Directed by- Pam Fryman
Written by- Phil Lord & Chris Miller
One Paragraph Synopsis: Hoping to break monotony, Barney proposes that Ted joins him at the airport to hit on women. One hopeful pair of prospects sends them on a flight to Philadelphia, only for a reveal that the girls in question both have boyfriends. The night only gets crazier for Ted and Barney afterwords. Meanwhile, a night by Robin's side has Lily contemplate permanently leaving the single life.
This is an important episode for a couple of reasons, both being in relation to the two main storylines.
While Ted and Barney's is the more memorable one to the average HIMYM fan, I'd rather get into Lily and Robin's first. Three episodes in, and Robin is slowly starting to gain her own identity. Notice how Ted isn't mentioned at all while she and Lily are together, which is one of the best things to happen to the show yet. As the character of Robin started off as the traditional desirable woman, exhibiting traits that are likable not just to Ted but also scantly to the audience as well, taking her away from this concept and out of Ted's hands completely should make or break her character. In this case, I'm willing to say it helped to make the Robin Scherbatsky persona.
Here, she's given a chance to express wit and expertly use sarcasm to shoo off potential suitors, and while this may not be something that's truly unique to female characters on television, Cobie Smulders plays her part well. There are touches of annoyance, familiarity, and disappointment melded together in her tone, all of which come off as completely authentic. Robin has already shown signs of wit in her conversations with Ted, but during her time with Lily (this is the first episode to pass the Bechdel test if you care- and this will most likely be my last reference to said text over the course of my reviews for the series) and deflecting bar boys, there is a great character ready to bloom here.
Lily's material is also important, as her lack of response from men and disappointment from such brings up a point that will become a big issue over the course of the season- Marshall and Lily have been together for a LONG time. It's been mentioned before that the two have been dating since they started college, and we're given a closer time reference to 9 years in the episode, which means that they both missed out on experimenting in dating of any kind. It's only practical for either one to feel antsy now that they're both confirmed to stay together for the long run.
This also comes into Marshall's subplot. Between staying in law school and maintaining a serious relationship, Marshall doesn't get as much of a chance to have fun with Ted and Barney as often, particularly not if women are involved. From what we've seen so far, Marshall is happy with his place in life, although it becomes apparent that there are some dumb male activities that he wishes to be a part of, which just isn't liable to happen at this point in time. It can even be determined if Ted constantly telling Marshall to stay in New York and Barney's rebuttle of meeting them in Philly is an angel-devil battle going on in his head to decide which path to take. While Marshall ultimately takes Ted's advice, the fact that he gives this such serious thought does indicate that this has been on his mind.
Lily seems to be less sure of herself, though. Over the course of the first three episodes, there has definitely been a spark that she and Marshall share, and that even remains when the two are away, but she does seem legitimately interested in being the center attention of at least some man other than her husband, which if it doesn't relate to doubt, might rather suggest that she wants validation of some sort. Perhaps validation that Lily is still desirable, no matter what her relationship status is.
There will be more to this series of events later on, yet I haven't even touched Ted and Barney's material. The most memorable part of the episode comes from Barney's introduction of his most iconic phrase, "legend, wait for it...", but besides that, the duo get the bulk of the most stand-out funny material for obvious reasons. Ted keeps a good hold on the straight man routine as he handles Barney's wackier bits, which are strong enough to transcend basic inanity as we get an idea of just how depraved he really is. Barney even goes as far as to blame Ted's disinterest in tucking in his shirt as the reason they're taken into security, which is just hilarious! dary.
But this isn't just a funny story. This episode is meant to define Ted and Barney's friendship, and give insight to both Ted and the audience just why he's friends with some guy he met in the urinal years ago. The answer is, well, just who else would come up with the idea to go lick the Liberty Bell? Barney's eclectic way of thinking keeps life interesting for Ted and the gang, even when trouble comes their way. Barney Stinson is perverted and a bit deranged, but in a way, so is Ted, and he quite clearly respects Barney's lack of inhibition to do whatever the hell he wants. At the same time, it even does keep Ted young and alive some more, as while he and his college friends slowly start to grow up into the real world, Barney never stopped keeping many of his childhood traits around. Barney is pure id, which keeps everything afloat.
"Sweet Taste of Liberty" brings some interesting ideas to the table, as well as some damn fine jokes. I think there are still more cracks to fill in the show's basis right now, such as more need for structure, but I'd still consider this a solid episode, and a step-up from the similarly decent previous one.
Hey, it's 2005!: Flip phones. Flip phones everywhere! I wouldn't be surprised if you could actually pay to get those shots of Barney using his fingers to his eyes as backgrounds for your phone way back when.
Continuity Fluck-Ups: Marshall confesses to the gay man that helps fix Lily's stain that he's never been in a fight before, but in season 4's "The Fight", it is revealed that Marshall and his brothers actually have a history of intense roughhousing. It'll come in handy too, but that's way off!
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