(S02E03) Everybody loves brunch, don't they? It's late in the morning... everyone's eating omelets and waffles, people have sex in the bathroom, and ugly family secrets get revealed.Oh, that didn't happen the last time you visited your local bistro? Well, that's why sitcom life is a bit different than yours. Just be glad you're not Ted Mosby; we found out a little more about him tonight, stuff that's not going to bode well for him down the road.
I've got to say, I'm really liking the broken-up Marshall and Lilly. The "Marshall and Lilly part" of the eventful brunch was the funniest of the three "parts" shown (the other two were "the Barney part" and "the Ted and Robin part"). The porn music that was played as Lilly showed off her chest to Marshall at dinner was good, but it was even funnier when Marshall "unleashed" his calves at brunch and started rubbing them in front of Lilly. The looks on their faces were hilarious. Biggest laugh of the night. Carter and Craig are doing a good job of showing how break-ups aren't clean, and in Marshall and Lilly's case, extremely complicated. Another good line: "That U2 boxed set? Look inside: it's all Dave Matthews Band."
The "Barney part" is pure Barney. He knows everything about Ted's parents, who come in from Cleveland to visit, basically to show he's a better friend than Robin is a girlfriend. Of course, Robin is upset, but when she tells Barney, ite leads to the week's Best Barenyism: "I'm his best friend. You're his girlfriend. Girlfriends are like a bad flu: out of your system after a couple of weeks in bed." The odd thing is, when Barney takes Ted's dad out for a beer at the pub, he's kind of disgusted after Mr. Mosby "rack jacks" him. It's a rare bit of humanity from Barney; he's disgusted as much about the fact that Mr. Mosby is supposedly married than he cares about being c-blocked. It was interesting to not only see Michael Gross, who played Mr. Mosby, be Barney's wingman, but it was odd seeing him sucking face with a young waitress.
Now we come to the "Ted and Robin part": This one was a bit too telescoped for me. Not the part where we find out that the Mosbys have been divorced for months but never told Ted (whenever any emotional issues come up, Ted's parents change the subject. Ted and his dad talk about baseball and that's it); that one was a fun little twist. It's why they got divorced that was a little too neat and clean. They were two different people; one is a dreamer, the other more practical. One wanted kids, the other didn't. Sound like any couple we know? Heck, they didn't even switch roles; Robin is the younger version of Mrs. Mosby and Ted is the younger version of his dad. Why didn't they just say, "Hey, Ted and Robin, the two of you are doomed and here's why!"
But this is a minor quibble with an overall strong episode. It's getting better every week, which is what usually happens when a show is about to break out and become huge. Isn't it starting to feel like that to you folks?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-02-2006 @ 11:16PM
Harish said...
Any wagers on when the real future wife will enter the picture?
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10-02-2006 @ 11:44PM
Alaina said...
Where did Ted's dad meet Ted's mother. I missed the episode and just wanted to know. Thanks.
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10-02-2006 @ 11:45PM
Joel Keller said...
"A bar." When Ted exasperatedly asked for more details, his dad elaborated: "It was an Irish bar."
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10-03-2006 @ 12:44AM
Ryan said...
This needs to be a hit already. Man. I love these people.
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10-03-2006 @ 1:34AM
J said...
that episode was...wait for it, legendary!!
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10-03-2006 @ 7:35AM
Chris W said...
I've been preaching the HIMYM gospel since day one. I've got all my friends (some who never watch TV) hooked on it. The characters are so real and, outlandish and different as they are, one can relate to all of them in some way. I've got a friend going through the Marshall/Lilly thing. I know a guy who lies better than Barney AND plays lazer tag. I almost wish it doesn't become a "hit" because this is so good (especially for a sitcom), that it's nice to not have to share it.
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10-03-2006 @ 7:46AM
Chris W said...
Have you ever felt like there was an actual TV land? I watched How I Met Your Mother at 8:30 and Heroes at 9:00, and the actress who played Ted's mom on HIMYM is the same who played Peter's mom on Heroes. I think she was even wearing the same outfit. But there is a difference in tone between "Your father and I have been divorced...[for] nine months" and "Your father committed suicide".
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10-03-2006 @ 10:23AM
Michael G said...
Poor Ted, he is Friends with his Dad (Barney) and wants to marry his mother (Robin)
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10-03-2006 @ 12:45PM
Ryan said...
Chris W, I felt the whole TV Land deal too when I saw the same actress in HIMYM and Heroes. And this weekend I recently saw the movie "Brick" which had the actress that appeared in Heroes this most recent episode (the young lady with Mohinder in his dad's apartment).
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10-03-2006 @ 1:24PM
john said...
Best sitcom in a long while. I love reality tv but maybe this show is reality tv's Nirvana(the band that got credited for inroducing grunge and killed hair band metal.) Class is actually not bad either. Jericho and Heroes for dramas. All shows have had too much to do with dr.'s, lawyers, cops, etc. Refreshing shows have been introduced this season.
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10-03-2006 @ 2:17PM
Chris said...
You forgot the best line of the entire episode.
At the end when Barney finds out that Ted's parents are divorced he says something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, I remember him saying he was divorced last night." Typical Barney, he was so preoccupied with being 'rack jacked' that he forgot to mention to Ted that his parents were divorced. Legendary!
Chris
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10-04-2006 @ 11:58PM
Sophie said...
Barney sucking up to Ted's mom was priceless! Going to church with her, playing the piano, knowing her favorite meal - it was all awesome.
Also, just finished making a quiz on this episode. Stop by and check it out to see if you were paying attention :D
http://www.tvtriviaquiz.com/howimetyourmother.htm
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10-09-2006 @ 9:33PM
ooda said...
Great episode.
The whole TV Land thing is getting to me, like how for a while, everywhere you'd look there would be Lee Tergesen or J.K. Simmons from Oz playing some role, or the most common as of late has been Amanda Seyfried from Big Love.
I mean, it's fun seeing some actors you know, but in a few cases, it really is getting to be overkill. Kind of like how they had the Mom from Arrested Development in the "The Nine" pilot. I mean, I like seeing that she has work, but I can't see why it was vital to have her there.
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