstairs from their unit has been accepted, Mitch becomes more uncomfortable. He knows that without his regular job, they will struggle to pay for the place. He starts to act weird around Cam, and this makes Cam suspicious.

Cam investigates and sees some text messages from Spencer on Mitch’s phone. He confronts Mitch and accuses him of having an affair. Left with no choice, Mitch is forced to come clean. He tells Cam that he’s unemployed and that they should probably give up the apartment.

Cam is simply relieved that Mitch isn’t having an affair and takes the employment problem in stride. He assures Mitch that they can get through it, and the two of them reconcile. They agree to get the apartment and find a way to make it work.

That concludes Season 6 of ABC’s hit comedy series “Modern Family.” It remains to be seen if the show has done enough to win a record-breaking sixth consecutive Emmy Award for “Best Comedy Series.” "Modern Family" airs on ABC and returns next fall.