Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Tami Sagher
One Paragraph Synopsis: Barney gets psyched up for Desperation Day, in which unattached women are likely to hook up out of a need to fill a void during Valentine's Day. He even goes as far as to spend the night with a few of Robin's coworkers, who head to McLarens that night, where he meets Nora. He falls for her, using his usual shtick, but she won't buy it. For what it's worth, they end up playing laser tag the next night, thanks to Robin. Lily, on the other hand, misses Marshall this Valentine's Day, as he's still in Minnesota. She heads over to be with him, expecting Marshall to take care of Judy, but it's Marshall that is being babied. And Ted, when he also heads to Minnesota to avoid furthering his relationship with Zoey.
Three good plots for a damn good episode. It makes me want to watch Predator, which I haven't done in a while, so off I go!
Or wait, I should say a little more. Marshall's story continues from the past couple of episodes, as he's still yet to leave Minnesota and is still around his family. On the surface, this is nice as Judy is always a welcome presence, but it's apparent that Marshall is still taking his time getting over his father's death.
Reverting to his childhood is one way to cope, but it's not exactly fair for anyone. Not to Judy, who has to play the role of his mother ala his youth, which she's too old to still pull off, and he's too old for it to seem reasonable. It's not fair to Lily, who misses her husband, and wants him home. It's not fair to GNB, who are missing one of their top lawyers. And it's not fair to Marshall, who needs to go back to New York and live his life.
Ted's trip to Minnesota is him similarly trying to avoid responsibilities. You can't screw up a relationship if you're playing Super Mario Kart with your best friend in Minnesota, right? (Also, that is totally an NES that they're using) His current problem is fearing that he's rushing into things, when the two want to go slow, especially since Zoey is still going through her divorce.
Maybe the slowness is unnecessary, though. Zoey and Ted express mutual interest, but it seems like they're the ones stopping themselves. Ted is hitting the brakes a little too hard, while Zoey seems to have too many second thoughts herself. Although to be fair, I would call things off if someone came over with a sleeping bag, myself. Thankfully, the episode shows a compromise, which is something that they both need.
Barney's plot is pretty cute, itself. We haven't seen him this smitten since he first fell for Robin, which must make Nora special. And Nazanin Boniadi (in a fake, but believable accent) is quite charming as Nora, making her a smart, reasonable woman that on the surface should be the exact opposite of Barney's type, but personal experience indicates that this couldn't further be from the truth. After all, Barney fell for Robin, didn't he?
Robin's pretty good at being a chill ex, which I usually note based on her interactions with Ted. But this time, she helps Barney out, which should indicate that she's over him. And maybe it does, but we're not done here yet, so we don't know if Nora will stay or not.
This episode is strong in regards to how it treats the characters. Lily might be the furthest off, since her pillow Marshall jokes are a little creepy. But even she is given some respectable moments otherwise as she's shown to be tired of Marshall's hiding. It comes together for a well-made episode that continues season 6's winning streak.
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