Network: CBS
Time: Mondays, 8:00-8:30pm
Cast: Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan
WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
Summary (from imdb.com): Ted and Barney discuss making a life-changing decision together, and Robin tries to discourage Marshall and Lily from moving to Long Island.
Review: HIMYM is really throwing viewers for a loop with the whole Barney/Robin saga this season. As someone who started watching the show right around the time they started dating (then went back and watched the rest), I love the idea of them as a couple, and this season really seems to be pushing it. But the road there is apparently paved with potholes.
This episode focused on two main stories, aside from the Barney/Robin plot. In one, Marshall and Lily, who were given a house in a previous episode by Lily's grandparents, are having second thoughts about selling the place. After spending a day there and seeing how big it is, they realize just how tiny their apartment is. But when she sees just how seriously they're thinking about moving, Robin has a minor meltdown and tries to dissuade them.
In the second story, Barney and Ted decide, while drunk, to adopt a baby together. When the idea still seems like a good one in the morning, they begin to talk more, until Ted realizes adopting a baby with Barney is a terrible idea. Which is, of course, when Barney shows up with a baby that he may or may not have kidnapped. It turns out she's his niece, whom he was babysitting. This served to highlight both that Barney wasn't ready to take of a child and that his seemingly newfound desire to have one was earnest and sincere.
There were so many things to like about this episode. Let's start with Barney and Ted's drunken proclamation that everything would be easier if they didn't like girls and that they should be in a gay relationship with each other, which was promptly foiled when they both checked out the waitress. Or perhaps when they're holding the baby (whom they named Hurricane Mosby-Stinson) and a gaggle of women surround them. Or maybe Marshall giving Robin food through the bathroom window.
I have to admit, a part of me was ticked by the idea of Barney and Ted as "bro-parents." I know it would ultimately be a terrible idea, but there's a small part of me that would love to see it. At least it would be funny for awhile.
The part of the story I've neglected so far is the very end, when Barney climbed through the bathroom window and explained to Robin what had happened. When he asked if she could see him as a parent, she blurted out, "I'm pregnant." Cut to black.
This part of the story got spoiled for me before I watched the episode, but I might have figured it out anyway. Looking back, it made Barney's desire to have a child seem sudden and a little jarring. To my memory, he's never expressed any interest in a family, and I can't remember him having any positive interactions with kids. But obviously it was no coincidence that the episode where he finally expressed this longing was the same one in which Robin told him she was pregnant. It may not be his child, but you can bet Barney's going to spend at least the next episode getting excited to be a father, and this episode set it up perfectly. It almost makes you wonder if Ted's jokes throughout the episode that things happened at certain times for the sake of the story weren't tongue-in-cheek comments about this impeccable timing as well.
The other issue they left unresolved was whether or not Lily and Marshall are going to move to the suburbs. I can't imagine how they'll manage that and still have them be an integral part of the show, but I trust the writers to find a way if that's the path they choose. It does seem like a logical step for expectant parents, and I like that it's something they're addressing. I don't necessarily think the show would be lacking without this story, but it's a nice addition.
Obviously I'm looking forward to seeing how the pregnant Robin arc resolves itself, but I'm also looking forward to seeing Ted's reaction to this news. He's been in such a bad place in the romance department lately that this latest blow can't possibly help. Hopefully things will turn around for him soon (though with HIMYM's ratings where they are, it'll still be several seasons before we ever get to meet the mother).
Rating: 4/5
Favorite line:
Marshall: Baby, your grandparents gave you this house outright. The way I see it, we have five options: number one, sell it. Number two, year-round haunted house. Three, giant fence around the perimeter. Chimp sanctuary, there's a swing around the backyard. Four, we destroy it with sledgehammers. I like four.
Lily: Or five, we move in, raise our children, make this our family home.
Marshall: 'Till they graduate, and we destroy it with sledgehammers. As a family.
Email me at NewarkCrimeTV@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter.
Showing posts with label show: How I Met Your Mother. Show all posts
Showing posts with label show: How I Met Your Mother. Show all posts
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
How I Met Your Mother - Jenkins
Network: CBS
Time: Mondays, 8:00-8:30pm
Cast: Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders
Summary: When Marshall finds out he's the "reacher" and Lily's the "settler" in their relationship, he sets out to make her jealous. Meanwhile, Ted finds out his students have a drinking game about Robin.
Review: Usually in a HIMYM episode, there's something that stands out as the best part of the episode for me. Everything else was good, but there's usually one part I can point to and say, "Oh, I really loved blahblahblah."
In this case, it was Amanda Peet. I've loved her since her starring role on the short-lived but totally awesome Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (go check it out if you've never seen it). She's a great comedic actress, and her chemistry with Jason Segel was spectacular in this episode. From the first introduction to the moment she plants one on him (that's not a spoiler; it was in the promo), it was easy to imagine her as a co-worker who Marshall didn't know was probably flirting with him.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in that episode, the group explains to Marshall that he's the reacher in his relationship with Lily, and she's the settler. In other words, she's too good for him, but she's settling for him. After much (much much much) prodding, Lily agrees with that, and Marshall decides he has to make Lily jealous. But, of course, she doesn't get jealous, because Lily's too cool to get jealous. Mostly. Which just makes Marshall try harder.
