Episode 17 - The Front Porch
14 September 2009
Review
Synopsis: Karen breaks up with Ted and he discovers that Lily was responsible for the unfortunate misunderstanding. More than that she took it upon herself to sabotage all of his previous failed relationships, including with Robin. The gang are gathered to watch Robin’s morning show and Barney becomes seduced by Marshall’s nightgown.
The Good: Marshall’s riff on a scene from The Big Lebowski will amuse some. And the imagined beach front future is much easier to enjoy than flashbacks that look very fake. A simple detail like Marshall enjoying winning fictional bridge games is a nice touch.
This episode showcases the most frustrating aspect of How I Met Your Mother. When Ted shouts at Lily, furious with her for her meddling, it seems real. It sounds authentic, it makes sense that he would do that. Then later on he and Robin sit down for a meal together. Again, they seem like real people. Their bond comes across naturally. When you watch those scenes you could be watching the very best episodes of Seinfeld, Frasier, Friends or Spin City. Or name any other sit com which managed to make you believe in the characters on the screen. Silly jokes and stories are so much easier to swallow when the characters can look authentic when it comes to the serious stuff. But…
The Bad: the serious stuff gets crapped all over by the need to shoehorn stupid jokes into every scene. When you think about what Lily did, it’s pretty serious. She actually manipulated Ted and his girlfriends into serious arguments which caused them to break up. She was directly responsible for much of Ted’s heartache. Whether or not she did it for good reason it is a severe breach of trust and must make Ted feel like a fool. I don’t think you can argue that I shouldn’t take it that seriously because Ted says he has never been so mad at her. The story is meant to be taken seriously. It’s a major plot development.
But how can we as an audience care about it when at every turn it is being stamped on by the pathetic comedy. In the background we get Robin in one ridiculous disaster after another at her morning show. In fact at the height of Ted’s anger a woman gives birth and Robin holds the baby up. It’s such an awkward juxtaposition of the show’s greatest strength and greatest weakness in the same shot.
Then we have Lily breaking into Jack Nicholson’s lines from A Few Good Men. I don’t have a problem with famous movie lines being used in sitcoms for comic effect. But the writers are damaging the seriousness of what’s going on by having Lily make a mockery of a situation where she has done something so deceitful.
Finally we have Barney and Marshall standing around ignoring the severity of their friends’ arguments. The whole night shirt story is frivolous and would be excusable if it weren’t for the fact that Barney interrupts Ted and Lily just to make another comment about the night shirt. Fine Barney can conceivably get away with that selfishness but Marshall can’t. And there he is aiding and abetting the silliness while his wife is verbally abused by Ted. It’s worth asking whether Marshall was ever complicit in Lily’s crimes. A question which is not asked.
Comic Highlight: Karen asks Ted to never see Lily again after her deception. Ted imagines his future if he stays with Karen. Back on the beach front she asks if he remembers Marshall? Ted looks wistfully into the distance and says “It’s been so long.” Then Karen hands him Marshall’s obituary. It’s a nice exaggerated scene to give you a shorthand way of understanding Ted’s decision making process.
How I rate your episode: It’s just so frustrating to sit through something which isn’t funny but won’t let you take it seriously. If the writers would just shut up and let the actors do straight scenes straight, this show could be good.
Feedback
Add your comments on this episode below. They may be included in the weekly podcasts.
’)