How I Met Your Mother - "Noretta"

Season 7, Episode 7

Freud just ruins everything, doesn’t he?

At some point during college, I figured out that the chances of me dating someone my mother would like were slim, mostly because I would never date someone like my mother. It’s not that I was hellbent on avoiding playing out any sort of Oedipal situations – like Kevin in tonight’s episodes, I think that such relationships are so ubiquitous as to be considered “normal” – but that my mother and I never really got along while I was growing up, and so I knew that if I ever did date a woman with her A-type personality, it would just end in disaster.

That perhaps overly personal story helps to explain my emotional disconnect with “Noretta” – as a person who actively avoids dating someone like his parent(s), that’s not something that was ever I concern for me. But that’s not what disappointed me with this episode. No, it was the fact that as soon as Kevin introduced the idea that people will marry those that remind them of their parents, it was obvious that it was going to spin out to more than just Barney.  

Except for why should it affect Barney in the first place? He wasn’t there when Kevin brought the issue up – in fact, the group (plus James, in a woefully underused Wayne Brady appearance) actively hid it from him. Now, some might say that Barney could have possibly known about the Oedipus complex before hand, but then why didn’t the rest of the group as well? The point is, while this idea permeating throughout the group follows the rules of TV logic, the fact that they didn’t know about such a widespread phenomenon until this point goes against real-world logic.

And yet, I enjoyed the jokes that this predictable setup brought, but I have to wonder if my emotional disconnect is the reason I did enjoy the jokes as much as I did. As Alan Sepinwall points out, this episode plays jump rope with that line between acceptable and awkward humor, and though I’ll admit this episode was based on some broad, crass gags, there gags that I found to be funny, mostly because I see myself as being able to avoid the Oedipal pratfalls that affect most people, and since I couldn’t empathize with these characters, not being in their shoes meant I didn’t find the jokes uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just that Chris Elliot nailed his appearances, or that the show wasn’t afraid to mix up the formula with these jokes, like having Robin’s actions inadvertently play into Kevin’s fratricidal envy. (Though I will agree with Sepinwall that this was a questionable pretense for the return for Marshall’s dad, both in the areas of taste and logic.)

Yet even if I found some of the humor suspect, I did like what the A-plot did for the season long arc. Over the past few weeks, I have mentioned several times the fact that I’m wary of how the show is using Nora, as I feel her sporadic appearances might just being about a whole other “Don situation” where we never get to see what the significant other actually means to a main character. Regardless of how I feel about the jokes, I do think this plot helped the show to articulate just how it is that Barney and Nora work with and mean to one another. I’m still not convinced that we’ve seen enough of Nora for the inevitable break-up to actually mean anything, but I have to give the show credit for taking one step closer to such a thing being possible.

Tonight’s B-plot about Kevin, Ted, and Robin having to establish a new dynamic was probably the stronger element tonight, though I lot of that will depend on A) how you felt about the A-plot and B) how you feel about Weird Al, and jokes that play off of his music. Like Ted, I sometimes feel alone in my love of Weird Al, so this plot actually hit me in the sweet spot. And I’ll admit it – I laughed out loud at the line “Hey Kevin, I think I’m a clone now.”

Anywho, much like the A-plot, this plot also played into the running idea of the unhealthy relationship that exists between Robin and Ted - and Barney, thought they didn’t deal with that side of the equation so much. At least, I think the show dealt with it; given that the show is usually explicit with the themes and stories that it plays with, it seem uncharacteristic for the show to be so subtle about an ongoing plot. If it’s intentional, then kudos to show for brining some much needed subtly into the mix. If it’s unintentional, then things might get narratively messy and/or repetitive later down the road.

Next Week: The Slutty Pumpkins returns! Unfortunately, it’s going to be wearing a Katie Holmes costume.

Quotes, Etc:

Also underused tonight? Ray Wise. And my “underused”, I mean “the show let a valuable opportunity to bring back the venerable characters actor as Robin’s dad just fly right under their noses.”

Even if Brady was woefully underused, I rather liked the visual gag of all eight of them crammed around a booth.

I would say that that is one of the best tags the show is ever done, but I’m afraid I’m a bit too biased to properly make that assessment.

Okay, the Weird Al songs that Ted referenced are: “Like a Surgeon”, “Eat It”, and “I Think I’m a Clone Now”. Enjoy. 

“So we decided to wait until she decides to let me have sex with her.”

“The Pork Authority is closed. Looks likes it’s Hand Central Station for you, little buddy.”

“I’m never going to get in the mood when your massive Eriksen seed is muffin-topping the Bo Diddley out of me.”

“Ted, be honest…you’d bang Lilly, right?”

“Well, I have been waiting two months for that bowl of ice cream, and tonight, I’m going to have sex with it.”

“You eyeballin’ his deal is the most action he’s gotten in months.”

“Trying to watch the coin documentary over here…”

“Dude from my bodegaaaaaaa….Steam cleaning coupon guy!”

“Guess I’m going to this concert alone. I’ll be the weird guy ….I mean, the other weird guy.”

“You guys can eat it. Just, eat it.”