Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Robia Rashid
One Paragraph Synopsis: After a pregnancy scare turns to be false, Barney decides to celebrate his lack of child raising by starting a new holiday dedicated to fellow men who aren't, nor have any immediate plans to be fathers. But what's more important is Lily and Marshall's decision to have children themselves. As they have Robin, who was living with them, move into Ted's place, the two plan a romantic night that gets side-swapped by an important business meeting for GNB. Lily becomes increasingly drunk while debating the pros and cons of child bearing, as she decides to surprise Marshall at his meeting. A night of taking care of a drunk, almost child-like Lily has Marshall realize that he's not ready for the responsibility just yet, so the couple put their baby plans on hold.
Woooo! (4x08)
Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Craig Thomas & Carter Bays
One Paragraph Synopsis: After getting close to a fellow teacher at work, Lily decides to spend time with her and her friends outside of the school, and has Robin tagalong. It turns out that the girl in question, Jillian (played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and her friends are woo girls, a concept that confuses Lily, but Robin soon embraces. This causes Lily to attempt to join in on the woo, but as it turns out, she's not right to woo. Girls who woo are at an awkward place in their lives, which happily married Lily doesn't fit in with, but single, unemployed Robin does. That said, Jillian and the girls don't appear after this episode. While the girls learn a lesson, Barney invites Ted over to help redesign Goliath National Bank's main building, a move he's excited for, only to be outvoted by a flashier design from Swedish architect visionaries Sven. It doesn't help that Barney votes against Ted, which Marshall does his best to get him to change his mind, and succeeds, as Ted gets to work on this fresh new project.
I wasn't really planning to do a double review at first. Just a simple one episode for "Not a Father's Day", but I got a little sidetracked, and then saw how the next episode finished the first disc, so why not. These have a little more in common than some of my other double reviews, so at least there's that.
Both episodes explore where the gang is currently at in life, each in different ways, all mostly successful. The themes are different in each episode, but this general idea is present.
In "Not a Father's Day", the main topic is childbirth. Barney is thrown into the ringer when he almost becomes a father, but the false positive brings him back into usual spirits, with Barney going as far as to make a day to celebrate his lack of responsibility.
It's always been a joke that despite being the oldest member of the gang, Barney is the least mature, and this episode rolls with that, as he laughs off his pregnancy scare with tacky merchandise with tackier people. His periphery gang is supplied by a group of peculiar-looking faces, who for the most part are game to play their roles as Barney's less-desirable underlings, culminating in a reprisal of his earlier Cheerleader Effect theory. While the teaser's use of this theory has a mild reek of sexism to it, the concept's honesty is better represented here, as Barney's long, hard look at each guy proves Robin's point. None of these men are childless by choice, but Barney at least has a better likelihood of fixing this.
The Barney Stinson of 2008 is perfectly happy living the single life in chauvinistic fashion, but who says that the Barney of, say, 2013, or even 2009, will be? Barney has conditioned himself to be so crude, but he is human too, and raising children is a human desire. Even if he ends up raising a future him, there is still room for growth.
Also consider the motif of the episode- the sock. Barney's warm reaction to this little sock shows a shade of him wanting children at some point in the near future. You can't look at a thing like this with this response without at least considering the idea.
After all, look at Robin. Even she keeps the sock in her purse for a while. This is an interesting notion, since despite loving Ted, she still wasn't ready to consider having children with him. This was over a year ago, though, so it seems like the idea isn't as scary to her. At least in theory, perhaps? After all, Robin is still single, and she does spend a fair share of the episode debating against kids to Lily. But I'll come back to Robin and her current self later here. But I will note how the "scared of babies" montage is brilliant.
Since after all, this episode is mostly about Marshall and Lily (I hope you don't mind me skipping Ted- well know that he wants kids. I'll come back to him later as well, though). It's an interesting twist, in that Marshall wants children, but Lily is the one with doubts. With a body like his, I can see why she'd fear for her lady parts, but Lily's concerns are more than just biological.
One of her biggest storylines revolves around how Lily feels smothered and irrelevant as she furthers herself into adult life. Her artistic career is increasingly becoming less of a reality, and she's not getting any younger. Having children is almost the end of such dreams, as without a steady job in the field, it'll be too risky to try to get into the scene when she has a mouth to feed now.
