After what seemed like forever, How I Met Your Mother returned last night with its first episode of 2014. Knowing that we still have just a few months before we bid these guys farewell, it’s sad to say this was one of those pointless and meaningless episodes that the show delivers from time to time.
After what seemed like a major improvement in storytelling in the final episode of 2013, the show returned with a big disappointment. Honestly, I can’t say I wasn’t surprised. An episode focusing in its entirety on a single slap can’t exactly be a promising hour. We’ve had a lot of fun in the past with Marshall and Barney’s slaps, as each of them gave the writers an opportunity to show us how creative they could be. But coming up with a super, crazy l-o-n-g story about Marshall meeting the three masters of slaps dragged quite a bit. I literally shook my head halfway through, hoping that the show would end with a dream sequence or something (which would have made the episode just a tad more disappointing, if that’s even possible). Thankfully, Marshall finally slapped Barney’s “stupid face” in the closing moments of the episode. And hey, sorry folks, but it wasn’t worth wasting 22 minutes of listening to some boring story about the fake adventures in Shanghai.
Ted as The Calligrapher was perhaps the funniest bit during the entire episode. That’s the only scene where I smiled. Still, Neil Patrick Harris and the gang deserve a much, much better written show than last night’s show. The whole episode felt like a joke, and not a funny one, but a dragging, long and annoying one waiting for its endgame.
It’s sad seeing this show sink in quality knowing that we barely have a few more episodes left. Marshall does have one slap left and it’s pretty clear it will be delivered during the 17 hours that are left before the freakin’ wedding begins. Let’s hope that the writers get it together and focus on what’s really important: delivering a brilliantly crafted story that is both funny and emotional while perhaps showing us a bit more of the Mother.
Until then, Slappy New Year everyone!
Slaps & Bits
– Marshall’s meetings with the three fake masters was overshadowed by one pretty great montage of Barney’s ex-girlfriends slapping Marshall. Did you miss Nora? I actually smiled when I saw her tonight! I miss that accent. And man, girl can slap!
– There was no Mother tonight, unfortunately. That alone gives the episode a C rating. Yes, she is that good.
– Perhaps my review was too negative so let me make this clear: if there is a show that is going to spend an entire episode creating a fake tale about slap masters just to explain to us the art of “slapping”, no show is willing to pull it off like How I Met Your Mother. So kudos to the writers because they always have that “why not?” attitude no matter what the end result turns out to be.
– Yes, those were actually Boyz II Men singing “You Just Got Slapped” in the closing scene of the episode and yes, it was kinda awesome. And the entire cast was their backup singers: hilarious! And a tree clapped…what? Oh man, aren’t you gonna miss this show?
Conclusion
A disappointing episode that dragged for too long. I’m somewhat worried about where the show is headed in its final few hours.
Chris Rating
C
Totally agree! Very disappointing.
Well I appreciated the creativity that went into this episode, it should have been SO much better.
Thanks Cathy! Hopefully the show will pick up before it ends soon.
That's the problem with this show sometimes. It's always creative. It just doesn't know how to balance its creativity with some fast-paced storytelling sometimes.