Our take
This is the Christmas episode critics rate highest. The A.V. Club judged it the best Christmas show the series had made, and rated it among the best-structured episodes of its year. Bryan Cranston directs a script packed with jokes, and every thread pays off sweetly without going soft. The charity mix-up is excruciating in the best way, and the mall grotto scenes with the two sisters are a treat.
What happens
In the last days before Christmas, Jay takes Manny out to cut down their own tree, convinced that a real Christmas means a real tree and old records on the hi-fi. Gloria is on edge because her mother, Pilar, is in town, and is soon put out to find her mother getting on far better with Claire than with her; even switching to Spanish does not shut Claire out. Haley and Alex, newly moved into separate bedrooms and bickering, take jobs at the mall as Mrs Claus and an elf alongside the store Santa. Phil tries to cover the distance to Canada on his exercise machine before the year ends. Mitchell is sent scrambling for the toy Lily actually wanted, while Cameron mistakenly takes Lily to a charity event for families in need and cannot find a graceful way out, then tries to make amends by handing out presents from the car. The stories end gently: Lily gives up her toy, Claire learns to value her mother's yearly gift of slippers, and the sisters share a bed on Christmas Eve.
Can the kids watch it?
Fine for most families: the BBFC rates it PG, so it suits children of about 8 and up, with a little grown-up joking that will pass younger ones by.