HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 20 “Showdown”

“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.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 19 “Bachelor Party”

“Bachelor Party” picks up at MacLaren’s with Ted and Marshall planning Marshall’s bachelor party. Naturally, Barney tried to hijack the party planning from Ted, insisting he is Marshall’s best man.  After Marshall leaves, Ted demands Barney promise no strippers and Barney does promise but winks after each promise. The trio, along with Brad and Stuart, road trip to the bachelor party which Barney believes is in Atlantic City but Barney quickly learns the party is actually in Foxwoods. When Barney confronts Ted, Ted apologizes for forgetting to keep him up to date and then winks.

The guys arrive at their hotel with plans to attend a boxing match and eat a steak that Ted picked online. But much to everyone’s dismay, Barney was aware of the change in plans and had the stripper waiting in their hotel room. The guys agree to a quick show before the fight but things turn disastrous when Treasure breaks her ankle and has to be taken to the hospital. The hospital trip causes the guys to meet the fight but Treasure “saves” the party by demanding to  finish her show after being put in a walking boot. Things turn from bad to worse when the guys get thrown out of the hotel because Barney accidentally set the hotel room on fire. On their way back to New York City, the guys find the missing groomsmen, Brad, naked and walking on the side of the road.

Meanwhile, Robin attends Lily’s wedding shower. After Barney convinced Robin to get Lily a “battery-powered, adult recreational fake penis”, she finds the shower is full of Lily’s older family members and a soon to be nun. Robin tries to escape with the “gift” in hand but is interrupted by Lily and has the gift pried from her hands. At one point, Robin tries to have a “telepathic conversation”, as first mentioned in “Mary the Paralegal”, with Lily but Lily confuses Robin’s message for asking for a tampon. Just before Lily opens Robin’s gift, Robin switches the cards in hopes of saving herself but things turn even worse when it is announce the next gift is from Grandma Lois. Grandma Lois’s gift was an antique sewing machine. In thinking her gift was next, Grandma Louis proceeds to tell Lily about how her gift has been passed down from generation to generation and how her grandfather “even liked to use it”. After Lily’s confusion from opening the gift, Robin comes clean and tells everyone she switched the cards out of embarrassment. To Robin’s surprise, Lily’s family joke about the “device”, even mentioning it looks similar to one from an episode of Sex and the City.

Back at MacLaren’s, Lily and Robin are surprised to find the guys returned from the bachelor party. Ted and Marshall blame Barney for their horrible evening. After Barney mentions being Marshall’s best man again, Marshall lays into him and mentions not inviting Barney to the wedding because he obviously doesn’t care about it. Lily saves the day by offering up a confession. She tells the story of how Barney flew to San Francisco to beg her to do the right thing and come home to Marshall before she loses him forever. Barney even bought a plane ticket for Lily’s return. Shocked, Marshall promotes Barney to co-best men with Ted. In stereotypical Barney style, he laughs at Ted and winks at Marshall after agreeing he and Ted are co-best men.

“Bachelor Party” gives us a small glimpse of the sensitive side of Barney. His wild, partying side appears to be matched by an equally caring side that he tries to hide, even from his best friends. The two side stories were pretty funny but Robin’s “gift” was more entertaining. As a guy, I can’t even imagine opening a gift like that in front of my family.

My favorite scene was actually every time the not-so-subtle wink was used by Barney or Ted.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 18 “Moving Day”

“Moving Day” finally shows us Ted and Robin’s attempt to move in together as mentioned in “Stuff”. Everyone in the group is initially excited for Ted and Robin, even Barney. Honestly, I think Barney is more excited about his offer to rent Ted’s room from Marshall and Lily so he can have a closer place to the bar to take women. Barney explains it takes him 22 minutes to get a girl from MacLaren’s to his apartment and things have fallen apart in that time frame. As moving day arrives, Barney has since changed his mind and proceeds to give Robin and Ted a made up quiz about not being ready to move in together. Ted becomes frustrated at Barney’s absurdity and tells him the move in is going to happen and to help. Barney agrees to “help” but little did Ted know, Barney’s “help” involved stealing the moving truck with the majority of Ted’s possessions.

