(S02E10) Last week's episode, "Slap Bet," was a tough one to follow; even an extraordinarily funny episode would have paled in comparison. So to say this week's episode was a disappointment would be an overstatement. But it really wasn't as sharp as some of the others this season have been. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm really starting to think that introducing guest stars disrupts the chemistry of the show too much. The last time there was a lame-ish episode, Jane Seymour and Bryan Cranston were guesting; this time around, it's Wayne Brady, who played Barney's brother James. You'd think a guy who uttered the line "Does Wayne Brady have to choke a bitch?" would be able to do well playing a black, gay version of Barney. But he was just... meh. Let's just say he could have been a lot better.
First of all, I wonder if networks aren't setting us up for a long run of repeats from now until February; we're already almost halfway through most seasons, and episodes this week are even Christmas- or winter-themed. It's winter in HIMYM world already, and the couples on the show are in hibernation. No matter what Barney proposes, whether it's a rave in a tire warehouse in Newark or a beer downstairs, no one wants to move. Awwww.... isn't that the cutest thing about being in a couple? The fact that you can just hide away in your apartment and not come out because you're not forcing yourself to go somewhere and meet people? Yeah, it can get comfortable and boring, but for homebodies, curling up with a loved one and a DVD is so much better than going to some annoying club, right? Who's with me?
I guess that I don't have "single stamina" anymore, even though I'm still single. I liked how they contrasted the body language between singles and couples in a bar. It's true; you can always tell who in the bar are couples by those "I just want to be be in my nice warm bed" looks on their faces.
Anyway, there were nice little side jokes going on in this episode, like the fact that Marshall loves to drink pink drinks with fruit in them but can't because it makes him look less than manly. The crazy straw in the drink he gets at the gay bar was a good little touch. Robin and Lilly loving the gay bar because they don't get hit on -- and the guys hating it because they do -- was a nice role-reversal. The scenes where Barney and James play each other's wingman were also good, at least as far as timing and chemistry was concerned. And James' pep talk to the couples about how bored folks in Wyoming were, just sitting in friends' basements and wishing they were young and in New York, was pretty good.
But the whole thing with James just wasn't that funny. Maybe the Best Barneyism of the episode was his unique reason why he disliked gay marriage. He finds out that James -- gulp! -- has a fiancé, and he freaks. He doesn't like gay marriage not because gays will ruin marriage; it's because they'll ruin singledom. "Once the gays do something, everyone will start to do it." Maybe it was a subtle dig at the people who were against gay marriage, and maybe it was a little nod towards Neil Patrick Harris and his recent public outing. It definitley made Barney look more vulnerable; but he definitely lept out of character when James told him that he and his intended were going to adopt a baby (did Barney say "A gayby?" or did I mishear it?). Anyway, I guess it was good to see Sensitive-ish Barney, but S-ish Barney isn't a Funny Barney.
A few more notes:
- At the wedding, which takes place a year after the rest of the episode, the implication is that Marshal and Lilly are married. Maybe Robin and Ted are still together; they dance together and seem to get along, but when Marhsall and Lilly ask if they're going home, they respond separately, as if they didn't come to the wedding together. Huh. Anyone catch that? (A couple of commenters said they had that "single stamina." Makes sense to me.)
- "And that's how Barney became 'Uncle Barney.'" Hmm.... Very interesting. Is Ted's family tree starting to fill in a little?
- Loved seeing the Atari 2600 in those flashback scenes where Barney's and James' mother tries to explain how they're related. Notice we never find out, by the way. Guess the mom was as loose as Eric Cartman's mom, huh?
- James' son can really "suit up," can't he?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-27-2006 @ 10:46PM
Dave said...
--> Maybe Robin and Ted are still together; they dance together and seem to get along, but when Marhsall and Lilly ask if they're going home, they respond separately, as if they didn't come to the wedding together. Huh. Anyone catch that?
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11-27-2006 @ 10:54PM
Joel Keller said...
OK, Dave, but do you have an anwser to my question?
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11-27-2006 @ 11:03PM
dinges said...
it definitely was a letdown. kinda weird now the NPH has come out.
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11-27-2006 @ 11:09PM
mtx said...
How can Barney's brother be like Barney when he didn't get his girlfriend stolen from a slimy wall street type?
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11-27-2006 @ 11:38PM
mb said...
I'm glad you noticed Robin & Ted at the wedding. I did not notice them answering sepeately but thought it was the "single stamina" and that meant they were no longer together.
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11-27-2006 @ 11:57PM
MrsEldubya said...
FYI - Megan Mullally was the voice of the Mom. She had the whole cast on her show today. She showed clips of being on the set at the taping of tonight's show and said she would part of the episode. She showed a very funny clip of Barney-isms.
I thought Robin and Ted were showing "single stamina" at the end tool.
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11-28-2006 @ 12:04AM
Joel Keller said...
mb, MrsEldubya,
That's the sound of me smacking my forehead. That makes sense!
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11-28-2006 @ 7:57AM
Dave said...
