Because there’s no quid pro quo, the episode is devoid of the usual nonsense that accompanies almost all product integration. There are no lingering shots of the product and logo, no nonsensical, awkward dialogue designed to extoll the virtues of a particular item and none of those particularly egregious scenes—so prevalent in car integration—where characters are forced to change their behavior in a transparent effort to showcase the product. One of the worst recent examples of this was a 2012 episode of USA’s White Collar, which devoted 30 seconds to showing off a Ford Taurus’ automatic parallel parking feature.

Thankfully Levitan and the rest of the Modern Family team appear too smart for that. Claire is far too harried to stop and extol the virtues of group FaceTiming or iCloud’s Find Your iPhone feature. Unlike a musical or live episode, it doesn’t end up feeling like a gimmick, nor does it come off as particularly desperate or promotional. Likely, most of the show's audience has, at some time, turned to Google in an emergency, sent someone increasingly frantic texts, scoured a friend or family member’s Facebook page for clues, or had to deal with someone who doesn’t quite understand FaceTime.

In today’s plugged-in culture, a dependency on technology is as much a part of daily life as the chores and squabbles that usually occupy the Dunphy family’s days. More importantly, however, this episode’s seamless product integration stands as the best testament yet to how streamlined Apple's software is: Now you don’t even have to look up from your laptop to record an episode of a hit sitcom.

If there’s one issue, it’s that everything works a little too flawlessly: There are no unintentionally dropped calls or lousy connections in this episode, most certainly not the experience of anyone who’s ever used FaceTime—or airport wifi.

But the ambitious half-hour validates Levitan’s vow to Quartz last summer that his show would keep taking risks and wouldn’t become complacent in its sixth season in the face of critical grumbles. “I think the show is just as strong as it was, but I think that now, it’s a little less new for some,” Levitan said at the time. “Our whole focus right now is how can we maintain the quality, despite what some people say.”

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