When the sitcom Modern Family debuted four years ago, Lily, the adopted Vietnamese daughter of Cameron and Mitchell, was a mere toddler who never spoke - a human version of baby Maggie from The Simpsons. Then in Season 3, a new Lily, who was more animated and old enough to speak a few sentences, was brought on board. Now in Season 4 she has blossomed into quite the sarcastic quipster - a tiny Dorothy Parker (or Fran Leibowitz), if you will.
Lily has certainly become her gay daddies' daughter, and brings to mind the Sondheim song Children Will Listen from Into the Woods. (In one episode she tells her dads, who were running late, to "hurry up, ladies.") And while Cam and Mitchell find her zingers amusing, at the same time they are a little bit horrified.
After two seasons in which the original Lily was as expressive as a block of wood, Lily 2.0 may revitalize the show, which is going through a transition as Luke, Manny, Alex and Haley grow older and become less adorable. One can only imagine the handful this "diva in training" will become as a teenager. No doubt the religious right views Lily as a "demon seed".
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