“I hate Barney Stinson.” – Ted, to no one, as he ran through the streets trying to get to Maggie before Barney wooed her.
“Me too!” – off-camera female voice
The chanting in my head began early this evening: HIMYM, please don’t suck tonight … HIMYM, please don’t suck tonight…. Well, the jury was still out during the cold open, what with the Brad Pitt and Mad Libs fart jokes.
I’m happy to say that I didn’t think How I Met Your Mother completely sucked tonight (like the “Slapsgiving 2” episode), but I am so decidedly “meh” about this episode that it almost crosses the line to suckage. There was, thankfully, at least one funny thing for each situation that saved the episode for me.
The whole situation with Ted chasing the girl of his dreams was so stale; he’s done this so many times throughout the series that it wasn’t believable for me. However, outlining all of Maggie’s rebound relationships was pretty funny. Keeping that man magnet away from anything with the correct anatomy had a few laughs as well, especially when she told Barney she liked his overalls. It was also mildly amusing watching Robin fawn all over the guy Maggie knew from work.
Ted’s class giving him dating advice should have been funny, but didn’t it really only serve to highlight Ted’s complete self-centeredness when it comes to finding “the one?” He’s so all about Ted that he couldn’t even be professional enough to actually teach a one-hour class and not make it about his quest for Maggie and the perfect love. Ted Mosby, you’re getting tiresome….
Barney, on the other hand, hasn’t been tiresome ever since he dumped Robin and become a complete Dirty Dog again. Thank you, Bays and Thomas. Seeing 15-year-old Marshall in the overalls was a little funny, but Barney elevated the overall joke to new heights:
“No one could get laid wearing these…. Challenge accepted.” – Barney, about Marshall’s overalls
And the fact that Barney wore the overalls over his signature suit was pretty much a wordless Barneyism of some sort.
I can’t imagine why the writers thought we’d think listening to Marshall whine about not having a slam dunk shot would be funny — who cares? I suppose they needed a vehicle for Vanilla Thunder and the rattail to be exposed, so we’ll let it go this time.
Barney with the old lady, just to get out of the overalls? I guess it’s a toss up.
As for the ending with Old Man Marshall — WTF? Am I missing perhaps the greatest literary allusion ever to be seen in a TV show (sorry, Joss, I know you did this in Buffy, I’m just talking here), or was that just stupid? All I can think is that maybe it had something to do with The Time Traveler’s Wife, which I haven’t yet read. Enlighten me or agree with me, but as a stand-alone scene, that couldn’t possibly have been funny to anyone, right?
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Dec 07, 2009 @ 21:26 EST5EDT
I thought the last scene was more sweet than funny, not sure if it’s a reference to anything.
That last scene didn’t reference to Time Traveller’s Wife, I can say that much. But I do think it was a sweet scene.
Ted has been tiresome since the first episode, he’s really the weak link of the entire series.
Completely agree. Especially in regards to his love life.
I dunno, but I feel, that this season lacked the spark of previous ones. I enjoy the antics of the gang, but nothing is really moving forward. Granted, it´s not some arc-driven show like say lost, but there´s been almost zero character growth these last episodes.
But I shure am glad, that they stopped trying to sell Lily as the “funny/zany” one. USonnofabitch got real old, real fast…