With Ted and Robin’s apartment with his one box of pot lids and one of the swords he and Marshall fought with in “The Duel”, Lily and Marshall celebrate by sitting around the apartment naked and having sex in the living room. As the episode progresses, it becomes overwhelming clear Lily and Marshall aren’t as ready to live without Ted as they thought. Marshall eventually claims everything that was useful in the apartment belonged to Ted and everything irrelevant belonged to Lily and himself. The realization comes to a head when Marshall explains to Lily they can’t survive without Ted.

 

Meanwhile, while Lily and Marshall struggle to find themselves without Ted, Ted struggles to find himself at Robin’s apartment. Everytime he mentions where he wants to unpack his things, Robin suggests she doesn’t have room and to put them in storage. Ted eventually receives a call from Barney, pretending not to be Barney. “Not Barney” instructs Ted to put on the suit he left him and to meet him at MacLaren’s. Barney blackmails Ted into spending one last legendary bro night together to get his stuff back. Ted goes along with Barney’s demands by getting a girl’s number for Barney and playing laser tag. At the end of the night, Ted admits he had a great time with Barney and asks fr his stuff back but Barney refuses. Barney tells Ted he doesn’t really want to move in with Robin because he could have left at any moment by chose to stay with Barney instead of Robin and because he referred to the apartment as “Robin’s” not “mine or ours”.

Frustrated, Ted returns to Robin’s apartment where he still doesn’t fit in with Robin. The two argue causing Ted to complain about how far MacLaren’s is from the apartment and realize where Barney hid the moving truck. Back at MacLaren’s, Barney seduces a young Rockette and leads her to the moving truck which he has hidden behind MacLaren’s. After the two hop inside the back which Barney’s has turned into a bedroom, Ted steals the truck with them in it. Ted even calls Barney’s phone and uses the same dialogue Barney said during his blackmail call.  Ted ends up at back at his old apartment much to the surprise of Lily and Marshall. Ted explains he and Robin realized they weren’t ready to move in together and ask to move back in with Lily and Marshall. Lily and Marshall hug Ted and tell him never to leave again. The episode ends with the gang at MacLaren’s and Barney reading a Late Night Top Ten list of what he would have called the moving truck had Ted not returned it.

10. “The Winnebango”

9. “The Pickup Truck”

8. “The Ford Exploreher”

7. “The You Scream Truck”

6. “Feels On Wheels”

5. “The Rideher Truck”

4. “The 18 Squealer”

3. “The Escalaid”

2. “The Slamboni”

1. “The 69 Chevy”

“Moving Day” was quite comical but left me questioning Ted and Robin’s relationship. I have always believed Robin would somehow be the mother even though Ted refers to her as “Aunt Robin” but this episode begins to the show the cracks in their relationship. I don’t think Barney was trying to save Ted and Robin from a relationship that is doomed to fail but rather to save himself from being alone. Despite the seriousness of Ted and Robin deciding to live apart, the episode was stacked with comedic scenes from the Late Night Top Ten list to Lily and Marshall’s realization they need Ted.

My favorite scene was Barney’s phone call to Ted about meeting him at MacLaren’s. Barney’s face when Ted asks how he will know who to look for since they have “never met” was priceless.

Cheers.

 

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 17 “Arrivederci, Fiero”

“Arrivederci, Fiero” is another filler episode but filled with hilarity. We find Ted and Marshall in Marshall’s Fiero, just as it is about to reach 200 thousand miles. As Ted and Marshall discover the celebratory cigars are actually chopsticks, Marshall hits a pothole and the car breaks down short of the milestone. The group meet at the mechanic’s shop to give moral support but mostly to continue prepping for the wedding. One by one, the gang reminisce about their memories of Marshall’s Fiero and how important it is to them.

