How I Met Your Mother: "Desperation Day"

Once I determine whether or not “baking cookies” is an appropriate euphemism for sex, I'll whip up a review of tonight's episode, after the jump...

I could start off this review of how much I despise Valentine's Day. It's a fairly normal way to start off a review of anything related to or depicting Valentine's Day, as a viewer's experience will be affected to some degree by how they feel about the holiday. Yet not only would such an action be trite (really, too many reviews have started with anti-V-Day rants), but I think that would miss the point of tonight's episode, and HIMYM in general. The show has always been romantic, to certain degrees. This isn't surprising given the title, the premise, the main character who's a hopeless romantic. So to watch this show means that one has to have at least a tolerance for all things romantic.

But beyond that, I think it's important to note that this episode wasn't really about Valentine's Day. Yes, it took place on and before Valentine's Day, and 4/5 of the main cast was in someways concerned about the holiday. But think back on what happened in this episode. Did Lilly really need the holiday pressure for her to miss Marshall? Did Ted really need it in order for their to be pressure on his new relationship with Zoey? Was its presence needed for Barney to concoct his insane theory about desperate girls, or for Robin to feel lonely?

The answer to all of these questions is of course 'no', and I think that's what makes this episode work. Too often, shows will use this holiday as an excuse to have their characters do, well, out-of character things, all in the name of conforming to society's expectations for the holiday. (I am here referring to both the writers and the characters.) This is of course a problem for television during all the major holidays, but since Valentine's Day tends to be the most polarizing, I think we are more likely to see through the bullshit.

And so I was glad to see that the show kept things relatively sane during this most contested of holidays, and that each character was given some real screen time.

As I have made clear over the past few weeks, I have been continually worried about how seriously the show was going to treat Marshall's loss, and then overjoyed that they managed to serve the character well. Tonight continued that trend, and they earn extra point for the sly way that they slipped it into the episode. I was originally worried about how this started off as a Lilly story, as I thought it meant that Marshall had just been written out of the episode, and that this was just going to be a string of body-pillow gags. (And maybe this is just me, but I don't find body-pillow jokes that funny, nor do I find the idea of people – men or women – snuggling with body-pillows that sad. Sometimes people want to snuggle and nobody's around. It doesn't mean the person in question is pathetic or anything, okay?)

Then, upon Lilly arriving in Minnesota, I was worried that it was just going to be a string of “Marshall's acting like a teenager again” jokes. Jason Segel is a fine actor, but playing immature (or at least that level of immaturity) isn't is strong suit, and Harris is much better at it anyway. So I was glad when Ted arrived.....

Wait. Why did Ted arrive?

In order to talk about the ending to the Marshall storyline, I need to back up and talk about Ted's storyline. Last week, I documented my apathy for Ted/Zoey as a couple, noting how they only work for me when they have a good storyline. Tonight's was serviceable enough, though again, if Zoey's not the mother, why should we care if the two of them are having problems getting their relationship off the ground?

But I like the idea behind it. I have always understood Ted's hopeless romantic side, and I believe his best stories have come from the show exploring this fully. So I get why Ted would be frustrated by taking things slow, as well as why he would be scared of screwing up such a big night for him and Zoey. If you didn't understand all this...well, then you're not a hopeless romantic.

But anyways, it was all worth to get to the closure of Marshall's story. (Actually, it was kind of worth it just to see Marshall and Ted acting as teenagers together, but I need to stay on topic.) After all that baiting and switching, we find out that Marshall is afraid to leave his house, afraid to go back to New York and away from the only place he feels safe at the moment. But we also see what Lilly means to Marshall (on a serious level this time), and just how powerful their love is that is can take them out of a funk. Whether this means that we are done with Marshall's feeling of loss remain uncertain, and honestly, I don't know which direction the show should take. Marshall's storylines since the beginning of the year have been so good, but if the show keeps down this path for much longer, it might cause an emotional burnout for the audience.

As far as Ted, him getting that chance to have his freak-out and still return to New York means that we can believe that Ted is now emotionally ready for this relationship, but that we avoid a weeks-long arc in which he get ready.

The Barney storyline is for now, incomplete, and I'm sure now much I can say on the subject at the moment. I liked tonight's section of the storyline, both the part that explored Barney's womanizing side, and that which looked at the the romantic underneath. And I like the character of Nora, and I think she is a good match for Barney. (Plus, she calls him on his bullshit.)

But here's my worry: where is this going? If Barney and Robin is an eventuality on this show (and I believe it is) is Nora a pit stop, the woman that teaches Barney how to love, before he goes on to love Robin? Because that seems cruel, but so does Barney starting his first actual relationship after Robin with one of her co-workers. I'm just going to stick this storyline in my “later' box, and comment on it once it has become more fleshed out.

What did everybody else think?


Additional Thoughts:

“Private Booty reporting for duty”

“And I thought Pompeii was smokin'”

“They're called British Morning Socks”

“Purple is for pride...it was a stupid idea.”

So, did you think NPH did those Predator sounds himself, or was it added in later? Vote below!