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"Connection Lost" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 136th episode overall. It originally aired on February 25, 2015. The episode was written by Steven Levitan & Megan Ganz, and directed by Steven Levitan.
| "Connection Lost" | |
|---|---|
| Modern Family episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 16 |
| Directed by | Steven Levitan |
| Written by | Steven Levitan Megan Ganz |
| Production code | 6ARG12 |
| Original air date | February 25, 2015 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
In the episode, Claire waits for her flight back home while trying to get in touch with Haley after a fight they had. Not being able to reach her, she asks everyone where she might be and a series of events and revelations lead her to believe that Haley is pregnant with Andy's baby and the two of them ran away to Las Vegas and got married.
"Connection Lost" breaks away from Modern Family's formula by presenting the entire episode through Claire's laptop screen as she uses FaceTime, iMessage and other social networking services to keep in touch with her family.[1] The episode received positive reviews from the critics, with many praising the original concept and humor.
The episode won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation at the 2015 ceremony.
While waiting for her flight at O'Hare airport, Claire (Julie Bowen) attempts to contact Haley (Sarah Hyland) after a fight. She FaceTimes Phil (Ty Burrell), who says that Haley slept over at a friend's house. Meanwhile, Alex (Ariel Winter) sends Claire drafts of her college essay, but Claire ignores them.
Claire FaceTimes Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) to wish him a happy birthday. Knowing Haley was babysitting Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) the previous night, she asks Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell if they know Haley's location, and they reveal she borrowed an old blue suit. Lily tells her that Dylan (Reid Ewing) was talking with Haley the previous night, surprising her since she was unaware that the two of them were still in touch.
Claire views Haley's Facebook page through a fake profile and panics upon seeing that Haley's relationship status is set to "Married". Claire panics, believing Haley has married Dylan. She calls him, which disproves her suspicions. Unable to reach Haley, Claire hacks her iCloud account to track her phone's GPS, much to Alex's disapproval. Using Google Maps, Claire sees that Haley's phone is near a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. Claire further panics, having no idea who Haley could have married.
When she learns Andy (Adam DeVine) has taken time off to go to Vegas for a wedding, Claire concludes Haley has secretly married him. A parcel containing the book What to Expect When You're Expecting arrives for Haley at the Dunphy household. Now fearing Haley is pregnant, Claire panics again and opens a slideshow of Haley's childhood pictures, making her emotional. Seeking advice, Claire FaceTimes Jay (Ed O'Neill) and apologizes for eloping when she was Haley's age. Jay reassures her that the situtation might not be a bad thing since it led her to have a loving family with a good husband.
Claire finally receives a call from Haley, who has just woken up in the Dunphy's household; she is neither pregnant nor married. She explains that the suit was for a friend who was getting married; she accidentally left her phone in Andy's car; her Facebook status was a joke about a "Cronut"; and the pregnancy book was for designing clothes for her boss's new fashion range. When Haley questions how her mother accessed her Facebook page and tracked her phone, Claire pretends to lose connection and ends the call before boarding her flight.
The original idea for the episode came from the producer of the show, Steven Levitan, while he was talking to one of his college-aged daughters on FaceTime.[2] The episode was also inspired in part by the 2013 short film Noah, which told the story of a teenager's breakup with his girlfriend entirely through the character's computer screen.[3]
The whole episode was filmed with Apple products and the post production took longer than usual, as editors and motion graphics producers had to merge the videos with visual effects to create the look of a computer screen that features as many as nine open windows.[4]
Originally, the whole episode was shot with crew members, just as a proof of concept.[2] During the shootings, the actors were supposed to hold the recording devices by themselves; however, to avoid recording the ceiling or other items that were not useful to the episode, the cameramen were holding the devices while the actors placed their hands next to the cameramen's hands so that it looked like a selfie.[4]
Ratings
In the United States, "Connection Lost" aired on February 25, 2015.[5] In its original American broadcast, the episode was watched by 9.32 million viewers and received a 3.4 rating among adults aged 18–49. It placed second in its time slot, behind Empire.[6] After factoring in seven-day [[Digital video recorder|DVR]] viewership, the episode gained 5 million viewers and 2.1 rating points, for a total of 14.3 million viewers and a 5.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic.[7]
Reviews
"Connection Lost" received positive reviews from television critics, with many praising the episode's originality, writing and humor even though some of them stated that it looked like an advertisement for Apple.[2]
Sandra Gonzalez of Mashable praised the episode's concept. "...In addition to the pure fun of the laptop-only framing device, it was used incredibly cleverly". Gonzalez also praised the writing by stating "Bonus points to the writers for the great attention to detail. Almost everything about Claire's digital world seemed fleshed out, down to the previous communications with her children".[8]
Gwen Ihnat of The A.V. Club awarded the episode a B, and labelled the episode as "A gimmicky but successful storytelling experiment" and "one of the most entertaining episodes in recent memory". Ihnat closed her review by stating "the technology did pull all of Modern Family together this episode, with primarily successful results".[9]
Ashley Bissette Sumerel of TV Fanatic rated the episode with 4.8/5 saying that it was one of the most brilliant episodes we had seen in a while. "This week's Modern Family tries something very experimental, and the results are fantastic!. [...] Overall, "Connection Lost" is another hilarious episode of Modern Family, but it's also very well done".[10]
Anick Jesdanun of The Detroit News gave a positive review to the episode saying that "The digital medium offered a fresh, clever way of storytelling — with jokes and plot twists not possible with the documentary-style approach that "Modern Family" typically uses". Jesdanun closed their review by claiming "The graphics were so realistic that I reached for my mouse once or twice to try to move a window — before remembering I was watching TV on my computer. I caught a lot more on repeat viewings".[11]
Bryan Bishop of The Verge also gave a positive review to the episode saying that it worked even if it felt like a half-hour Apple commercial. "...[the episode] takes place entirely on the screen of a character’s laptop — and while it’s a fun new riff on the sitcom's successful formula, it’s also one of the most glowing love letters to the Mac you'll see this side of an Apple keynote."[2]
Despite the positive reviews, Lisa Fernandes of Next Projection rated the episode with 6.5/10 saying that the episode could have been a lot worse but it could have been a lot better. "Bereft of the hope of actually telling interesting stories, Modern Family’s resorted to a gimmick episode- an entire story told via webcams, cell phones, mini-cams, Ipad homepages and other Netbook devices. What’s supposed to be a quirky and fun frankly feels strange and unwieldy."[12]
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