Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Greg Malins
One Paragraph Synopsis: The commute between visiting Stella in New Jersey and returning to the rest of his life in New York is starting to take its toll on Ted, to the point that Stella suggests that they invite the gang to her place for a change. He reluctantly gets the gang to accept the offer, even though all of them, including Ted himself, really hates Jersey. The night is already showing bad signs before Stella hints that Ted will be moving in with them after they get married, a prospect that terrifies him. When Ted tries to talk Stella into moving into his apartment, the two quarrel, to the point that it almost seems as if they won't get married at all. It takes an encounter with Stella's daughter Lucy, the main reason she's adamant about staying, to make him consider moving after all. At the same time, Robin quits her job at Metro News 1 just before landing an audition that she may not get. The fear of rejection gives Robin cold feet, to the point that she does her best to make it back to her job the night after she quits. Commuting from NJ to NY. With only a half hour. She ends up quitting again, only to not land her audition in New York. But she is getting another job- in Japan.
Wow, people from New Jersey really seem to dislike this episode. Although, one of my very best friends is from Jersey himself, and he honestly hates the place, and sides with the gang here. As I've yet to visit NJ myself, I can't say that this bugged me at all. In fact, I quite like the episode.
Yes, it's a little broad (I personally took more offense at Barney's ploys to win a lesbian over, which I'd delve into more and would sour the episode a good deal more if it was a bigger part), but Ted's disapproval of New Jersey is par for the course of his New York residency. He's been living here for 8 years now, and has all but adapted into the NYC way of living, which means considering Jersey their gross, obnoxious, likely racist next-door neighbors.
Cleveland isn't exactly a small town itself, but this is bigger game for Ted, who has all but adapted into the New York mindset. Something he strongly believes in, which is where the conflict comes from. For the most part, Ted does want change, but really just in his status. Ted's ready for his building to be made, to be married, be a good father to Lucy, and have children of his own.
Otherwise, he likes consistency. To Ted, the ideal life is continuing to spend every night downstairs at MacLaren's with the gang, plus Stella. As well as a more rewarding day job and his own family, but the bar is the important part. And when you consider how the gang freaks out about not being at MacLaren's when their plans to leave Stella's place is throttled, you can see that this isn't just Ted's wish.
But life shouldn't be consistent. Personally, I can't even order the same thing two shifts in a row at work. I always alternate, because change is necessary. Ted probably COULD spend the rest of his life at MacLaren's, along with Marshall, Lily, Barney, Robin, and yes, Stella, but why should he? Ted could just as easily have stayed in Ohio with his parents, but he wouldn't have grown nearly as much as he has after going to Wesleyan.
So yes, change is good. Does this mean that Ted should be the one to move? Well, Stella brings up a good point, in that Lucy, and actually, Stella herself as well, has spent their entire lives in New Jersey, thus have roots and connections, so moving away wouldn't be fair to them. The only thing Ted really has to worry about if he moves is his job and friends, both of which are easily reachable thanks to the magic of public transportation. Stella does work in the city herself, after all.
By this logic, Stella is in the right with her argument. Ted's argument... is the stereotypical "boo NJ, yay NY!" mentality New Yorkers have, as mentioned before. It's silly, but does create some fun dialogue that writer Malins shares between Radnor and Chalke, both of whom seem to have fun in their performances.
While the fight is enjoyable, I do think it was a good decision on Malins' part to end it by having Ted spend time with Lucy, rather than Stella, to see the error of his ways. Like it or not, she is going to become a big part of his life soon, and it's time to acknowledge that. This is also a good moment for Ted to see how good of a father he'll be. He seems pretty okay so far. And of course, this moment is accompanied by Springsteen's cover of a Tom Waits song, itself loosely based around New Jersey. Not a bad call at all.
I'll get to Robin's story soon, but the rest of the gang all have their moments around. Lily does a good job of playing the New York native with an obvious, respectful grudge against Jersey, for no determinable reason other than not being NY. She gets good mileage out of this early on, particularly with a great delivery on the prospects of Ted dumping her body in NJ, but she soon gets less to say about Jersey when they actually go there.
Because Barney's material is more fun! Because of course it is, he has his fist stuck in the air. A little weird, since he's usually a high-five person, although this is rectified by the end. It's a solid comedic sideplot, one that shows Barney's determination while simultaneously giving Lily more to do, as she spends the most time with him. Hannigan's facial expressions to Barney's constant pose is undeniably fun to watch, as she does her best to keep the ball rolling during their time together. While not doing much, Hannigan and NPH's chemistry is present, making for fun whenever they share the screen.
Marshall, meanwhile, has something a little more important to be said with his material. He and Ted moved to New York together, and their differing roots are present here. Ted comes from Cleveland, a decently big city, while Marshall hails from St. Cloud, Minnesota, a small town where everybody knows his name, New York is about as far as you can get from St. Cloud, and while there definitely do seem to be aspects of the city that he enjoys, I can see why he would prefer a smaller, quieter environment like New Jersey. I do also buy his mention that Jersey is kinder for taller people like him, as opposed to NY's more compact design, which does seem like something that would be true.
This is a fundamental difference between Marshall and Lily, who seem to love each other more daily. To her, New York IS everything, and being away would likely cause her great stress. Consider her time away in San Francisco two summers ago, for example, or the handful of mentions of how poorly her semester abroad in Paris went. She'll likely never move. But while Marshall does prefer New Jersey, he's perfectly fine with this, as he loves Lily more than any place could possibly compare to. When they're together, Marshall is home.
And this is going to have to be the thing that makes or breaks Ted and Stella's relationship. If they love each other enough, the move shouldn't be a problem. Of course, there is more for the show to tell first, like Robin's story.
Which itself is pretty good. Robin mentioned to Barney how tired she was becoming of her job at Metro News 1, and that her job offering would be a worthy change. Clearly, this night together stuck to Robin, as she went through with it... only landing an interview, but an interview is better than nothing, right?
This results in a funny chase sequence back to New York. It might have been even funnier to see a grown man ride Lucy's bike instead of Robin, but it's still a humorous site, as she remains committed to the chase. Riding it while still on the subway definitely helps keep the momentum going. And the jump? Flawless. Saget deserves props for his delivery on this bit, as his mention of disbelief is a perfection addition.
But in all seriousness, Robin does deserve better. Her speech the previous night was a welcome, if overwrought (thanks Ted! But again, a serious thanks to Radnor for doing a good job at being the over-proud dad here) swan song to an embarrassing slot of time spent at the station. Her desperation felt after realizing that she only had an interview, not a full commitment, brings the chase to life, but not even a minute back into the job proves why she needed to leave. Robin really needs to grow, which is what the job in Japan offers.
When you remember that Lily and Marshall are waiting for their apartment to be finished, it comes to mind that four out of five of the main characters are about to experience a big change in the coming future. This is going to come hit them sooner than not... Until then, here was another good episode, as season 4 is still rolling strong.
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