If you’ve been watching Modern Family, you may have noticed Haley hasn’t been around much during the final season. It’s kind of weird that we’re not seeing a lot of Sarah Hyland here; Nolan Gould hasn’t had much to do for a few years, but Hyland can actually act.
Things came to the forefront on last week’s episode where Phil’s dad Frank, played by recurring guests Fred Willard, dies. Hyland, Gould and Ariel Winter are all absent for the episode and Frank’s funeral, although Manny, Lily and Joe, who aren’t his grandchildren, are there. It’s weird. Hyland said on social media that she found out Willard’s character died when she was watching the episode at home. Here’s what she said on her Instagram Story while it was on, via ET.
So I don’t read scripts of the episodes of Modern Family that I’m not in, so I just found out that my grandpa’s dead along with all of you,” she told fans. “I still feel special.”
“Oh yeah, I guess I should have put a spoiler alert for Grandpa Frank dying, but I was just caught off-guard,” she said. “As his granddaughter, you’d think I’d be invited to the funeral.”
Yeah, she doesn’t sound happy. Then a fan asked her why her character wasn’t around on Twitter and told them “Apparently I’ve been busy with the twins” and added a shrug emoji.
Apparently I’ve been busy with the twins 🤷🏻♀️ https://t.co/dsuwIrTmfb
— Sarah Hyland (@Sarah_Hyland) January 17, 2020
Hyland doesn’t exactly seem pleased about this development. I don’t blame her, but I think it’s because the show basically wrapped her story up last season. She has twins and married Dylan, there’s really nothing more to say. If the show had been called Haley, it probably would have ended with the wedding episode.
Even though Modern Family has always been a large ensemble that split the large family into three family units, you and I know that the Dunphy family, and especially Phil, Haley and Alex, are the emotional and comedic core of the show. You could lose the other families and still have a solid family sitcom, but if you lose the Dunphys you’ve got a show that runs six episodes.
I understand that there are a lot of stories that need to be wrapped up as the show ends. They’re already telegraphing that’s Cam, Mitch and Lily will be leaving California, the show is clearly headed towards an ending where all the characters have new beginnings. We know what Haley’s new beginning is already.
Still, people didn’t really watch Modern Family, especially in the early seasons, because they were interested in things like character growth and story arcs; it was just a funny, character-driven show. Sarah Hyland was a big part of that, and her sidelining isn’t helping the show as it heads into the final stretch.