Marshall shares his story first about how he came to own the car. His brothers passed the Fiero to him when he turned sixteen but only after he agreed to fetch them 12 cups of coffee naked. As a nude, pimple faced, mullet wearing Marshall pulls away from the drive-thru window, his brothers scare him causing him to spill the hot coffee on himself. This torment led Marshall to his strict “no food or drink” in the car rule.

Ted speaks up next about how he and Marshall became friends thanks to the Fiero. During their first winter break in college, Ted and Marshall took a road trip to their homes. During the trip, Ted and Marshall bonded over a song stuck on repeat in the car, The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”, and Ted’s game “zitchdog”, which Marshall easily beats him thanks to his abnormal ability at all things games referred to in “Game Night”. The true heart of Ted and Marshall’s friendship can be traced to the night the got lost on the road trip in a blizzard and had to snuggle together to survive. After the blizzard passed, Ted and Marshall were shocked to find themselves in front of a motel.

After Marshall receives the bad news that the repairs will cost 3,000 dollars, he realizes he must decide between keeping the last part of his youth or saving the money and moving on to his corporate life. Feeling guilty, Lily and Robin share their experience with the Fiero and how it helped them become best friends, much like Ted and Marshall.

Shortly after Robin became part of the gang, Lily and her had a itch for some Thai food. Due to the extremely long wait time for delivery, the girls decide to take the Fiero to pick up the food, double bag it, and return home as soon as possible. Lily ends up spilling the food all over the interior of the car and proceeds to break down. Robin takes charge and orders Lily how to go about cleaning the mess, eerily reminiscent to The Wolf instructing Jules and Vincent in “Pulp Fiction”. After smoking the celebratory cigars hidden in the glove box to mask the smell, Lily and Robin smash both windows to make it appear a homeless person broke into the car. The lie Lily and Robin shared, was the seed of their friendship.

Finally, it wouldn’t be an episode of How I Met Your Mother without a contribution from Barney. With everyone supporting Marshall’s idea to repair his car, Barney voices his distaste for the Fiero. Ted shares his attempt to teach Barney how to drive and how Barney thought he almost died while driving 5 miles an hour.

Ultimately, Marshall decides to sell his car for scrap parts, as it has lived a long an fruitful life. He even refers to it as the “freaking Giving Tree of cars”. Future Ted tells us the money from selling the car, paid for their bar tabs for the next two nights and there is no better friend than that.

“Arrivederci, Fiero” doesn’t progress Ted’s story further or anyone else’s for that matter, but it is still hilarious. When I hear someone complain about the filler episodes, I get a little frustrated. Now that the creators have a show with a great following, they have the opportunity to take their time and tell some stories that might normally end up on the cutting room floor. I feel that half the fun of any story is the journey to the end. Everyone’s stories of how the Fiero affected their lives was enjoyable and comical especially Ted’s pretentious college self, “My parents live in Ohio. I live in the moment.”

My favorite scene was when Ted and Marshall sang “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” and after Ted grew tired off it, Marshall assured him it “comes back around”. I instantly added that song to my HIMYM playlist.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 16 “Stuff”

“Stuff” begins with Ted confusing the events of his past relationships with him and Robin’s relationship. Robin eventually tells Ted they can’t pretend their previous relationships didn’t happen and it isn’t a big deal but Robin quickly changes her opinion when she discovers Ted’s apartment is filled with items from his ex-girlfriends. Ted and Robin led the group decide the fate of the “ex items”, each stating their case, Ted only sees his past memories while Robin only sees Ted’s ex’s. The gang agree with Robin and Ted reluctantly removes the “ex items”. The next day while walking Robin’s five dogs, Ted discovers Robin’s dogs were all gifts from her ex-boyfriends. Ted tries to guilt Robin into getting rid of her dogs but she refuses. Ted and Robin once again leave the outcome of their argument to the gang and once again Robin is the victor. Ted does his best to ignore the images of Robin’s ex’s instead of the dogs but can’t look past it. After seeing Ted struggle, Robin sends her dogs to live on her aunt’s farm. Robin informs Ted of the change she made for him and the two make up but only until Robin walks into Ted’s apartment to find all his “ex items” have been returned to their previous spots, this leads Ted and Robin to the worst fight in their relationship. To everyone’s surprise, the argument led Ted and Robin to the decision to move in together.

