The Graduates

The Graduates is the twenty-second and final episode from Season 8 of Modern Family. It aired on May 17, 2017.
==Synopsis==
Manny's father, Javier, shows up for his graduation and takes him out on a wild night of celebration, leaving Jay to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan is getting ready for Luke and Manny's big day and dealing with the emotions that come with seeing their kids grow up and leave the nest.http://www.spoilertv.com/2017/05/modern-family-episode-822-graduates.html
==Episode Description==
The day has finally arrived for Manny and Luke to graduate from high school. Javier takes his son to a strip club where a drunk Manny accidentally leaves his graduation attire. Jay takes him back there the next morning and manages to get it back. Gloria is initially mad at Javier for his irresponsibility but softens when he praises her success in raising Manny well without his help. Manny later thanks Jay for his help, telling him that he considers the time they spent together earlier that day to be more of father-son time than his night with Javier. Jay tells him that when he started dating again after his divorce, his rule was not to date anyone with kids, but then Gloria and Manny came along and he rethought his stance. He then toasts to Manny, calling him "son".
Claire and Phil give Luke a watch as a graduation gift and he reciprocates as thanks, gifting them with a gaudy Rolls-Royce he got at a police auction using his tips from the country club. When Claire goes to pick up the cake for the graduation party at Jay's, Haley and Alex decide to drain Phil of his inevitable tears by showing him Luke's baby photos and reminding him of their precious memories of Luke. Unfortunately, once the floodgates open they won't stop, and Phil bawls for what feels like forever. While waiting for the cake store to open, Claire ends up playing with a little boy who resembles a young Luke at a nearby ball pit. She later admits to Gloria that Luke's graduation is stirring up more emotions than she'd expected.
Meanwhile, Cam and Mitch receive news that Lily could skip a grade due to her advanced intelligence and go straight to middle school next year. They meet with the principal and debate the pros and cons of allowing Lily to skip; while it would be a good opportunity for her to challenge herself, they don't want to put her under pressure. As the two worry at the graduation ceremony, Lily reminds them that this decision is affecting her, not them, and tells them she wants to skip a grade. Looking around her bedroom later, Mitchell and Cam realise how much their daughter has grown and how intelligent, popular, and outgoing she has become.
That night at the graduation party at Jay's, Phil and Claire give Luke the Rolls-Royce back under the guise that they can't accept something so luxurious from him. Luke later says in the interview that this was his plan all along; knowing his parents would never let him keep the car if he'd bought it for himself, he gifted it to them knowing that they would hate it and return it to him. As the kids drive off in the Rolls-Royce for some fun on their own, the parents realise that their children really are growing up, and toast to their success in parenting.
==Main Cast==
(The characters striked out do not appear in this episode)
* Jay Pritchett
* Gloria Pritchett
* Manny Delgado
* Joe Pritchett
* Claire Dunphy
* Phil Dunphy
* Haley Dunphy
* Alex Dunphy
* Luke Dunphy
* Mitchell Pritchett
* Cameron Tucker
* Lily Tucker-Pritchett
==Guest Starring==
*Benjamin Bratt as Javier Delgado
*Doug Budin as Mr. Peterson
*Nakia Secrest as Vice Principal
*Selah Victor as Val
*Joshua McClenney as Bartender
*Landon Reese Goldberg as Charlie
*Sebastian Karantonis as Hipster
==Trivia==
* A memorial dedication to Rico Rodriguez's real-life father, Roy Rodriguez appears following the conclusion of this episode.
* This episode is rated TV-14. It is also Mr Peterson's first appearance.
* The show mentions the film Ice Age: Collision Course, which features the voices of Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitch) and Adam DeVine (Andy). 
* The photo in Haley and Alex's montage of Phil teaching Luke to shave was an actual photo of Ty Burrell teaching Nolan Gould to shave, which the latter had posted on his Instagram.
*Also in the montage is a picture of Luke from the Season 1 episode Express Christmas, but it has been edited to remove Gloria from the background.
* With this episode, every Dunphy kid has graduated from high school. Luke's full name is revealed as Lucas Phillip Dunphy.
== Goofs ==
*When Haley and Alex show Phil a montage of photos of Luke, a picture of Luke from the episode Express Christmas appears. Phil says that this was the first time Luke saw snow, but in the episode that the photo was taken from, the family was actually playing with fake snow.
==Cultural References==
*The title references the film The Graduate, and Phil alludes to it as well.
* A passer-by says "Nice car, Grey Gardens!" to Claire, referencing the reclusive Beale family. (who had a 1937 Cadillac rusting in the driveway)
* A dance remix of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D, a common piece of graduation music, plays at the strip club.
*One of the graduates is "James Earl Carter", which is possibly a reference to President Jimmy Carter.
*The show mentions the film Ice Age: Collision Course.
==Continuity==
*Javier Delgado's first appearance since "Patriot Games." (season 6)
.
==References==
==Gallery==
Category:Episodes
Category:Season 8
Category:Season Finales
Category:Content