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'How I Met Your Mother': Barney and Ted rumble
Poor Ted, I truly felt for him tonight on How I Met Your Mother. While Ted may be over Stella (mostly anyway), the people around him haven't moved past her and Ted has found himself the object of much pity as of late. That sort of thing has to be really hard to deal with, Ted has to have been really battling lately to regain some control over his life. That's a tough fight for anyone, much tougher than any sort of physical confrontation.
Ted doesn't really seem like the physical confrontation kind of person, but tonight he ended up in one. I don't believe he needed to, that is unless he wanted to get back with Robin. You see, she revealed this evening that she has a thing for guys who have been in fights, something about her Canadian upbringing.
We got that little tidbit of information when Doug, a bartender at their watering hole, tried to boot some guys out of the gang's booth for them. It had worked really well in the past when a nun and a priest were in the booth, but the group of guys in the booth this time around didn't feel like moving just because it was Ted et. al.'s regular spot. Doug's efforts resulted in his needing Ted, Marshall, and Barney to help him beat up the other guys out in the alley behind the bar.
While I still see myself as a Ted-like character, I would not have agreed to be in the fight, I would have stayed as far away from the fight as I possibly could. Ted wasn't going to go after Robin if he took part in the fight, so there really was no upside for him, but he jumped in anyway. He gave some completely lame – and totally Ted-like – excuse about how being in a fight was an experience he needed to have. The reason didn't work for me, I did however love Barney's reason for taking part in the fight – turning on Robin (see the quote of the week below).
So, Barney and Ted (Marshall wanted no part of it) headed out to the fight, only to arrive after it had ended. Doug, being a monstrously big dude, had taken out all three opponents without anyone's help. Plus, as a major bonus for Barney, Doug had blacked out during the fight so he thought Ted and Barney had helped him win.
At that point Barney did what anyone else would have done – he beat up both himself and Ted to make it look like they'd been in a fight. He then went back inside to claim Robin who was definitely turned on by Barney's black eye.
What did the guys get for their big fake fight? In the parlance of today's youth, they got served. Check that, they actually literally got served. They went back to the bar the next night only to find a couple of guys in their booth again, and upon confronting the new interlopers (to impress some women) Barney and Ted were both served with legal documents accusing them of assault.
I have a sneaking suspicion that Marshall was actually behind the lawsuit. My theory is that Marshall knew that Barney and Ted would go to him for help and that he could make the suit magically disappear any time he wanted. We know that Marshall believed that Ted and Barney had pretended to take part in the fight and that after the guys told him what really happened he got the other party to drop the suit. We didn't however see that last bit happen, we only saw the result – Doug being the only defendant left in the lawsuit (admittedly, if my theory is true, that was terribly bad planning on Marshall's part).
Strictly for the record, and because the episode nominally was about the one and only fight Ted has ever had in his whole life, it was after Barney and Ted were dropped from the suit that said fight occurred. Doug wanted to fight both Barney and Ted only to back down when he decided that the two guys weren't worth his time. Doug then made a small disparaging remark about Ted not being someone who can be counted on and that clearly being why Stella had left him, and so Ted unloaded all he had onto Doug.
That "all he had" amounted to a single punch which hurt Ted's hand more than it did Doug's face. Not surprisingly, Doug then took out Ted with one blow. It was Marshall, good old pacifist Marshall, who used the Fight Club skills he learned rough-housing with his brothers back in the day to take out Doug without breaking a sweat. If only we'd gotten to see that last bit actually go down.
Odds and ends:
- Two great moments from tonight didn't quite fit into the episode summary. The first occurred at the end of the episode when, three to five years in the future, Marshall carved a Thanksgiving turkey with a lightsaber (he's been on the forums, he knows it's coming).
- The second great moment occurred well before that – Ted explaining to everyone at the top of the episode that Barney had figured that he can carry on a whole conversation simply by using the titles of "black sitcoms from the '70s and '80s." He whipped out such classics as Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, and the never-popular (except with me) What's Happening Now!.
- As for our quote of the night, it was all Robin – "If a guy's got a scar he's got a Robin, and if he's missing teeth, I'm missing my pants."
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews – we only fight for our right to party.
