Truth Be Told (10 Mar. 2010)

Jay accidentally kills Manny's pet turtle and lies about it, Claire becomes jealous when Phil's ex-girlfriend pays a visit, and Mitchell makes a bold decision after he misses a family day because he's called in to work.

Director:

Jason Winer

Writers:

Christopher Lloyd (creator), Steven Levitan (creator),

Stars:

Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Ed O'Neill	...	Jay Pritchett
Sofía Vergara	...	Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
Julie Bowen	...	Claire Dunphy
Ty Burrell	...	Phil Dunphy
Jesse Tyler Ferguson	...	Mitchell Pritchett
Eric Stonestreet	...	Cameron Tucker
Sarah Hyland	...	Haley Dunphy
Ariel Winter	...	Alex Dunphy
Nolan Gould	...	Luke Dunphy
Rico Rodriguez	...	Manny Delgado
Judy Greer	...	Denise
Bruce Altman	...	Mr. Jennings

Storyline

Jay accidentally kills Manny's pet turtle and lies about it, Claire becomes jealous when Phil's ex-girlfriend pays a visit, and Mitchell makes a bold decision after he misses a family day because he's called in to work.

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Plot Keywords:

turtle | reference to hugh grant | billiards | dysfunctional family | playing pool | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levitan / Lloyd, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

28 min 28 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Quotes

[Jay has accidentally killed Manny's pet turtle and lied about it]
Gloria Delgado-Pritchett: You have to tell him.
Jay Pritchett: No. I've been through this before. When Mitchell was nine, I was supposed to take care of his bird. It got out and flew into a fan. It was like a bloody pillow fight.
Gloria Delgado-Pritchett: My God. How many pets have you killed?
Jay Pritchett: Just the two. I took the heat on the bird. It was a big mistake. To this day, Mitchell looks at me, I see him thinking "That's the guy who killed Fliza Minnelli."
Gloria Delgado-Pritchett: And what if he finds out? Then what? ...
[...]

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Connections

References Star Search (1983)

User Reviews

Death of a turtle

Modern family life is hectic. Take the Dunphys, in this installment of the sitcom, Claire is going over the different activities her children are involved. Even Phil is going to see Denise, his former girlfriend before Claire. He tries to reason with his wife that Denise is a recently divorcée, nothing to worry in that department. Claire is not convinced.

Manny did not get the part he was hoping to get in a school play. Jay has brought a picture with the legend "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger", which the boy hates. Jay decides to hang it in Manny's room. The picture, not being secured, falls into the fish tank where Manny's pet turtle lives, knocking a lamp that electrocutes the pet. In order to save face, Jay lies, telling Manny a raccoon killed the turtle. Gloria sees right through the lie.

Cam and Mitchell have decided to take Lily to a petting zoo. Mitch remembers he has to go to work, so he tells his partner to go on without him. On the way to work, an upset Mitchell begins cursing his boss, who, as luck would have it, has stopped for a light on the next lane. Mitch figures the man overheard him, but nothing happens in the office. The boss asks him to come to work on Sunday, which proves to be too much for Mitch to take. He decides to quit on the spot.

Phil gets a surprise when Denise decides to pay the Dunphys a visit. He is not prepared for a frisky former girlfriend appearing out of nowhere in his life. As much as he tries to avoid, she keeps going for him every time she gets a chance of being alone with him. Denise figures it is too late for her to get anywhere with Phil. As she leaves, Denise reminds Phil she is staying at the Radisson by the airport.

Jason Winer directed the episode that Joe Lawson wrote. There are a lot of fun moments in this chapter which showcase all the principals effectively.