... this show is starting to become too predictable. My wife and I called almost everything that happened; Mitch's first kiss actually being gay, Ben being left on the island, Gloria falling out of the boat, and Phil moving at the last second when Claire was going to push him off the cliff and falling.
Season 8 had a lot of heart, but season 7 turned silly and went from the family acting somewhat believable to being slapstick. I feel like season 9 kicked off trying to do both, but the heart was meh, and the slapstick was predictable.
I also had issues with how Mitch reacted to finding out the guy he kissed his 13-yr old summer was gay at the time. We got a little insight into his character when he says he didn't try and kiss a boy for 5-yrs after that, and how it led him to be attracted to more flamboyant men, but the writers went for the easy gag of Mitch freaking out that the guy didn't think he was attractive. It was a missed opportunity for Mitch to stick up for himself and say "I'll have you know what you said made me think you were straight and prevented me from being open with my feelings for fear of being embarrassed again for 5-yrs" or something like that.
I also think Hayley (and more so Sarah) lost about 5 years of age with how she was costumed, and with her longer hair. She looked like a young adult last season w/ her short hair, but like a high school kid last night. I think they need to move her out of the house and introduce new characters and a new setting. It was too good to be true to have her be w/ Andy, so maybe bring it back.
I love the show, but it needs to do a better job growing up w/ the cast post school-aged children, and not rely so much on ridiculous plot set-ups.
