7.5/10. Let's start with the B-story. The whole "hot girl under a puffy coat" bit was kind of amusing in that classic exaggerated HIMYM way. The Indiana Jones references got a little strained, and Barney got a little gross, but it was mostly for laughs so it worked. The catch is that the bit at the end, with Ted telling Barney that Robin isn't as cool about all this as she seems, and Barney being pretty pointed in return, felt out of nowhere, and some manufactured drama. I'm the first to admit that Barney and Robin feel like aliens now, and their relationship makes little sense in terms of how any real human being, let alone the characters we once knew, would respond to one another. But the whole love triangle elements are the pits, especially since Barney feels unnecessarily harsh with Ted here. I get that they're setting up a certain obliviousness in Barney, but it leans into some likable territory.
Thankfully, there's a couple that almost always works on this show, and it's Marshal and Lily. Sure, Marshal lying to Lily about his job goes into unlikable territory, but at the very least, the two of them are supportive of one another, and the prospect of moving to Italy brings them together. I appreciated Lily's finding reasons not to live out her dream because of a fear of failure, and I loved Marshall being there for her to convince her it's the right thing. Their conversation on the stoop felt very really and very sweet, and Marshall repeating the same phrase in Italian over and over, but Lily understanding what he means by it anyway is a nice little conceit. (Plus, the fake Italian art film bit was a laugh.)
Overall, this was a mostly fun episode with a solid emotional throughline in the Marshall and Lily story, with the only major detriment being the strange resolution with Barney and Ted.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-09-01T17:49:54Z
7.5/10. Let's start with the B-story. The whole "hot girl under a puffy coat" bit was kind of amusing in that classic exaggerated HIMYM way. The Indiana Jones references got a little strained, and Barney got a little gross, but it was mostly for laughs so it worked. The catch is that the bit at the end, with Ted telling Barney that Robin isn't as cool about all this as she seems, and Barney being pretty pointed in return, felt out of nowhere, and some manufactured drama. I'm the first to admit that Barney and Robin feel like aliens now, and their relationship makes little sense in terms of how any real human being, let alone the characters we once knew, would respond to one another. But the whole love triangle elements are the pits, especially since Barney feels unnecessarily harsh with Ted here. I get that they're setting up a certain obliviousness in Barney, but it leans into some likable territory.
Thankfully, there's a couple that almost always works on this show, and it's Marshal and Lily. Sure, Marshal lying to Lily about his job goes into unlikable territory, but at the very least, the two of them are supportive of one another, and the prospect of moving to Italy brings them together. I appreciated Lily's finding reasons not to live out her dream because of a fear of failure, and I loved Marshall being there for her to convince her it's the right thing. Their conversation on the stoop felt very really and very sweet, and Marshall repeating the same phrase in Italian over and over, but Lily understanding what he means by it anyway is a nice little conceit. (Plus, the fake Italian art film bit was a laugh.)
Overall, this was a mostly fun episode with a solid emotional throughline in the Marshall and Lily story, with the only major detriment being the strange resolution with Barney and Ted.