Lily not only recognizes this, but also sees more to her life right now. Her current apartment isn't great, while Marshall is becoming busier by the day, but isn't making great enough cash to justify his distance. To truly consider having kids, the two might need to be in a more stable place, but how long can that take? My guess is as good as Lily's, which explains her stress.
Marshall, on the other hand, seems to be thinking a little less practically here, and has the cuteness of babies on his mind. Despite not wanting children of my own, I get the feeling, Marshall tends to shift between thinking wisely, and not planning ahead, which isn't so much a lack of characterization, but an ultimately human trait. Sometimes you have it all planned out, sometimes you don't. He means well, but it makes sense.
Of course, Marshall quickly changes his mind after having to deal with a childlike Lily, drunk off of a full bottle of wine. This montage is a little too on the head, but does work to add some funny moments in, as Marshall has to chase her around. Hannigan is always talented at crying for the camera, for both comedy and drama, as she allows for a funny little moment as she sobs after Marshall steals her bottle. But naked cartwheel Lily? What a humorous mental sight! I can see why Marshall changes his mind quickly after this.
Marshall's involvement in "Woooo!", meanwhile, isn't as big, but definitely existent and important enough to talk about. He basically plays the straight man, recognizing how Barney has betrayed Ted, and does his best to fix this. In a nice twist, Marshall gets Barney both to switch his mind, and be acted on for Ted's revenge.
Because Barney really was a jackass in this episode. He didn't start off that way, as his good word for Ted was an actual nice gesture, but switching over to Sven's side so quickly was not cool. It doesn't help that the guys from Sven look like your average art house posers, but even their building wasn't that impressive. And it's just not fair for Ted, who was offered this good opportunity, but had it taken away almost immediately. Good thing for Marshall's intervening, as well as Barney's traces of a heart, though.
Ted really does need the job, after all. His previous big break seems to be going nowhere, while he's still dealing with the aftermath of Stella's leave. He is, in a way, a woo girl himself, but instead a cis male. But while Ted stays in good condition in "Not a Father's Day", Radnor shows sign of remorse here, playing Ted rather well as he still grieves. Hopefully, the building turns out well.
But this is an episode that is primarily about the ladies, which is totally welcome, considering how little attention Lily and Robin have received together. At least together, that is.
Initially, it seemed like Robin and Lily were becoming friends to fit a certain feminine quota, as the two were the only women in the series, and thus were meant to bond for merely this reason. A few seasons of development has been doing good things for the two though, as they work greatly as friends. Robin admires Lily's honesty, as she's never afraid to speak up and share her two cents in any given instance, while Lily recognizes how Robin does her best to keep up with the gang, corny jokes and all, and finds her to be a great addition to their gang. They're perfect to sit down with each other, drink wine, and talk about things that they can't with the guys around.
This feeling of connection is why Lily wants so bad to become a woo girl, even though she just isn't right for it. The woo girl is an interesting concept, a type of single female who is in a hard place, but isn't afraid to go out and have fun to help forget about it. Considering the show's occasional bursts of sexism, this concept for women is surprisingly welcome, and hits close to real life. Jillian and her friends are constantly unhappy away from the dive they frequent, all of them being attractive women, but not having much else to justify their attempt at the game.
Robin isn't desolate, but she is hardly where she wants to be. The lack of a relationship doesn't otherwise seem to be much of a problem, but her lack of job and her current living situation with her ex isn't exactly ideal. Sometimes, there is little else to do but woo.
Lily, meanwhile, may not have her dream job, but she's always been happy teaching kindergarten, while she is with the love of her life. Her life could be better, but Lily does seem to be doing fine. Which explains why her attempt to talk like a woo girl is met with deafening silence and confusion.
This isn't a big conflict, but the way Lily and Robin recognize their differences does a good job of reflecting where they're currently at, and how to count their blessings. Robin will recover soon, like Ted, while Lily has much to be thankful for.
Both of these are good episodes, even if "Not a Father's Day" has some problematic gags, even beyond the aforementioned Cheerleader Effect montage. "Woooo!" is just classic HIMYM, this time switching the guys out of the A-plot for Lily and Robin to have effective development. I am now a third into the fourth season, and it's been nothing but good stuff thus far.
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