HIMYM Review: Season 9 Premiere - The Locket/Coming Back

How I Met Your Mother

Season 9 Premiere

 "The Locket" Review

How I Met Your Mother has returned for its ninth and final season. Considering how long this show has gone on for it was pleasantly surprising that it still has some drive in continuing this crazily long story arc. 

Season 9's premiere begins directly after the ending of season 8 with the cast making their way to Farhampton for Barney and Robins wedding.

Although they all seemed to have an equal amount of screen time, it was the continuing plot between Lily and Ted which seemed to be the more prominent. 

At first it began rather stupidly with Ted being his rather anal self by attempting to have a pretentious road trip filled with visits to windmills and a driving gloves. Thankfully this transpired into a more serious affair with Robins locket coming back into play and whether or not Ted will give it to her. Interestingly a flashback produced a bit of a twist about the locket, with the episode ending with Ted in LA. 

As with Lily it was great to see her meet the mother, of course completely unaware that this will eventually be Teds future wife. Apart from the little over exaggeration about a batch of cookies, the two of them worked really well together, I dare say those few moments had more genuine bonding than Lily and Robin ever had.

Barney and Robin were saddled with a running side gag of the two possibly being related to one another (Remember Barney is 1/4 Canadian). It was fairly funny, with Robin speaking in her native tongue and Barney asking her to speak English, but it wasn't anything amazing. What made it good was that it loosely tied into Teds plot with the two of them questioning who may be a wildcard at the wedding, potentially ruining it.             

As for poor Marshall, he was left with a sub plot which was not overly entertaining. It wasn't so over the top that it became ridiculous but the jokes were simply lacklustre and Daphne was annoyingly loud and obnoxious. It looks to be an epic journey for Marshall to get to the wedding. But I hope he arrives in Farhampton soon.  
Overall the premiere episode was well done. Remove the anomaly of Marshall's plot and you have a pretty great episode. I have always preferred the serious side of Ted and it was nice for that side of him to make a big comeback. The flashbacks also have left me intrigued as to what happened and if the show will develop it more (I'm sure they will).

"Coming Back" Review 

Moving onto the second part of CBS's double episode, "Coming Back" was as equally as good as the premiere. 

For Barney and Robin their plot was a little bit more fleshed out than the previous episode. In this case Robin still has fears of Barney freaking out before the wedding and reverting back to his old gigolo ways. It was good that her fears were heightened even more after James's (Barneys brother) secret is revealed to his sibling. It ended up with a nice little resolution for the couple, one which showed that Robin need not worry as Barney has grown up tremendously. The ending was a little sappy for my taste, but was still well received.

As for Ted he was left with sympathetic yet pitying behaviour for being a singleton at a couples hotel. The joke between him and the concierge ran for little bit too long, combined with a minor gripe that this was used in a previous episode when He, Marshall and Lily take a road trip to Chicago. Aside from that Ted had a great scene with the mother, although it was a flashforward, I hadn't anticipated seeing the two of them on camera together so early on in the season. The chemistry between the two was outstanding and you can truly believe that this ends up being Teds love of his life, a perfect match.

As for Lily and Marshall they were left with some mediocre gags. Lily's "Kennedy package", which consisted of her constantly getting served drinks in order for her to cope with Marshall and Marvin's absence was poorly implemented. It was an excuse to reveal James' secret but it felt lazy.

Marshall's continuing adventure to get to New York also remained a low point. Marshall's caricatured kindness to others was a bit annoying knowing that he can also be an assertive, force to be reckoned with. Again Daphne was not likable in the slightest. There was a tiny moment of redemption for her but it wasn't enough.       

The second episode was surprising, it was stated that season 9 would focus primarily on Teds journey to the inevitable finish line yet focus was on Robin and Barney for the most part. Of course the remaining cast can't be shunted aside but the writers could try to make more akin to Season 1 whereby Ted was on the forefront whilst his friends helped him along the way. Furthermore, It was interesting that there was no continuation about the locket, but no doubt all will be revealed in a later episode.

The double episode was a great way to introduce season 9, particularly with the new structure of the show spanning the 56 hour period before the wedding. Although there's slight concern that the hotel setting might get stale over time, it might bring about some great storylines, possibly the feeling of claustrophobia for Ted as he is surrounded by his best friend and ex-girlfriend's wedding and the inevitable conflict to arise between Marshall and Lily.
It definitely feels like the beginning of the end, like one giant season finale and I like that. It was a smart decision by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas to not rush the show and deliver the ending it deserves.  

7.8/10   

HIMYM Review Roundup: Episodes 22-24 (Season 8)

How I Met Your Mother 

Review Roundup, Episodes 22-24

"The Bro Mitzvah"

The series has been edging ever so much closer to the inevitable wedding of Robin and Barney and this episode delivered Barney's intriguing bachelor party.

The premise of the main story arc itself was fairly good but nothing groundbreaking. Ted and Marshall "kidnap" Barney and take him to Atlantic City to surprise him with an unforgettable bachelor party, but in this case for all the wrong reasons. Obviously there was something brewing underneath the surface of this affair and the deliberation made by the whole gang to make it so terrible was unfortunately rather obvious and the twist was clear more or less from the start. 

The events surrounding this satisfactory story was actually rather pleasing. Marshall and Ted's over enthusiasm about the most mundane of things was funny, although surprising that Barney did not cotton onto their exuberant facade. It was a little bit of a disappointed that the confrontation between Robin and Barney was not actually real, particularly as Ted warned him of the fragility of the twos relationship, but even so, the way it portrayed Barney losing all hope was great, although it was a bit short lived.

