Let’s start with “Rally”: it’s an episode that uses HIMYM chaotic timeline at its best; it jumps back and forth to future and present exploring the state of our characters in the future. By dealing with Barney’s huge hangover, eventually the entire gang vows not to get that drunk ever again, a vow which all of them end up breaking seemingly at the worst possible times, with Marshall getting drunk when he assumed he lost an election that he ended up winning, Lily drinking when Marvin’s off to college (and being caught on the spot by him) and Robin and Barney waking up on Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the wrong room with a baby that isn’t theirs (the show plays a rather surprising trick by letting us think at first that the baby is Barney and Robin’s, but then clarifies that it’s actually someone else’s baby). During the whole episode it becomes predictable that this shift in the narrative is going to occur, but the outcome is always surprisingly well executed and worth quite a few chuckles.
Coming back to present time, our characters try to find out a way to wake Barney up before the wedding pictures are taken, and Ted remembers that Barney used to cure their hangovers with some kind of “fixer elixir” (presented to us by Barney’s elegant rip off of the Manhattan project), so all they have to do is recreate; however, there is a missing secret ingredient that Barney never told them. And so the episode branches out in two plots; the girls will try to wake up Barney long enough to tell them the secret ingredient, while the guys would gather the ones they already know of.
The guys’ storyline is pretty good too (loved the bit when Marshall throws a Tantrum bottle to Ted, “Dude! Why are you throwing a Tantrum? You’re a grown man!”), but the whole bacon grease thing, while amusing, never felt like it was good altogether (maybe it has to do with the fact that I don’t like bacon… you have my permission to glare at me). It is fun to see Ted going obsessed over the bacon, but at times it felt like the show was trying too hard.
And then we have The Mother, who after dealing with a new year’s hangover is given the very same fixer elixir by Ted, a lie made to make it all better, but things look pretty bright anyway; she published a book that is supposed to end poverty in our times, she is married to the guy of her dreams and have two seemingly great and loving children. All of it looks so fine… and that makes next episode a little bit confusing, but we’ll get to that right away. This episode alone was a great installment in the comedic size and in the everlasting affection that the gang holds for each other.
Grade: A-
“Vesuvius” features a shift on the narrative like the show has never done before; Bob Saget doesn’t narrate, the show shifts between 2024, with a slightly younger future Ted and the Mother spending a weekend in Farhampton’s Inn where they both discover they have told each other every single one of their stories, and 2012, with the story Ted seemingly hasn’t told The Mother yet; the story behind the lamp Robin broke on her wedding day.
When Lily tells Marshall this, trying to get him to help her get Robin real about her wedding, he gets excited about the movie instead and they all end up seeing it. I loved how the movie ended up parodying Marshall as well (or should I say Narshall?) and how it also ripped off their story of being trapped on a snow storm with a gorilla in the car (even if it makes no sense whatsoever to the original plot of The Wedding Bride, but hey! It was pretty great watch!).
Wedding Bride aside, the Ted and Barney subplot deals with choosing a suit for Barney; there is one that is made for the wedding, but Barney doesn’t think it is the right fit, so he goes through a lot of suits with Ted (Ted: “SAY YES TO THE SUIT!!!!” Barney: “I can’t…” *sobbing*) and while it is mostly an excuse to remember how old Barney used to bang all kinds of women, by the end Ted convinces him that the best suit is the newest one, the one he can fill in with new memories that are to come, and it becomes a perfect fit. It’s a nice little moment.
And that’s the story, a story that The Mother already knew. I left her out of the rest because I need a whole section to talk about her. Midway through the episode, when she realized she knew the story, she told Ted that she doesn’t want him to just live on his stories; she also told him that life only moves forwards. And then, by the end of the story, when Ted remarks Robin’s mother showing up as a surprise ending, The Mother asks what kind of mother would miss her daughter’s wedding. And then there are the watery eyes, the sad expression on Josh Radnor’s face tells us that something bad has happened or is about to. On my first watch, I assumed that Ted’s mother passed away and missed his wedding day, a moment I deemed so emotional that it got me to tears. But as I read the theories about The Mother being the one who is going to bite the dust I couldn’t help but notice that it makes sense; during the whole episode Ted looks at her as if he was afraid to lose her, and the fact that she tells Ted that life moves on only reinforces the idea that she is not going to be with him forever.
Wherever the theory is correct or not, the episode raised the stakes of the show just as it is about to end; last week it seemed as Ted was promised the best ending possible, the happiest one, and now it seems that ending is at risk. Even if the mother doesn’t die, and it ends up being Ted’s mom, it is still quite an injury to the guy, and if The Mother actually dies, then my appreciation on the show may change drastically, as I hanged on during Ted’s hardest moments by knowing that at some point he was going to meet The Mother and they would be happy together; should you take her out of the equation there is no consolation, only more damage done to Ted, and I don’t think I could handle such thing. I admit it would be very brave if the show went through with it, but I don’t think it is the right choice, it would fundamentally change everything we know about the show, and it would leave Ted (and the audience) with a hole on their heart. For a show like HIMYM, that’s not the way to go.
