I thought this episode was pretty well written and executed. I realize sometimes many reviews get really technical and overanalyze, but at the end of the day my recaps can be boiled down to 1 point. Did it make me laugh. And tonight it did.
Ted was completely Ted tonight. His pursuit of Maggie was from start to finish caught up in who Ted is at heart. I loved the way he had her neighbor call him as soon as the window opened, and the moment when his class show their love for Architecture by all raising their hands because they really DO want to hear about it for an hour. Especially, when he realizes how cool Maggie’s love story was and decides (again) that’s really what he wants in his life.
Marshall was phenomenal tonight. I echo a lot of his sentiments. I do still wish I could dunk a basketball. And the call backs are always good. Lily’s nymphomania is always brought up at the funniest moments. The basketball court scene had to be one of my favorite Marshall and Lily moments of the series. The closing scene (what I call the Re-Return) was so very funny. I got really excited when I first noticed old Marshall in the background. Even then, the whole premise of the Marshall not fulfilling his original expectations and being the corporate sellout all being ok because of his love for his wife was great. I love how she really his his life. Maybe I’m just a softie for that kind of portrayal of marriage, becasue it’s true for a lot of us. I just love good Lily and Marshall subplots.
Barney in the overalls and Robin’s frustration at not being able to keep Jim’s mind off of Maggie was played very well. Both had funny scenes. I’ll even admit that the writers had me at the end. I thought that Barney was really fixing to open up to Ted about “where he was” and how much he really did miss Robin and having a relationship…then, same old Barney. Very funny all over.
I’m always curious if anyone else had some favorite lines or moments that I didn’t mention. If so leave them below. I also left a few unanswered (in my mind) questions below the jump…some people don’t like too may spoilers.
What did everyone else think?
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Moments of Awesomeness:
- Robin’s really bad joke about the movie Se7en was hilarious to me… “What’s in the box!?!”
- Vanilla Thunder, love that call back from the 1995 Slam Dunk champion (see The Possimpible for more info)
- M.A.G.G.I.E – make adjustments go get it energized. I so love that Ted ends up talking relationships with his whole architecture class. How Ted.
- Barney’s overall speech was so good. I suppose they are called overalls, thus you could wear them over all, not sure I could pull off the overall/suit look though.
- Did I mention that I loved the Re-Return?
Mother Music (Check out the growing list of How I Met Your Mother Music):
- Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks (find it on Amazon or
), plays near the end as Ted tells the second greatest love story he has ever heard - Informer by Snow plays for 15 year old Marshall as he write the note to 30 year old Marshall (Amazon or )
Questions Raised:
- If Maggie’s story is the second greatest love story he had ever heard, who is number one? His? Marshall and Lily? Someone Else?… I’m just curious.
- Was that Wendy in the Re-Return? I miss Wendy.
- Would you ever be that desperate to take off overalls?
- Does Ted’s re-re-re-realization that he is ready to start chasing his forever girl mean anything or is is just another moment…
Legendary Lines:
Ted: I hate Barney Stinson.
Random female in NY: Me too!
Barney: No one could get laid wearing these…ha ha… Challenge Accepted.
Barney: Ted, you have 10 minutes to get down here or the window is closing
Ted: 10 minutes
Barney: Yep, because we’re bro
Marshall: I barley grazed the bottom of the net and now my legs hurt so much I can’t even fall down.
Robin: He’s not telling you hello, he’s just telling you what he feeds his horsees.
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The Re-Return:
Marashall writes another letter to his 60 year old self… and ask for a sign if time travel is possible in the future. He gives a date and time to show the sign.
Lilly comes up with some free wings that someone said were too hot. Marshall adds to his letter, “Old Man Marshall, as long as you are still Married to Lily you’re doing just fine.”
Then we see it was Old Man Marshall from the future is at the bar.
I have to guess that the number 1 story is his. Why else would he spend so much time telling his HIMYM story if he knew 2 (or more) better stories…
Thought tonights episode was great. Completely agree about Ted finally being Ted again. My favorite parts:
Robin accepting her challenge to make you look like a farmer jokes all night
Barney and the overalls over the suit almost had me crying, I was laughing so hard
Young Marshall was hilarious, with the braces, and Snow, and rattail…too perfect
PS – still think Robin is absolutely perfect for Barney…again evidenced by her challenge accepting
I have found myself disappointed by the past couple of episodes, especially the breakup between Robin and Barney (though it may be that I was rooting for them so avidly). I think this episode really brought it back for me. It had a great plot, was very funny, and I put Ted back where he belongs which brings us one step closer to the mother.
As for Barney, I really hope he does still feel for Robin. Hopefully they get back together in the end because I was completely heartbroken after that episode!
BTW, this blog is fantastic! Nice to know there’s someone just as obsessed (if not more) with HIMYM than my boyfriend and me. I love referring to this site, especially for the music! Thanks!
Thought the episode was really great but did no one notice the giant clue towards the mother near the end of the episode? At least I thought it was a clue. Seems too obvious to not be one really.
When Ted and Barney are talking on the street. Ted says that he’s ready again (for a relationship). Picture switches to Barney and we see a dark haired woman in the back picking up a YELLOW magazine (remember yellow umbrella) from the stand.
It was pretty subtle, but still obvious enough to me.
Thoughts?
Thanks for the input all…
@Alex, I would guess his is the best he ever told but I was thinking it’s a little too egotistical for Ted to call his the best… Maybe if it was Barney. I dunno, maybe it is his.
I’m with the consensus here, I thought Robin and Barney were good together. I really hope they aren’t over. It really seems like this Barney is funnier though, but I blame the writers for that!
Oh and Jasper! I didn’t even notice that, I’ll rewatch the episode and let you know what I find.
Hmm, I think that the greatest love story Ted’s ever heard would be Lily and Marshall’s- he talked back in Season 3 how they had basically made telling the story an art form, and he can’t really ‘hear’ his own love story, can he?
@Alex: he’s telling the kids his story because he was disappointed in his parents not being able to communicate, and so he swore back in S2 that he was going to tell his future kids every detail of how he met the mother.