6.3/10. Not a very good episode. Let's start at the top. We're back to Barney and Nora. The idea of Barney actually admitting his various proclivities to Nora is good at least, because it's some actual sign that things are different here than with Barney's previous relationships. But again, the humor gets pretty broad (his asking for just water despite vowing not to leave the diner is such a lame gag) and the whole "I will not move" bit with the diner booth is admittedly something Ted would do, which lends to the whole "Barney the Romantic" thing, but it's also pretty dumb.
Marshall's quest to remove "Beercules" from the internet is similarly a pretty broad bit, albeit one that has its moments of levity. The reveal that Durkenson (of House of Cards fame) is a surgeon despite his loner-partying ways is an amusing reveal, and the gags about Marshall's sweeping declarations work decently enough. Plus Martin Short! That's a boon right there, even if the wordplay jokes got tired pretty quickly.
Ted's storyline was the worst though, for 98% of the way. His whole system of comparing the two girls was one joke stretched out to an entire B-story, and Robin's mistaking which Lenny Kravitz Ted was referring to and hectoring him to take her to the ball was a predictable twist that made Robin pretty annoying.
But then there's Victoria! And suddenly the whole bit about Ted not wanting to have to decide between two girls but to have head-over-heels affections for one that he just cant resist thing has the best payoff imaginable. I'll have more in the next review, but suffice it to say, when I watched this live (or live-ish), I remember being a little gobsmacked by her return. That 10 seconds gives the episode a bit of boost, but it can't make up for the hokey rest of the episode.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2016-06-29T01:47:01Z
6.3/10. Not a very good episode. Let's start at the top. We're back to Barney and Nora. The idea of Barney actually admitting his various proclivities to Nora is good at least, because it's some actual sign that things are different here than with Barney's previous relationships. But again, the humor gets pretty broad (his asking for just water despite vowing not to leave the diner is such a lame gag) and the whole "I will not move" bit with the diner booth is admittedly something Ted would do, which lends to the whole "Barney the Romantic" thing, but it's also pretty dumb.
Marshall's quest to remove "Beercules" from the internet is similarly a pretty broad bit, albeit one that has its moments of levity. The reveal that Durkenson (of House of Cards fame) is a surgeon despite his loner-partying ways is an amusing reveal, and the gags about Marshall's sweeping declarations work decently enough. Plus Martin Short! That's a boon right there, even if the wordplay jokes got tired pretty quickly.
Ted's storyline was the worst though, for 98% of the way. His whole system of comparing the two girls was one joke stretched out to an entire B-story, and Robin's mistaking which Lenny Kravitz Ted was referring to and hectoring him to take her to the ball was a predictable twist that made Robin pretty annoying.
But then there's Victoria! And suddenly the whole bit about Ted not wanting to have to decide between two girls but to have head-over-heels affections for one that he just cant resist thing has the best payoff imaginable. I'll have more in the next review, but suffice it to say, when I watched this live (or live-ish), I remember being a little gobsmacked by her return. That 10 seconds gives the episode a bit of boost, but it can't make up for the hokey rest of the episode.