The guest stars were also a great addition to the show, with Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid) deliberately antagonizing Barney through his blatant suit wearing similarities. The other guest star was a particularly nice surprise, particular for poor old Barney who had to endure a horrific night. 

Although for the most part it was fairly funny, the performances from all the characters simply felt far too melodramatic for the situation to be in any way believable. It was a bit too in your face, with more emphasis on slapstick humour rather than smart, subtlety constructed jokes that HIMYM is slightly more renowned for.        

There was a small departure from the crazy antics with a dinner between Robin and Loretta, but it can hardly even be classified as side story. There was next to no development between the two and after finding out the truth later on in the episode made the whole segment defunct. Thankfully it only to a small amount of airtime.  

Overall it was a decent episode with a fair amount of laughs and a nice little payback from Robin. The over dramatisation felt a little bit uncomfortable in places. But the ending provided a nice notion that Barney and Robin are meant to be together.

6.8/10

 "Something Old"

we reach the penultimate episode of season 8 and much like a lot of the previous episodes it starts off being incredibly stupid but thankfully tones down during the second half of the show.

The introductory tale begins with Robin and her father whereby she tries to find a locket which she buried in Central Park when she visited New York City as a teenager. The locket would act as the "something old" for her wedding with Barney.

 It was really unfortunate that Robins time spent with her father was incredibly short lived, spanning a minute or two, instead Robin Sr. rushing off to play laser tag with Barney. It would have been a great opportunity for their father/daughter disputes to be completely resolved. Instead we were offered some seriously bad jokes between Robin and her father in this small time frame  Although this initial phase was disappointing it was evident that there was tension and angst in Robin that her father still does not treat her like a true daughter and although it was not fully developed, it was good to see these emotions seeping through.

Moving over to the predominant storyline, Marshall and Lily begin there move over to Rome by deciding what needs to be thrown out. The beginning was rather unsatisfactory as Teds behaviour about his "professional packing capabilities" was extremely exaggerated. It was just a little too over the top for the rather mellow Ted, particularly with the random fanny pack adventure flashback. A nice little quip from Lily brought it back down to normal though. Once the dust had settled on the stupidity the storyline eventually became very grounded with Teds fears of being abandoned once Marshall and Lily move to Italy. This ultimately showed that the trio's friendship still remains incredibly strong but more so that Ted is terrified of everything around him changing whilst he is somewhat stuck.

As for Barney and Robin Sr. their subplot was simply a bit of playful banter between the two, both posing to be as stubborn as the other in beating each other at laser tag. It was the same typical behaviour fans have witnessed before with Barney being completely childish and evil towards the children playing alongside him. It certainly felt like a nice bit of filler to use up some empty time.

Although there was a nice story amongst Ted, Marshall and Lily it was not until the very end of the episode where it really shone. Ted had returned to the sensitive type still, adoring Robin no matter what.

Alongside this we had an interesting, although not surprising concept of Robin questioning Barney as a partner in favour of Ted. but rather than being her logical and realistic self she uses the universe theory that Marshall and Lily predominantly used in previous seasons basing the problems at hand as signs of an omen. But for once it was good that for the first time Ted ignores the universe, destiny and its signs and so forth, supporting Robin to keep it going. It was a nice change of pace for his character, even if it was only a small one.

The overall theme of this episode, that you should not cling to the past because no matter how tightly you hold on it’s already gone was a good choice and ran through the majority of characters plots: the locket for Robin and to a small extent the relationship between her and Ted. Some will be frustrated that the whole Ted/Robin love affair has resurfaced again, but it was a nice little contradiction of the theme, he still has her.

7/10

"Something New"

Finally we have reached the final episode of Season 8 (No longer the finale of the entire show). Considering that this was the season finale I felt that it was surprisingly undramatic and calm.

In one of my more favoured moves by the writers, the main story arc was only between Ted and Lily. With these two alone on screen the story arcs are more prone to be rather serious and to my satisfaction this was the case. We finally get to see Teds house in a more complete manner more akin to what his children sit in during his narration. This definitely gives the feeling that the show is reaching its final stop. 

We are firstly offered a nice little surprise twist about Teds plans to sell the house and leave for Chicago as Ted still believes that Robin is still the love of his life and cannot come to terms with Barney marrying her. It was great to see Lily trying to make sure that Ted doesn't act to hastily but cannot really offer much when she and Marshall themselves are en route to Italy. The revelation about the truth of the lockets whereabouts was a brilliant touch in that it seems that the locket was always a part of Teds destiny. Ultimately it changes his views on the whole instances of signs again, but its classic Ted like behaviour. It was almost reminiscent of his denial to give up on Robin in Season 1 and perform a rain dance. 

As for Barney and Robin, they both attempt to enjoy an evening together before their wedding day, but it is ruined by an annoyingly pretentious couple and thus the two scheme against them. It was nice to see the two of them working together to exact their revenge, it certainly shows that they’re meant for each other. But what was even better was that their scheme wasn't overly dramatic or extremely elaborate at all like Barney and Quinn's plans, instead it just simply happened casually.   

As for Marshall’s visit to Minnesota, it was simply lacklustre with bad physical jokes between himself and his brother. It was good though to see the return of Marshall's application to become a judge, particularly as it will be  interesting to see the ramifications between himself and Lily in season 9.

The season ended with cliffhangers all around, but in a good way. Now all we have to do is wait and see whether Ted give the locket to Robin in attempt to steal her away or pass it onto Barney to give to her. And what will become of Marshall and his judgeship? In an attempt much like San Francisco, will Lily still move to Rome, leaving Marshall behind?

Oh and as you all should know WE FINALLY MET THE MOTHER!  

8/10