(S03E05) Finally.
We finally got an episode this season that was not only really funny, but had all the time-bending and multi-threaded elements that made people enjoy HIMYM for the first two seasons. It's the first episode where all five cast members are present, accounted for, and together, and it's the first one where we're not concentrating as much on Ted and Robin (well, at least Robin) and getting back to having Lily, Marshall and Barney be more than just bit players. Yes, we need to find out more about "the mother," and soon. But for now, I'll take more episodes like this one as we get back to the mythology of the show.
Wasn't it great that the the episode all took place at the booth at McLaren's, more or less in real time? It served as a nice base from which Bays and Thomas were able to shoot back in time to examine how everybody in the group met each other. But I'll get to that in a second. First we need to talk about Blah Blah.
I'd like to think that Carter and Craig are Greg the Bunny fans and they used Count Blah as inspiration to name the hot-crazy woman Ted brought to the pub. But that's just wishful thinking on my part. Anyway, Blah Blah was bringing the crazy something fierce, wasn't she? She makes handbags! That's not at all crazy, is it? But the way Blah Blah immediately latched onto whatever Robin said was scary as hell.
Barney was right; she wasn't above that Vickie Mendoza Diagonal on the Hot-Crazy Scale (HCS). Even if what she whispered to Ted sent her up there temporarily, her threats about telling Marshall about how Lily and Ted really met truly sent her crashing into the Shelly Gillespie Zone.
Can you guess that the highly scientific HCS is the Best Barneyism of the week? Just like the fantasies men have of riding the tricycle, almost every man has his own mental HCS. It's a given. Now do I agree with Barney that any hot woman who meet men online are either crazy, men or have some weird hidden secret? Not quite. But it's interesting how the usually snobby Ted has resorted to asking people out while playing World of Warcraft (and his choice of character is also interesting).
My favorite meeting story has to be the Ted-Lily story, mainly because Ted was so convinced that "Unreasonably Small Mouth Opening Girl" was Lily, and he was, as Lily thought, "Too Much Tongue Guy." The story showed every aspect of why Ted needs a comeuppance every so often; we tend to forget that he's always been obnoxious, it just that he controls it more now. Lily and Marshall's story is next, mainly because of how idealized it is and how, in Old Ted's words, it's like a "choreographed dance." Of course, after the whole story of how Lily knew to go to that particular dorm room, Marshall's desire to hit that "black-haired goth chick" seemed much more satisfying to me.
Then, of course, we have Barney finding his wingmen sometime in 2001. It's amazing how, despite the fact that Ted thought he was kind of a jerk, he did shave off the goatee after Barney told him to. And, notice that the top of Marshall's head was a bit curlier in 2001? Those little details are fun to see, as was the bright red poofy 'do on the 2001 version of Lily.
Other fun:
- Sandwiches. What a great substitute. And a good way for Old Ted to tell the story to his kids. But why he'll skirt the pot issue with them but have no problem describing his threesome is beyond me.
- Marshall was so "full" from that "sandwich" that after Ted introduced himself as his new roomie, Marshall still thought Ted was the dean, only now he was the dean and his roommate.
- Interesting how we didn't really see how Robin met anyone, probably because we've already seen it; she did meet the other four at pretty much the same time. She really wasn't a big part of this episode, was she? Well, except to be a "foil" for Blah Blah. "Look at how she's laughing at me!" BB tells Ted, as we flash on Robin disinterestedly staring and eating popcorn.
- Ah, so good to see Combover Marshall and Lily Rodham Clinton again. Now we also see the 2020 version of Ted, who seems to look exactly the same, but has neater hair. "Where is my wife?" Ted asks as they consume a communal "sandwich" (conveniently placed in a Ziploc bag) at the reunion. I really want to see more glimpses of the gang in the future. Can snapshots of Barney and Robin be next?
- It's fitting that the first meeting between Slappy Brothers (Marshall and Barney) involved a burn on Barney. If Barn didn't challenge Marshall by having him hit on Lily, thus temporarily making Marshall a hero to Barney, would they have become friends? Hard to say...
- Robin's assurances to Blah Blah that she was a lox in bed when she was dating Ted. "I just laid there."
- Ted breaks out the sign language to burn Barney on their first meeting, while at the same time giving Barn the impression that Ted's the best wingman ever. Typical of Barn that the fake number he got never even aroused suspicion. He must get a lot of those.
- Robin's 16 nos when Blah Blah thought she and Barney were a couple.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-22-2007 @ 10:38PM
Joseph Land said...
This episode was written by the wife of David Kellet (I don't know her name) who does the great webcomic Sheldon at Sheldoncomics.com.
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10-22-2007 @ 10:54PM
clgbutterfly said...
YaY! This was an awesome episode and the prop stuff they did with the sandwhich was priceless. I think the Older Ted not only looked older, but thinner and taller (i.e. Bob Sagetish).
Don't forget he didn't tell the kids the Tricycle story (some stories you don't tell...)
This was a great episode of he said, she said. And again Barney did not get lost in the background with his chart. Robin's part wasn't so far from the rest, but she did not play and integral part in the story except to tick off BlahBlah.
Perfect form.
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10-22-2007 @ 11:03PM
Mike said...
This episode was great. I was also glad to have the whole group together for an episode. I hope we get more of that. Barney was on fire in this week's episode. The Crazy-Hot Scale could be up there with Robin's music video in terms of hilarity. I disagree about the "mythology" of the show being so important. This isn't LOST. As long as they give me a tid-bid every now and then I'll be happy, and they certainly won't ever have the luxury of an end date marked 3 seasons out like the LOST guys have. They're going to have to be sparse with the mythos until they know they are in their last season.
