Modern Family season 5, episode 18, “Las Vegas,” just finished airing. Read our recap and discuss with fellow fans.
Modern Family season 5, episode 18, titled “Las Vegas,” begins with the Dunphy and Pritchett adults arriving in Sin City. Jay lands them Excelsior Level hotel accommodations courtesy of a big client.
Upon arrival, Mitch and Cam run into Langham (guest star Fred Armisen) and his fiance Tim for their bachelor party weekend — which Mitch and Cam were not invited to.
Phil was invited to audition for a secret magic society in town and has been neglecting Claire in preparation. Claire pretends to be upset about being neglected so she can secretly win back money she lost behind Phil’s back gambling years ago.
The butler (guest star Stephen Merchant) walks in on Phil playing with handcuffs and says he is at the beck and call of everyone on the Excelsior Level of the hotel and is promoting the hotel’s “luxury bath services.”
Cam and Mitch are all robed up awaiting their spa day treatment, and the second Mitch heads in for his massage, Cam sneaks out to the forbidden bachelor party. He tells Langham not to tell Mitchel.
Phil finally makes it to the secret magic society and once he’s called upon by the leader (guest star Patton Oswalt) to perform his trick, he realizes he’s late for his date with Claire. Rushing back to his room he runs into the butler and decides to order the “Michael Bublé bath” to make it up to Claire.
While Gloria and Jay are walking around the hotel, she spots the female version of the male dog butler, Barkley, that Jay bought while in Vegas many years ago. She asks Jay to go grab her lucky sweater so she can secretly buy it and hide it before he does. Gloria finds Claire and takes her room key to charge the purchase to her room so Jay doesn’t find out.
As Jay is heading to the elevator he realizes that it is only to be used by Excelsior Plus guests. In order to steer him clear from the lady dog butler, Gloria convinces Jay to contact his client and insist on him giving them all Excelsior Plus status.
Claire teaches Mitch how to play blackjack and he then sends her away as bad luck. Langham comes and sits next to Mitch at the table just as he admits he feels badly for how things ended with their relationship a long time ago and now they “can go out on a better note.”
The next cards to show up for Mitch are his room number, which he pulls out to confirm. He grabs his winnings and walks away leaving his room key on the table, which Langham takes as an invite. Uh, oh!
Now here’s where things start to get tricky…
Mitch arrives at his room (how did he get in without his key?) and tells the butler he wants to order a bath for himself and Cam. The “techno bath” is suggested and Mitch is all for it.
Gloria and Jay are about to walk into their room when Gloria sees the lady butler dog inside and immediately closes the door. She tells Jay to go and order some cigars before his big client arrives to persuade him to upgrade their hotel status. She then sneaks the dog into Phil and Claire’s room next door. Phil is in the restroom starting the bath and hears who he thinks is Claire enter the room.
Jay runs into the butler in the hallway and orders the cigars and tells him that he’s expecting a scotch delivery to his room as well. The butler then shows up in Mitch’s room with the champagne and Mitch tells him that Cam should show up any minute as he walks out for ice.
Langham walks in on the butler throwing glitter all over the floor and says he’s looking for Mitchel. The butler tells him that Mitch is expecting him and asked the butler to draw them a bath. Langham is pleasantly surprised.
The butler then heads to Phil and Claire’s room where he sees the lady dog butler statue in the middle of the room. He walks into the bathroom where Phil is still setting things up and Phil asks what Claire is doing and if she’s mad at him. The butler thinks the lady dog is Claire! Phil tells the butler to get her a drink to loosen her up.
Cam and Mitch run into each other in the hallway and Mitch says he has a surprise for him. He says he planned something fun that they could do together and may be a little extreme. They both walk in and find Langham in the tub. He’s completely okay with both of them joining him, much to their dismay.
Langham claims that Mitch “gave” him his room key and he calls Cam out on joining all of their bachelor party festivities. Langham’s fiance then starts banging on the door — he has trust issues — so they sneak him out.
Gloria is getting ready for Jay’s client’s arrival and heads to Claire’s room in nothing but a towel because she forgot her hair products. Her towel then gets stuck in the door just as Phil and the secret magic society leader enter the room. He wanted to give Phil another chance. Gloria leaves the towel in the door and runs to the closet before they see her.
The leader is distracted by the lady dog statue and Phil stuffs her/it in the closet. He performs his mediocre trick and the leader is not impressed, so he throws down some fake fireworks and all of a sudden Gloria comes out of the closet wearing the lady dog statue’s french maid outfit. Ta-Da!
Jay’s client finally shows up just before Gloria walks in with her new outfit. Claire shows up in Mitch and Cam’s room to cheer them up and says she knows just what they need and opens the door… to nothing.
The butler enters Jay’s room and says his “scotch delivery” has arrived just as five half-naked men in kilts and bagpipes arrive and start dancing. Claire, Mitch and Cam enter and it seems they were the intended recipients. Jay’s client hands him the black Excelsior Plus card and says, “You’re in.”