That entire storyline was heartwarming on top of being funny. I always enjoy watching Marshall and Lily interact, because there's just so much love between them. It takes Lily forever to admit she even might be settling for Marshall, and, even then, it isn't a big deal in her eyes. Meanwhile, even while Marshall's trying to make Lily jealous, he never wants to hurt her. The writers and actors have really done a great job creating such a lovely couple that you're constantly rooting for.
Then there's the second story, where Ted, who is forever desperate to be liked by his students, discovers that his students all watch Robin's show... and have a drinking game about it. This was yet another opportunity to throw Robin and Ted into an adversarial relationship, with Robin rubbing it in Ted's face and Ted trying not to let it bother him, even though it so obviously does. It's a trick the HIMYM writers do a lot, but it's so much fun every time.
There's no way this episode could have competed against the 100th episode, which was the last new one, but it was definitely fun to watch and it kept me laughing through the whole thing.
Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad
Time: Mondays, 8:00-8:30pm
Cast: Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders
Summary: When Marshall finds out he's the "reacher" and Lily's the "settler" in their relationship, he sets out to make her jealous. Meanwhile, Ted finds out his students have a drinking game about Robin.
Review: Usually in a HIMYM episode, there's something that stands out as the best part of the episode for me. Everything else was good, but there's usually one part I can point to and say, "Oh, I really loved blahblahblah."
In this case, it was Amanda Peet. I've loved her since her starring role on the short-lived but totally awesome Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (go check it out if you've never seen it). She's a great comedic actress, and her chemistry with Jason Segel was spectacular in this episode. From the first introduction to the moment she plants one on him (that's not a spoiler; it was in the promo), it was easy to imagine her as a co-worker who Marshall didn't know was probably flirting with him.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in that episode, the group explains to Marshall that he's the reacher in his relationship with Lily, and she's the settler. In other words, she's too good for him, but she's settling for him. After much (much much much) prodding, Lily agrees with that, and Marshall decides he has to make Lily jealous. But, of course, she doesn't get jealous, because Lily's too cool to get jealous. Mostly. Which just makes Marshall try harder.
That entire storyline was heartwarming on top of being funny. I always enjoy watching Marshall and Lily interact, because there's just so much love between them. It takes Lily forever to admit she even might be settling for Marshall, and, even then, it isn't a big deal in her eyes. Meanwhile, even while Marshall's trying to make Lily jealous, he never wants to hurt her. The writers and actors have really done a great job creating such a lovely couple that you're constantly rooting for.
Then there's the second story, where Ted, who is forever desperate to be liked by his students, discovers that his students all watch Robin's show... and have a drinking game about it. This was yet another opportunity to throw Robin and Ted into an adversarial relationship, with Robin rubbing it in Ted's face and Ted trying not to let it bother him, even though it so obviously does. It's a trick the HIMYM writers do a lot, but it's so much fun every time.
There's no way this episode could have competed against the 100th episode, which was the last new one, but it was definitely fun to watch and it kept me laughing through the whole thing.
Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
How I Met Your Mother - Girls vs. Suits
Network: CBS
Time: Mondays, 8:00-8:30pm
Cast: Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris
Summary: Barney must choose between his suits or a hot new bartender. Ted gets closer to meeting "the mother."
Review: Now, I admit I came a little late to the How I Met Your Mother game. So when I say this is the best episode I've seen, you have to take it with a grain of salt. It'd be more accurate to say this is the best episode I've seen this season, I suppose.
So I'll say it: this is the best episode I've seen this season.
That said, I think HIMYM is on its way to winding down. We're so close to meeting the mother now that I can't imagine how many more ways they can tease the audience. I'll be sad to see it go, and I certainly think it can last at least another year or two, but the hard truth is that they're going to run out of ways to drag it out soon enough.
OK, on to this episode. So many things to love about it, and they don't all center around Neil Patrick Harris and his awesomeness. Though he is awesome. And I guess I have to start by saying any episode where he sings and dances automatically ranks higher than an episode without it.
The episode focused on two things: Barney's obsession with a hot bartender who won't date a guy who wears a suit, and Ted's date with his future wife's roommate. Both stories were strong, funny, and ultimately very sweet. I'll start with the Barney story, since I've already been talking about it.
Seeing Barney dress in something other than a suit was worth watching the episode for, even if nothing else had been good about it, but watching Marshall and Lily argue about the bartender was actually sweeter than it was funny. Marshall refuses to say that the bartender is hotter than Lily, no matter how much she tries to convince him. You can tell in the way he says it that he truly believes Lily is the hotter one, and something about that was so sweet that even I fell a little in love with Marshall.
