But what to do with the rest of the cast? That was the other challenge of this episode. We knew that Marshall would be sad, and we knew that his friends would be their to support them. But how could the show fill these roles without doing the emotional core disservice?
As far as Marshall's friends, each decided to be there for Marshall by being a source of laughter (Ted and Barney), providing any needed vices (Robin) and being Judy's bitch (Lilly). Each of these roles made sense, both for the character and as something best friends would do for a mourner. While Ted and Barney's threatened to become almost too-silly, they show accepted this fact, knowing how their attempts to do a genuinely sweet thing could come off as a bit douchey to Marshall. It was Robin's role that went a bit off the rails and threatened to sink the episode, as making her a vice source for all of the family members made her role seem less suited for just Marshal. I also could have done without some of the more outrageous things she pulled from her purse (dirty playing cards, Crocodile Dundee 3) as these instance of comedy were a bit too broad and threatened the episodes emotional realism.
But lets talk about that emotional realism by discussing Marshall's story, a story which is all about subverting or expectations. Marshall's main emotional struggle centered on the fact that his father's last words to him (asking for the last pork chop, stereotypical [though not racist] comment about Koreans, and telling Marshal to rent Crocodile Dundee 3) were as un-inspirational as you can get. So as soon as Marshall said “My phone is charged” I was worried the their would be a phone message from Marshall's dad, and that it would hold the words he needed to hear, and we would find this out at episode's end.
The first two parts of my worry were true, thought the whole thing rolled out unexpectedly. Marshall immediately noticed the message, but when he played it, it was a pocket dial. At this point, I was worried that the show was being too mean to Marshall, just shitting on him for no particular reason. But then came that scene...that emotionally raw, heartbreaking, well-written, and even better delivered scene, where Marshall rails against life and God for robbing him of any great last words form his father. And just when the show had me almost to tears, BOOM, we hear Marshall's dad tell his son “I love you.” Moment earned.
Unfortunately this moment was almost immediately undercut by the fact that his dad's real last words were something about foot cream, but here the show turned this into a lark. Marshall's eulogy centered on the Crocodile Dundee moment, and Marshall later makes his last words to his friends “I'm going to go take a dump.” (Which, weirdly enough, could be some of my friends' last words to me.) But I believe this tied in well with an earlier moment that the show had, where Ted, Lilly, and Robin all realize that the last words their fathers said to them were equally un-inspirational. Here the show was telling us, quite subtley, and message we have all heard before: Be careful what you say to people, because you never know which words could be your last.
Additional Thoughts:
-No doubt the internet will be fired up by the show's last moment, wherein Barney decides he's ready to meet his dad. While I like the idea of the show linking these character's emotional journeys, if even tangentially, I am a bit worried that this means that will be short-serving Marshall's grief in future episodes. But we'll see. (Same goes for Barney's actual plot.)
-“You somehow crammed Tijuana into a purse.”
-“Spoonful of sugar? Grow up.”
-For those of you who thought you recognize the short pastor, that's Danny Strong of “Buffy” and (far more recently) “Mad Men” recurring-character-semi-fame.
-“My dad's last words to me were a collection of strange racial stereotypes.”
-Nathan Hale's real last words? “I peed my pants.” True story.
-Can I just say how much more I enjoy Ray Wise's performance as Robin's dad over that other guy?
-“What we need to do is hit each other in the nuts.” “Yeah. Nothing beats the immediacy of live theatre.”
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