*Caution: Spoilers of Haley’s ending ahead!*
Haley Dunphy had a lot to choose from but also a lot to offer, let’s dive in to see who she really should have ended up with in my opinion.
Haley Dunphy is a great representation of teenage girls and how they grow up with an overbearing mother. She is always known for looking pretty and being popular. But, there is so much more to Haley Dunphy than that and we learn that as we watch through these 11 seasons of Modern Family.
Let’s start with Arvin, her most unlikely boyfriend of them all. I say this because Arvin is not usually someone who Haley would go for; at first glance he seems more of Alex’s type. But Arvin fell for Haley in an unexpected way, he liked she was different than all his “fan girls” at the university. Arvin thought Haley was going to be easy, using the same lines on her he usually does to get with girls but we have seen Haley grow and become smart and intuitive. She challenged him and he loved that.
However, it just wasn’t love. You cans see Haley struggling to fit into Arvin’s life especially with his parents. She was not the usual academic, student type of love interest for Arvin and was self conscious about her work Nerf at the time. But this is something Haley should never be ashamed of, one of the things I loved about Haley is that she took chances, even working for Nerf she did her best and really could have excelled at the business. Arvin should celebrate these things about her not hide them and therefore he could never be the person I think Haley truly should have ended up with.
Now let’s go to a fan favourite; Dylan. Oh Dylan, he is a sweet guy and always has been towards Haley. Any mishaps or arguments between them seem to be small, high school kind of problems. We don’t see Dylan ever disrespect or put down Haley if anything it is usually a misunderstanding on his part. Dylan has a pretty innocent mind frame, he’s a harmless guy but he’s a bit of a mess at first. We see Dylan many times throughout the seasons, he has classic one-liners and plays on the “dumb” funny type of humour (and it works!) Dylan is hilarious and lovable, most importantly we see he really cares about Haley and wants the best for her.
Towards the end seasons I did find Dylan admirable for his efforts, he dedicated his life to making Haley happy and becoming the man she needed him to be. We see some character development here, Dylan puts himself through nursing school and comes out successful, he will be supportive with his kids and loving towards Haley – it’s not the worst case scenario like what Claire had probably envisioned if Haley and Dylan had stayed together since high school.
Andy was a great choice for Haley off the bat. We saw him as a great boyfriend to Beth and he treated Haley very well too. Andy had also gotten to know Haley’s family over the years and knew what he would be getting into. He too, didn’t mistreat Haley in any ways and also showed he genuinely cares about her. Andy and Haley had chemistry right off the bat.
While I don’t particularly like love stories that involves another person in a relationship falling for another person – this one did it in an elegant way. Andy showed Haley what a real boyfriend would do for their girlfriend when they love them. She was so used to being around guys that did not see past her looks and Andy was a gamechanger for her.
Phil had liked Dylan from the beginning while Claire always wanted something more than for Haley to end up with her old high school boyfriend. Phil liked Dylan because he saw himself in his hopeless romantic ways trying to get the girl who everyone thought was too good for him like what happened with him and Claire. However, Phil loved Andy because he was like him in every other goofy, quirky way. He even trained him to be a realtor just like him and Andy looked up to Phil giving him the respect he deserves. Dylan acted childish, he would do anything for Haley but he disrespected the Dunphy’s by sneaking in and out, pursuing Haley when she did not want to hear from him anymore and acted inappropriately with Haley when they were around – clearly making them uncomfortable many times.
Honestly, if I had to pick between Dylan and Andy for Haley my choice would be Andy for sure. Think about how they fell in love over time with each other after being friends. They were unlikely at first which makes it all the better when they finally get together.
I know what you’re thinking… why didn’t she end up with Andy? Well apparently that was how it was supposed to go, however the actor playing Andy; Adam Devine could not continue filming due to scheduling issues with other projects. The cast was apparently quite invested in the characters’ relationship and wanted it to happen, but because it couldn’t happen they had to completely REWRITE Haley’s ending for Modern Family which caused her to ultimately end up with Dylan.
So, she was never originally supposed to end up with Dylan, Adam Devine’s character was written this whole time -leading up to the change- to end up as Haley’s forever guy. Since it could not end the way it was originally intended I would like to put my two cents in and say who I think she truly should have ended up with if it can’t be Andy…
Who Haley truly should have ended up with in my opinion is…
No one.
That’s right, no one. A very odd conclusion you’d think for a character that is known for attracting many men’s attention, why would she end up alone? One thing I like about her ending up with no one, is it would be unexpected and unconventional which is like Haley’s personality. While she had stereotypical tendencies as a young teenager, Haley would do things like get arrested (expected), but then apply and get into college (unexpected), but then drop out of college (expected), and then go on to start a business online or in fashion (unexpected).
Haley is a strong individual who has overcome adversities in her life, she was expected to be a teenage pregnancy to Dylan but she proved them all wrong and did not go down that path. Which is why it IRKS me a little that her ending was rewritten to be with Dylan and have children with him anyway. Haley had potential to be a successful businesswoman in fashion, we could all see it when she impressed Gavin Sinclair in his office that day of her interview. There was clearly a fire in her, she actually cared about a job and looked like she found her passion in life. To not see her pursue that life and instead pursue motherhood as she was expected to seems a little boring for my liking.
(I’m not saying motherhood cannot be wonderful and fun as well, just seemed a bit too normal for what I saw specifically for Haley’s future. Love to all those who chose Haley’s path of motherhood and is loving and rocking it!)
Another thing is, one of the reasons her and Arvin did not work out was because he first made her feel ashamed of her job at Nerf to his parents. Haley stood up for herself and defended working at Nerf, she liked her job and felt a part of something she could help contribute to. It was her life, it was her kind of job and she fought for it… but then ditches it all to settle down with her old high school boyfriend. I really like Dylan – but I wish she chose herself in the end.
Picture the ending, showing how all their lives have ended up, who would have thought Haley to be the single career woman of the group? It would have been unexpected and different, I think her family would be proud of her and she would be proud of her hard work over the years and deserved accomplishments.
But hey, after the kids are in school I’d like to think she goes back into working in fashion or even Nerf so I’d like to think she could still have a little bit of both endings.
Am I completely out of my mind with my decision? Are you a huge Dylan fan? Who do you think she should have ended up with? Let me know what you think in the sit-comments below! 🙂
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