“Showdown” has two primary focuses, the first is Lily and Marshall’s upcoming wedding and the second is Barney’s preparation for The Price Is Right. With the wedding approaching fast, everyone is rushing to finish every last detail. The episode begins with the group questioning how codependent Lily and Marshall have become. Ted reminds Lily and Marshall about their vow to spend the final two weeks apart to make their wedding night special. Lily spends the next several nights at Robin’s apartment. During the first night, Lily shows Robin her wedding dress but to her amazement it doesn’t fit. All the stress from planning the wedding has caused Lily to lose weight. At first Lily is going to pay to have the dress altered but Robin shows her she now has an excuse to eat everything she has ever wanted. At one point, Robin turns into a drill sergeant, yelling a Lily to eat 20 bites of fudge and torment her when she starts to breakdown.
While Lily works on gaining weight, Ted works on his best man speech. Ted finds it difficult to right a speech that Marshall will allow him to read. Ted’s first speech included a sex story about the time Marshall got pulled over for driving alone in a carpool lane, when in reality, Lily was where the cop couldn’t see her. Ted’s second speech told the story of how Marshall first told Lily he loved her in college. In actuality, Marshall was telling Ted he loved him for bringing Funyuns after a late night of drinking. After two more failed speeches, we flash forward to the day of the wedding where Ted is telling everyone how difficult it was finding the perfect moment in Lily and Marshall’s ten years together. But Ted was looking to hard because as he says, the perfect moment happened only a few nights before the wedding.
Ted woke up in the middle of the night to find Marshall sneaking into the apartment. Marshall confessed that he and Lily had secretly been meeting at a hotel because they couldn’t stand to be apart. Spending time with Marshall helped Lily to relax and the two gorged themselves to help Lily fit into her dress. As Ted points out, after 10 years, Lily and Marshall are still so much in love that they couldn’t spend one night apart.
In the beginning of the episode, the group is stunned when Barney rattles of the exact prices for Lily and Marshall’s wedding registry. Barney tells the gang he has been training because he is going to be a future contest on the The Price Is Right. Later, Barney becomes frustrated when he realizes his memorization skills won’t help him with the Big Wheel. Barney’s temper tantrum leads to his true intentions, Barney is going on the show to meet his father, Bob Barker. Barney reveals to the gang his mother told him Bob Barker was his father when he was a kid and now he wants to impress his father by winning the Showcase Showdown and inform him he has a son.
Barney does get selected as a contestant and the gang watches the episode on it’s air date at the apartment. Barney’s training helps him to excel by guessing every prize price to the penny and he even gives the gifts to Lily and Marshall as wedding gifts. At one point, Barney uses the time he has during a game to show Bob Barker childhood photos. Barney makes it to the Showcase Showdown and wins not only his showcase but his opponents as well. Just before Bob Barker ends the show, Barney steals the microphone and tells him he has an announcement. Looking his father in the eyes, Barney congratulates him on 35 years hosting The Price Is Right. Present Ted asks Barney why he didn’t tell Bob Barker he was his son and Barney responds that if you go a long time believing something and to find out it’s not true would be devastating. Barney immediately adds he didn’t want to do that to Bob Barker. The episode ends with the footage from Lily’s “Night Night” tape mentioned earlier in the episode. Marshall, with Ted’s reluctant accompaniment, sings Lily her “Night Night” song.
“Showdown” is my favorite episode of season two. Both Ted and Lily’s story lines are hilarious. I can relate to Ted’s search for the perfect best man speech because I am going to be in one of my best friend’s wedding in a few months. Being a part of the wedding adds just as much pressure on you to make sure you give the wedding party the best wedding possible. The scenes used to illustrate Ted’s unaccepted speeches were entertaining, but Ted’s actual speech and the story that accompanied it, was the perfect way to end that part of the episode. Although the focus was on the upcoming wedding, Barney’s story stole the episode. The absurdity of Bob Barker being his father and the childhood flash backs of Barney “spending time” with his dad were a riot.
Mt favorite scene was the whole scene with Barney as a The Price Is Right contestant. Using the time during a game to show Bob Barker pictures, made me cry from laughter. The final exchange between Ted and Barney made me realize he doesn’t always live with his head in the clouds.
Cheers and don’t forget to spay and nuder your pets.
johnnynight24 