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10-22-2007 @ 11:24PM
shawn said...
i loved the episode. but i think they need to ditch robin. she doesn't have a purpose anymore. so :/ to say but she's gotta go!
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10-22-2007 @ 11:47PM
procrastinator said...
I totally dig this show and this one was a gem... but I still am put off by the premise. I mean it was funny how he tries to shelter his kids from elements of the story, but really he's not doing a good job at all, most of the stories are still totally inappropriate and so far not relevant at all to how he met their mother so why would he tell them... I suppose it is Ted afterall...
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10-22-2007 @ 11:51PM
BStu said...
In general, I love episodes where they establish the very unreliable narrator but the fact that they did this during such an overall good episode is even better. Actually, here we had an unreliable narrator (Ted telling the L/M story) inside another unreliable narration (Future Ted Sagating the story of Blah Blah).
Anyway, this clearly was a return to form and dealt with Ted/Robin's past perfectly while retaining the cohesiveness of the gang. I've enjoyed the previous episodes, but they did have that disjointed feeling that's totally gone here. We get Marshall and Lily being cute, we get Barneyisms, we get Robin being disinterested and awkward (simultaniously) and we even get Ted getting his in the end. Even if it was sideburned Ted. Great, great episode.
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10-23-2007 @ 12:09AM
Meesh said...
"I am your bro... I'm Broda"
hehe... Great episode!
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10-23-2007 @ 12:31AM
Ryan said...
It was a fantastic episode! As soon as I saw the title for the episode, I just knew it was going to be one of those classic episodes. I mean it had to be with that title right?
I really wanted Ted and Lily to have hooked up though. I could've done without the confirmation of them not actually making out. The ambiguity was nice.
Also the crazy girl? HIGHlarious.
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10-23-2007 @ 1:59AM
jds65 said...
I have a sneaking suspicion about Robin and Barney being together. Notice the way Barney reacted to Robin saying "no no no no no" far too many times. He reacted in a way that said "you don't need to pretend that much that you don't like me".
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10-23-2007 @ 1:31AM
Jeff N. said...
Very very funny episode. The best one of the new season.
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10-23-2007 @ 1:36AM
Justin said...
"Marshall's desire to hit that "black-haired goth chick" seemed much more satisfying to me."
Might want to change that to "tap". "Hit that" and "tap that" may mean the same thing, but remove the "that" and we go back to Ted's comment:
"He should use force? That sounds bad Broda"
This was a great episode. I love Barney getting burned by Marshall and the Mendoza Diagonal which I've added to Urban Dictionary.
http://www.have-you-met-ted.com
Join in the discussion over on my HIMYM blog.
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10-23-2007 @ 5:33AM
Girish said...
doesnt even hold a candle to the previous one - just my 2 cents
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10-23-2007 @ 6:39AM
KMF said...
LOVED this episode! I've known girls who were on the Vicki Mendoza diagnal on the HCS, and some in the Shelly Gillespie range, so that was one of the best parts of the show. Barney was again at his awesomeness peak again.
The episode had the great chemistry of everyone together, that I'd missed. Poor Robin though, she's still sort of a wonky wheel again. I was feeling a bit bad for her because Blah Blah was so crazy on her.
The sandwich thing was a scream! Though I've never eaten a sandwich myself, I've been to plenty of get together where many sandwhiches were consumed.
I want to see more Future versions of the group. I love the little glimpses of the future. I thought tell's hair was a little Republican, and he did seem a little thinner and taller and Sagetish.
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10-23-2007 @ 9:07AM
Dan said...
"Worst superhero names ever!"
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10-23-2007 @ 10:13AM
MacGuffin said...
Finally HIMYM comes back to form. GREAT episode in every conceivable way.
Oh and Blah Blah was super hot. Played by Abigail Spencer. Would love to see her become a recurring because she is so beautiful.
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10-23-2007 @ 11:07AM
Happy Steve said...
Watching that episode made me really hungry for a sandwich, too. Actual sandwiches. heh.
I laughed hard when they showed Ted eating a sandwich. It was a footlong! Daaaaaamn!
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10-23-2007 @ 2:35PM
Linda said...
I love the peace sign handbag!!! Any idea where to get one?? Thanks, Linda
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10-23-2007 @ 11:54AM
KateGee said...
Robin and Barney are soooo gonna get together.
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10-23-2007 @ 12:56PM
Tom said...
Yeah, this episode really did pull up from the nosedive that has been Season 3. I’m still a little worried about the show but its nice to have it back on the track again.
Though I do have to allude back to your last review in that the reason I think this episode worked so well is that the gang was all together again. Plus, the focus was on Ted again. I love the other characters but having the show split between Robin and Ted’s love life is stretching things too thin. Its fine to have a Robin boyfriend show up every once in a while (like it was in Season 1) but I don’t really want to tag along on a date with her (unless it’s a double with Ted)
Anyway, great episode and enough to make me spend my “stop watching countdown” (for now at least). I’m still really worried about Season 3 but watching this filled me with hope.
Oh, on a final note, I’m totally with jds65 and KateGee in that I become more and more convinced that Robin and Barney are going to end up together eventually.
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10-23-2007 @ 2:10PM
Andrea said...
Great episode! Thoughts:
-Marshall and Barney's meeting - and the ensuing scam - was one of the funniest scenes.
-I was surprised that Ted told Blah Blah about how he really met Lily. Hadn't it already been established that she's the jealous type?
-The sandwich thing was great. Marshall is so funny when he's stoned.
-The dialogue made me uncomfortable in the right ways, like when Robin was talking herself out of being in trouble with BB.
Your reference to Ted as "obnoxious" reminds me that I recently heard Josh Radnor in an interview refer to College Ted as a "douche". Thought that was funny.
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