Episode 10 - The Window
8 December 2009
Review
Synopsis: Ted gets a call to tell him that “the window is open” meaning Maggie Wilkes has broken up with her boyfriend. Maggie is the ultimate girl next door type who men are drawn to. Each time she has broken up with a boyfriend she has gotten a new one before Ted can get to her. When he realises he has to teach a class that night he leaves her with his friends to ward off other men. Meanwhile Marshall’s mother keeps sending him boxes of his old stuff which she wants to get rid of. His old overalls find a new home when Barney takes up the challenge to get laid while wearing them. Then a letter from his fifteen year old self makes Marshall sad.
The Good: There’s a certain formula which worked well for the show in season one and they haven’t found many ways around it. Ted being the sweet and soppy romantic lead, Marshall and Lily finding new ways to say I love you, Robin and Barney find humour in the single life. When the writing gets them all in the right place, it just clicks.
Maggie is an ideal prop for all the characters to play off. The quest to see if they can keep men away from her is a great hook to keep you watching and Ted’s forgotten architecture class is a believable excuse to put another obstacle in his path. Its classic storytelling (the quest) mixed with classic sit comedy (each one of his friends lets Ted down one by one).
What trips How I Met Your Mother up so often are the details. But here they didn’t feel forced, they actually fitted in quite well. Ted gives in to what he assumes is popular opinion and asks “who really wants to sit here and listen to me yap about bridges for an hour” and when his class say they do he is genuinely touched. Perhaps he is becoming the beloved professor he hoped he would (501). Then when his class question his readiness for a relationship he admits to his feelings of doubt after being left at the altar (405). These are good details which build up his character as believable and sympathetic.
Similarly Marshall reads out his fifteen year olds list of desires and they seem believable, a mix of jokes about the 1990s and the shows continuity. Lily even got a good joke in when she pointed out that fifteen year old Marshall’s perfect woman sounded just like his mum. His desire to still be able to dunk a basketball was slipped in subtly too, so it wasn’t obvious where he had gone. Lily’s sweetness to him was ideal and I will even ignore the time travel nonsense as just another excuse for him to express his love for her.
Barney’s overalls challenge was exactly what you would expect him to do. Even if unintentional I liked the idea that Robin would sabotage all his attempts. She wasn’t just amusing herself; she was keeping her ex from sleeping with other women. It would have been nice actually if Ted had had time to acknowledge Robin’s outstanding act of friendship on his behalf. Her overt flirtation with Jim was pretty funny. She played it so well and because we knew why she was doing it, it was an exaggeration which worked. It’s always fun to see a flirtation go wrong by accident and Robin’s “I laughed so hard I think I may have just peed my pants” admission was amusingly unappealing.
In the end the story served the wider arc and should finally place Ted back on the path of looking for true love. It’s the tone he plays well and hopefully will lead to more pleasing stories like this one.
The Bad: Lily pushing a pram aside was a needless exaggeration.
Comic Highlight: Ted has ten minutes to race back to the bar or else Barney says he will hit on Maggie. “I hate Barney Stinson” Ted shouts out into the anonymous streets of New York. “Me too!” yells back a female voice to a confused looking Ted.
How I rate your episode: Really enjoyable and entertaining stuff.
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