Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Maria Ferrari
One Paragraph Synopsis: After Marshall and Lily get back together, they discuss renewing their engagement plans. Lily is ultimately afraid to deal with Marshall's family after the break-up, but their love is strong enough to where they're still dedicated to being together. This is why the two of them decide to elope in Atlantic City, dragging the gang along the way. The problem is, it takes three days for a marriage license to be approved in New Jersey unless otherwise approved by a judge, which they almost get until Barney screws things up for them. They then find a ship captain who will marry them over waters, which almost happens until Lily and Marshall change their mind, deciding that as adults, they owe it to everyone to have an actual wedding.
According to Wikipedia, the game Barney competes in is basically Chinese Deal or No Deal, which is a great gag, as HIMYM used to get its butt handed to it by Howie Mandel's game show.
"Atlantic City" brings back memories of "The Limo" (which I promise to do a better review of in the near future, honest!), in that there's no b-plot or cutaway scenes. This episode differs a little in that the scenery does change throughout, and after Lily and Marshall rope the gang in, they're barely ever away from each other. Otherwise, this is a fairly non-typical episode of the show that succeeds in just about every regard.
Lily's reason for not wanting to hold a big wedding for herself and Marshall shows immaturity, but is also hard to fully side against, since she does have a right to feel intimidated by Marshall's family. Lily wasn't in the best place when she called off their previous wedding, which is something that Marshall's family may recognize, but they also have the right to not care. Not when Marshall's heart was stomped on and their plans became cancelled so quickly.
If the writing was rewarding Lily and Marshall for their rash decision to elope, I would have more of a problem with the episode, but Ferrari's script is smarter than that. From the very beginning that they decide on rushing to Atlantic City, no one is afraid to let the couple know that this is a quick, possibly foolish idea, including Marshall and Lily themselves, who seem to already be aware of it. Still, even besides context clues from the characters themselves, there are smart little hints thrown around from everything else showing that this isn't right. Note how each of the gang's ideas run SO close to working, before a little, all-too-obvious loophole comes up in their face each time. Including a memorable instance where Barney gets his policy of truth confused, easily a highlight in the way that Barney doesn't budge when the gang chastises him for being so off.
But that does beg the question, if Lily and Marshall knows that they're being rash, why bother? The way that I view the episode, the two of them needed to see directly if their love is still strong enough to handle the commitment. While it is true that Lily is the one initiating the early marriage, Marshall doesn't stop her until he can directly feel that she's ready to stop, as he needs to see if she'll pass this test. Marshall may have been able to move on in the previous few episodes, but he never did stop loving Lily. He just felt the need to decide if she still loves him just as much before they're ready to pick the clock back up, as they do by the end of the episode.
It really is great to see Marshall and Lily back together romantically. Hannigan and Segel wisely knew that they had to keep some distance from each other, as opposed to fully returning to their mutual lovefest as was present for the first season. Their history of bonding is still present, but the actors and Fryman have found the right way to pace their chemistry, even by just setting their chess pieces a little to the side. It's a good call, and their chemistry will restore and even grow in the episodes to come as time slips away from their time apart.
Everyone is directly involved in this core story, and thankfully, the other three guys have plenty of strong material to add, themselves. Barney has a great miniplot exploring his addiction to gambling, which he's able to hide for only so long in the episode. When he needs to, though, Barney allows to indulge himself and make some money for the gang in his insane challenge, and although that does lead to fun material, as well as a nice callback to Marshall's excellence in gaming from "Game Night", I think his best bits come from when he hides away from explaining his problem to the gang. Neil Patrick Harris' little ticks and controlled mannerisms allow for him to try a slightly darker route for Barney than usual, showing a more realized instance of his addictive personality than he usually does. It's a little more depressing than funny, but NPH is still more than strong enough as an actor to allow for Barney to come off as both at the same time, so my hat goes off to him.
Ted and Robin's material, meanwhile, comes from that damn T-shirt. It was already a great joke on Lily's part to have Robin replace her outfit so she doesn't look better than the bride, but the episode tops it when Robin comes out with her novelty shirt. Yet it's Ted that she allows to come up with the bulk of the best bits for their time together, as he does nothing to hide his peculiar fetish in regards to the tee. Even a couple of simple boob jokes work wonders, thanks to Smulders and Radnor's delivery, which is near perfect. The pair have increasingly made their relationship work, as their timing is as nonchalant as their moments together. Strong writing and acting will allow for this to happen, even when all it takes to turn one on is a novelty T-shirt.
But hey, this is just great stuff all around. "Atlantic City" brings Marshall and Lily back to the front and center wonderfully, and gives everyone something to do that keeps the episode close to classic status. But if you think this episode is good, wait til I get to the next one!
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