FULL SPOILERS ABOUND!
Tonight’s episode of HIMYM didn’t do much to amuse and really fell flat until the very end. I was about to write it off until the writers took a particularly poignant twist that made it all worth while.
At MacLaren’s, Barney is trying to convince Ted that they have to go see Robots Vs. Wrestling Superstars because it would be Legen … wait for it … DARY! and calls on his and Ted’s future selves from 20 years to explain why this night would be so important. Sure enough, the ghosts of yet-to-come show up and tell Ted that it will be the best night of his life, and he would be a fool to miss it. Just as they are about to leave, Ted from 20 hours from now shows up, hungover as hell, and demands that Ted goes home, as the aftermath wouldn’t be worth the fun time he would have. 20 minutes from now Barney also appears and says that Ted should wait for a little bit at least because a hot girl from his past was about to walk through the door, and Ted would miss out on a second chance to take her out. Sure enough, Coat Check Girl (back from season 1) enters the bar, and Ted steels himself to hit on her, only to be averted by two versions of 20 months from now Coat Check Girl, one crazy and one unimpressed, who explain that if he hits on her in the present time, they would eventually grow tired of one another and either break Ted’s heart or drive her crazy, so Ted lets her leave the bar without saying anything.
As all this is happening, Marshall convinces Lily to order his favorite drink from the bar, a Minnesotta Tidal Wave, because it’s a bit too frou frou for a dude to ask for. When Lily describes how to make it, Carl says the drink has been quite popular so he added it to the menu and named it after the drink’s creator — Robin Scherbatsky. Marshall, furious that Robin stole his drink, starts a war of bathroom graffiti (for a good time call …) with Robin, which culminates in a dance off to a crappy 90’s song.
As Ted sits with Barney, nursing a drink and wondering about missed opportunities, Barney informs him that everything Ted witnessed that night actually took place years ago, and all that just happened took place in Ted’s head. Sure enough, Ted looks up, and finds himself sitting alone in the booth at the bar.
Realizing how lonely his life has become without his friends in it, he runs over to Cindy’s apartment (who, you’ll remember, was the roommate of the titular ‘Mother’), and finally meets her (off camera). He professes his love for her and says that he will meet her in 45 days, and that they are going to get married, have two kids and grow old together. He also happens to mention this to her current boyfriend who knocks him out.
As this also all happened in his mind, we fade back to Ted outside MacLaren’s who walks off screen as the episode ends.
As I stated before, this episode wasn’t funny. It really tried to be and had a ton of chances to make some really awesome jokes, but the writers never took advantage of the future versions of Ted, Barney and Coat Check Girl, so all of that felt really wasted. Also, the battle between Marshall and Robin barely got a laugh out of me, and there were many times where I was hoping for something great to happen, but then they didn’t take it to a funny conclusion.
In fact, the whole episode would have been wasted if not for the last minute reveal that none of it was really happening, and that Ted was living it all in his head. That really grounded the episode and brought it to a pretty strong emotional head.
Best of all, it is finally revealed that Ted will finally meet his future wife in 45 days, which I believe coincides with the season finale at Barney’s wedding, so it looks good that we will finally find out who she really is sometime in May.
Oh, just be sure to stick around after the final commercial for what I thought was the best moment of the episode — a rendition of Billy Joel’s “Longest Time” by all the different versions of Ted and Barney.
Final plot threads are being pulled together, and if we can believe the writers (who have lied to us before), the conclusion to season 8 should be a doozy. I just t wish that this episode had followed through as much on the laughs as it did with the emotion.
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