Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Ira Ungerleider
One Paragraph Synopsis: Lily and Marshall signed up to have their wedding at this fantastic house... only two months from the date. Strangely enough, they have a lot of it down, aside from having a band. Ted gives them a solid recommendation for a local band, but Lily won't sign off until she hears them play their song. Since they only have until Monday to give the band a yes or no, Lily and Robin have no choice but to make their way into a prom they're performing at to see them pull off the Violent Femmes.
The thing about "Best Prom Ever" is, it's all in the flashbacks. The storyline for Lily in this season fully comes into fruition during each of them, as we see what her plans were a decade ago versus where she is now. And damn if it isn't telling.
Lily's memories of her own prom not only introduce us to the fun of Scooter (played by Neil Patrick Harris' real-life partner, David Burtka, but also her own vision. Scooter was willing to give Lily an easy out by attempting to gain a reachable job as a pitcher and maintain a nice family lifestyle for the both of them, which sounds nice on one hand, but to teenage Lily is opposite to her wishes. Lily didn't want her future written for her so soon, nor did she see a future with Scooter, or anyone for that matter. Their break-up is shown to be typically rough for high schoolers, but also finds a way to not show the worst of it on Scooter's part, which shows where Lily's mind is that night.
Later, the episode takes the audience to when Lily first meets Marshall, wisely cutting out the introduction and focusing only on a select moment from this encounter. Lily's mini-speech of how she wants to travel and prove her worth to the world shows more of her character traits, then and now, as we see that she doesn't want to be just another domestic stereotype, but rather find a way to mean something. It's a genius move to have Lily talk about this, almost as if she's talking to the audience, only to finish her dialogue by reminding us that she is really telling all of this to Marshall, who might have been falling in love with her the whole time.
This isn't necessarily a contrast from the present day, however. Lily's still more or less in the same place, as we see now. She's happy enough as a kindergarten teacher, but this isn't what she grew up wanting to be. Lily's ambitions had always been artistic, as she pours her heart out to Scooter before dumping him. As she tells Marshall in confidence before being whisked away off her feet. To first-time viewers who are starting to admire this show and the characters.
It not only suggests, but basically yell to the world that Lily is having second thoughts about her marriage. Not because she doubts her love for Marshall- not for a second- but Lily is contemplating this decision as she looks back and realizes how little she's come to completing her goals. She hasn't done much of anything with her art; she hasn't gone too far away from her home state of NY; Lily Aldrin is hardly a known name to the world.
Lily assumes the role of the emotional bride even with all of this out of duty. She feels that she must keep this attitude going to not give anything away to the uninitiated. Especially since she might just go through with it, anyway. Again, it's obvious that whatever is on her mind, Lily still very much loves Marshall, and there is a ray of hope of the wedding going on when The 88 (who are apparently an actual band, it seems), play "Good Feeling". Lily's doubts towards her future are still alive, but her doubt of Marshall's importance to her doesn't exist.
Rich stuff. There's some questionable material in this episode (including at least one pedophilic joke that comes to mind, but the humor is still strong otherwise, just as there is more of the show's poignant character moments to keep things going.
Bringing back memories of "Okay Awesome", there are a duo of nerds that Lily and Robin deal with, who are a little more bearable here. I think it's because the writing has found its place at this point (this is Ungerleider's first script for the show, who also shows up as a chaperone), which also helps to give the characters a little more life. The chubby one that kinda reminds me of Seth Rogen had a memorable bit where he attempts to fight Marshall for Lily's sake, which is always good for a one-off. And I give the nerds credit for being bad at math, cause same.
Barney's tiny subplot of himself trying to get into the prom is funny on the surface, although I do think that it's a little off when you consider that he's going in to mack on underaged girls. Or maybe not, as he's made it clear at least once that he wouldn't go THAT low, and since this is a senior prom, there are bound to be some legal women. I'd knock the episode off a point anyway, but it's hard to not find the school cops escorting Barney out after he jumps in hilarious.
It's strange to see how this isn't as much of an episode about Marshall, however, especially as he was the one to give Lily the initiative to aim for the wedding house. Then again, Marshall does seem to be happy with his place in life right now. He's wrapping up law school while tackling a well-paying internship that he can easily leave when he graduates, just as he comes home to his lovely wife-to-be. While the show isn't afraid to show the other characters off as miserable, Marshall's doing pretty well as of now. There's definitely more to happen with him before the season's over, though.
Ted and Robin's material is also not a big part of the episode, although the show hasn't forgotten that the air is still a little funky in their part of the room. The main part for both comes at the end, when they're dancing together and Robin tells Ted that she does miss him, but not the bad parts. It's a sweet scene which proclaims that she may not be ready to let Ted back into her life romantically again, but their friendship is well overdo to make amends.
Lily's story isn't done just yet, as there is more to happen in her life. This is still a wonderfully made episode that allows for one of the less developed characters to have her moment to shine, and say a lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment