Episode 20 - Best Prom Ever
25 March 2012
Synopsis: A special wedding venue suddenly becomes available and Marshall and Lily snap it up. Their wedding is now only two months away and Lily gets increasingly stressed. Marshall says he knows a good wedding band but she won’t agree to it unless she hears them play. So Barney suggests they sneak into the high school prom where the band are playing that weekend. The girls get in as dates of geeky students while Barney uses less orthodox methods. The band ask for the sheet music to Lily’s song, so Marshall and Ted head out to join them. While at the Prom Lily remembers her own high school experience and all the dreams she once had which have gone unfulfilled.
The Good: With the show headed toward the season finale, this episode sets up the two main storylines. Lily is having doubts about getting married so soon, while Ted and Robin take a step toward becoming a couple. Both stories are handled pretty well here.
Lily and Marshall have been together for nine years. The problems a couple will have after that length of time are quite different to the average TV couple story. So far the writers have done a solid job of showing their issues. Marshall has already made a decision about his career based on planning to be with Lily for the rest of his life (117). We also saw Lily lamenting the loss of romance and excitement in their relationship (114). Now she suddenly has to confront her feelings over getting married. The device of having Van Smoot House suddenly becoming available is really clever. It’s entirely plausible and it rushes Lily past all the time she felt she had left to get used to the idea of becoming Mrs Erikson. The flashbacks to her own prom are a clever device to show us her state of mind and the sequence of events which kept her from pursuing her dreams. It does help that the youthful Alyson Hannigan can play a younger version of herself so well. I also thought the key detail which made this story work so well was when she made it clear that she had no doubts about Marshall, just about being married so soon. We have seen “no flaws” in their relationship so far and it would have been difficult to sympathise with a story where she suddenly didn’t love him as much.
Meanwhile Robin takes a big step toward forgiving Ted and it felt entirely appropriate. It has been a couple of episodes and the writing has indicated that time has past and things have been awkward. Now she can admit that she misses him, it’s worth remembering that his lie was an attempt to be with her. So she has very good reasons to want to forgive him. Ted’s childish behaviour when Marshall asks if Robin wants him to come to prom was fun.
The Prom provided another nice change of scenery for the show which often operates entirely in the apartment and the bar. Barney’s various attempts to sneak in were typically good value (see Comic Highlight). Robin’s enjoyment of her first prom experience was fun too, especially her comment that her “Phlegm feels looser” after her date could only sneak cough syrup instead of alcohol into Prom.
The Bad: Robin said she didn’t play any team sports (106) but here she says she played field hockey. Watch out for those details, they can chip away at a show. 1996 Lily’s comment that she “only” dated Scooter because he looked like Kurt Cobain was a line too far. She had been with him for two years, that remark didn’t sound real.
Comic Highlight: Barney finally sneaks into Prom by paying the janitor $200 to dress as the School Mascot, a giant turtle. Ted comments “Slow and steady won the race” with a cheeky grin.
How I rate your episode: An enjoyable episode which built the main arc stories very nicely.
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