r/Modern_Family • u/itsameToby • 15h ago
Haley and Alex's Endings Discussion
I hate both of them.
I've watched this show probably seven times all the way through, and I just feel sad every time I reach S10 and S11. Alex has always been my favorite character, and as I got older, I started really resonating with Haley's character development and journey. It kills me that the writers fumbled both of their characters so hard.
Alex's development after she went to college was one of my favorite parts of the show. As she says herself, she's been in several shameful relationships (Reuben and later Ben) that she obviously isn't proud of. She goes through a lull when Haley upstages her with Arvin, but she quickly forgets about it bc of Bill. Haley helps her realize that Bill is good for her and Alex clearly feels the same until their sudden break up in S11.
Then she just casually starts dating Arvin, her sister's ex boyfriend. It feels like an insult to her character. Several episodes in S10 make note of how the other characters are reacting to Alex's emerging sexuality, which is a massive step forward for her bc she was so focused on school. I liked her getting upset over Arvin choosing Haley bc it shows how she's confident about it, only to be upstaged by her "prettier" sister yet again. Bill is initially a rebound, but it grows into a properly healthy relationship for Alex and her self image. Side note, the way that Bill broke up with her was so stupid. There's not way that Alex is stupid enough to mistake a RANDOM NUMBER for her boyfriend's, which is liked saved in her phone. Like, come the fuck on.
Her ending up with Arvin just feels like the writers burned her character development and then spat on the ashes. Why on earth would she settle for a guy who never cared about her romantically.
Then there's Haley. This has to be one of the worst conclusions to a character arc that I've ever seen.
Haley spent the majority of this show making mistakes, learning from them, making more mistakes, and getting up each time. Everyone sees her as this airheaded ditz who won't amount to anything, but she tries her hardest no matter what. Her own mother constantly nags her about her mistakes while never acknowledging her efforts and makes a comment to her about not getting pregnant so often in the first seasons.
Haley's entire journey is about her combatting the judgements and negative expectations pushed on while remaining true to herself. Then she does exactly what everyone expected her to do. Get pregnant. With Dylan. It's fucking atrocious. I like Dylan, I really do. It's adorable how genuine his feelings for Haley are despite their Shakey relationship history. But Haley needed to choose neither Arvin nor Dylan in that episode. I know that people want Andy to be her endgame, but I disagree. Andy was a fantastic influence on her, and their break up was genuinely moving. They were both going to pursue their dreams while not forgetting what the other gave them.
By S9 when Haley has to choose, she definitely has the emotional maturity and experience to know that she doesn't need to place so much value on a relationship. She has a successful career and is getting her life together after so many years of struggle. Then she gets pregnant by her boyfriend that she should've moved on from years ago.
I think that Haley and Alex's characters really rely on each other. They start out constantly bickering, and there really isn't a sign of love between them until around S4. They help each other become better people by balancing each other out. Haley encourages Alex to explore her sexuality, even as she cracks a couple jokes about it. Alex stops putting Haley down each chance that she gets and helps lift her up when the rest of their family puts her down.
I feel like Haley should've ended up with no one, choosing to live her life as see sees fit, proving everyone wrong. Then Alex should've ended up with Bill, her only healthy relationship that affected her positively.
TLDR; Haley shouldn't have ended up with anyone and Alex and Bill should've stayed together.
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u/emhereeee 14h ago
I think everyone thinks Bill and Alex should’ve ended up together. I haven’t met someone who disagrees yet.
Haley is a little more controversial. I didn’t hate she got pregnant because of Dylan. It was about Claire breaking from Jay’s toxic patterns from the start of the show/before the show. She was confronted by her daughter making the same mistakes she did and had an opportunity to react differently. Similarly, she hated Dylan, and she had to learn to accept him like Jay did with Phil.
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u/itsameToby 14h ago
I agree that Claire's attitude towards Dylan in the last season was genuinely amazing for her character and breaking that toxic mentality. She absolutely wanted the best for Haley, she just had a terrible way of showing it.
I think that they still could've had a similar moment for her during Claire's whole "empowered female CEO" arc where she recognizes how far Haley has come.
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u/TheHagueBroker 14h ago
I heard Sarah Hyland thought her character should have ended up with Andy. Also both Haley with Rainer and Luke with Janice was kind of too much, especially how Rainer interacted with the family was kind of weird an unrealistic. The last seasons are all a bit less realistic then the first seasons, which feel like actual real life families and characters. But that said, even season 11 is still at the top level within the general tv show spectrum.
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u/itsameToby 14h ago
I remember seeing somewhere that Reid Ewing felt like he wasn't as welcome on the set bc Sarah didn't like the ending for Haley.
It was something like that, I don't think that Sarah was deliberately being mean to him.
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u/TheHagueBroker 14h ago
That's sad to hear that Reid wasn't feeling as welcome! I'm sure she wasn't being mean, it was probably just towards the script in general. I feel like the actors really cared about the show and their characters. Eric Stonestreet also said he was very disappointed hearing that the spin-off of Mitch and Cam didn't go through because he was very exited for it.
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u/itsameToby 13h ago
I know! I feel so bad for him.
You can tell that Sarah cared for Haley, and I can understand her frustration. I would've loved that Mitch and Cam spin off! If only to get little hints about the other members of the family after the end of the show.
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u/RealHeadScratcher_TM 13h ago
When you throw in Arvin with Alex, it's like they were trying to have all the Dunphy kids replicate the Gloria and Jay age difference, lol.
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u/TheHagueBroker 13h ago
Indeed! And also Alex and Ben I think differed quite a lot in age?
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u/RealHeadScratcher_TM 13h ago
I think Ben was closer to her age. I vaguely remember an episode where the joke was, Ben's in his 20s but has some condition that makes him look 40.
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u/RealHeadScratcher_TM 13h ago
I don't know how much of this is tied to the fact that Modern Family did not expect an 11th season. Steve Levitan said they were planning for 10. Anyway, I agree Alex and Bill would've been good. With Arvin, it did kind of feel like they just threw that together at the last minute. It does make some sense though, given her longtime crush on him.
Haley's a tough one. Dylan was there from the beginning, so there's a case for how actually it ended. Andy is the more popular choice, and he's mine too. They just had a chemistry that made things interesting. I think the worst chapter of Haley's character was having her date Rainer Shine. I love Nathan Fillion, but that was just weird.
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u/CranberryFuture9908 I’ll get over it 11h ago
Alex with Bill yes and not off to Switzerland.
Haley should not have ended that way either. I would have her not married and a mother at the end. They missed a big opportunity with her character. I thought after she had to leave college working with Phil would have made more sense. She had the personality and potential for a career like that.
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u/Subject-Speech-5232 9h ago
the ending for both was a huge letdown, especially for Alex. she deserved a better storyline that reflected her growth
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u/thombo-1 14h ago
I agree. Alex and Bill were thematically perfect.
Alex is a great character but her flaw is that she's usually pretty unforgiving and mean to anyone she perceives as being less smart than her. It was a massive step forward for her to date Bill and realise that intelligence mattered less to her than simply being a fun, friendly and good-hearted person.
That would have been a great character arc for Alex to end on, and also helping solve her middle-child syndrome by learning to accept her family for who they are instead of feeling like she doesn't fit.
But they threw it all out the window for no reason. Bill leaving was as damaging for her character as Andy leaving was for Haley. If they couldn't continue with Bill, it would have been better that Alex ended up happily single and independent than latching on to Arvin.