Episode 1 - Wait For It
3 August 2011
Review
Synopsis: Ted struggles to get over Robin, until she returns with handsome Gael (Enrique Iglesias) from Argentina. While he impresses Lily and Marshall, Ted hooks up with a wild girl who suggests he get a tattoo.
The Good: We get a clue about how Ted met his kids mother with the appearance of a yellow umbrella. It is nice to see that the show has a sense of where it is headed.
The story of Ted and Robin getting over one another is a logical one. They talk about how much they missed each other and agree to move on. The overall story is fine, but the details are not.
The Bad: Almost every part of the story is dealt with in a flippant or cheap manner. Ted arrives at the bar and is making out with Amy instantly, barely ten seconds after meeting her. When something so unrealistic happens like that, it is difficult to take the plot seriously. After that Amy’s blonde friend arrives and throws herself at Barney in a ludicrous manner. With the rest of the dialogue sounding normal behaviour like this jars against it and reminds you that what you are watching is stupid. There needs to be a balance in the behaviour of the characters and here there is none. Amy is pretty wild but talking about her ex-boyfriend and how annoying he was right in front of him is again too implausible.
The laughter over Ted’s tattoo is too forced as well. The writers want to make so many jokes about it that they feed them to the characters in a way which doesn’t feel natural. Surely good friends would point it out immediately, even if they mocked him afterwards?
The presence of Enrique Iglesias doesn’t help with the plausibility of the episode. He is passable at playing the part, but his story leads to silly places. The massages he gives make the characters say things that don’t sounds remotely real and subtle acting is not Lily’s strong point.
Enrique’s role as a catalyst in Ted and Robin getting over each other is fine. The scene where Ted imagines them together on the windsurfing board is good for reminding us why he would consider getting a tattoo. But having sex while windsurfing is not possible and so the jokes about it fall flat.
Comic Highlight: Ted goes to see Robin and says because their break up was so rational he now needs to shout at her irrationally to help get over her. But he has nothing much to say. She says she liked his beard. So he shouts: “I LIKED IT TOO, BUT IT WAS GETTING KIND OF HOT. MAYBE IN THE WINTER I’LL GROW IT BACK OUT!”
How I rate your episode: This is a bad start to the show’s third season. There are so many things wrong here it makes me worry about the writing team. But one bad episode doesn’t derail a show. So like Ted and Robin, let’s move on.
Feedback
Add your comments on this episode below. They may be included in the weekly podcasts.
’)