Directed by Rob Greenberg
Written by Matt Kuhn
One Paragraph Synopsis: Hammond Druthers isn't taking his decrease in his roll at the architecture firm so well, to the point that Ted has been recommend by more than one person to fire his former boss. Whenever he's about to, though, Ted keeps on finding reasons to avoid uttering the words, including the fact that Druthers has been sleeping at the office while he and his wife are separating. Even as Ted takes this into accounting and starts to like Druthers as a friend, the man is still a pain to work with, which causes Ted to go through with firing him after all, even while Druthers has a heart attack. And earlier, when he, Robin, and Barney find a nude painting of Marshall that Lily made back in college, the group initially mocks him, until Barney offers to pay enough for their honeymoon if Lily paints Barney nude.
They say that the older you get, the smaller $1000 will become to you. I haven't hit this point yet, but I wonder what 5K seems like to Lily and Marshall. Not as impressive as 10K, I know that much.
The nude painting subplot is a pretty interesting one, since it builds on two ideals that the show has referred to since its beginning, and continues to tinker with- Marshall and Lily's trust in each other, and Barney's bravado. Not for one second does Marshall question Lily's decision to paint Barney nude, which means not only does he completely trust her, but that he was very likely in on the joke the whole time.
Thankfully, it is a good joke. I chose to not go with the reveal of Barney's painting in hopes of not spoiling it for first-timers that check my blog before watching the episode, but the image of Barney's castrated self, painted like a war general, is classic. It's also reaffirming to see how far beyond Lily and Marshall are from themselves in the decade since the painting was done. Whatever obstacles needed to be reached by the two have been taken care of.
As for Barney, it should be a surprise to no one that he's offended by Lily striking him as permanently impotent. Barney is a product of a sexist domineering mindset, which means that his barnacle means more to him than it will to ultimately any woman. But it must not have been fun for Lily to have to see him naked, but it is possible that she mentally blocked him off.
It's a well-made subplot. Funny without stretching the realm of reality in any way, with enough emotional weight to make it important without coming off as melodramatic. There were a couple of questionable lines, but all is basically forgiven for the sight of Marshall grabbing the painting from the bar alone. It's a nicely composed scene from Greenberg, who successfully takes the helm from Fryman on her first episode off. There are only slight touches of her charm missing, but Greenberg nails most of it quite well.
Things falter a tiny bit in the A-story, but again, only in traces. The characters are understood, but the grip Fryman had down on each of them slips somewhat. At least with Robin, who comes off as distressingly moderate in the episode. Despite Ted's confidence being an important part, she is barely present for his material, and instead offers her best moments when she agrees with Ted and Barney on how to mess with Marshall. This is of course blamable on Kuhn's screenplay, which is otherwise strong but not quite equal on the characters, but Greenberg seemed to have found her lack of presence to mean that she required a lack of attention, and doesn't offer much for Robin when she's on screen. Cobie still nails her dialogue, but the lighting and camera don't do her justice this week.
But Ted fares better. His need to do the right thing in regards to Druthers is a reasonable story idea, which works, even if this isn't a masterpiece. The strange thing is, I can't really explain why this episode doesn't fully register to me, even though in my personal rankings, it gets a good score.
My initial reaction might have been that Druthers was too much of a pain, but that's not really the case. While he was often obnoxious to Ted, that was the point, and it becomes easy to sympathize with the character after his circumstances are portrayed. Cranston especially does a fine job of bringing Druthers' pathos to the table, along with his usual comic charm. There's definitely the scent of a washed-up superstar getting pushed to the side here, as Cranston pulls off with sometimes only the need of a rub to the head.
Still, it is hard to fault Ted when his job comes into play. While he is thankful for Druthers being a technical reason for his advancement, Ted realizes quickly that his old boss is a problem, even if it takes him time to grant the courage to take control. Ted also fears being considered bossy by his peers, being too much of a seismic shift for him to handle. It doesn't take too long for him to win everyone over, but as Ted learns, this is one of the side effects of being in charge.
But that may be my problem, that even though Ted is adapting to his job well, it's not being shown that he is happy with his advancement. Yes, there is a line earlier in the episode where Future Ted outright says that he liked his place as an employee, but there is meant to be growth in a story, some sort of catharsis for the protagonist and the story after they go through their ordeal. Ted just seems happy to not have everyone hate him, and doesn't gush about his dreams coming alive enough. It's an unfortunate waste to an otherwise fine episode.
Because I do quite enjoy it. Both stories are done sharply enough to make them matter, as are most things in their right place even when the core director is missing. But truthfully, I'm just excited to take on the next episode.
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