6x14 Last Words

9.3/10. Another high quality episode. (That makes three in a row.) What I appreciated about is that for a story that rightfully focused on Marshall, there was something for everyone to do, and it fit nicely with the idea that everyone else in the gang was trying to find their role.

Robin as the "drug dealer in an eighties after school special" or "vice girl" and her magic bag was a great source of gags in the episode. The riffs on her as a prison-style supplier of booze, firecrackers, and dirty playing cards were fun, and her pulling out Crocodile Dundee 3 was the perfect capper. Barney and Ted trying to find nutshot videos to amuse Ted wasn't as successful, but still had some amusing moments, especially Ted's "nothing beats the immediacy of live theater!" line. And Lily trying desperately to help somehow, and discovering that by getting Judy angry at her, she can convince her mother-in-law to get some much-needed sleep and nutrition was a pleasant little twist. The conversation between the two of them at the funeral where Judy admits she realizes what Lily was doing was a pleasant grace note as well.

But the star of the show is clearly Marshall. His yelling at God for taking his father away when he wasn't prepared for it is one of the best monologues in the show's history, and nicely captures the sense of unfairness and anger and questioning and desperation at losing someone who means that much to you. His speech, along with the subtle bits the show's slipped in this season, do a good job at showing how much his dad meant to Marshall, and how devastated and lost he is.

In the same vein, making last words the theme and the focal point of how that loss is dramatize is a nice way to make that sense of loss more tangible, while at the same time managing to slip in some comedy. Marvin's goofy bits about Koreans ("It's positive racism!") and the less-than-profound proto-last words of each member of the gang's dads inject some much needed levity into the proceedings. The idea that Marshall kept his dad's last words to himself, and takes a moment to tell his friends how much he cares about them is a nice way to resolve the ideas the episode raises.

There's still a few things at the margins of the episode that I'm not crazy about. It's a thrill to see Jonathan from Buffy cameo, but the whole "childhood bully" bit goes nowhere. And I like how the show;s built to Barney seeking out his dad, but it felt kind of on-the-nose here. Still, overall, this is another excellent episode in a string of them, and another sign that while its ERA was slipping, the show had not quite lost its fastball yet.