Meanwhile, Lily drags everyone to see her play even though Barney initially refuses. After what I can only assume was a very long and dull play, the group congratulate Lily on the play with the exclusion of Barney. He tells Lily how awful the play was and she should apologize for making him attend the play. Lily does not apologize and instead tells Barney friends support each other, even going as far as saying she would attend a play he was in and praise him afterwords. Later, Barney does indeed put on a one man show that the group is obligated to attend. It is clear before Barney’s play even begins it was created with Lily in mind, hence the title of the play, “Suck It Lily”. Barney proceeds to annoy Lily by repeating moist and squirting her with a water pistol. After Barney moves onto the actual play about a robot, Lily admits defeat by apologizing to Barney for making him attend her play. Barney revels in his triumph but it is clear he wants the gang to watch the rest of the play. The gang reluctantly agrees to watch the rest of Barney’s play because “that is what friends do”. Barney proceeds to torture everyone for another hour until Marshall walks on stage and awards Barney with the second slap bet slap.

“Stuff” is yet another example of a great episode from season two. Both the “ex items” and theater story lines were hilarious. Ted and Robin’s visions of past ex’s was a great way to show the complications when dating and the addition of The Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJIqnXTqg8I) was a perfect touch. The scene were Ted and Robin are interrupted in the bedroom because one of her “dogs” had to pee had me howling from laughter. But the theater story line was the highlight of the episode. Sure, Ted and Robin’s announcement to move in together is the most important detail of the episode but Barney and Lily’s back and worth are the best part. Throw in Marshall’s comments about crowd participation and the second slap bet and you have got one of the best story lines from any season.

My favorite scene is the first half of Barney’s play where he repeats moist and then proceeds to squirt Lily with a water pistol.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 15 “Lucky Penny”

“Lucky Penny” tells the story of Ted’s destiny. Future Ted tells his kids since selling his building design in “Aldrin Justice”, he has been head hunted by rival architecture firms. One firm was interested in Ted leading their New York office and he had to fly to Chicago for the final interview. Robin and Ted rush through the airport to their terminal but find the plane has already been boarded. the airline employee tells Ted and Robin to have a seat while she finds out if they can still get on the plane. While waiting, Ted and Robin blame Barney for their tardiness. In a flashback we find out Ted had to attend court the morning of the flight because Barney ran the New York City Marathon. Originally, Marshall was going to run the marathon and even spent months training but he broke his toe the day before the race. After Barney ensures Marshall he could run the marathon without training, Marshall bets Barney 50 dollars he doesn’t finish. The day of the event, the gang follows Barney on their computer and to our surprise, Barney does indeed finish the marathon. Barney shows up to the apartment after the marathon appearing unaffected by the 26.2 miles. Marshall pays up and mentions marathoners get to ride the subway free of charge that day. Later, Ted receives a call from Barney, pleading for his assistance. Barney is stuck on the subway because his legs aren’t working due to the strain of the marathon. Ted agrees to rescue Barney and jumps the turnstile as the subway is pulling away, causing a cop to tackle Ted and attend court the morning of the flight.

Back in the present, the airline employee informs Ted and Robin the flight left without them but there is one other flight that can still get them to Chicago. As Ted and Robin dash to the other terminal, Ted realizes everything is actually Robin’s fault because she is the reason Marshal broke his foot. We again flashback but this time to Marshall training for the marathon. The day before the marathon, Marshall returns from a run and proceeds to rub petroleum jelly on his chaffed areas. Robin walks in on Marshall rubbing his nipples, causing him to startle, trip and break his toe.

Robin insists it isn’t her fault but Lily’s. We flashback a third time to Ted and Robin walking by a line of women waiting for a bridal sale the following day. After Robin tells Lily about the sale, the two camp out for eight hours. Lily and Robin are kept up all night by a car alarm that never stops beeping. Exhausted from her lack of sleep, Robin decides to sleep at Ted’s apartment, causing her to walk in on Marshall.

