The great thing about this episode is that it starts by establishing that someone is in the hospital and the family is coming to see if he's okay. The rest of the story is told in flashback. Throughout the course of the show the viewer is kept guessing who's hurt and what happened. We know it's a "he", and we can whittle the possibilities down by process of elimination, but up until the final two minutes there are still a handful of possibilities.
The entire episode is full of potential danger, building the tension. Was it the crossbow? Was it the reptiles? The zip-line? The rock wall? What kind of injury is it? Could the tough guy at the gas station have something to do with it? All of these possibilities are suggested to the viewer to throw them off the scent and keep them guessing.
Which family member got hurt and how, exactly, did it happen?
The story revolves around Luke's birthday party. His birthday often gets lost in the Thanksgiving shuffle, so his parents decide to throw a giant extravaganza for him this year, complete with inflatable bouncy-bounces, rock climbing walls, a reptile wrangler, etc. This opens the possibility for all sorts of trouble and feeds into the lighthearted mystery.
"Modern Family" is a solid new comedy. I felt it started strong out of the gate, but I hadn't been as into the later episodes (although they had their moments). "Fizbo", the ninth episode of the show's first season, was enjoyable because of the "whatdunnit" aspect that tied together all of the crazy goings-on.
