7.1/10. Another one with a decent amount of pluses and minuses. The B-plot with Robin and Barney trying to find a place to sleep together was pretty broad stuff, and like the opening story with Marshall, traded on some pretty hoary gags about old people. Still, as a Princess Bride/Homeland fan, I enjoyed all the riffs on Mandy Patinkin; James sacrificing himself to the attentions of the elderly relatives to create a diversion for Barney and Robin was a cute bit, and the there's even the slightest thematic point to the exercise with the couple hoping they're as sexually active as their elderly relatives in the future.
The A-story with Ted and Lily was both better and worse. It was better, because it leaned into the best things about the Ted/Lily relationship, namely their ability to be honest and call one another out when necessary, and their empathy for one another even when they disagree with a particular choice. The goofy cut-ins with Marshall and Ted swordfighting again, and Lily and Robin trying to replicate the fancy scotch with ketchup and hand-sanitizer, with dress-up related punishments all around was inessential, but worked as comic relief. I especially appreciated Lily telling Ted that she disagreed with him running away from New York, but more than anything, he'd regret not being there for his friends on their big day if he kept avoiding Barney. The "say goodbye to the bad things" speech laid it on too thick for my tastes, but everything in the run up to that worked pretty well for me.
(Oh, and Marshall in Packers gear was slight, but an amusing enough visit to the Daphne/Marshall storyline in its brevity.)
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-09-06T19:11:33Z
7.1/10. Another one with a decent amount of pluses and minuses. The B-plot with Robin and Barney trying to find a place to sleep together was pretty broad stuff, and like the opening story with Marshall, traded on some pretty hoary gags about old people. Still, as a Princess Bride/Homeland fan, I enjoyed all the riffs on Mandy Patinkin; James sacrificing himself to the attentions of the elderly relatives to create a diversion for Barney and Robin was a cute bit, and the there's even the slightest thematic point to the exercise with the couple hoping they're as sexually active as their elderly relatives in the future.
The A-story with Ted and Lily was both better and worse. It was better, because it leaned into the best things about the Ted/Lily relationship, namely their ability to be honest and call one another out when necessary, and their empathy for one another even when they disagree with a particular choice. The goofy cut-ins with Marshall and Ted swordfighting again, and Lily and Robin trying to replicate the fancy scotch with ketchup and hand-sanitizer, with dress-up related punishments all around was inessential, but worked as comic relief. I especially appreciated Lily telling Ted that she disagreed with him running away from New York, but more than anything, he'd regret not being there for his friends on their big day if he kept avoiding Barney. The "say goodbye to the bad things" speech laid it on too thick for my tastes, but everything in the run up to that worked pretty well for me.
(Oh, and Marshall in Packers gear was slight, but an amusing enough visit to the Daphne/Marshall storyline in its brevity.)