Hot Take
‘Modern Family’ Seriously Messed Up Not Making Haley & Andy Endgame
[Warning: The below contains spoilers for the final season of Modern Family.]
In so many ways, Modern Family was a perfect show. It followed three key types of families: nuclear, blended, and same-sex. It showed the love and joy in all of these different situations, broke down stereotypes, and made us laugh so hard we wheezed. However, one fatal flaw of Modern Family is Haley Dunphy’s storyline, especially when it comes to her love life.
Haley (Sarah Hyland) ends up with Dylan (Reid Ewing), her on-again, off-again high school sweetheart, and the pair welcome twins in the final season. But this key decision renders Haley where she started in the beginning, with Claire (Julie Bowen) foreshadowing that Dylan would get her pregnant at some point — and we all hate it when mom is right. In fact, Haley seems to follow in her mom’s footsteps by getting pregnant too young with someone her parent doesn’t like. But let’s be honest with ourselves: Haley and Dylan are no Phil (Ty Burrell) and Claire.
Haley and Dylan being endgame felt like the show settling for a second-best romance. Why? Haley’s soulmate is and always will be Andy Bailey (Adam DeVine), and here’s our case for it, your honor.
The pair first meet in “A Fair to Remember” (Season 5, Episode 7) when Haley sneaks into Jay and Gloria’s (Sofia Vergara) home to drink beers by the swimming pool. Andy catches her and tells her off, as he has recently been hired as their “manny” (male nanny). They’re pitted as total opposites, but there’s a sense of chemistry right off the bat.
Despite their differences, the two become friends. It’s clear Haley wants more, but Andy is in a long-distance relationship with Beth (Laura Ashley Samuels), who is in the Coast Guard back in Utah — they have a lake there! Andy also seems to be falling for Haley, as he tells her what a catch she is, but he’s still with Beth. When Beth visits, she notices the chemistry between the two, and she not-so-subtly threatens Haley.
The pair share their first kiss in “The Cold” (Season 6, Episode 3) when they try to see which of them would be more bothered by it. Andy appears unfazed, while Haley is very visibly feeling the sparks.
A key moment occurs when Andy is about to propose to Beth and confides in Phil about his doubts. “There’s this other girl, and I feel like I have a serious connection with her, but I just don’t know how she feels,” he says. Phil urges him to propose to Beth, as he is unaware that this other girl is Haley. He realizes and warns Haley, who rushes to tell Andy how she feels. She is too late and watches him get engaged.
Claire and Phil inadvertently reveal to Andy that Haley wanted to stop the engagement, and he begins stress-eating to cope. Haley and Andy keep their distance, and she starts seeing Dylan again, only to break up with him because she can’t avoid her feelings for Andy.
In “Phil’s Sexy, Sexy House” (Season 7, Episode 7), the pair narrowly avoid kissing and Haley leaves, only to turn back and leap into his arms. Haley and Andy then share a passionate kiss, and it is very clear more will follow. The two begin secretly hooking up until they’re caught in “White Christmas” (Season 7, Episode 9). Andy breaks up with Beth, only to discover she has been unfaithful this whole time. Andy and Haley officially get together, and all is going well. Never forget their romantic kiss in the rain during an intense storm.
Eddy Chen / ABC / Everett Collection
But alas, sometimes the best things have to come to an end, and this occurs in “Double Click” (Season 7, Episode 22). Andy is given a huge opportunity at a real estate agency in Utah and initially plans to turn it down to stay with Haley. She urges him to go, knowing that the two will break up.
DeVine left Modern Family to pursue other roles. His role on the show began in Season 5, airing late 2013. At this point, Adam had gotten his big break as Bumper in Pitch Perfect. By the time they wrapped up the storyline at the end of Season 7, it was 2017, and Adam had since starred in Pitch Perfect 2, The Intern, and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.
Andy appears once more in “The Escape” (Season 9, Episode 21), when the hospital calls Haley’s numerous boyfriends after she passes out on the street. Adam has since revealed he was asked back on the show, but he was already shooting another project. Unfortunately for us and the show, that’s where Handy ends.
Andy and Haley are extremely different characters. Haley is vain, focused on popularity, interested in fashion, and a wild child. Andy is silly, chatty, and prone to saying the wrong thing. He doesn’t take himself too seriously—which includes his sense of style. It would be easy for such differences to come between them, but they like each other explicitly for these reasons.
Before Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam’s (Eric Stonestreet) wedding, Andy tells Haley, “You are funny, and you are pretty, and you are smart in an original way, so why shouldn’t a guy feel lucky to love you?” Talk about swooning! When they’re dating, they have a brief moment of doubt where Andy believes he isn’t wild enough for Haley, and she thinks he wants that wild side of her. They work through this before things get too out of hand, and Haley reassures him, “I like the me I am when I’m with you.” They bring out the best in each other — in work, family, and confidence.
One of the most interesting aspects of Andy is how closely he resembles Haley’s dad. Not to get too Freudian, but Andy has the same goofy, loving qualities as Phil, and Haley appreciates those sides of him. Even Claire is unable to find fault in Andy, and she manages to do that with just about every one of Haley’s other boyfriends. Haley sums it up when she tells her father, “I care about him. He makes me laugh. I like spending time with him.”
When Haley is seeing Andy off at the airport, she says, “I think you’re the first man I ever loved.” This highlights that Andy means more to her than Dylan ever has by this point, despite their frequent attempts at a relationship. So why does she end up with someone who means less to her than this great love? In this case, timing got in the way, but the writers could (and should) have found a way to reunite Haley and Andy.
Andy and Haley’s relationship didn’t start on the best of terms, and some couples would struggle to bounce back from that. But the pair acknowledge that what happened wasn’t right without letting it define their relationship forever. Their foundation of friendship allows them to progress and move forward together. Andy and Haley have such a deep love compared to her surface-level love with Dylan. At the airport, Andy sweetly says to Haley, “I don’t regret a single minute I’ve spent with you.” The good, the bad, the hard, they’re both appreciative for all of it.
Our ultimate gripe with Modern Family is that Haley and Andy were not endgame! Even if this is a case of scheduling conflicts rather than anyone in the writers’ room believing in Dylan and Haley, we refuse to accept Haley’s ending. We want to see Andy making Haley laugh as he plays with their kids outside their dream home after making it big as a real estate agent.
Perhaps if there’s a revival in a decade…
