For the eleven seasons of Modern Family, we have watched Phil Dunphy try to be the best husband, father, and friend he can be. His optimism proves to be a beacon of hope in the darkest of times. It’s so infectious that it encourages his family and friends to go for their wildest dreams.
However, there have been moments where Phil can come across as overbearing and irritating, making decisions about things that are of no concern to him. From the time he wouldn’t allow Luke to quit magic to his overprotectiveness, here are the 10 worst things Phil did to his family.
When he wouldn’t let Luke quit magic
In Phil’s first solo talking head, the real estate agent is shown to pride himself on being the perfect father. However, he almost strained his relationship with Luke when he refused to let him quit magic. In “The Butler’s Escape,” Luke tells Claire that he wants to quit the hobby because he’s not interested in it.
Phil does not take the news very well and decides to challenge Luke to an impossible trick. If Luke manages to get out of it, then Phil will allow him to quit (which Luke does). Although it’s understandable why Phil was upset, it wasn’t for him to decide what his son’s hobbies should and shouldn’t be.
Stole Luke’s bike
In “The Bicycle Thief,” Phil ends up getting into a lot of trouble when he steals a bike, believing it to be Luke’s. Phil tries to teach Luke a lesson about responsibility after Claire believes the youngest Dunphy doesn’t look after things. When Phil spots a bike similar to Luke’s, unlocked and unattended, he ends up stealing it.
Phil ends up losing this bike when he runs into the neighbor Claire thinks is too promiscuous. He soon runs to the bike shop to buy another one. However, he finds himself in a bit of a pickle when all three bikes turn up, with Desiree coming to the house and revealing to Claire that Phil was in her bedroom. He may have been trying to teach his son a lesson, but Phil was the one who got schooled in why lying is wrong.
“The Stop Sign” incident
Phil doesn’t look like the type of person who would put his career ahead of his family. However, in “Slow Down Your Neighbors,” he does exactly that. In this episode, Claire is seen trying to track down a vigilante who keeps speeding down their streets. It turns out that the speedster is one of Phil’s clients.
Does Phil think of telling Claire the truth? No. In fact, he does his best to ensure that Claire and Laura (his client) never meet. Nevertheless, this all backfires on the magician when Claire turns up at the open house he is holding for Laura. Claire only realizes what her husband did when she ends up getting a lift home from Laura. Safe to say, Claire wasn’t in the best mood when her hubby returned home.
Injuring Alex and Luke
In “Hit and Run”, Phil ends up doing more damage than good, injuring Luke and Alex. With Claire preparing to run for council, Phil had to step up and look after his kids. However, since he became so dependent on Claire being a stay-at-home mother, he didn’t even bother to learn the kids’ basic needs.
For instance, when Alex’s allergies begin to flare up while she was studying, Phil accidentally gives her the medicine that makes her drowsy. When he tried to help Luke with the cut on his arm, he accidentally punched him in the face and gave him a black eye. Phil really needed to brush up on parenting skills.
The bookcase incident
In the episode “Earthquake”, Phil reveals in his talking head that he sometimes gets tired of Claire’s nagging and chores. However, his idleness ends up putting Luke in danger when an earthquake causes a bookcase to nearly fall on his head. In an attempt to get away, Luke ends up hurting himself by running into the wall.
While Claire is trapped in the bathroom, Phil misleads his wife into believing he is trying to get her out. Instead, he decides to fix the bookcase to the wall so that Claire wouldn’t find out he ignored her wishes. As a result, Phil ended up with one petrified child and another child covering for him when Claire questions what took him so long.
His favoritism of Luke
Everyone knows parents are not meant to have a favorite child. However, it looks as if Phil may have missed this memo when it is clear that he favors Luke over Haley and Alex. We can all see that Luke and Phil share a special bond, with the Dunphy men bonding over magic, DIY gadgets, and childish jokes.
Yet one of the rules of parenting is that you never tell your child you prefer their sibling over them. For example, Phil begged Claire that he could take Luke with him instead of Alex because she’s not as fun. He also never attends any of her extracurriculars but would jump at the chance to see a play that featured “Luke’s sets,” and goes to his wrestling matches.
Tracking Haley’s phone
The bond between Phil and Haley is your stereotypical father-daughter relationship. Haley is the rebellious teenager who disobeys her parents by sneaking out, and Phil is the overprotective father who will do whatever it takes to protect his children. However, he takes his duties one step too far when he tracks Haley’s phone.
This occurred in “Go Bullfrogs!” when Phil takes Haley on a tour of his old college. When she gets invited to a party with some of her classmates, Phil seems okay with it until he realizes the party is held in a rival Kappa house. Phil then reveals that he can track Haley on his phone and embarrasses her in front of her friends.
Threatened by Luke
Phil is one of the most competitive people you will ever meet. It’s also very noticeable that he is a sore loser and is not very happy to see others excel at things he was once good at. A prime example of this being in “Spring Break” when Phil struggles to watch Luke outperform him.
It first begins when Phil discovers Luke can play the banjo better than him. Although Phil said that the Dunphy Tuck was too dangerous for Luke, he changes his mind to prove to everyone that he is still the best. Again, Luke succeeds, which makes Phil more insecure and annoyed.
Not feeding Alex and Haley
Another episode that highlights Phil’s terrible parenting skills is “Good Cop Bad Dog” when he refuses to let Haley and Alex eat until they finish their chores. This all came about after Claire and Phil traded parenting duties when the former CEO spots her husband trying to distance himself from disciplining their kids.
Although Phil believes his loving dad routine would be able to sway Haley and Alex to clean the bathroom, it doesn’t, which forces him to change tactics. Phil’s behavior is a little unsettling when he begins to tape the girls’ laptops, forces them to clean the bathroom, and bans them from eating because they lied to him. Even Claire is alarmed at his methods.
Canceling Christmas
As we all know, Phil is not very good at doling out punishments and therefore lets Claire deal with the repercussions. In “Undeck The Halls,” the viewer finds out why Phil is the “good cop” when he takes his power a step too far and cancels Christmas.
This was because Phil and Claire found a burn on the couch and believe one of their kids to be smoking. When no one fesses up, Phil decides to cancel the holiday and won’t restore it until the truth is revealed. Alex makes the sacrifice for her siblings and admits she did it so no one will miss out. However, the family soon discover that it was the glass ornament Phil’s dad sent over as a gift, which leads to Phil groveling for forgiveness.
