Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Dan Gregor & Doug Mand
One Paragraph Synopsis: After 30 years of being away, Barney's father Jerry (John Lithgow) comes back into his life. Barney was really hoping for the rock star roadie his dad used to be, but Jerry has become completely domesticated over the yeas, which upsets Barney to the point that he won';t even see him after their first encounter. Barney eventually agrees to dinner with Jerry and his wife and young son, but seeing how happy Jerry has been over the years as a boring suburban dad hurts Barney, which his father understands and wants to help him with.
Huh, this has been a good season for Barney. And Marshall.
It's surprising to think about, since when most people talk about season 6, the first thing that comes to mind is the Ted and Zoey stuff, and while that is starting to run a little thin, there's been great episodes all around, some even featuring Zoey. But the other characters are getting some good traction in their stories.
Losing Marvin has been helpful towards Marshall wanting to push himself beyond his job at GNB. He's still there, but it's only a matter of time before he finds the right venue to exit out of. Although this episode doesn't focus on that very much at all.
Instead, his story today is about how he feels left out of the gang's typical hazing. Sometimes they go a little too far, but the fab five are rarely mad at each other. This is all love, and Marshall wants in without things being weird.
I'll be honest, the running gags about the gang's gaps does get a little old, since the jokes are mostly the same, but it all comes together with their scene in the car. Marshall's request for Lily, Ted, and Robin to dish all of their issues out on him allows for some necessary tension to be eased off, and he never takes it bad at all. Marshall just enjoys getting to be in the moment again. It's a nice way to end some clever, if samey, gags about the North Pole and bad aim. Sham le an.
But Barney is the star of the episode. Or at least he's tied with Jerry, as Jon Lithgow was an inspired choice to play him. A brilliant comic actor, Lithgow is able to land all of his material as Jerry, including Barney's fabricated cutaways, which he maintains with a general smugness that feels all so real.
When it's proven to be a lie, the deception hurts, but seeing the real Jerry, how dorky and loving he is, this doesn't seem wrong. Lithgow is also quite talented at drama, and doesn't push too much towards sappy material in his time over the episode. His warmth to Barney is genuine throughout, just as his confusion on how to treat his son during the rough basketball hoop scene.
And kudos to Neil Patrick Harris for nailing that. NPH has proven to be great at anything he's being thrown at time and time again, this episode being no exception. He allows for Barney's delusions to be cute, but not overly obnoxious or too sad. It's in the delivery, something he manages well.
Especially during the hoop scene. It's a pretty basic metaphor, but basic works enough of the time. NPH and Lithgow grew into great chemistry together almost instantly, and it's no surprise that they fall into scene so naturally side by side. It's present with Barney's fabricated moment, and by now, it hurts when Barney finally confronts Jerry. It hurts because we've seen how Barney's lack of a strong father figure has hurt him over the course of 6 years, and it hurts more as we see that Jerry recognizes this. Together, they pull this off like magic.
Although the more I think about it, despite some great material all around, this isn't in the show's all time strongest episodes. Gregor and Mand offer good dialogue and strong structure throughout, but they get some areas wrong. Besides my tired feelings towards the B-plot, I do think that Barney was too mean to JJ. Because I mean, right? I understand the implication, but the show can do better to reach its point. On top of that, the ending shot is a little too on the nose, even compared to other moments in the episode. It's still effective, but could have been done a little more subtlety.
This could have been handled a bit better ,but this is far from a trainwreck. "Legendaddy" finally brings one of the most asked about elements of the show to life, and it works more than well enough. And we're not done with Jerry yet.
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