Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Sam Johnson & Chris Marcil
One Paragraph Synopsis: One plot, one locale- this New Year's, Ted attempts to fight the yearly monotony by paying for a limo to take the gang on four different parties, all at the hope of finding the perfect party in Manhattan. Things couldn't get any crazier, though.
Okay, I am really struggling with this episode, for whatever reason. I'll have to end up making this one brief. Anyway, we're halfway through the first season at this point, and this is the third very good episode in a row. Without looking up what comes next, I'm almost positive that we're on the show's winning streak now.
It's a little strange though, since "The Limo" isn't exactly typical HIMYM. There are no cutaways, the characters barely leave the titular limo, and a surprisingly substantial amount of time is spent on Marshall and Lily separately from themselves. At the same time though, the pacing is as fast as the show usually is, which makes the episode a fair enough fit anyhow. And it sure is funny.
If you want typical HIMYM, "The Pineapple Incident" is more representative of the show's strengths, and hopefully you don't need a reminder of why. But I don't think that "The Limo" is reductive to the perks of the series, either. The show's increasingly well-defined sense of humor, which primarily focuses on the characters laughing with and at themselves with a sense of admiration never far away, is completely present. The love for random facets of pop culture is another trend that the series has, like with Barney's mythic Get Psyched mix, itself making strong laughs when it appears at the wrong time. What's even greater is that only Bon Jovi's middling-at-best "You Give Love a Bad Name" is played from the setlist (also keep in mind that 3 different versions of the setlist exist. While I'm at it, I'll admit that my sister, who hasn't seen more than 2 minutes of HIMYM herself, has what very suspiciously looks like the version of the setlist that you can briefly see in this episode on her iPhone).
The set-up is fantastic, allowing for everyone to come and go as they please, barring Ted and Barney. This hints at the possibility that, despite Ted's yearning, both are at the place they want to be in life. Barney is obvious enough, but with Ted, I feel that at this point, he is all talk, no show. Ted may want to settle down and find love, but he seems to enjoy the wild single life more than he lets on. Besides, if he was to settle down, Ted likely wouldn't plan something as extravagant as tonight's arrangement! Way more fun than just sitting at home and watching the ball drop.
Next time, I promise to delve into the show more, but I'm seriously struggling here. The quality of the episode notwithstanding, which is definitely worth making it through. And seriously, Not Moby.
Hey, it's 2005/06: Barney sure is bummed out about having his mix CD being taken away. Not only should he be able to make another copy or two from his computer, why didn't he just use an iPod to begin with? Then again, iPods were still a bit of a luxury at this time- I recall that The Office treated an iPod as a big potential gift during its Christmas special around this time. At the same time, apparently Apple quietly retired their iPod Classic design, which makes this even crazier to reflect on. Nowadays, Barney probably would have plugged in his smart phone and set up the playlist.
The set-up is fantastic, allowing for everyone to come and go as they please, barring Ted and Barney. This hints at the possibility that, despite Ted's yearning, both are at the place they want to be in life. Barney is obvious enough, but with Ted, I feel that at this point, he is all talk, no show. Ted may want to settle down and find love, but he seems to enjoy the wild single life more than he lets on. Besides, if he was to settle down, Ted likely wouldn't plan something as extravagant as tonight's arrangement! Way more fun than just sitting at home and watching the ball drop.
Next time, I promise to delve into the show more, but I'm seriously struggling here. The quality of the episode notwithstanding, which is definitely worth making it through. And seriously, Not Moby.
Hey, it's 2005/06: Barney sure is bummed out about having his mix CD being taken away. Not only should he be able to make another copy or two from his computer, why didn't he just use an iPod to begin with? Then again, iPods were still a bit of a luxury at this time- I recall that The Office treated an iPod as a big potential gift during its Christmas special around this time. At the same time, apparently Apple quietly retired their iPod Classic design, which makes this even crazier to reflect on. Nowadays, Barney probably would have plugged in his smart phone and set up the playlist.
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