How I Met Your Mother VS #24: THE GENTLEMAN!

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Op dinsdag 14 december 2010 16:40 schreef Steve het volgende:
Barney's favorite things. .

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Op dinsdag 14 december 2010 13:55 schreef HIMYMBlog het volgende:
Prima aflevering.
Helaas wel de laatste van 2010. De eerst volgende komt pas 3 januari.

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Op woensdag 22 december 2010 12:10 schreef Ranja_Ranja het volgende:

[..]

hoeren

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Op donderdag 23 december 2010 11:45 schreef DoorgestokenKaart het volgende:
Gisteren begonnen met deze serie. Ben alweer bij s01e15. Heb me al een aantal keren rot gelachen.

"We are International Businessmen! We are on a International Businesstrip!"

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Op donderdag 23 december 2010 12:09 schreef MaxC het volgende:
Nee dat ze op het vliegveld toeristen proberen te versieren

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Op woensdag 29 december 2010 16:13 schreef PiRANiA het volgende:
[ link | afbeelding ]
ook zo'n teller?

We kunnen weer gaan aftellen

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How do you feel about gimmicks?

This was a quiet oneand occasionally clever, as these things go. Numbers counting down from 50 appeared in order on props and in the background of scenes throughout this episode. It might have been a harmless bit of extra fun in a normal episode.

But as the very last scene showedquite shockinglythis was not a normal episode. That countdown was leading to a moment where Marshall lost his father. And as we were reminded in a charming, funny montage earlier in the half-hour, Marshall was unusually close to his father. They shared everything, from playing long-distance Go Fish to any kind of good news, no matter how insignificant. (I found an amazing Viking lamp that fits right on the coffee table as long as you dont mind stepping over the cord! Marshall reports to his dad over the phone; Woooooooooooo! his father celebrates.)

The dilemma driving Bad News is Marshalls reluctance to tell his dad that he and Lily are having trouble conceiving. They go to a reproductive endocrinology specialist to get Lilys fertility checked out, then discover that Dr. Stengel is Barneys long-lost doppelganger (leading Lily to fear a jinx from the universe, since they jumped the gun on the whole waiting-for-a-sign thing). Lilys not the problem, though, so Marshall has to face the possibility that his plumbing is at issue, which would be even harder for him to confess to his dad.

Meanwhile, Robin learns that the host of the news program whose staff shes just joined is her old co-host Sandy We should have sex Rivers. Worse, Sandy immediately announces to the whole office that they had sex. (Its the only reason he can think of that he remembers her.) Its my first day, and already, Im the girl whos slept with the host of the show, Robin laments to Ted. Already? Ted asks. Were you planning on eventually sleeping with the host? When Sandy remembers that they didnt have sex, he also recalls why Robin stuck in his head: her report on carriage horses in New York which ended with her falling in horse poop. Soon the whole office is scouring the Internet for Robin's embarrassment, finding, as Robin puts it, everything.

What connects the two storylines is the question of how to respond to adversity. Ted suggests steering into the skid, going along with things and waiting for the crisis to pass. For Lily and Marshall, that means not panicking until all the results come in and giving those people whom they fear disappointing the chance to surprise them. For Robin, that means not using the dirt Ted digs up on Sandy (his odd sexual proclivities are no big deal, since everyone in the office knows about the bear in a bra, but the toupee is a bombshell) and letting the focus on office ridicule pass to the next victim in line. But theres a down side to letting things play out, as it happens; sometimes it can take too long and be too late.

I was blindsided by the real bad news at the end of Bad News, and Im not at all sure this was well handled. Distracted by collecting the numbers, was it likely we would stay with the themes and feel the connections of the episode? The meta-gag takes us out of the shows world in a way that makes the final twist feel like an aggressive bomb thrown at us and the characters, a punishment imposed by the same hands that dropped those numbers all over the place, not a real event. Leaving Marshall crying out to the universe that hes not ready to go it alone without his dad, after playing games with us for 20 minutes? It just seems cruel.