But I can’t judge the episode only on that theory alone; it is a fun, adorable episode that is also willing to raise the emotional stakes just when it is about to end. It is pretty great, but I can’t deny how worried I am about what’s going to happen next, and it’s not that I’m excited, it is that I’m deeply afraid. Should the show take the wrong step I could be on the verge of hating its finale, and that’s something I don’t want to happen.
Grade: B+
Stray Observations:
-After the opening sequence on “Rally” when Ted says “this is what Barney remember of those two hours” and they show us the cube with the ice, the stairs, the bear and Lily and Robin about to make out, I was screaming “WTF?!”. I consider that clip the most beautiful chaotic short bit on television history.
-I love how Barney screamed “BOOOM!” just to mess up with hangover Ted.
-Barney thinks that after pulling “Weekend at Barney’s” everything is going downhill from there. Schebatsky is not amused.
-Ted: “Maybe my friend Lincoln… can emancipate that information”
Curtis: “I can’t violate the hotel privacy policy… for 5 dollars”
-Curtis again: “I’m sorry, I heard you guys say ‘The Wedding Bride’, were you talking about the movie or the smash Broadway musical”
The Wedding Bride will always hunt Ted.
-How cold is Robin for driving her grandmother out of the room when she was telling that poignant story about her wedding day? Very, although in her defense, she tells that story every holiday (Lily: “on the very same church!” *sobs*).
-The whole bit with the cake in The Wedding Bride is based on an interview Jason Segel had on 2010, where he practically bashed the show; I was really surprised.
-Is it me or this is the first time we see Katie since season 2?
-So, what do you think about the whole Mother dying controversy? Will she die? Will she survive? Was she never in any danger to begin with? Does Ted’s mother die? Does The Mother’s mother die? Leave your thoughts on the comments!
Can you post a link to the Jason Segel interview? Or at least describe what it was about? Thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks Pablo, great reviews. Can't believe this show is ending :(
ReplyDeleteHere's the link
ReplyDeletehttp://movieline.com/2010/06/25/will-jason-segel-be-fired-fromhow-i-met-your-mother-because-of-this-quote/
Wow, he seems so... arrogant. ;o
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of troubles out of that interview; eventually they figured things out, but by 2012 Jason wanted out, but he was convinced to do one more season
ReplyDeleteHe also pretty much said the exact same quote when he was playing himself on "This is the end".
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
ReplyDeleteAs bold as a move as killing off the Mother would be, it doesn't all have to be implied to be darkness and sadness and tragedy...I wouldn't be surprised with a message along the lines of "love as deeply as you can for as long as you can, whether it's for a few years or a lifetime," or the whole "it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." It's still extremely sad, of course, but the focus should be on that fact that they found each other in the first place and enjoyed an apparently beautiful life together, not that it was cut short by her death. I mean, would it be sadder for Ted to lose his soul mate, or to have never met her in the first place?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just musings on my part. We'll see what the real deal is soon enough at any rate...I will say that the idea of it being Ted's actual mother that's dead just seems too arbitrary for this late in the show. The Mother was talking about being worried about him, AKA worried about how he'll cope with her being gone.
I understand your point, but I don't think it's any consolation that Ted got her for just one decade and then she's gone for good; while Lily and Marshall have each other, Robin and Barney have each other too, Ted is the only one who only had his other half for like 10 years and then it's gone. It's unfair, and hanging around with his friends could be a cruel reminder of what he doesn't get to have. Also, it would be a great burden to be a single father, it would put way more pressure on him, he would have to deal with how the kids take on the mother's death and in the end, if he hasn't moved on (and there's no indication that he has) then he became the man the mother didn't want him to be, a man who lives on the past. And if he did move on and found someone, then that person clearly doesn't mean as much to him, because he has made clear that the mother is the one and only true love of his life. Sure, between having loved and lost to have never loved I'd take the first, but I don't think that's any consolation for what he has to endure when he loses his wife. In that way, the show has entered in a "no exit alley" in which if they go forward with this idea, as bold as it is, I can't find any way to justify it.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I definitely get your point as well, especially for all the viewers who expect/want a happy ending for a comedy show and think a tragedy of that magnitude has no place. I just personally think it would be kind of cool if they went there and portrayed things that are just so real. Fact is, people lose their loved ones everyday, before their time, and it's never fair, but they cope. It's very sad for Ted because everyone believes he deserves the love story that lasts for the rest of his life, and he does, but things don't always happen that way. To even see it from the Mother's side (if she really is dying), for the last 15 or so years of her life, she got to be with the love of her life when she thought she'd never feel that way again, and I just think that's a really beautiful notion.
ReplyDeleteBut, like I said, totally get where you're coming from as well. It would definitely be plausible for people to feel cheated by that sort of ending, but I guess I'm just a fan of bittersweet endings, so I would be okay with this scenario if it's done well.
