"En Garde" is the seventh episode of the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 series Modern Family

Modern Family

Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...

. It premiered on ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 on November 4, 2009. In the episode, Manny (Rico Rodriguez) takes up fencing and he is quite talented. Jay (Ed O'Neill

Ed O'Neill

Edward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...

) is very proud of Manny, which stirs up resentment in Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is an American actor who portrays Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Previously he played the role of Richie Velch in the CBS sitcom The Class. He is openly gay.-Life and career:...

). These feelings cause Mitchell to confront Claire (Julie Bowen

Julie Bowen

Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...

) about something from their past.

The episode was written by Danny Zucker and directed by Randall Einhorn

Randall Einhorn

Randall Einhorn is an American television director and cinematographer. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.Einhorn is best known for his work on The Office . He also directed The Accountants, a ten-part webisode spinoff of The Office which appeared online between the second and third seasons...

. The episode, "En Garde" became the highest rated scripted show in its timeslot and has received positive reviews from critics with Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is an American actor who portrays Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Previously he played the role of Richie Velch in the CBS sitcom The Class. He is openly gay.-Life and career:...

 (who plays Mitchell) naming it his favorite episode.

Plot

Manny becomes interested in fencing and the whole family comes out to cheer him on. He is successful but his achievement comes with unexpected and embarrassing results. However, with Jay being so interested in Manny's success at fencing, Mitchell's childhood trauma regarding his ice skating resurfaces. Meanwhile, Phil tries to see if Luke has any hidden talents of his own.

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "En Garde" was viewed by an estimated 8.770 million households and received a 5.3 rating/8% share Nielsen Rating and also got a 3.5 rating/9% share in the 18-49 demographic coming second in its timeslot after the World Series

World Series

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

according to the Nielsen Media Research

Nielsen Media Research

Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...

.

Robert Canning of IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

 gave the episode an 8.3 calling it "Impressive" and also said "The series has had a knack for this so far, and "En Garde" continued the trend with ease and wit.".
Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is an American actor who portrays Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Previously he played the role of Richie Velch in the CBS sitcom The Class. He is openly gay.-Life and career:...

, who plays Mitchell, calls this episode his "personal favorite". Jason Hughes of TV Squad said "So far, they've managed to pack every minute of each episode, and this week was no exception". The episode won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation.

External links

• "En Garde" at ABC.com