How I Met
Your Mother
'The
Fortress' Review
After a three week hiatus, How I Met Your
Mother has finally returned. But did this episode hold true on its potential
promises from the final few moments of the previous episode? No it did not.
This episode was more of a filler than the surprisingly good Weekend at Barneys, which
was publicly known to be a filler. But that's not to say that this
was a bad episode. It just didn't manage to take its stride.
This weeks main premise was between Robin
and Barney. Robin wished to move out of Barneys 'Fortress of Barnitude' in
favour of a new home whereby he hadn't previously slept with hundreds of girls.
Once again we were greeted with Barney's childish, stroppy behaviour which was
great because it was not as over the top as other previous instances, plus it
was fantastic to see all the little gadgets and gizmos be revealed inside
Barney's apartment. It was all a little bit silly but that was the fun of it.
Although it was all fun and games for the
most part, a typical HIMYM-esque grounded conclusion revealed itself. It was
nice to see that Robin and Barney can both make compromises for one another in
their relationship, certainly different to their first attempt as a couple in
season 5, but the lasting effect really left no mark at all, which was
unfortunate.
As for the trio, Ted and Marshall spent a
fair amount of time together whilst Lily went about her highly demanding new
job. Although it was great to see Lily's job play a more important part, it
didn't really help as much regarding her character. She ultimately came off as
selfish, with a total disregard for her family and friends, which although she
has been to an extent like this in the past , this was a little too much.
Luckily this was clearly acknowledged by
both Ted and Marshall who supported each other like true bro's, with a
particularly humourous moment in Barney's apartment with the two doing a 'Scene
Study' to get back at Lily. It was very funny with their quick jibes at her
whilst they received applause from the crowd.
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As a Brit, it was interesting to witness
the obsession in America with Downton Abbey as the HIMYM cast watched their own
version 'Woodworthy Manor'. Although it was funny to see this
obsession with posh British people and Ted's attempt at an English accent,
the whole scenario was slightly overplayed.
One major disappointment for me was that
there seemed to be a slight error with continuity. Ted stated twice that
Jeanette was his last girlfriend before he met the mother, yet at the end of
this episode he ended up with another girl who adored his fake accent, but
perhaps he only considered this as a fling.
Overall The
Fortress was a decent episode
with a fair amount of slapstick silliness which provided most of the laughs.
The problems it faced though, predominantly Lily's behaviour, really dampened
it. The resolution between her and Marshall was far to quickly resolved with no
emotional attachment that it simply felt half hearted and soulless. This was
the same with Barney and Robin's final part too.
It was also unfortunate that nothing
seriously progressive happened to Ted. Even another bump into Cindy (the
mothers roommate played by Rachel Bilson) in order to playfully slip another
clue would have been nice. But I suppose we will all have to wait for the
incoming wedding for it all to actually move forward.
6.8/10
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