You make some good points too, I also like bittersweet endings, but I think those are better fit for dramas. On a comedy though, and in the world of HIMYM, I feel like it has no real place, because if it is actually true not only I'll feel bad for what happened to Ted, but I will feel a little bit cheated as I think the writers didn't come up with this until at least last season on "Time's Traveler" as everything before that is a promise of the great thing to come and on that promise I can't fit the image of the mother being dead, even the kids would feel out of place, I mean how could they not care about the story of their dad meeting their dead mother?
ReplyDeleteI have an issue of wanting to see Ted having his happy ending, but I could have gone with the bittersweet if it was indicated that the show would go there from the word go, instead it seems as it is being pulled out of nowhere; there was a faint indication on the last episodes of season 8 and only now it seems like it could happen, and all for what? For the sake of causing a shock to an audience that has been expecting Ted's happy ending? I think that's a bad choice, not because of the ending itself (which I don't like anyway), but because they are pulling this out of nowhere, with no proper build up. In order for that scenario to play out well, I think it should have been built up, if not on the previous season then at least early on this season, but not 4 episodes before the show ends
I don't necessarily think, if the Mother dying is/has always been the endgame, that they're purposefully trying to pull the rug out from under our feet. There has always been the underlying question of why Ted is telling these stories, so whatever the answer is, Mother dying or no, it's still the answer to a question breached by episode 1. It still has a shock factor, of course, but I don't think it's being done just for the sake of HAVING a shock factor. I mean, it'd be like watching the Sixth Sense and knowing from the first frame what the twist ending is. The narrative is still the same regardless, you just have to see it through a new lens with the new information.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, the biggest point of contention is still the fact that it is a comedy. The ending may be bold and beautiful when it's all said and done, but do we really WANT to have to view this fun series through a new, more tragic lens when we watch it again?
That's my main problem with it. As I said above in my review, as poignant and beautiful as it could be, this forces one to changes their perspective on the show, it would be a much sadder show and I don't want to remember HIMYM that way when I re-watch the series. Sure, the show can be dead serious and deliver some great drama moments when it wants to, but to give the whole show a new, sadder meaning doesn't feel right, I don't want to watch the show again two years from now and think "oh, and the mother is dead, Ted is alone, he's nostalgic, he's a single father trying his best... ok", it would bump me quite a bit, and that's not what I'm looking for with this show, I'm looking for something satisfaying, because for every obstacule and pain the characters have gone through in the show it always lead to something better, and this just wouldn't, and it changes the whole show into a grimmer one
ReplyDeleteYeah, I imagine most people aren't looking for that in this show. I still don't think they'll really go through with it for that alone...they do have a fan base to think of. I'm thinking maybe a cancer scare or something of that sort is the minimum that would explain Ted's behavior in this last episode though and why he'd be telling the kids the story, but it seems likely she'll beat it to preserve the happy ending.
ReplyDeleteGood points, I feel exactly the same way.If the Mother is dead/dying, it would completely changes how you experience any of the previous episodes in the future. No matter if you watch some of the old classics. But can't this be what the writers want? Turning the most fun and loving show (I speak for myself) into a drama leaving "wholes in our heart" in just a few episodes.. That won't go unnoticed and might make the writers feel like geniouses. They are done with this show anyway, so why not leave it with a bitter or bittersweet ending, We have to keep in mind that this is Hollywood were money and acceptance is everything. This surprising ending might even attract more viewers to the spin-off show? Anyhow.. about you questioning that they didn't come up with this untill "Time Travelers" last season... I'm sad to say that they have been quoted saying that they knew from the very beginning how it would end. :/
ReplyDeleteIf she's dead/dying it all kind of makes sense. Except for the fact that the Kids don't seem to interested/emotionel about hearing about How he met their mother. But maybe it was all a built-up. The scenes with the children were filmed years ago and maybe we will see them touched and in tears when it all ends.
Whatever the ending might be, I just hope that it doesn't leave to big a whole and that everything would be explained instead of endinglike "The Sopranos". I haven't seen that show, just heard that the ending was absurd.
Writers saying that they know the end since the beginning is often a load of crap; they've admitted that initially we weren't even supposed to know who the mother was and now we know, so it has obviously changed, even if it is just a little.
ReplyDeleteBesides, I remember Gossip Girl's writers saying that they knew how Gossip Girl was all along and it ended up being a guy that made no sense at all.
What writers say sometimes is just to build up momentum and excitment; it's not that I think Carter and Craig are liars, they probably meant that since the beginning they knew how they would deal with the last shoot of the show, but the overall ending has obviously changed from the moment they decided to introduce the mother.
On a side note, if the writers do want to end the show that way I think it's a slap on the face to many of their fans, who have been supporting them all the way until now, and that's nasty. I remember how Fringe's writers did their best to deliver a good ending and most people recognized that effort and were happy about the end, why wouldn't HIMYM's writer do the same? If it is unintentional and they thought their fans would like that ending, then ok, I can kind of understand, but if they were in attitude like "f**k them! Let's do what we want!" then it's really mean and sad.