Modern Family welcomed the return of Elizabeth Banks as Sal, who looks to finally be on her way to settling down with her newfound husband – or is she?

Modern Family fans will know and remember Sal very well, having been an absolute party animal in the company of Mitchell and Cameron. She drank with them under the table, and dared the pair of them to try and pick up a woman at a bar in her first appearance on Modern Family. But since then, Sal has been unusually quiet, until now.

Sal returned to Modern Family to announce the news that she is getting married. This comes as a complete shock to Mitchell and Cameron, and at first they didn’t agree, but by the time the episode ended, Cameron had broken down in tears of happiness for Sal. It isn’t all quite that smooth though, with Sal panicking endlessly whether her new husband-to-be is the man to be by her side for the rest of her life. Sal tackles those fears by making out with a bartender on several occasions during the episode, only to realise that her vows make complete sense, and that this crazy lifestyle isn’t going to last forever. Sal looks upon Cameron and Mitchell’s relationship and vows that she will do everything she can to be that happy in her life, much to her husband’s pleasure.

[scrollGallery id=1186 autoScroll=false thumbsdown=true]

The real star of the episode though was probably Phil. Luke is a little bit too nervous to ask out a girl from his class, and Luke asks for a bit of dating help from Phil to get the ball rolling. Luke’s afraid that she’s way out his league and so Phil starts chatting to Simone on Facebook. After a few messages ping back and forth, Luke has got himself a date thanks to his Dad. But that isn’t quite what actually happens…

After Luke meets Simone in the restaurant, Phil takes a backseat and watches from afar, only to be met by Simone’s mom, Valerie. As lovely and oblivious as Phil is, a disaster is waiting in its wings, as Phil walks into complete misfortune. Valerie tells Phil that actually Simone was so nervous to speak to Luke on Facebook, that Valerie stepped in to organise the date, and lo and behold, Valerie and Phil were actually chatting on Facebook. Phil jokes it’s actually their date, before Valerie comments, “a good father, funny, handsome, a girl could do a lot worse!” Phil awkwardly laughs like a schoolgirl. This isn’t going to end well.

As the “date” progresses, Valerie just cannot keep her hands off Phil. Phil decides to tell her that he’s been married for 20 years, and asks for the bill. Valerie then tells Phil, she’s a single mom who has been divorced for several years, and here comes the inevitable Modern Family moment of chaos. Valerie accuses Phil of flirting with her, getting her hopes up, and leading her on. Phil apologises, and queries her unbuttoning her shirt and stroking his shoulders. Valerie launches herself at Phil and wants to drag him away to her minivan outside to do what God only knows.

The date is over and as Luke and Phil drive home, it’s quite a nice moment for the pair of them. It’s the first opportunity we’ve had of Luke chasing women, much like Phil did at his age, and it’s a welcome change from Manny’s eternal failure at winning a young lady’s heart. As it turns out, Valerie getting angry at Phil has boosted Luke’s chances with Simone, as she’s going through her rebellious phase, and wants Luke more than ever. Phil reminds Luke to always chase girls that are way out of his league as that is how Phil ended up with Claire.

It was a really great episode from Modern Family, and probably our favourite of season 4 thus far.