Episode 5 - How I Met Everyone Else
12 January 2009
Review
Synopsis: Ted brings his new girlfriend to meet the group. He met her online but she doesn’t want them to know that. Barney immediately assumes she is crazy and is eventually proved right. In the meantime the friends tell stories about how they all met. The Good: The dense use of flashbacks keeps the episode moving at a good pace. You are unlikely to be bored as there are so many different scenes to enjoy. It’s a good use of most of the characters and Blahblah’s irrational behaviour flows from the various revelations. There are a few good jokes scattered throughout as well. Barney’s explanation of the Hot-Crazy scale is funny and his relentless use of the word crazy is amusingly blunt. Ted saying “come on” repeatedly to Lilly is funny, as is cutting wine with grape juice. Marshall thinking Ted is the Dean is almost funny and Ted being a woman in World of Warcraft is a nice touch. The Bad: Blahblah is a good actress; she seems convincing throughout and demonstrates the Hot-Crazy scale very well. But she is written as crazy from the moment she walks in so it’s difficult to take anything she says at all seriously. All her digs at Robin make sense, but aren’t believable. Much of the show is pretty bland. We know most of these stories from previous episodes and the scenes showing how the characters met are not very funny. Part of the problem with featuring so many flashbacks all at once is that you are constantly reminded that it is the actors now, wearing makeup and overacting to seem younger. Comic Highlight: Barney explaining the Hot-Crazy scale. The clever use of the graphic on screen is good TV and he caps it off with a fun description of Vicky Mendoza playing jump rope with the line. How I rate your episode: A busy episode which provides plenty of entertainment. But it lacks real laughs and Blahblah is so crazy that it doesn’t feel very consequential.
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