Spoilers for the "How I Met Your Mother" finale, part the first, coming up just as soon as I get some guy tips...I love how "HIMYM" gets to have its cake and eat it, too. It looks and acts just enough like a traditional sitcom (video, laugh track, situations) that it's not as off-putting to some people as an "Arrested Development," but it also does things a traditional sitcom won't do, particularly the way it plays with time. So here we have one of the most standard comedy plots of all time, the wedding where everything goes wrong, but the writers execute it very well, and throw in just enough of their own little spin so it doesn't feel like you've seen this all a million times before.
Barney obviously rocked this episode, as he so often does, between him registering as an officiant "Because it suddenly implants in the mind of every woman there that, when I ask a question, you say, 'I do,'" him discovering the super power that is "It's for the bride" and him speed-talking through the ceremony to stop his sobbing.
But there was also plenty of goodness from Marshall (admitting he and Lily once had a farting contest, the razor freak-out and the brilliant "Shawshank Redemption" rant, complete with Zihuatanejo reference) and Lily (describing Scooter by asking, "Did he look like a guy who tried to be an umpire but failed?"), and even Ted (though his best moment was from behind the bathroom stall door).
Don't want to say too much since I've seen next week's, though I don't think anyone's going to be shocked with what happens. What did everybody else think?
I loved the you tube bride freak out shout out and all of Barney. Brilliant, brilliant Barney this episode.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that annotation. I was just dropping by here to ask about Red and Andy (which I heard as "Red Andy").
ReplyDeleteCan we petition CBS to lose the laugh track? I agree that the bit with the harpist having the contraction in midpluck was funny, but Marshall yelling "My hair!" a second later wasn't worthy of the exact same belly laugh.
It was hilarious. My favorite part was Barney saying, "Everyone pick their jaws back up because Barney Stimpson is officiating a marriage ceremony!" and then doing that move with his arms. Classic.
ReplyDeleteUrsula
Looks clear to me now that Ted and Robin have already broken up and not told anyone. After the outdoor ceremony, Ted walks over to Robin and pecks her on the cheek.
ReplyDeleteThough the rest of the episode was cleverly constructed to hide this fact.
it was obvious that Teb & Robin had broken up already. After the outdoor ceremony, she went first to Barney. Then her and Ted shared an akward hug and peck on the cheek.
ReplyDelete(ps> it was 'cool guy tips'. Which of course, Marshal didn't need any advice on...)
I missed the Shawshank reference. What was it?
ReplyDeleteI laughed myself stupid through this whole episode. I rewound the shaving scene about half a dozen times just to see Ted's reaction followed by Marshall's glazed smile when he put the clippers down. Hilarious.
ReplyDeleteLoved everything about Barney in this episode.
The whole thing ranks up there with "Swarley" and "Slap Bet" as one of the top episodes of the season.
I missed the Shawshank reference. What was it?
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna get this "wrong" but it was after Marshall shaved his head.
He went a little nuts and said (approximately)
Marshall: "I'm going to run away and find the money under the rock by the tree and go hang out on the beach with the guys in Zihuatenejo!"
Ted: "Those guys are criminals"
Marshall: "Only one, Red. Andy was wrongly accused!"
As a Shawshank Redemption FREAK, I loved it. Made my husband bedoop backwards twice.
There's an extra referential layer to that seen, too. It looked to me like they were riffing on a widely seen YouTube clip in which a bride freaks out and cuts off her hair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRNntNBEUF0
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, it's staged.
Gah. "Scene" not "seen." And I'm an editor for a living. More coffee...
ReplyDeleteThis was such a terrific episode... it made me laugh and cry. The Shawshank reference was the greatest. And Barney rocks!
ReplyDeleteAnd how about when Lily was about to cry and demanded that Robin do something to keep her from crying: "I have hairy nipples!" "Really?!"
The breakup relates to the sauce on the shirts we saw in last week's episode. That was too obvious to just completely ignore even with the craziness of the Price is Right.
ReplyDeleteI watch too much serial scifi to not pick up on something like that.
True, it's pretty clever of them to not reveal the breakup overtly for a few episodes, and just hint at the sauce.
ReplyDeleteAww, mushy Barney.
I loved the comment about the hat, plus Marshall's hair freakout being worse than anything Lily ever did.
The sauce! D'oh! At the moment I'd just thought that it was some weird random thing and found it kinda funny. In retrospect.... well, duh. St00pid me.
ReplyDeleteIt was subtle but I really liked when Lily and Marshall saw each other outside and Marshall was the one to say "You're not supposed to see me before the wedding."
ReplyDeleteIt's hilarious when they make Marshall the girl in the relationship. Similar to last week when he asked Lily if she would be the big spoon for awhile.
So, to review, this show has referenced Shawshank, Field of Dreams, and Cheers... am I leaving any out?
ReplyDeleteSuch a good show.
does anyone know what's the title of the very last song in this episode ..
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of attracting my attention when I first hear it ..
actually watched this ep again, and I must say that continuity is it's strong point. There's a snippet of Marshall and Lily's second wedding, and they're walking up the aisle - right behind them is someone running toward them and someone chasing the runner.
ReplyDeleteWho are they? Didn't know until I saw the season finale...it is Scooter being chased by what's his name (the friend who disappeared during the bachelor party ep). Rewind and see for yourself...!
no one will see this, two years later, but no one ever answered either.
ReplyDeleteThe guitarist played Ode To Joy, which is a classical piece, and not being into classical music, i'll guess it's by Beethoven
No one will see this, either, a year after Pamele Jaye's comment, but the guitarist was actually playing "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" by Bach.
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