reviews
Concept
- "The 2-D adds on the screen also offer fun details to notice on rewatch. How Claire immediately pulls up screens on how to file a missing-person report and how to find an iPhone via GPS so that she can look for Haley.", "pretty fun throughout the episode and, dare I say, even innovative for a mainstream big network sitcom" - av club
- "Look closer, though, and “Connection Lost” reveals itself to be exemplary of a show that is taking chances, even in its sixth season, when many other series are resting on their laurels. On a technical level, the episode is a wonder. To get the distinctive look of people chatting on a computer screen, cameramen used real iPhones, and the actors kept their hands on the cameramen’s wrists, lending the whole affair a selfie vibe.", "Digital connectivity isn’t at all the same thing as human intimacy. In porn, sex, a deeply intimate act, becomes performative. Bodies are connected, but even that connection is an illusion. Claire’s Pinterest list is, thus, the perfect metaphor for this episode’s deeper theme: are you really connecting with the people you’re connected with?" - Vox
- "But this episode felt uniquely modern for another reason: it used multitasking as a new way to tell a story.", "On the whole, it was a genuine narrative feat" - slate
- "The ambitious half-hour also validates Levitan’s vow to Quartz last summer that his show would keep taking risks and wouldn’t become complacent", "Tonight the viewers will surely be pleased by the innovative concept" - quartz
- "The episode is without a doubt the most ambitious and stylistic the series has ever gotten", "It’s a style that can be really poignant, especially when there is something that is trying to be said with it, which is thankfully the case with “Connection Lost." - vulture
- "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." - Detroit news
Humour
- "What’s fascinating about “Connection Lost” is how many of its jokes are textual. One character says something, then Claire types something, and her typing provides the gag.", "For “Connection Lost,” much of the comedy gets a boost from zooming, only the camera is focusing in on and pulling away from text." - Vox
- "The Web browser generated much of the humor." - Detroit news
Writing
- "one of the most entertaining episodes in recent memory, as it actually does what I’ve been missing over these past few weeks: throwing all of our players together. Here we even get them all on the same screen, and that chemistry is exactly what Modern Family has been lacking." - av club
- "But the episode’s script was a knockout as well. To keep the story from wilting, credited writers Steve Levitan (who also directed) and Megan Ganz had to find a way to fill the screen with as much action as possible. Easier said than done. “Connection Lost” pulled it off. And, what’s more, it managed to say something about these characters and the show’s deepest themes.", "One of the most impressive — though probably underrated — elements to the episode is the meticulous level of character-development", "it was important for her text messages to look just as believable" - Vox
- "the episode actually uses these trappings to push some character development and large-ish things go down. ", "the catharsis it provides, as well as the juxtaposition to Claire’s own rebellious youth holds up." - vulture
Product placement
- "it reads like nothing but a gimmick/giant infomercial for all Apple products" - av club
- "There have been some truly brilliant instances of product integration in the past, from E.T.’s Reese Pieces to Seinfeld’s Junior Mints. But Wednesday’s episode of Modern Family, “Connection Lost,” may top them all. The episode features truly organic product integration,", "the episode is devoid of the usual nonsense that accompanies almost all product integration", "Unlike a musical or live episode this doesn’t end up feeling like a gimmick, nor does it come off as particularly desperate or promotional" - quartz
- "While the heavy corporate shadow does hang heavy above this episode, the style and execution more than make up for any questionable motives that the episode might have. If anything this is the perfect show to use this sort of device, with the series being so focused on keeping this increasingly large family together and in contact.", "A lot of these product uses actually feel smart and motivated, however some, like Claire watching a slideshow of baby pictures of Haley while James Taylor plays on iTunes as she’s feeling nostalgic, feel kind of forced. There are instances where it’s like, “Okay, they just wanted to shoehorn in a use for that,” but on the whole this all works. It’s one thing to have smart uses for all of these products, but it’s another to have them also be such astute reflections of the characters. All of the background touches on Claire’s laptop are perfect ... this episode is a production designer’s dream as the Dunphy’s operating systems and set-ups are made to feel eerily authentic." - vulture
- "When "Modern Family" producers revealed that they recorded this week's episode entirely with the iPhone and other Apple products, I was skeptical. I've seen too many good shows decline in quality over time. I worried this 6-year-old show was resorting to a gimmick.
Those doubts quickly dissipated as I watched." - Detroit news