Present Ted and present Robin arrive at the new terminal just before the plane leaves. After the new airline employee agrees to check for available seats, Ted realizes he is actually the cause for having to attend court. Flashing back for the last time, Ted finds a penny from 1939, as mentioned in “The Scorpion and The Toad”, and takes Robin to dinner after selling the penny to a collector. Ted treats Robin to the only hot dog stand in New York that the penny would pay for and in doing so, causes he and Robin to discover the bridal sale, leading to the rest of the dominos in this story. Present Ted is met with even more bad news when the airline employee tells him the plane is full. Ted feels defeated but is cheered up by Robin when she insists he destiny wasn’t to go to Chicago that day and if the architecture firm wants him bad enough, they will reschedule. Future Ted points out the firm hired someone else but it was all for the best because that person had to relocate to Chicago three months later and had Ted done that, he would have never met the mother.

“Lucky Penny” was a fun episode that emphasizes the importance of destiny and that sometimes losing is actually winning. If Ted did make his flight, he would have moved to Chicago and never met the mother but he couldn’t know that until later, hindsight is always 20/20. The multiple flashbacks building on each other was masterful and I appreciate the continuity the writers took by referencing the penny Ted found earlier in the season.

My favorite scene was when Marshall rubbed jelly on his nipples and complimented on how well his technique was just as Robin walked in on him.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 14 “Monday Night Football”

“Monday Night Football” begins with future Ted telling his kids about his favorite holiday, Superbowl Sunday. The gang are hard at work planning how to celebrate the game when Wendy the waitress informs them Mark has died and the funeral is the following evening. After Wendy leaves, the group admit they don’t know Mark. Ted doesn’t want to miss the Superbowl and suggest the all send flowers but quickly change their minds when Carl banished a bar regular for suggesting the same thing. The day of the funeral, Ted records the game with the plan to return after the funeral and watch the game but the wake at MacLaren’s lasts well into the night. When Lily suggests finding out who won the game, Ted reminds the group of their tradition and the previous Superbowls spent together. During this flashback we find out Marshall caused Barney’s gambling problem in 2004. The gang makes a pact to participate in a self-appointed  media blackout and to watch the game the following night.

Ted decides to work from home in hopes of avoiding any information on the game and Barney decides to handcuff himself to Ted’s radiator because he knows he can’t trust himself to hold out that long. Barney begs Ted to take the key from him and Ted initially refuses until he realizes Barney hadn’t thought of a bathroom plan. Later, Ted leaves to pick up the hot wings wearing a self-made device dubbed the “Sensory Deprovator 5000”. While Ted is away, Barney discovers he can slip the cuffs off the radiator and excuses himself for an eight minute long pee. Just as Ted returns to the apartment gloating about his handmade device, Barney sneaks out the door thanks to the fact Ted is wearing the Sensory Deprovator 5000 and can’t see Barney. Ted removes the deprovator only to find Barney missing and the dipping sauce was added to his order. Ted shuffles back to the sports bar because you can’t have hot wings with out dipping sauce! On the street, Barney begs everyone he passes to tell him who won the Superbowl but no one knows, including Emmitt Smith.

While Ted and Barney are torturing themselves, Lily brings Marshall to her kindergarten class to avoid being around adults. As it turns out the classroom isn’t a safe place for Marshall. One of Lily’s students, named Doug, finds out Marshall doesn’t want to hear who won the game and blackmails him. At first Doug extorts some money from Marshall but it eventually leads to Marshall taking the blame for breaking something and his snacks. Then, during one of Doug’s demands, Marshall gets a clever idea; a nasty, devious, cleaver idea. He squirts juice on Doug’s pants making it appear he has wet himself. Marshall turns the tables on Doug and demands his money back and his pudding.

