How I Met Your Mother- Episode 9.15 "Unpause" Review- I have no words for such greatness

This episode… I don’t even know where to begin. Maybe I should just tell you that I outright loved it, that it affected it me, that I laughed and I gasped and that it gathered a lot of momentum that will certainly keep moving the show forward for what’s left of its run. So much happened here, we have our laughs delivered by Barney’s moments of truth and our emotionally affecting moments by Marshall’s and Lily’s fight. It is an episode that draws all kinds of emotion and builds up quite some tension for episodes to come, something that I love about How I Met Your Mother.

Let’s start with the Barney bits: Marshall decided to do everything to keep his pause for as long as possible, so he insists that the gang “goes big tonight!” and gets them drinks. Barney gets to drink so much that at a point he gets drunk enough to tell only the truth. Ted confirms this when Barney admits that Ted is taller than him, and while Marshall and Lily already went to bed, Ted and Robin see this as an opportunity to get the answers they always wanted to know.

There is a lot of fun with this particular storyline, with Barney revealing many of his secrets (including what he did to Ted’ mom, that Lily’s boobs always work for him though not his triple x-ray googles, how he gets to do the trick with the pidgeon and many others). The really memorable one is what he does for a living. Turns out that he just outright signs everything he is delivered in order to provide legal exculpation; the twist? It’s all part of Barney’s revenge against the business man who stole her girlfriend about 16 years ago, and he has being cooperating with the feds to take him down. The best part? When we see the fall down, two months after the wedding, Barney’s revenge is completed and the possimpible song starts playing. It’s a great bit, with great references from some really memorable episodes. I like that what Barney’s do for a living makes sense to the whole character that has been created over the years. It will be a scene that I will remember quite fondly after the show is over.

The follow up is Robin finally getting the answer to what she tried to ask the whole time, if there is going to be a ring bearer at the wedding, to which Barney finally yes, that his name is Trevor and he worked with his mother, and that he wanted his wedding to be perfect (of course, soon we would find out that Trevor is actually a bear!). So Robin is satisfied and she goes to sleep, but Ted still has one more question to ask, and that’s it if Barney is ok with the wedding. The answer? Yes, he is, he loves Robin and he feels with her (and the thought that revenge would soon be his) he is 100% awesome. It’s a sweet moment, though I’ve been sure for quite a while that Barney has no seconds thoughts about getting married. Robin on the other hand has been shown with a lot of doubts during the season, so I wouldn’t be surprised if in the last couples of episodes Robin suddenly decides to run away or something like that, and after this scene I’m pretty sure if that comes to happen it will be Ted who will finally let go of the idea of being with her and he will lead her back to Barney, as it should be; now that Ted knows that Barney is so sure about what he has with Robin, it seems like things could eventually take this turn and Ted will make the ultimate sacrifice, giving Robin to Barney, while at the same time gaining the ultimate prize: the mother.

Speaking of whom, it was really nice to see her again, this time about to give birth to her second child, Luke, while Ted carries her daughter Penny (someone else thinks the “Lucky Penny” is involved in the child’s name?). It’s a wonderful scene that ends the episode on a sweet note after a bitter (yet awesomely done) scene.

Now, let’s talk about Marshall and Lily: I left this for the end, because it was what made the episode. The first part with Marshall trying to avoid the inevitable fight with Lily is pretty funny, but nothing more than that; the will fight after having sex, so Marshall sets up to hold enough to bang Lily to sleep; there are funny bits involved but nothing actually special or memorable. It is after Marshall steps into a doll with Ted’s voice recorded (“I woof you mommy”) that things get serious. Lily wakes up and the pause is over.

The argument starts and while Marshall insist that they have to take about his job as a judge Lily replies that he lost that chance when he took the job without telling her, and she has a point there; Marshall says that they can’t give up his chance of becoming a judge for what it is a hobby (too far Eriksen, too far), but Lily replies that hobby is her dream and that they are going to Italy mainly because Marshall was selfish like she never was to him. That last bit turned out to be her undoing as Marshall reminds her that she broke up with him seven years ago and went to San Francisco.

Lily is hurt, she can’t believe Marshall brought that up, but he did it because Lily was being selfish again. Now, this was my pick as Scene Of The Week and also here I got my quote for Quote Of The Week. Marshall thinks that if Lily found success in San Francisco she may have never come back for him, and he delivers a killer line: "Are Marvin and I and any other future children we may have just some consolation prize?" It is a powerful accusation and he is absolutely right; Lily already said in “Band or DJ” that sometimes she wishes she wasn’t a mother and pursue her dream. I get it, I really get it; I’m a book writer, I published a book, and I want to publish as many books as I can possibly can, and I wouldn’t give up my dream, my passion, for anything or anyone, because it is basically my reason to live; some people think I exaggerate when I say that, but it’s the truth, nothing makes more sense to me in life than that, so I can understand what Lily goes through with her dream of being an artist, deep down what she really wants is to go to Italy with her family and find the success she has always been looking for; the focus there is not her family, but the dream, and so what Marshall says is right: her family is a consolation prize, a very good one, but a consolation nonetheless. Deep down Lily knows that, but she can’t face it right away and that’s why she flees. It’s a horrible situation to be at, because she finds herself in a tug of war against her dream and hear family, something that you can’t possibly choose from.

We know she will come back, we already seen the flash forward to the wedding and she is there alongside with everyone, but the fight she had opened a wound so deep that it is definitely going to bring up a lot of conflict and poignant moments along the way, and that’s very good for How I Met Your Mother… it’s the best that you can ask for this show, which has always been a blend of comedy and drama, and when it does it right, it’s the best blend.

Grade: A

Stray Observations:

-Marshall’s slap is still marked on Barney’s cheek. According to Ted and Robin, his face looks like a “don’t walk signal”, a photo negative of the hamburger helper’s box, a palm reader could tell Marshall’s future by reading Barney’s face and the phrase “talk to the hand” doesn’t work for him, because the hand is on his face. Barney states that a simple “yes” would have sufficed.

-“THE ELEVATOR!”

-Sometimes Lily and Marshall pause because they have better things to do, like when Marshall was yelling at Lily for buying Brazilian bikini waxes, Kamasutra body oil and edible… well, that just call for a pause, doesn’t it?

-Embarrassing things from Ted’s childhood! Totally awesome Ted mug, the already mentioned plushy toy with a 19 year old Ted’s voice saying “I woof you mommy” and a photo of Ted and his best friend (a balloon) dressed up as a cowboy (which Robin wants to see more than what she wants to get married).

-Stages of drunk for Barney: Richard Dawson drunk, big plan with strangers drunk, Marcel Marceau drunk and Jabba drunk. Neil Patrick Harris nails every single level of drunkenness in his performance!
-One time, it was late in a club, Barney felt lonely, and he met a male French model and he was like “sure, why not try it”. That was the only time Barney split a cab.

-Who saw coming that Robin’s family was so wealthy? Also, I never noticed she was so cheap!

-Tonight we finally have the episode we all have been waiting for! “How Your Mother Met Me”!

About the Author - Pablo

I'm currently studying Psychology while also writing fantasy books (one already published in my home country, Chile, you can check it out on the facebook icon). I watch many different types of shows, including my favorites Revenge, Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time and about 23 more. Currently writing reviews for Once Upon a Time, How I Met Your Mother and Community