Joe Mande

Jay's friend Shorty visits from Costa Rica but spends more time with Gloria than Jay. Alex decides to prove to Claire that her relationship with Ben is a sexual one.

Phil and Claire start to question their enthusiasm for Halloween when no one else seems to feel the same. Mitch confronts Jay about how long the kitchen remodel is taking. Cam oversteps his boundaries as a house guest.

Fearful that the romance between him and Claire is fizzling, Phil calls upon his altar ego, Clive Bixby, get Valentines day back on track. Meanwhile, much to Gloria’s chagrin, Jay shows a bit of child favoritism when he and Gloria must deal with Joe’s inappropriate Valentine gift-giving and Manny’s dating indecisiveness. When Cam and Mitch try to empower Lily, Haley and Sal to stand up to the men in their lives, things don’t turn out as planned and go overboard. Finally, Alex discovers she has a secret admirer who may be a little too involved with family.

Phil is all in on project hatch-the-duck-eggs, even building a whole habitat for them — no one else is as enthused about this project and Lily is the only one suckered into helping him. Claire, meanwhile, is nervous about pitching her new closet ideas to Jay and his creative team, and for good reason it seems. And, Gloria and Manny help each other out with their respective “crushes,” while Cameron develops an unhealthy attachment to the frat guys renting their upstairs unit.

Despite their lofty hopes, Phil and Jay’s property investment might turn out to be a bust, forcing Phil to rethink his original dream. Meanwhile, Cam lands in the hospital due to a head injury and refuses to have an MRI thanks to a traumatic incident with a well when he was a child. Determined to finally impress Claire and keep her from re-gifting her birthday present, Gloria surprises her with a day of luxury at the office. However, after Claire had to implement some rather harsh budget cuts at work, a massage at her desk may not be sending the right message.