“Bang bang” songs: rock on.
While on a short plane ride, I watched two episodes of How I Met Your Mother (this one and “Say Cheese”) on my trusty video iPod. I had never actually sat through more than a few minutes of the show, so because I’ve heard great things my expectations were quite high. I go into why I was disappointed in my “Say Cheese” review, so let’s just dig into “Of Course” here.
Jennifer Lopez guest stars, playing Anita, a woman with an agenda. That agenda comes into question as Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) tried to figure out what went wrong with his date with her. Eventually it’s noted that Anita is carrying a book called, “Of Course You’re Still Single, Take A Look At Yourself You Dumb Slut,” and then we find out that she wrote this seeming masterpiece of feminism.
Meanwhile, Robin (Cobie Smulders) figures out ways to get closer with news anchor Don and deals with her feelings in moving on post-breakup from Barney. This is difficult as Marhshall (Jason Segel) sings a “bang bang” song about Barney’s romantic success with the ladies. I would term the song as more annoying than funny.
Barney is determined to seal the deal with Anita by way of a tremendously “gooey and romantic” Super Date, which precipitates Ted (Josh Radnor) and Barney breaking into a Super Date song. Right after the requisitely gooey and romantic crooning, the pair decide to go hit the strip club to reestablish their manliness.
Barney and Rachel talk at the close about how Rachel is upset about how they are moving on with their romantic lives post-break up as she fires off shots at the firing range. It’s the first real moment on the show, and I found myself wishing that more comedy would stem these moments, instead of “bang bang” songs and an array of throwaway jokes.
More thoughts on “Of Course”:
- A lot of “dumb slut” references dropped throughout the episode.
- I dig the life-size Star Wars stormtrooper statue in Barney’s apartment.
- While the “bang bang” song is kind of lame, I liked Segel busting out a banjo for the reprise to celebrate Rachel’s, uh, banging.
From Around the Web: How I Met Your Mother, “Of Course”
- Cultural Learnings: For their relationship to end – according to interviews with the creators at the time – just so that the show could return to a more one-dimensional version of Barney’s character felt like it ignored the show’s emotional complexities, and it has in some ways tarnished the entire season for me.
- TV with Alan Sepinwall: “Of Course” was frustrating me for a good chunk of its running time, then saved itself in the final minutes with a reminder that “HIMYM” can lean on its romantic side even when the comedy isn’t quite working.
Some stats and info about How I Met Your Mother, “Of Course”
TV SHOW – How I Met Your Mother
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 5, Episode 17
AIRED ON – March 8th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – CBS
GENRE – Comedy, Relationship Shows
CREATED BY – Charter Bays, Craig Thomas
CAST – Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, Cristin Milioti
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.