Episode 4 - Intervention
13 January 2009
Review
Synopsis: Ted is reluctant to leave his apartment when he discovers that the others had doubts about his marriage to Stella. His fear of change soon spreads around the group. Barney dresses up as an old man to prove he will always be as awesome as he is now.
The Good: As stupid as Barney’s story is, it does fit his character. He is always trying to prove the others wrong and this is a key idea. The others make a good point by telling him even he will have to change because he can’t pick up young women indefinitely. So it makes sense that he would defiantly try to and the consequences are amusing (see Comic Highlight). Old people jokes are of course sadly believable and so Barney’s old man bit has its moments. His selective deafness is hardly breaking new ground but you may smile.
Barney also provides one of the few other laughs when he arrives at an intervention thinking it was a birthday party. “That’s what I get for skimming the e-vite!” he inappropriately quips. The repeated interventions is a passable joke and plot device. At least the concerns which the group raise about Stella and Ted are very legitimate ones. We all know they have rushed into marriage and this seems to be another hint that they won’t be together long.
The final scene where we jump one year into the future and the group look remarkably unchanged is an interesting one. The fact that there still is an apartment upstairs definitely implies Stella won’t be around long but what about Robin’s move to Japan?
The Bad: Once more the show’s flashbacks are very poor and make the episode completely unbelievable. The attempts to show time passing are as unconvincing as ever, understandably considering the group all look the same no matter how far into the past the story travels. Then there are the jokes which are all about the characters, normally calm and sane, behaving in stupid and implausible ways. Each joke is so exaggerated that there is nothing in them to make you believe they could be real. Robin is Canadian to the nth degree, Lily uses every English slang word she can cram into a couple of sentences and Barney punches the wall even though we have never seen him get angry like that before.
The group panic and desire not to move at all is completely unconvincing. None of the actors can be blamed for such a shoddy piece of writing. Not for a moment do we believe that they won’t change, their mass panic is poorly thought out and makes them all look foolish. It’s especially ridiculous after we sat through a whole episode about how Marshall and Lily didn’t want to live with Ted anymore (see 307).
Comic Highlight: Barney is at the bar dressed as an old man and failing to pick up any girls. Finally he seems to be having some success with one. The girl is laughing and says:
G: “You’re cute. How old are you?”
B: “83. How old are you?”
G: “31.”
B: “Ohh” (B turns and slinks away)
His delivery is excellent and it is a neat, character suitable punch line to his attempted pickups.
How I rate your episode: More of the same failings from How I Met Your Mother. At least they remembered to stick in some jokes this time.
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