“It’s fascinating how profoundly little I know about vaginas.” – Marshall
The format of How I Met Your Mother’s storytelling has always differentiated it from other, similar “group of friends in the big city” sitcoms. With the narration and the reverse-chronological plotting, How I Met Your Mother is capable of putting together a very well thought out 22 minutes. It’s one of the few network sitcoms that frequently gives people like me something to write about other than simply regurgitating our favorite punchlines. But sometimes, the show likes to get cute with the formatting and use little gimmicks where straightforwardness would probably be more appropriate.
Last night’s “The Stinson Missile Crisis” is one of those episodes that get a little too cute. The jokes and the emotional message at the heart of the episode are just fine, but do we really need to have the story dictated to us by Robin (Colbie Smuthers) from a therapist’s office? Did Kal Penn’s cameo as said therapist add anything, beyond the “Hey, it’s Kumar!” it likely elicited? Probably not. But the show decided to tell this particular tale in this particular fashion, so let’s just move on and discuss the episode.
So, Robin is in therapy. But not on her own free will-she’s in Dr. Kumar’s office for court mandated counseling, her punishment for committing assault. Who did she assault, you ask? Some blonde woman with the hots for Barney. Why, you ask? Because Barney has a robo-calling machine that automatically calls consumers between the ages of 22 and 23 who have recently made a purchase of body glitter or nipple pasties. Duh, why else would Robin assault someone?
I’m sorry I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. Let me back up. Robin is jealous of Barney’s girlfriend and her co-worker, Nora (Nazanin Boniadi). Like, really jealous. Like, so jealous she would manipulate their boss into sending Nora out of the country to keep her away from Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). Like, so jealous she would volunteer to help Barney dismantle all of his B.D.S.’s (Bimbo Delivery Systems) just to spend time with him.
Barney’s B.D.S.’s are strokes of genius. Aside from the robo-caller I mentioned before, Barney has put together an elaborate (and almost certainly extravagantly expensive) ad campaign with the sole goal of luring in large breasted women. In a series of commercials, billboards and pop-up internet ads Barney claims to be a plastic surgeon willing to provide pro bono breast reduction consultations. He also has a competing campaign where he claims to be an attorney devoted to putting together a class action lawsuit against the rogue surgeon. He’s getting ’em both ways, “coming and going!”
After Robin finishes helping Barney dismantle all of his B.D.S.’s she suggests the two get all dolled up and hit the town one last time for old time’s sake before Nora gets back. Just as Barney is about to agree, Nora shows up and Barney ditches Robin for a romantic dinner with his special lady. When Robin retreats to the bar to eat cake and drink away her sorrows, she is approached by the blonde bimbo I mentioned earlier. Robin vindictively gives her the address to the restaurant where Barney is on his date, in the hopes that the bimbo will show up and ruin his and Nora’s night. It doesn’t take long for her to realize her meddling has crossed the line, so she tracks the bimbo down and tackles her before she can get to Barney. Thus, the assault charge.
Meanwhile, Ted (Josh Radnor) is also learning a lesson about staying out of the intimate affairs of his friends. He has decided to glom onto Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily’s (Alyson Hannigan) pregnancy, since it’s unlikely he will experience the joy of fatherhood anytime soon. When Ted finds out that Lily’s doctor has signed off on Lily drinking wine and eating sushi (“Just a little bit,” though) he takes it upon himself to do the research and discredit her. But the only thing he accomplishes is pissing Lily off, leaving Ted and Marshall to take a just-the-fellas birthing class. While the idea of two guys taking a birthing class together is ripe with comedic possibilities, I would have actually preferred to see that scene with Lily and Marshall. The chemistry between Hannigan and Segel is much stronger than between Radnor and, well, anyone.
Did we really need competing sets of flashbacks to show us that both Ted and Robin were able to learn lessons about giving your friends the space they need to live their own lives, separate from you? Probably not. But that’s what we got, and all nitpicking aside, I’m cool with that. How I Met Your Mother is a show that doesn’t have to be perfect to be worth spending 22 minutes with.
Some stats and info about How I Met Your Mother, “The Stinson Missile Crisis”
TV SHOW – How I Met Your Mother
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 7, Episode 4
AIRED ON – October 3rd, 2011
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.