Meanwhile, Robin is at Metro News 1, doing her best to avoid any sports news. Robin eventually wins the pity of her coworkers by telling them her friend Mark died, preventing her from watching the game. All the sports news is reworded to generic terms to allow Robin to watch the game after work. But all at once fate intervened. Robin finds out who won by a field reporter unaware of what was going on at the station. Marshall and Lily leave her classroom as a janitor’s radio replays the final moments of the Superbowl and Barney finds a newsstand, shredding through the paper. Ted is the only one who manages to avoid hearing the score, even after slipping on a rogue cue ball.

Back at the apartment, Robin, Lily and Marshall lie about not knowing the score but they are saved when Barney’s screams of failure are heard from the bedroom. The group decided to watch the Superbowl anyway because the commercial aren’t ruined, the wings are still good and the beer still works. Future Ted tells his kids he doesn’t remember who won the game but he does remember watching the game with his friends, drinking beer and eating wings.

“Monday Night Football” was a filler episode but I didn’t have any problem with that. Unlike Stacey Kruse’s review on IGN, I related to this episode on a personal level. I get together every year with my friends to watch the Superbowl and have since I was in middle school. For us, it’s one of the few times a year we know we will see everyone. I enjoyed Barney’s planned funeral and Marshall blackmailing, even if it was a little over the line.

But my favorite scene was Ted and Marshall’s prayer to the TiVo gods. I will admit I get frustrated at technology fairly easily and I would join in on the proposed TiVo smashing, similar to “Office Space”.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 13 “Columns”

“Columns” features the return of Bryan Cranston as Hammond Druthers. Future Ted tells his kids he has always wanted to build a skyscraper but now that he is close to his dream, Hammond Druthers is making him miserable. Anytime Ted brings up an idea for the Spokane National bank building, Druthers criticizes it. Eventually Ted meets with his boss and is told to fire Druthers. After a warning from Robin to pick the right moment, Ted tries to fire Druthers but is interrupted by the office celebrating Druthers’ birthday. Ted tells Robin and Barney his authority was comprised when someone put a party hat on him. Later that night, Ted stumbles onto Druthers’ sleeping in the office. Druthers confesses to Ted that his wife recently kicked him out of the house and he has been sleeping at the office until she cools down. Ted tries to fire Druthers again but ends up taking him back to his apartment to sleep on the couch.

The following morning, Druthers and Ted share a cab to the office and appear to connect as friends, Druthers even gives Ted some words of encouragement. As soon as Ted begins discussing his ideas for the building, Druthers reverts back to his old self and torment Ted in front of their coworkers. Ted eventually works up the courage to fire Druthers but is interrupted by Druthers getting served divorce papers and the office singing “Happy Birthday” a second time. Ted puts his foot down and continues with firing Druthers, even after he appears to have a heart attack and fall on the floor. As the EMTs wheel Druthers away, Ted tries to speak to the office but they all hate him. Future Ted tells his kids he won back the office by declaring every Friday, “Margarita Fridays”, the smartest professional decision he ever met.

Meanwhile, Barney discovers a hidden nude painting of Marshall. Barney, Ted and Robin become overjoyed at the thought of embarrassing Marshall with their new found discovery. Later the group hints at the discovery and we find out through a flashback that the painting was from Lily and Marshall’s time in college. College Marshall didn’t like the idea of Lily painting another guy naked making him her model by default. Marshall to vow to destroy the painting but he painting is no longer behind the piano. Barney admits he hid the painting but Marshall immediately heads to MacLaren’s to find it. There, behind the bar, stands the painting. Marshall tries to purchase the painting from Carl but he politely refuses. Marshall eventually steals the painting and bolts through the exit.

