Episode 16 - Hooked
3 March 2010
Review
Synopsis: Ted thinks he is about to score with Tiffany (Carrie Underwood) until she tells him she has a boyfriend. Ted’s friends explain how she is keeping him on the hook. We soon learn that Ted, Robin and Lily (with ex-boyfriend Scooter) are all guilty of the same thing. Barney is excited to learn that Tiffany is a pharmacology sales rep because that is the current “hot girl profession.”
The Good: The concept of being on someone’s hook is one many will relate to in some form. The story hasn’t been done a lot before in sit coms and so it was a slightly different variation on the dating plot. Throw in Barney’s thorough explanations for how bait works (complete with a girl falling off his trampoline) and the “hot girl professions” history and there were plenty of concepts to enjoy.
Barney of course carried the comedy with typical enthusiasm and a sudden slam of the hand on the table can be funny when given the right context. The teacup pig was a clever “prop” and suitably cute to provide the shaky training context for Lily to reject Scooter. It did lead to her telling the pig that nothing sexual would ever happen between them which Marshall quickly commented on. Henrietta played the part of geeky and in love with Ted really nicely. Carrie Underwood was fine in her role.
The Bad: The lack of good jokes is nothing new. Ted’s unintended proposal is as broad and lame as sit com humour can get. The writers also demonstrate their lack of imagination and realism with the way they explained the “on the hook” idea. Sure, Tiffany would enjoy a foot rub and chocolate cake. But did Ted and Robin then have to enjoy the exact same benefits from being the “hooker”? At least Lily and Scooter had a different hook relationship because it just felt lame and implausible that everyone milked their hookee for the exact same perks.
Lily and Marshall’s story was not good on a couple of levels. Scooter started as a rather tragic if silly character (120), but now they have rinsed and exaggerated all the fun out of him. He is beyond believable as the loser ex-boyfriend who is basically stalking Lily. Her character is undermined by having him work with her too. How can she be the voice of reason in the group and dish out good advice when she allows him to ruin his life because she doesn’t like to be mean? Then there was the joke where Marshall thought he was an actual scooter and encouraged Lily to ride him. The writers obsession with double entendres made Lily look way too dumb for not working out that Marshall had misunderstood something. To cap off this ill advised storyline Marshall then wussed out and didn’t want to hurt Scooter either. Again it undermined him as a sensible character and ended the story on a flat note leaving you wondering what actually happened in the end.
Comic Highlight: Marshall’s look of disgust when Robin said the following to try and justify her hookee status with cameraman Mik: “Dude, I’m a girl. Ok? Our girl parts are like a spider’s web. Sometimes you’re gonna catch stuff you don’t want!”
How I rate your episode: Middle of the road, enough going on to keep you hooked (anyone can pun) but not much quality.
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