Totally agree that after last week's great episode, this was a real letdown. Barney is funny when he's being Barney alone. Having basically two identical Barneys using the same catchphrases and you're dangerously into turning Barney into a Fonzie or an Urkel, my worst fears for this show. It just wasn't funny hearing Wayne Brady say "legend... wait for it.. dary", it just makes Barney seem lame instead of cool like we want him to be. This whole episode started screaming "Jumping the shark" to me and I didn't like that feeling. Much too early in this show's lifespan for that.
I think the implications at the end during the flash forward that Robin and Ted weren't a couple by then was pretty heavy handed.
Meh. I need to go watch the Robin Sparkles video again to cleanse my palate and have a laugh. "Don't forget the robot". Now THAT's a catchphrase!
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11-28-2006 @ 9:04AM
1L said...
I am sick of the tired old phrase "Jumping the Shark"...
Please let it rest in peace.
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11-28-2006 @ 9:06AM
Porchland said...
Spoilerfix has notes on two additional episodes, the second of which is Christmas-themed. According to Zap2it, next week's episode is the rerun of Lily moving to San Francisco and Marshall being depressed.
I don't understand why the producers telegraphed that Ted and Robin don't make it another year. We know they don't wind up together longterm, but doesn't this take even more air out of the tires?
The line about Barney becoming Uncle Barney makes me wonder even more what the situation is with the kids. Have the producers ever said definitively that the two kids belong to Ted?
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11-28-2006 @ 9:42AM
CeridianMN said...
Something to remember about Wayne Brady's character, he shouldn't have actually matched up with BArney as he didn't have "Single Stamina". He tried hard and for the first part seemed to keep up just fine, but the big "night out" showed him not keeping the pace as well. It wasn't a "meh" character by accident...
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11-28-2006 @ 9:43AM
Joel Keller said...
Ceridian, I thought Brady was "meh" because of his overall performance, not because the character petered out at the end. He could have done more with it. Although, the character could have been a bit edgier, too, now that I think of it, so it's not all Wayne's fault.
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11-28-2006 @ 10:00AM
JDub said...
Whether or not the episode was a letdown, it still had at least one great line.
Barney: She was a little bit country.
James: And he was a little bit WAY into black guys.
It is still making me laugh.
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11-28-2006 @ 11:59AM
JeffL said...
Two things really bothered me about the ep. First, as mtx noted above, what about the whole Barney-as-hippy thing? We've been told before that Barney became Barney only after he got dumped. This time, it seems like Barney & James have been Suited-Up their whole adult lives. I kept waiting for at least a throw away line about Old Barney, and felt let down & insulted in the end for not getting it. Way to reward longtime viewers there, Producers.
The other weird thing was James' husband. Other than the pic on Barney's phone, they never showed him. Even as Barney was giving his toast at the wedding, the shot was framed to hide Tom's face behind other guests. Secret HIMYM clue, or just no money for an actor?
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11-28-2006 @ 2:21PM
TomB said...
How cool was it that the gay actor played the straight brother and the straight actor played the gay brother?
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11-28-2006 @ 2:37PM
Dave said...
Bah - stupid comment system cut off my reply in comment #1. So anyway, we already know that "Aunt Robin" and Ted will eventually be just friends, and that Robin is not the "Mother" referred to in the title. And all season the writers have been dropping hints that their relationship isn't going to last (for instance, by painting the obvious similarities between Ted's parents' doomed relationship and his with Robin). Now that Marshall and Lilly are back together, I think the writers will split Ted and Robin fairly soon, freeing Ted up to continue his wife-quest. Personally, I think Ted's more interesting when he's going through the pain of dating anyway. Settled Ted is a boring Ted.
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11-28-2006 @ 5:24PM
Jennifer said...
Well, I liked the episode. Though I am kind of baffled at the "couples coma," since oddly enough, MY social life is more hopping when I'm going to the parties of an SO's friends when coupled than when I'm home alone and bored and nobody's inviting me to anything because they only want to socialize with other couples :P Poor Barney.
I did get kinda annoyed when "Baby Makes Everything Better" with regards to Barney, though. That was just weird.
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11-29-2006 @ 9:04AM
SpaceVenus said...
Did anyone else think that Lily was pregnant in the flash
forward?
She toasted with water and only drank water. That would make sense
that Marshall was so adamant about getting her home - to rest, because
who leaves a wedding at 9 o'clock? I agree, Robin and Ted responding
separately was a dead giveaway.
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11-29-2006 @ 10:07PM
Ben said...
Does anyone else think it might actually be former prime minister Brian Mulroney in the Robin Sparkles video?
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11-30-2006 @ 10:07PM
Stevie said...
i absolutely disagree that this was a letdown ep -- yes, 'slap bet' was hard to match, but this one was funny throughout, and went over the top with barney's reaction to the news about the adoption "(small voice) there's gonna be a baby?" both my s.o. and i freaked out over it. we were both just going "awwwww" for like 10 minutes. it was freakin adorable! i thought the whole ep was solid, fun, vintage himym.
and i did notice the separate answers of ted & robin, because as soon as they went a year in the future my 1st question was whether the couples were still together. i wondered if they'd have lily be preggers (esp after the 'fat' comment she made), but she didn't look it and they didn't come out and say it, so i wouldn't count on it. this show is awesome; i don't know why it's not more popular.
and i think it would be cool if cbs did "james' blog" too. barney's gets a little dull sometimes.
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