After Robin and Ted leave the bar, Barney offers to pay Lily 5,000 dollars to paint him naked. Lily agrees to think about his offer and discuss it with Marshall. Marshall gives Lily his blessing after he finds out she wants to use the money to pay for their honeymoon in Scotland. Shortly after Lily begins painting Barney in his boxers with a sword, Marshall realizes he can’t let her finish. Just as Barney starts to slide his boxers off, Marshall interrupts and demands Barney to leave. With Barney on the other side of the closed bedroom door, Marshall yells at Lily for painting Barney nude but whispers he thinks they can get more money to pay for a trip to a castle. Marshall opens the door and to no one’s surprise Barney was eaves dropping. Barney offers an additional 5,000 dollars to which Marshall immediately accepts. At the end of the episode, Lily finished the painting and leaves Barney to bask in his glory but to his surprise, Lily left out “little Barney” or as Barney put it, “She made me a Ken doll.”

While “Columns” did not shed any new little on how Ted met their mother, it did give us a small glimpse to Lily and Marshall past and the effects of their choices. The episode also showed us the first time Ted had to fire someone and was even his demented former boss Hammond Druthers. This was definitely a filler episode but it was filled with numerous hilarious scenes including Marshall bamboozling money from Barney.

My favorite scene was when Marshall tried to bargain with Carl for the painting and Carl’s only response was “doubt it”.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 12 “First Time In New York”

We find Robin in “First Time In New York” realizing she is in fact in love with Ted but can’t say it, instead saying “falafel”. Robin’s younger sister Katie is visiting and Robin fills Lily in on her “falafel” comment while they wait for Katie at the airport. Robin confesses to Lily she has never told a guy she loved them because she got off at the “three week exit” referring to Barney’s “Freeway theory”. Robin is surprised to find Katie’s boyfriend Kyle is also visiting family in New York. After some awkward comments from Kyle about how hot Robin and Lily are, Robin tries to split the couple up by taking Katie to her apartment. Katie resists, preferring to stay at Kyle’s brother’s house because they are finally going to have sex for the first time. Robin does convince Katie to stay with her for the first night, although we are never shown how, and convinces the group to help her prevent Katie from sleeping with Kyle.

The next day, the gang takes Katie to see the Empire State building. While waiting in line, the group uses thinly disguised analogies about visiting the Empire State building for waiting to have sex. Katie becomes infuriated at Robin calling her a hypocrite because she was 16 when she lost her virginity and leaves to steal a quick smoke. While Katie is away, the gang shares their first times.

As referenced in “Zip, Zip, Zip”, Marshall and Lily shared their first time in college. What we did not know what Lily initially wanted to wait and Ted was laying in the top bunk the whole time.

Barney tries to lie about his first time, quoting the plot from “Dirty Dancing” but the group sees through it. Robin tells the group about how awkward her first time was. She and her boyfriend only had sex for a few seconds before he stopped and admitted he was gay. Robin states that even though it only lasted a few seconds, it still counts. Lily tries to argue that Robin didn’t really  have sex, leading to the discovery Lily had a similar situation with her high school boyfriend, Scooter.

After a distraught Marshall tells Lily how betrayed he feels, Katie returns to the group and tells Robin she wants to leave to see Kyle.  Robin tries again to plead with Katie to wait for someone special. After Robin tells Katie she has had some feelings of love towards the men she slept with, Katie asks Robin if she loves Ted. Ted pulls Robin aside and tells her she doesn’t have to say she loved him but this leads to an argument. Robin confesses to Ted she is worried saying I love you will cause their relationship to become more serious. After some back-and-worth about the acceptable time to say I love you, Robin to call Ted an “I love you slut” and Ted calls Robin an “I love you prude”.

The following day, Robin meets Ted at the apartment and tells him Katie didn’t have sex with Kyle thanks to wait Ted told her. Ted tells Robin he shared his “first time” with Katie and that he lied to a girl to have sex with her, ending the story that all 17-year-olds will say anything to have sex, even the nice ones. Katie told Kyle she wanted to wait and he dumped her that night. Robin is surprised to hear Ted wasn’t the clingy one from his story, causing him to reveal he reversed his actions with the girl, Molly. Robin finally tells Ted she loves him to which he responds he’s gay as a joke. Later the group returns with Katie to the Empire State building. Marshall mentions they never really saw the building because they never left the lobby, referencing Lily’s argument about Scooter not counting. Marshall admits Lily is right and the two make up.  After Katie leaves for Canada, the gang ends up back at MacLaren’s as usual. The gang ask to hear how Barney lost his virginity. After he gets called out for using movie plots again, Barney admits he lost his virginity when he was 23 to his mom’s 45-year-old friend named Rhonda. She cause Barney’s comforter to smell like menthol cigarettes and called him Barry the whole time. Seeing how embarrassed Barney is, the group pretends they didn’t hear Barney’s story and instead ask him to share the plot of “Dirty Dancing” again.

