ABC’s hit sitcom Modern Family is reaching the end. With season 10 recently coming to a close, the producers have announced that the next season will be the last for this lovable family. Many of us did think that the recently-completed season 10 was going to be the last, so the news that we’re getting one more year is exciting.
Centered around patriarch Jay Pritchett and his children, Claire and Mitchell, Modern Family is known for its hilarious portrayal of the realities of a blended, unconventional family. The Pritchett and Dunphy clan have been filling our hearts with all of the laughter, emotions, and feels for the last 10 years now, and it’s going to be hard to say goodbye. We’ve watched them go through milestones, from weddings to babies and even deaths. Through heartbreaks, happiness, and everything in between, we feel like we’ve grown alongside the characters on the show. It’s going to be bittersweet to see everything get wrapped up.
After season 10’s emotional finale that featured the birth of Haley and Dylan’s twins and a hilarious callback to the Lion King-inspired baby announcement from the pilot episode, we’re wondering what’s going to happen next. The cast and crew have stayed pretty tight-lipped about any plans. So, we’ve put together some of the things we think need to happen to give all of us fans the closure we deserve. Take a look at our predictions (and wishes) for the final season.
10. PHIL’S MAGIC SHOP IS A SUCCESS
If there’s one thing Phil Dunphy loves as much as selling houses, it’s magic tricks. He’s already enjoying a successful real estate career and a new position teaching real estate classes at Luke’s school. But he also has his magic shop that he’s running. The magic shop came about in season 9, episode 6, “Ten Years Later,” when Claire buys it for Phil because she felt bad about getting in the way of his magic career a long time ago. He’s basically living his own dreams. It would be nice to see the magic shop really take off to the point where he now has to hire some more staff and is making some extra cash with it. Maybe he could even expand and build his own magical empire. He’s always wanted to have a job in the magic industry, so why not now?
9. MITCH AND CAM ADOPT ANOTHER BABY
Mitch and Cam make great, loving parents. Despite the fact that a running gag includes the idea that Lily is always forgotten. They’ve been floating around the idea of adopting another baby for many seasons now, but it seems to get shot down every time. They were taking care of Cam’s sister’s son, Cal, for a while, and they seemed to really enjoy the two kids thing. We think it’s time that these two go through with it and adopt another child to round out their little family. With the birth of Haley and Dylan’s twins, baby fever is bound to strike them both anyway.
8. JAY ACTUALLY RETIRES
If there’s one thing that’s ingrained in Jay’s blood, it’s business. Even when he let go of control of his company and Claire took over, he was still there all the time. The merger with the young, hip company showed that he’s still behind the times and he’s still latching on to the glory days. After all of this, he decided to start his own dog bed business.
In between, there was the parking lot investment with Phil. This guy just can’t sit back and enjoy life in his senior years. It’s time for him to take a break, pull up a lawn chair, relax, and enjoy his retirement. He’d also get to spend some extra time with Gloria and Joe, which would likely result in some hilarious situations.
7. MANNY FINDS THE ONE
Poor Manny is constantly in and out of relationships, and he’s one of those guys that falls hard every time. At the end of season 10, we saw him propose to his girlfriend and proceed to have his heart absolutely crushed in front of his entire family. Will he ever find love? Manny is one of the characters that has been criticized by fans in recent seasons. Some think he has become overly annoying and even creepy at times. So, giving him a long-lasting love could help him disappear for a bit or at least lighten up. We’re already sick of how sad he is and we’ve only seen it in one episode. Let’s hope he finds love and moves on.
6. ONE FINAL HUGE HALLOWEEN EPISODE
If there’s one thing any fan knows about the Dunphys, it’s that they love Halloween. Of course, the last Halloween episode was a little rocked with DeDe’s death. That was a big shocker that disrupted the fun. Maybe this year it’ll be mostly fun and games. In the recent Halloween episodes, we’ve seen the kids become more reluctant to participate.
However, now we’ve got two new babies to dress up. As many of us know, kids can be a game changer for Halloween. All we know is that this is going to be the final time we see everyone in their over the top Halloween costumes, so they’d better go big one last time.
5. HALEY AND DYLAN AS PARENTS
Okay, so we know that this is going to happen during the next season since the twins are officially born. But we are so excited to see how Haley and Dylan are going to tackle parenthood. We don’t know how they’re going to handle it, but we do know one thing – they won’t be doing it alone. If there’s one thing about this family, it’s that they are always there for one another. Another thing we don’t know is the twins’ official names. The finale episode saw Claire revealing that she refused to have grandchildren whose names are Pixar and Coachella. But we never got the actual names as the episode ended with Haley still recovering in the hospital. So, we can’t wait to see what those official names are, and we hope for Claire’s sake they don’t stick to Pixar and Coachella.
4. ALEX MAKES GETS A BIG TIME JOB
Of course, Alex is destined for greatness. Now that she’s graduated from college, she’s ready to take on the world. She’s a little nervous, as we saw this season, but they’ve built her up to do some great things.
Her brains have always been her biggest selling feature on the show, so we’d love to see that follow through. We would love to see her make some kind of scientific breakthrough and get a job offer from some big organization like NASA or a prestigious university lab.
3. PHIL AND CLAIRE TAKE THEIR TRIP TO ITALY
Just before Haley’s bombshell pregnancy news dropped, Phil and Claire were dreaming about and prepping for a romantic cycling trip to Italy. However, they call it off because things are hitting the fan at home. Dylan’s mom shows up to stay with them. Then they find out Dylan has custody of two ex-step kids once a month. So, out of fear of what would happen if they leave all of this, they decide it’s not their time to go. These two parents are constantly making sacrifices for their children, and of course, that’s what parents do. But they deserve their own time now. All of their children are adults now and are moving on with their lives. It’s time that Phil and Claire do the same. Let’s get them on that trip they so badly deserve.
2. MITCH AND CAM MAKE A DECISION ABOUT LEAVING CALIFORNIA
During the last season, Mitch and Cam had a rift about the fact that Mitch had once promised that someday the family would move back to Cam’s hometown in Missouri. It seems as though Mitch once promised that they’d do so and just expected Cam to forget about it. Well, Cam doesn’t exactly forget these things. He doesn’t think Mitch is ever going to be suited for the country lifestyle and is upset it’ll never happen. Mitch does have a change of heart and agrees to revisit the topic later. Well, there’s one season left. So, it’s time to revisit the topic. Where will they choose to go, and when?
1. GLORIA AND JAY GO BACK TO VISIT GLORIA’S FAMILY IN COLOMBIA
Ed O’Neill, who plays Jay, recently appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show, where he stated that in the show’s final season, “I think we may go on a trip. We may go to Colombia.” It would be great to see the shenanigans that the family gets up to when they head to Gloria’s hometown. Jay would be completely out of his element. He hasn’t really made any effort to learn some Spanish despite being married to Gloria for 10 years now. We’d also finally get to meet some of the crazy people that are always involved in Gloria’s stories from her past, like her brothers. We’d fully support this hilarious family vacation.
