Another Monday night has passed, and another episode of How I Met Your Mother has wrapped up. There were some new questions, some references to episodes past, and some awesome quotes, per usual. No real clues as to the mother, but it would be boring if those showed up every week, no?
Loved:
- Kevin (Kal Penn, Robin’s therapist) saying that he is moving to Alaska. It’s totally a Barney line, but for the exact opposite reason. Barney would tell a cute girl he was going to Alaska to bang her and never see her again, but Kevin uses it to try for professional distance between him and a cute patient. I approve.
- The turkey dinner (M), turkey melt (T), turkey meatloaf (W), turkey casserole (Th) and turkey chili (F) advertised at the diner where Robin and Kevin meet for lunch dates. Each for $7.99, natch.
- Discussions about liking or disliking ewoks, which were mentioned in “The Slutty Pumpkin”:
Ted: I just met the perfect woman. She’s funny, she’s beautiful, she loves “Star Wars”…
Marshall: Woah woah woah, what’s her take on ewoks?
Ted: Loves them!
Marshall: Oh, good. I don’t know why people are so cynical about ewoks…the Rebellion would have failed without the ewoks.
Ted: And get this: She’s a marine biologist, she spent a year in Antarctica studying penguins.
Marshall: Oh, penguins are cool. Kinda like black-and-white ewoks. I approve.
- The Ewok Line, which is quickly becoming my favorite out of all of Barney’s date diagnostics tools. For what it’s worth, I was born in 1982, so I’m firmly in the ewok appreciation camp.
- Finally a scene with Ted and Nora together, although I don’t think they actually had a conversation. Oh well.
- Barney: “it’s like watching The Breakfast Club on TBS”. LOL!
- Lily’s immediate interest in CAKE! I look forward to more scenes with hormonal pregnant Lily.
- I’m proud of Robin, they’ve shown great character development and really stayed true to her personality. I like her with Kevin on a temporary basis, but I still want Robin and Barney to end up together.
- Marshall saying “but we are gentlemen of Harvard!” in a quasi-shocked/offended voice (with an accent, no less)
- Barney saying “hey, weird beard, lights!” and also knowing about Ted’s students (their names, in Gina’s case, their mother’s age, in Will’s case). Of course he would know this stuff, it’s so Barney.
- Marshall’s stand up “comedy” about how fish (and the names of fish) are weird, as seen in “Old King Clancy” and “Right Place, Right Time”.
- Marshall needed Ted’s Indiana Jones whip when he screamed “NOT GOOD ENOUGH!” (from prior episode “Definitions”)
Didn’t Love:
- Ted’s facial hair. Bleh.
- I’m sad we didn’t get to see more details on Barney’s Sex Lessons Powerpoint presentation, and/or his ewok presentation.
I didn’t find this episode to be OMGAMAZING, but I certainly didn’t dislike it. I felt like they made the effort to stay true to each character’s personality, quirks, and insecurities, which I appreciate. Ted, for example, would of course be misty-eyed and dramatic in his pursuit of inspiring future architects. Marshall would of course say “Mother Nature Lover” when cleaning up his language, because pregnant Lily of course would not allow him to say bad words around her growing child (which has just developed ears). Robin might have run from Kevin in the past, but her current interactions with him are on point for the way her character has progressed in the past few seasons. And Barney…well, of course Barney is panicking about Nora, her age, and having a steady girlfriend. But he rises above it all at the end, which shows his character development as well.
To sum up, I think that this episode was GOOD ENOUGH (crack that whip)!