Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Brenda Hsueh
One Paragraph Synopsis: According to Future Ted, there are 3 things Marshall seriously regretted doing in his life- one is a cute childhood gag, one of them is the unfortunate haircut he gave himself in "Something Borrowed", but the biggest regret has to be pushing Lily to buy an apartment of their own, rather than just renting one out. A big reason, probably the biggest, for Marshall's regret involves Lily's massive credit card debt, which Lily is still hiding from him until they go to apply for a mortgage and the insurance rate is through the roof. Now that Marshall knows, the two seriously fight until a sweet, if misguided attempt from Lily to divorce so Marshall can apply for a lower rate makes him realize that she's worth fixing this with her. They buy the apartment, anyway, until they discover what the street name, same as the title, stands for- and see my pic for that.
I almost doubled this up with the next episode since I don't see this being a big review, but what the hell, I want to go to sleep soon and likely won't find time to write tomorrow. If this is a short one, so be it.
The thing is, "Dowistrepla" is hardly a bad episode. If this is the worst the show is capable of, How I Met Your Mother really must be an incredible series (this isn't the worst by a long mile, but the pros still outweigh the cons for the show). But besides some essential story development, the episode feels a little unimportant. Just rather light.
I think the lack of a cohesive sideplot hurts the episode, especially since there are ideas used for potentially good ones that are washed away by the end. Barney gets pretty close to having a fun, full storyline with his attempt to hook a romantic woman up with false hopes. Barney relies on an excessive amount of lying by even his standards, which does lead into some witty replies, such as his cover-up of the original apartment owner's picture.
But all of this comes off as afterthought anecdotes, unessential to the story despite how Barney uses the Dowistrepla's apartment. There's little interest in expanding on the concept, which is best exemplified in its conclusion- he just leaves her in the apartment. We don't often see Barney's women return after his rejections, but this is a case where I wish we could have, especially if she was caught and arrested in the apartment. Barney deserves some kind of retribution for his actions, but nothing of the sort happens, nor do Fryman or Hsueh seem interested in it. Although in hindsight, the lack of closure might have helped if the timing was a little better, as the ending slam is all too sudden to crack in. A shame, really.
Even more disappointing is the initial idea of Marshall and Lily growing apart from Ted as they're settling into married life. What's disappointing is that this could have made for a great plot for Ted, but is mostly forgotten early into the first act. Ted's grief has driven good episodes before, and even relegated to a B story would make for a welcome addition. But there's no room for that right now, it seems, which is a shame.
I do compliment the scene with the stag trio as they attempt to solve Lily and Marshall's mystery, however. It gives Robin her most substantial dialogue beyond reminding Lily of her debt, as well as gives Barney a unique role for him to play. The role, of course, is being Ted's yes man, as Detective Mosby is on the case. And boy is he fun. The joke behind Detective Mosby is that he reads the clues well, but misinterprets them for the end game, which is all too true for Ted's character. Just look at the last season for proof of that.
It also allows for the best camerawork of the episode, as the mise en scene briefly changes to almost documentary film work as Ted's take on the clues is shared. This is refreshing to look at to break away from the show's likable, but familiar typical structure, with a striking, welcome new tone taking place instead. And this sequence also allows for the show's traditional quick pacing to return, as the episode takes a bit of a slower turn for a change.
The slower pacing comes from this episode's reliance on Lily and Marshall's decisions, which as expected make for good conflict, even if it drags a little too much. The funniest moments come from Future Ted's "that's what they should have said" running gag, offering logical solutions alongside less logical conclusions. The power of hindsight makes for a sad laugh all too often, as these prove tonight. And of course the non-related "that's what they should have said"'s are uniformly funny as well as the plot relevant ones are informative. Oh, and I have to give props for Mr. Mosby's appearance in the episode. I'm sure he was just happy to not have to deal with kids in the lobby.
There aren't that many great jokes aside from the aforementioned in the A plot, but good conflict should make up for that. As also mentioned, Marshall's discovery of Lily's debt is effective. While their full fight isn't shown, it is telling that Marshall doesn't get too mad at her from what we see, even though he has all the reason in the world to. This is a serious problem on Lily's part, but Marshall is still his loving country boy self, and it's not enough to destroy their newly minted marriage.
Lily didn't mean to hurt Marshall with her shopping addiction. No one means to hurt others with addiction- it's just a sad but natural way of life for people with addictive personalities. Lily is still reeling over her disappointment in San Francisco and it appears that shopping eased a hole in her heart that continually became more of a problem for her as she went along, and it's high time that it caught up to her. At least she has a husband that supports and wishes to help her through this hard time.
Lily's mixed results with her artistic passions is evident in her familial cutaway, as she's seen teaching her future little girls to paint as well as their mama. This is the future Lily hopes for, what she sees in the apartment, even if it isn't coming to life anytime soon. And it just may not be practical, at least depending on their current situation. But Marshall's isn't any more practical, even if it is harder to read in his character.
One thing is for sure- no matter how much Marshall and Lily love each other, nor however strong they are in terms of facing obstacles, it will take a lot to make a home out of theirs. Not only are they living by a sewer, but let's be honest, the place doesn't even look that nice.
But quality and location aren't what seem to be important here. Fate is what appears to be at play for the episode. Marshall felt the need to move out, which he does to the first place he finds. That's not exactly ideal, but something big must be going on for it to occur. Marshall must have needed to know about Lily's financial state at this time, and they must have needed to move out right then. Let's see how that builds later on.
There is enough good to not skip over the episode, and even if there wasn't, this is an important episode for the ongoing story. This just isn't among the best, though. It's also hardly the worst, but there is more story to tell this season, and we can only hope it gets better from here.
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