I love “First Time In New York” because loses one’s virginity is a milestone in life and the creators handle it with humor and honesty. I feel most people lost he virginity either like Lily and Marshall or like Ted. I myself can relate more to Barney’s story but that is a story for another time. I always welcome flashbacks to the groups past to see how they have changed and the shenanigans they bring. I was stunned to find out how Barney lost his virginity and the “flashback” of him as Patrick Schwayze was hilarious but I do hope we get a flashback of his real first time in the future.

My favorite scene was how the creators showed the many steps of Robin realizing she loved Ted and then her actually telling him at the end of the episode.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 11 “How Lily Stole Christmas”

“How Lily Stole Christmas” begins with Lily putting up Christmas decorations around the apartment and Marshall covering his eyes to reward himself later for completing his law paper. After Marshall heads to the library, Lily finds an old answering machine and is encouraged by Ted to plug it back in. Ted explains he had to remove the answering machine during Lily and Marshall’s break up because it reminded Marshall of Lily. Lily becomes upset when she hears an old message from Ted telling Marshall to get over Lily because she is a “Grinch”, only Ted didn’t really say “Grinch”. Ted refuses to apologize because Lily broke Marshall’s heart and left him depressed. After talking to Robin and Barney, Ted returns to the apartment to apologize to Lily but she and the “Winter Wonderland” have vanished. Ted heads to Lily’s apartment to reason with her, leaving Robin to take care of a flu-ridden Barney.

Ted finds Lily and the “Winter Wonderland” at her apartment. Ted apologizes to Lily but she doesn’t believe him saying she knows his fake apologies. After Lily asks why he won’t forgive her for leaving Marshall, Ted exclaims it’s because she never apologized to him for leaving and refuses to apologize because she was being a “Grinch”. Knowing how much Marshall is looking forward to celebrating Christmas with Lily, Ted tells Lily he is going to spend Christmas Eve with his cousin, Stacy, in Staten Island so she can take the decorations back to the apartment for Marshall.Lily enters the apartment as Lily finishes putting the final touches on the “Winter Wonderland”. Marshall has Lily’s Christmas package in hand and informs her he spent his afternoon not at the library, but rescuing her Christmas present and delivering presents around the city. Lily opens her gift and to her amazement, is an Easy Bake oven. Lily tells how she always wanted and Easy Bake oven but never told anyone. Marshall confesses Ted remembered her telling him eight years ago in college causing Lily to feel guilty for banishing Ted to Staten Island.

We find Ted at his cousin’s house with her uber-religious family that doesn’t believe in giving presents. After being asked to say grace, Ted passes the responsibility to one of his cousin’s children and answers the doorbell. At the door is Lily, with a beer for Ted, and the rest of the gang. Marshall, Robin and Barney pretend to be carolers while Lily and Ted forgive each other.  Lily even admits to being a “Grinch”.

“How Lily Stole Christmas” is actually a good episode because of the underlying message behind it, breaking off an engagement doesn’t just hurt your fiance but also your friends. Lily had to find out the hard way that she has to also make amends with Ted before she can start to put things back the way they were before. I like how “Aldrin Justice” reappears with Lily taking Ted’s Christmas away from calling her a “Grinch” and the subtle reference of Marshall as Kevin from “Home Alone II” was a joy.

But my favorite scene was when Robin took care of sick Barney. That scene was golden from Barney’s self loathing about looking like Ted to him screaming “I hate you” to Robin.

Cheers.