Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas
One Paragraph Synopsis: Following exactly after the previous episodes' events, Ted realizes that Victoria, who he's about to take away from her wedding, hasn't left a goodbye note for her fiance Klaus. After getting her to write one for him, Ted sneaks into the reception area at Farhampton (the future area where Barney and Robin will wed, which is how the mother is in frame) to leave it in, where he meets with Klaus, who himself is running away, a realization that gives Ted and Victoria some relief. Back at the apartment, Lily and Marshall have newborn fatigue, which is preventing them from being fully awake for some of the day's revelations, which include Barney never telling Quinn about his history with Robin, or that Robin has found a new boyfriend in the past few days. Everything here resolves as the season starts off.
The Pre-Nup (8x02)
Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas
One Paragraph Synopsis: At Arthur's request, Barney writes up a pre-nup for Quinn, authorizing a bunch of ludicrous agreements for her to sign off on for their marriage. Which might include a few other wives, I'm not sure about that. Quinn is rightfully disgusted, and the reception from the gang is mostly split, with the women siding with Quinn, as the men start thinking of how to make their relationships "better". What results is some compromises for everyone else, while Barney and Quinn realize that they're not able to trust each, and call off the engagement. Thus starts the autumn of break-ups.
And season 8 starts off okay.
"Farhampton" isn't among the show's finer moments, but it offers enough promising moments for it to at least make for a welcome half hour back. But like too much of the previous season, there's a bit too much broadness going on here. Primarily with Marshall and Lily's material, who run flat instantly. Maybe it would have worked better if Marshall brought the champagne up once more, but he failed the rule of three here. It's not enough.
The rest of the subplot at the apartment fairs better, with Barney's one minute recap of the show's history easily making for the highlight. NPH has Barney nailed down so well that he can pull this off without a hitch, and almost made me wish that the series could wrap up this fast. Although as mentioned, this does result into an actual, interesting conflict between himself and Quinn, as it seems like Barney is hiding something with Robin. It also leads to a sweet moment at the end, when Robin finds all of their material from their time together, which continues to show how there's still something there.
And then there's "The Pre-Nup", which ventures a little too far into broad, sexist territory throughout. It seems in a few moments that Bays and Thomas may actually find Barney's reasoning to be sound, as some of his ideas are just terrible. I can't sound off on them, but the episode does have a few funny moments to lighten things up, primarily involving Robin's infatuation with herself. We still don't know much about Nick, so this has to do to give us an idea for how they can work for right now.
As for Barney and Quinn, their break-up seems all too soon, considering how recently they got engaged, but it makes all too much sense. There has never been much for mutual trust between the two, and seeing as how they constantly find ways to reassure this, the shock isn't that big. But now what will Barney do?
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