ABC’s mega-hit Modern Family wrapped up with an emotional goodbye after 11 seasons. Here are all the details of what happened to the characters. The mockumentary sitcom Modern Family finale season ended with some emotional goodbyes, some new adventures, and with lots of hugs.
About Modern Family:
The family sitcom Modern Family, as the name suggests, is about an American Modern Family consisting of three houses and their own families. Over the period, the casual family audience followed them through their everyday life, and a few kids even grew up during the entire 11 years journey of the show.
- Creator: Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan
- Cast: Ed O’Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould, Rico Rodriguez, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons and more.
Pritchett Family in Finale:
Jay surprised Gloria with his learning of Spanish and will visit Gloria’s family in Colombia along with her and their younger son on the annual summer trip. Manny will travel the world on a year-long trip.
Pritchett-Tucker Family in Finale:
Modern Family LGBTQ couple Mitch and Cam shifted to a new house, but Cam ultimately landed his dream job as a football coach in Missouri. So, Mitch and Cam decided to move to Missouri with their daughter and newly adopted kid.
Dunphy Family in Finale:
Phil and Claire ended up empty-nested as all the kids moved out. Haley and Dylan will move out with their twins and settle in Cam and Mitch’s former house. Luke is heading to attend college in Portland, Oregon.
Alex will move to Switzerland for her academic research project with her boss-turned-lover. The parents later plan for an RV trip. Ultimately, Phil and Claire decide to leave the porch light on, hinting their kids will return.
About Modern Family Finale:
The stars shared their sincere appreciation for the characters on their social media. 22 times Emmy Award-winning show, Modern Family, ended with two finale episodes. Dunphys and Pritchett kids shared some behind-the-scenes pictures on their social media accounts before filming the final episode.
All the characters got their happy ending, although the characters will no longer be together, with every individual pursuing a satisfying ending. The cast also had a rollercoaster journey in those years, and it is also hard to say goodbye to them, as they share many throwback photos and videos.
It was really hard to wrap up the whole show after 11 seasons of laughter, heartbreaks and growing up, and all new experiences for both audiences and the cast. But the show creators did a wonderful job by giving them a new beginning in the ending.
Here’s in Detail what Happened to each Character in the Finale—
Pritchett Family will travel to Colombia except for Manny.
In the series, Jay, the family patriarch, married a much younger wife, Gloria, who is extremely passionate about her Latin culture. She often clashes with her family for her extreme devotion to her Colombian heritage. In the series finale, Gloria is upset about working as a realtor, and she feels no longer needed in the family, but Jay comforts her in the end by saying he and their kids will always need her.
However, she decides to take their younger son Joe to Colombia for the annual summer trip to make him learn about the culture. To everyone’s surprise, Jay revealed that he was learning Spanish and decided to accompany Gloria and her son on the trip. However, Gloria’s oldest son from her previous marriage, Manny, will not join them.
Manny will go on a Yearlong Worldwide trip.
Manny will embark on his own journey of a yearlong worldwide trip. At the end of the last series, audiences see Manny’s biological father urging him that they should travel the world together for a whole year. With his interest in learning about cultures and the world, he finally decided on a worldwide trip. With these, the Pritchett family saw their happy ending in the series finale.
Mitch and Cam, with their new Family, move to Missouri.
In the last season, audiences witnessed Mitch and Cam adopting a new son and even moving to a bigger house. They are hosting a housewarming party when Cam gets a call. He received a call from the University of Northern Central Missouri, informing him that the coaching job he always wanted was now open.
Cam was hesitant initially and kept it to himself as the new family was happy in their dream home. But eventually, they decided to move to Missouri with their daughter Lily and new son Rexford.
Dunphy kids will move out, Leaving Phil and Claire Empty Nested.
It was literal chaos at the end of the last season in the Dunphy household. With the eldest daughter, Haley, with her husband and their twins living in the house, the middle child, Alex coming back to the house after quitting her job, and the youngest son Luke not going to college, the household is a mess.
Not taking up the crowd in the house, Claire and Phil announce to their kids that one of them has to move out. After coming back from Mitch and Cam‘s housewarming party, emotionally devastated, they decided to tell their kids that they no longer wanted them to move out. But to their surprise, all three kids announced that they were moving out.
The parents were eventually heartbroken by the news and accepted their decision. Sad, heartbroken, and being empty nesters, Phil and Claire in the end planned a road trip in the RV of Phil’s late father.
Haley and her husband, Dylan, found their own place.
At the end of the series, we saw the eldest Dunphy kid, Haley pursuing a career in fashion after a whole dramatic show. She reunited with her first boyfriend, Dylan and got pregnant and eventually got married.
In the last season of Modern Family, Haley delivered their twin babies, George and Poppy, and settled in the Dunphy household. At the end of the series finale, all things turned for the best, and they found their own place in Mitch and Cam’s old house.
Alex moves to Switzerland.
In the final series, we saw a middle Dunphy kid, Alex, quit her well-paid corporate job and return to the house. After meeting with her old crush and former professor, Arvin, who is also known as Haley’s ex, Arvin offers her a place on the research team. Alex happily accepted it, and in their next meeting, she shared her feelings for him.
Although Arvin called her to share the information about their research project work moving to Switzerland, later, he accepted her feelings. In the end, the new couple was ready for a new journey to Switzerland.
Luke will go to college.
The youngest Dunphy kid, who we saw growing up throughout the whole show, will finally go to college. He was the only kid who was a little bit afraid to separate from his family, but we saw in the end that he applied for college.
Sadly, there was no reply until the very end, when he revealed that he got accepted to the University of Oregon. The youngest kid will also move out, making their house an empty nest.
Modern Family Final Episode:
Luckily, everyone got their perfect ending with their new paths. At the end of the first half of the season finale, everyone gathered for the final family hug and to say goodbye to Cam and Mitch. But they got the news of the flight delay.
In Part Two of the Modern Family finale, as the flight got delayed, the family got the time to share their special bonding. In the meantime, Mitch and Claire retrieve the old skating trophy from the ice rink and share a very touchy sibling moment. Other siblings, the Dunphys’ also shared heartwarming moments, pulling pranks and all.
Phil and Claire got emotional over their kids leaving and decided to leave the porch light on as Phil told her that they would return. They finally said goodbye and shared a big hug and a big selfie. As the end approaches, audiences can see some scenes exactly resemble the show’s first episode.
Jay’s speech ends the last episode of Modern Family, and all of the households turn off their lights, but Dunphy’s porch light is on as they will always return. In the final shot, the camera pans and captures the family portrait of all three families from the season one finale.
Behind-the scenes of the Finale:
The show creators of Modern Family, Christopher Lloyd and Steve Levitan, shared some behind-the-scenes decisions before the season finale episode. Initially, there would have been scenes from the future, but they decided not to do that. They tell us to let the imagination flow in the audience’s mind and leave the characters with a good ending.
They revealed the reason behind all the characters leaving on their own is to give the audience a chance to say goodbye too. There were some alternative endings for the characters, too, but they didn’t work out. The final porch light scene was not a hint at the reunion of the show but the character’s reunion on the show.
The final big group hug was a reshot following their emotional response. It may not be the definitive end, as the show’s creators had the idea of a Modern Family spin-off. Indeed, modern viewers demand more; however, the possibility of a spin-off of Cam and Mitch in Missouri is still in the dark. The show-makers shared they will not do it until they feel confident about it.
