Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Greg Malins
One Paragraph Synopsis: Marshall decides to date the cute girl at the coffee place that has been flirting with him, a noble idea at first, until Ted and Barney catch her crazy eyes and warn him about the dangers behind them. Marshall doesn't listen and keeps on dating her, while Lily tries to fight her jealously towards the two of them, eventually stalking Chloe and interrupting a date between the two of them. Despite her less-than-perfect behavior, Lily and Marshall end up agreeing with each other to get back together, reuniting where Ted saw Marshall after the break up in the season 1 finale. And throughout the whole episode, Barney has to deal with the pain of his new nickname, Swarley.
Well, I learned one thing from this episode- don't focus too much on my fingernails too much. But it's not like I did to begin with. Seriously though, how can I fault an episode with Inara, Andrew Wells, a Friends diss (which isn't so much of a diss, but rather a little play on situations by writer Malins, who also worked on the show, but I'll call it as I see it), and Lily's hunchback impression?
Even though the Swarley name is the title of the episode, this subplot doesn't take much of a focus at all. In fact, it's barely present in comparison to Lily's material. Yet it still deserves a mention as a classic running joke, since the Swarley gag somehow never tires out. Considering how Barney's typical egocentric lifestyle consumes the show, it's usually nice to see him put in his place, even if it's just by making him crack from the title of a faulty, obnoxious nickname.
The joke works as the gang consistently finds new ways to have the name show up. Some of the highlights obviously include Ted and Marshall's Simpsons-inspired barroom calls, each landing well enough to dig into Barney's skin, but don't count out Ted's set-up of the radio station request line. Despite an unfortunate transphobic turn, the delivery of the DJ's dialogue helps to make the joke work anyway, as it only bugs Barney even more. Being too rough on a character can get irritating, but this works here against Barney.
Why does the Swarley name bug Barney so much? Everything I've taken from the character as I've seen the show shows that Barney is a very neurotic person, with a need to keep everything in its right place. Being called the wrong name must be like breaking a majority of the laws in his mind, destroying his logic in the balance. As someone with his own quirks (if you'd call OCD a quirk, for one), I can see why messing Barney's name up on a regular basis can hurt him, but I don't truly emphasize with him because he allows himself to be joked on, which works well. Also, Barney tried too hard to turn Roland into a thing at the end.
I wanted to focus on Barney's plot first, but Marshall and Lily's is clearly the meatier one. Since now that I think about it, this is the first time one of them had dated someone since their split beyond just a quick fling gone wrong, like Marshall consistently getting cockblocked by Barney in "The Scorpion and the Toad". Although Lily's intervening and Chloe's own issues ultimately sidetrack them, Marshall does have a connection with her, if ever so brief.
There isn't much to decipher between Marshall and Chloe, since the two of them spend a brief amount of time together, but it does seem that Marshall likes her for just being a nice, attractive woman that finds him appealing on his own. Chloe doesn't hesitate to let Marshall know that she sees good in him, so it's not surprising to see how they could have possibly worked together.
If Barney and Ted weren't right. I'm not sure how I ultimately feel about their crazy eyes description, as there are touches of sexism ans obviously abelism behind it, but it seems harmless enough as a whole (I'd also consider Lily and Robin's jerk nails theory to be an attempt to keep this battle of the sexes well-balanced, but while I get an idea of what they have in mind, the lack of detail behind it hurts that concept). There is also truth in the ability to tell whether or not someone's mental health can block some of their human compacts by just their eyes, but it's hardly a gender-exclusive trait. Plenty of men have crazy eyes, but at the same time, the guys are almost exclusively straight, so let's move on.
I'd also say that there are showing signs of Chloe being a difficult significant other, which Ted started off in the beginning by mentioning that it would have been strange if Chloe found Marshall's pumpkin jokes so funny on their own. This is something I agree with and is further shown when she laughs at another when they're alone (although a good pumpkin ale is a nice fall reward, but you have to look hard to find one). Morena Baccarin, herself a fine actress who's been nominated for an Emmy for her work in a show that isn't Firefly, does a good job at playing likable yet neurotic in a tightly-paced mannerism, which is also complimented by the writing, which similarly focuses on this best of both worlds approach. It's also hard to get Barney and Robin's name so wrong, but I guess that's besides the point.
Lily's jealously seems to stem from the fact that she has yet to get over their break-up, which isn't too much of a surprise since the two of them had yet to have an amicable discussion beyond their brief talk in "The Scorpion and the Toad". Although Lily's return to kindergarten was rewarding enough for her, she's still in a rough place where she doesn't feel as complete, explaining her delving into rash measures. While it did look as if Marshall was starting to take the break-up better, he still understand Lily's plight, which is what allows them to talk in a deeper complexion as they renew their relationship. I'm thankful that things worked out for them like this, rather than forcing Lily to come off as too deprived in her hopes to redeem Marshall.
Tough, but excellent. What a great episode, one that allows for great material with the characters and never stops to be funny. "Swarley" is the best episode of the season thus far, but we have a lot more to go! Will Lily and Marshall last? We'll see!
Also, that Cheers ending. Fucking perfect, especially how they use the same credit font as the show did for this episode's closing credits. Maybe I should write about that next.
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