HIMYM Review: Last Time In New York

How I Met Your Mother 

"Last Time In New York" 

Review

After last weeks two good introductory episodes for season 9, the expectation for the show to continue this way was put in place. Whilst this weeks episode wasn't as well delivered, it still was a fairly decent offering with the same overall tone.

Starting off with Lily and Ted, yet again their story arc was the best of the episode. Once more it was played nice and seriously for the majority of the time. Yes there were little side gags here and there such as the return of Linus serving Lily drinks, but for the most part they kind of worked. 

This was most definitely the case for the return of the swords. It was a nice subtle nod towards the season one episode "The Duel" but was also great in that it worked within Ted's list. It was also a great touch that Lily and Robin got involved too with their own little duel with funny little incorrect references to The Princess Bride. But what was more important was that it all linked into Robin finding the list. Although Lily saved him from admitting the truth about it, for now anyway, it was great to see her maternally protective side towards Ted.

Unfortunately apart from Ted and Lily's sincere storyline, the rest of the gang were left with rather lacklustre plots. 

For the case of Barney and Robin they were once again freaking out about the consequences of tying the knot, concerned that once they commit they will end up in an argumentative, sexless marriage. Fair enough that there is a nice little resolution for the two of them at the end of the episode, but it is a little bit concerning that this fear is still ongoing. I cannot tell if it's the writers are simply running out of ideas for the two of them together or whether it may actually play a stronger role later on in the season. Let's hope it is the latter.

Additionally Barney and Robin were left with a plethora of bad jokes about the old relatives coming to the wedding, comparing them to zombies and the like. Apart from a small joke from brother James "sacrificing" himself to the old people to save Barney, the rest was not funny in the slightest.   

As for Marshall he was practically non existent in this episode, only making minor appearances here and there. It's a little tough to highlight his place in the show. There were references to his NFL Viking loving antics in the Packers state of Wisconsin, only for him to be eventually made a fool out of, but me being British, these jokes flew right over my head.

Overall the episode was generally satisfactory, but in true HIMYM form it was the final moments that heightened its sense of purpose. 

Lily's speech to Ted was a really nice touch with all the flashbacks of the last 8 years. It really brought about the sense that the show is really ending. 

But more importantly it was the last few seconds which resulted in a major cliffhanger between Ted and Barney and calls into question how seriously Barney will treat this whole affair.

Although a bit of a bumpy ride, Last Time In New York still managed to pull me in and made me extremely curious about what will happen in next weeks episode.

7/10