6.8/10. This is a hard one to judge. There's so much mixed up, broad humor in the episode that doesn't work particularly well, most of it centered around Nick. But there's also some of the classic comedy of the gang just pal-ing around with one another that really does. And hey, I may be a Barney-Robin skeptic, but NPH absolutely kills Barney's big speech to Nick about being in love with Robin. It's those sort of earnest, or at least earnest-seeming moments from an otherwise cartoonish character that have been missing all too often in the various love stories the show's tried to pull of between the two characters. Of course, Barney claims it's a feint so they can draw out the romantic tension for longer, but it's still a great moment.
That said, the side bits were pretty funny. Ted trying to be braggy about a pickup basketball league is the kind of goofy, self-depricating humor that works. And while the virulent anti-Patrice shtick is one of my least favorite running gags on the show, Barney's "BFF day invitation" threat feels true to the character and enjoyable. And while Marshall's similar basketball obsession is also broad, Lily continuing to bring up elaborate details about the Danish exchange student is just silly enough to work, and Ted looking after Marvin so Marshall and Lily can have sex is oddly sweet. Overall, there's just a smidge too much dumb humor for this episode to be considered good but there's still some pretty good stuff there.
SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON BELOW. DO NOT READ BELOW HERE IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW THE SEASON ENDS
I forget is Barney's speech is part of "The Robin" or not. "The Robin" really infuriated me as to how horrible it was and kind of broke my faith in the show, so I'm at a weird crossroads not remembering how it began exactly. If Barney's speech is real (and I think it's at least, partially real, right?) then it's still a nice moment to bring the two of them back together, but if it's part of that freaking insane scheme, than the whole damn thing is kind of tainted.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-08-18T02:28:31Z
6.8/10. This is a hard one to judge. There's so much mixed up, broad humor in the episode that doesn't work particularly well, most of it centered around Nick. But there's also some of the classic comedy of the gang just pal-ing around with one another that really does. And hey, I may be a Barney-Robin skeptic, but NPH absolutely kills Barney's big speech to Nick about being in love with Robin. It's those sort of earnest, or at least earnest-seeming moments from an otherwise cartoonish character that have been missing all too often in the various love stories the show's tried to pull of between the two characters. Of course, Barney claims it's a feint so they can draw out the romantic tension for longer, but it's still a great moment.
That said, the side bits were pretty funny. Ted trying to be braggy about a pickup basketball league is the kind of goofy, self-depricating humor that works. And while the virulent anti-Patrice shtick is one of my least favorite running gags on the show, Barney's "BFF day invitation" threat feels true to the character and enjoyable. And while Marshall's similar basketball obsession is also broad, Lily continuing to bring up elaborate details about the Danish exchange student is just silly enough to work, and Ted looking after Marvin so Marshall and Lily can have sex is oddly sweet. Overall, there's just a smidge too much dumb humor for this episode to be considered good but there's still some pretty good stuff there.
SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON BELOW. DO NOT READ BELOW HERE IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW THE SEASON ENDS
I forget is Barney's speech is part of "The Robin" or not. "The Robin" really infuriated me as to how horrible it was and kind of broke my faith in the show, so I'm at a weird crossroads not remembering how it began exactly. If Barney's speech is real (and I think it's at least, partially real, right?) then it's still a nice moment to bring the two of them back together, but if it's part of that freaking insane scheme, than the whole damn thing is kind of tainted.