Of course, the nice moment is ruined by Barney's escapades. He is so devastated by not wearing his precious suits that he runs into the bathroom to wear one for just a few minutes and accidentally rips it. In horror, he runs to his personal tailor (whose identity I refuse to reveal because every show deserves some secrets). The scene that follows is so hysterical that it is easily in my top three favorite scenes of the episode.
Of course, the bartender ultimately finds out that Barney's really a suit-whore, and she tells him he has to make a decision. Which he does. With song. And dance.
Then there's Ted's story. He goes out on a date with a PhD student he meets on campus, Cindy, who turns out to be the roommate of the future mother of his children (which young Ted obviously doesn't know, but older Bob-Saget-acted Ted makes abundantly clear). Cindy clearly has roommate issues, and she spends most of the date trying to keep Ted from liking her roommate, though older Ted keeps pointing out that everything she mentions is something he loves about his wife. As much as Ted tries to convince her that he doesn't want to date her roommate, he ruins the effect later, when he tries to tell Cindy how much they have in common and instead points out the only things in her room that are really her roommate's.
Like Modern Family, I find the real draw of HIMYM to be the interaction between the characters, not the jokes, despite its sitcom status. This episode had the perfect combination of funny moments and sweet moments. I feel like they got rid of some of the awkwardness that always seemed to be around when Barney and Robin were dating (sorry, 'shippers, but that relationship never really worked for me... not in the canon sense, at least), and the characters have settled into a fun, relaxed state. Like I said before, my fear is that, as Ted draws nearer to finally meeting the mother, the show is going to run out of places to go.
But for the time being, the show seems to be thriving, and I look forward to seeing what antics the group will get up to every week.
Favorite line:
Ted (to Cindy): "I promise I will not fall in love with your roommate."
Older Ted (VO): "Oops."
Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad
Time: Mondays, 8:00-8:30pm
Cast: Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris
Summary: Barney must choose between his suits or a hot new bartender. Ted gets closer to meeting "the mother."
Review: Now, I admit I came a little late to the How I Met Your Mother game. So when I say this is the best episode I've seen, you have to take it with a grain of salt. It'd be more accurate to say this is the best episode I've seen this season, I suppose.
So I'll say it: this is the best episode I've seen this season.
That said, I think HIMYM is on its way to winding down. We're so close to meeting the mother now that I can't imagine how many more ways they can tease the audience. I'll be sad to see it go, and I certainly think it can last at least another year or two, but the hard truth is that they're going to run out of ways to drag it out soon enough.
OK, on to this episode. So many things to love about it, and they don't all center around Neil Patrick Harris and his awesomeness. Though he is awesome. And I guess I have to start by saying any episode where he sings and dances automatically ranks higher than an episode without it.
The episode focused on two things: Barney's obsession with a hot bartender who won't date a guy who wears a suit, and Ted's date with his future wife's roommate. Both stories were strong, funny, and ultimately very sweet. I'll start with the Barney story, since I've already been talking about it.
Seeing Barney dress in something other than a suit was worth watching the episode for, even if nothing else had been good about it, but watching Marshall and Lily argue about the bartender was actually sweeter than it was funny. Marshall refuses to say that the bartender is hotter than Lily, no matter how much she tries to convince him. You can tell in the way he says it that he truly believes Lily is the hotter one, and something about that was so sweet that even I fell a little in love with Marshall.
Of course, the nice moment is ruined by Barney's escapades. He is so devastated by not wearing his precious suits that he runs into the bathroom to wear one for just a few minutes and accidentally rips it. In horror, he runs to his personal tailor (whose identity I refuse to reveal because every show deserves some secrets). The scene that follows is so hysterical that it is easily in my top three favorite scenes of the episode.
Of course, the bartender ultimately finds out that Barney's really a suit-whore, and she tells him he has to make a decision. Which he does. With song. And dance.
Then there's Ted's story. He goes out on a date with a PhD student he meets on campus, Cindy, who turns out to be the roommate of the future mother of his children (which young Ted obviously doesn't know, but older Bob-Saget-acted Ted makes abundantly clear). Cindy clearly has roommate issues, and she spends most of the date trying to keep Ted from liking her roommate, though older Ted keeps pointing out that everything she mentions is something he loves about his wife. As much as Ted tries to convince her that he doesn't want to date her roommate, he ruins the effect later, when he tries to tell Cindy how much they have in common and instead points out the only things in her room that are really her roommate's.
Like Modern Family, I find the real draw of HIMYM to be the interaction between the characters, not the jokes, despite its sitcom status. This episode had the perfect combination of funny moments and sweet moments. I feel like they got rid of some of the awkwardness that always seemed to be around when Barney and Robin were dating (sorry, 'shippers, but that relationship never really worked for me... not in the canon sense, at least), and the characters have settled into a fun, relaxed state. Like I said before, my fear is that, as Ted draws nearer to finally meeting the mother, the show is going to run out of places to go.
But for the time being, the show seems to be thriving, and I look forward to seeing what antics the group will get up to every week.
Favorite line:
Ted (to Cindy): "I promise I will not fall in love with your roommate."
Older Ted (VO): "Oops."
Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad
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