For all the solid comedy on display here (Barneys dual role, Teds karate kicks, Marshalls dad cheering for Vikings kicker Fred CoxCox! Cox! Cox!while Marshalls trying to provide a sperm sample), Bad News goes horribly wrong with its little numbers game. Its the wrong time to deploy such a gimmick. It detracts from the funny stuff and cuts off the serious stuff at the knees. Im all for cleverness and meta-gagscheck the record. But why here? Wrong place, wrong time. Bad news.

Stray observations:
This makes two episodes in a row where the episode title has been a simple, single entendre when were used to more of a wink and a nudge. Give them credit for truth in advertising.
OK, heres all the numbers. 50, 49: pamphlets in gynos office. 48: ketchup bottle. 47: laser-tag tourney flier. Stengel is a member of the 46 society. 45 cent hot wings. 44 beers on tap (and a 44 jersey on a MacLarens patron). 43-42 on Stengels pamphlet. 41 racecar poster. Teds 40 buildings book. Sandy Rivers office is room 39. 38 degrees on newspaper weather forecast. 37 on Lilys Decadence magazine. Marshalls dad drinks Old Number 36 beer. Market up 35.34 points. 33 miners rescued. Lottery numbers are 32 31 30 29 28 27. Marshalls dad reading 26 Home Shortcuts. Teds 25 bridges book. Metro news 23 and Japanese channel 22 in Robins montage. 21 on calendar in Stengels office. Sperm collection room 20. 19 on Nekkid magazine. Marshall and Lily live in apartment 18. Sperm sample bottle marked 1716. 15 vitamins in Bran Stix. Sandys apartment 1413. 12 behind Marshall on couch. 11 on Teds book. 10 on Robin Sparkles' jean jacket. 9 on medical chart folder. Exam room 8. Oh, I must have missed 7. 6 on medical chart folder (Barney was holding it upside down). Motility 5! The 4 layers of the uterus. MacLarens is open till 3. Marshalls dads watch hand is pointing to 2. Lily gets out of taxi 0001.
Barney doesnt get why Marshall is upset about his possible lack of fertile sperm: You cant get a girl pregnant; thats the dream! Id give my firstborn to not be able to have children.
In fact, give Barney the lions share of credit for what works in Bad News, from his reaction to Lily throwing bar snacks at him (You found one of the cameras! I swear thats the only one. Which one did you find?) to his version of Teds go-with-the-flow advice (When your friend invites you to a laser tag tournament, you dont fight it; you just strap on that vinyl holster and charge into that abandoned JC Penney guns a-blazin!). And Stengels quiet befuddlement at the doppelganger hysteria (I dont have time for this, he sighs after Marshall explains to Lily I yanked on his beard, he checks out!) is delightful.
Barney couldnt be moonlighting as a fertility doctor because, according to Marshall, Between the sexual harassment seminar all morning and the secretary beauty pageant all afternoon, he hasnt left my sight!
Remember when his Swedish cousin came to visit? Oh yeah, Bjorney.
If you find yourself inside the elevator, youve gone too far. Youd think I wouldnt have to say that, but youd be surprised.
Ted goes after Sandy Rivers: I just thought he needed to listen to common sense and reasonable discourse. Tell me those arent the names of your fists, Robin sighs. Theyre my feet, Ted confesses. Im actually more of a kicker.
For Gods sake, son, do you have any sixes?

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Op dinsdag 4 januari 2011 11:28 schreef Lonewolf2003 het volgende:
Ik had het helemaal niet zien aankomen. Had het totaal niet verwacht. Vond het ook vrij heftig en schokkend.

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Op dinsdag 4 januari 2011 12:58 schreef d1ce het volgende:
Ik vond wel dat Jason Segel (Marshall) het mooi bracht op het eind.

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Op dinsdag 4 januari 2011 09:59 schreef Mirel het volgende:
Nou de meeste mensen denken dus dat de countdown bedoeld is om je op een dwaalspoor te brengen. Zodat de dood van z'n vader net zo plots aankomt als het voor de characters is. Zonder de countdown zou het een standaard sitcom twist zijn die zo vaak gebruikt worden.