I was looking forward to this episode from the commercials. After watching it, I realized I was forcing myself to laugh more than I actually enjoyed the show. Hopefully this show can get back to the style of the first few seasons. Right now I just feel like I am watching this generations "Friends".
Barney's Pants | Dec 9, 2008 4:00:48 AM | #-So, "What's Happening?"- ...
-Wait, "What's Happening Now?"-
"Dude, you must be like FIVE THOUSAND pounds!"
pakopako | Dec 9, 2008 7:43:58 AM | #I didn't understand how Marshall could trick Barney with the lawsuit in regards to jail time if there both lawyers, I kno its petty but that ruined the ep for me. I thought the light saber was a decent throwback to earlier in the ep.
mike | Dec 9, 2008 9:57:37 AM | #I really liked last night's episode. Sure, it wasn't as good as a season 1 or 2 ep, but it's way better than what they've been putting out over the last couple of weeks. Also, it looks like we're getting classic Marshall back!
Also, I'm not 100%, but I don't think Barney's a lawyer. He's had Marshall work on lawyer stuff for him before (i.e. analyzing the Bro Code). Just because he works w/ Marshall doesn't mean he's a lawyer too. To be honest, I don't think we're supposed to know what Barney does.
At the end of the night, I was entertained, and I thought it was a good one.
MC | Dec 9, 2008 10:13:28 AM | #Sorry, Pants, this was my favorite ep of the season so far. Not only did the goat make a cameo again, but I almost peed myself laughing at the actual fight Marshall had with his brothers. "Cocoa break!"
Andy | Dec 9, 2008 10:19:24 AM | #Not a great episode for me, mainly because the situations felt so forced. And not too many funny punchlines. And Doug was pretty lame as a character. I guess that's enough reasons!
But hey, they can't all be gems.
Misha | Dec 9, 2008 11:19:30 AM | #If they had a web cam and the Internet in their youth, Marshall and his brothers would be on YouTube with those other guys who hit each other with folding chairs, boards with nails in them and bats wrapped with barbed wire in their backyards. Heck, he might have became Kimbo Slice.
Instead he became a pacificist because he probably learned the hard way that fighting is wrong -"It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." And Doug learned that someone had Ted's back. I'd like to think if something really happened, Barney would not bail. He did return, but he shouldn't have left in the first place.
I liked it. Even the blatant throwaway jokes like the lightsaber are funnier than most sitcoms now (granted, this is like being the tallest midget).
I suspect the goat is going to make an appearance in every episode up to and including the day of the actual goat incident.
I don't know what the fascination is about the goat. I really could care less at this point. Don't even want to know the story. Just get back to the funny.
Barney's Pants | Dec 10, 2008 3:37:56 AM | #I really enjoyed this episode and thought it was the best of the season. Everyone except Lily (who was kind of annoying) was great in this episode.
My husband and I nearly died laughing watching the "Fight Club" scene with Marshall and his brothers...that was classic!!! And Robin was hilarious in the episode!!
So we saw the goat again. I am just afraid that with all the build up, that is going to be a let down episode. I hope not!
But great show Monday night!!!!
Heather | Dec 10, 2008 8:20:11 AM | #How many more slaps do we have left in the slap bet? 1 or 2? I hope that comes around this season as well.
livs | Dec 10, 2008 8:41:38 AM | #Does anyone know the name of the song that played during the fight at the end? Catchy! Not the one with Marshall and his brothers, but with Ted.
Beez | Dec 10, 2008 12:04:31 PM | #Did anyone else notice the stroller behind Lily in the Thanksgiving bit at the end? It was really obvious right at the very end when Lily told Marshall to be careful. Anyone???
Ally | Dec 10, 2008 9:46:50 PM | #BEEZ: the song was "murder train" by robin's "ex boyfriend" from Canada named Simon. IT made an appearance last year after he asked her to play it on Metro News One. Infamously, it was played during the "Adopt-a-Pet" segment.
i thought it was a great nod to HIMYM fans.
carly | Dec 12, 2008 8:55:25 AM | #Btw,
"is doug seeing anyone?"
"are you?!"
THAT was funny and no one has mentioned it yet. i thought that robin was hilarious "flirting" with Barney and i think the ep turned out well.
carly | Dec 12, 2008 8:57:27 AM | #
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