Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Craig Thomas & Carter Bays
One Paragraph Synopsis: Despite Barney's hopes to wingman for Ted again, Ted decides to take the summer at a lackadaisical pace, and doesn't go back into the dating game for long- until Robin returns from Argentina, with her new man Gael (Enrique Iglesias). Feeling like Robin is "winning" the break up, Ted gets back into the game, and quickly finds an interest in Amy (Mandy Moore), a wild girl he meets at the bar, and convinces him to get a tattoo. When a hungover Ted wakes up to find that tattoo ended up as a tramp stamp, he realizes that no matter how hard he tries, it's just not easy to get over a break up, a feeling Robin agrees with.
We're Not from Here (3x02)
Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Chris Harris
One Paragraph Synopsis: While seeing Gael impress all the ladies in MacLaren's, Barney and Ted decide to try a new way to hook up with women- pretend to be tourists! They find two cute women, but just about everything that could go wrong happens, right down to them actually being Jersey natives. As for Gael, Robin's honeymoon phase is over for him, as she becomes increasingly distant from her relaxed vacation self and has all but lost interest in Gael's lifestyle. Inviting a bunch of boarders to her place didn't score him any points, either. On top of all of this, Marshall feels offended when he reads Lily's pre-death letter, a part of their separate wills, and finds it to be lacking.
Okay, I didn't decide to do both of these episodes since they feature Enrique Iglesias. I remembered that Gael came and left in the third season's premiere episodes, but I mainly chose to combine them together to make up for lost time after my trip. It's a good call, since even though they're not exactly connected, both episodes fit well together.
While not every episode directly addresses this, especially not to the extent of "Wait for It", this season is about how Ted and Robin move on from their break up. Similarly, the latter, albeit less significantly, shows the other core theme of season 3- Lily and Marshall's adaptation into married life.
Both are fine storylines to devote a season to, as each of these relationships, and the characters in question, are rich enough to further explore. Marshall and Lily's importance is obvious, but since it's all but clear that Robin isn't the Mother, but she still isn't going anywhere, this will be a good chance to further explore her character as an independent. Meanwhile, Ted's present issues continue to show themselves as a fit to his core quest.
Neither episodes are about Ted's quest, although the first does well i showing his current emotional state. Clearly, he still cares greatly for Robin, and it does hurt that they didn't last as a couple, but in a sense, he is over it. When Ted comes to Robin's place, he doesn't ask for her back, merely just for another chance to talk about their situation. This is done in a humorous manner that has continually works for the show, especially since it leads into more substantial material, backed up by strong writing from the creators. Radnor's honest delivery nails the scene here.
Robin, meanwhile, doesn't seem to be taking the split as badly as Ted does at first sight, but her reveal around this aforementioned speech does indicate that she had her own grief to deal with. Similarly, she still cares for Ted and part of her questions their break up as a mistake, to the point that she barely enjoys her trip without Gael. It's a complicated split, one that is so apparently rough for her.
I think this is such a good, human story for Robin, as the show is continuing to find ways to allow her to emote. While she's pretty far from a robot, Robin's emotionally ambivalent past is hardly a secret. Years of repression from her father had taken a toll on Robin's psyche, to the point that while she clearly felt sadness, she never seemed to address it as well as you and I would. She has learned to move on from this in the year since moving and moving up in the world of broadcast journalism, but it does seem that her circle of friends, Ted in particular, have helped to open her up more. This is what makes Ted, and the gang, so important to Robin, and her to the show as a whole. We all learn and grow together.
To Robin, Gael was a coping device rather than another partner. This isn't a great way to go into a relationship, but then again, I don't think that Robin was truly hoping to make Gael her next boyfriend. The reasons he came with her to Argentina were 1) guilt on Robin's part, to prove to Gael that she isn't shallow enough to drop him the moment her trip ends, as he must have taken an offer to go with her to New York seriously, and 2) an attempt to bring her vacation self back. As the second episode proves, neither of these end up working for her, though.
The first is an idea that indicates that Robin means well, but still reeks of selfishness on her part, as if her dedication was more important than Gael's actual feelings. I could be reading that wrong, but it really doesn't seem that Robin cares for Gael all that much on his own, which she only realizes when they're in New York.
That brings up my next point, that the Robin that lives her daily life in Manhattan isn't the same as the Robin that enjoyed casual sex and savored every morsel of food in Argentina. Whether or not she knows this subconsciously is brought by the end, when Robin does actually talk to herself from the summer again, and sees how lame she is. As fun as Argentina was, this isn't Robin. She can't be this relaxed. While not quite Type A, Robin has her own standards that she needs to continue to live up to in her regular life, which her vacation self didn't need to worry about. It was fun, but time to go.
There was no way Robin and Gael could have worked in New York. While he means well, Gael's relaxed viewpoints don't mesh well with society here, and while I'm admittedly ignorant in Argentinean culture (if I could get a certain someone to stop trolling my comments section, I'd hope for someone who is considerably less ignorant to tell me how, if at all, the show's brief flashbacks to Argentina remains relevant to the country's culture). This is a good chance for him to discover the city himself, but even with his license in physical therapy, he needs a more majestic location to spread his wings. New York is lovely, but maybe not for every romantic at heart.
It's funny how both romantic interests in the first episode are played by popular musicians, and they each pulled their performances off well. Iglesias, of course, has more to do though, even forgetting his presence in the preceding episode. In "Wait for It", he rightfully nails his foreign charm without coming off as offensive. Iglesias' natural accent (although he is personally Spanish) never comes off as over the top, nor does he utter any forced, awkward mixed English. Gael's passions also come off as universal, rather than stereotypical, which helps to make him the likable character that the actor aims for.
The one thing that executives hope for when suggesting musicians for acting roles is that their charisma makes its way off the concert stage and onto the screen. Even if they're not the best actors on the face of the earth, hardly the next Katharine Hepburn, a big part of your average vocalist's success comes from their stage presence, the way they command their environment. Similar to how convincing an actor that their performance is meant to have them be a singer, a good way to entice musical artists to arrive on screen is to tell them that this is a different concert hall with different rules.
And that works for Iglesias pretty well. He brings his usual charm that helped to make the singer a sensation to his performance as Gael, making his inevitable wooing of Lily and even Marshall come off as completely natural. It's a good romantic performance, especially as it contrasts from his increasingly depleting relationship with Robin, which even early on barely showed chemistry between the two. Whether this was an intentional decision from Fryman, or Smulders and Iglesias couldn't get it together isn't quite clear, but it is an important thing to consider, about both the performance of Gael and for the episodes as a whole.
Mandy Moore almost plays against type as Amy, as she doesn't adhere to the bubblegum-y self she introduced herself to the world as during her intentional pop star days, nor her less commercial, more honest indie turn. She's actually a rougher character than you'd expect Ted to date, which makes his time here fascinating. Ted usually prefers a cleaner cut woman, as Amy isn't really at all.
But that's the fun, and thankfully Moore is equally adept at playing along. Her material is brief and not as lengthy as Gael's, but she's a burst of energy during the second act. Note how she messes with Barney's traditional system, and the way it grabs his goat. A wonderful attempt at vengeance without her realizing it.
Ted and Barney do have some good stuff in both episodes. I got into the meat of their first story earlier, how it's Ted's wild but only modestly successful attempt at getting his mind off of Robin. There are some great jokes in between, with the best possibly being Barney's ambivalence towards his own date, as his only challenge tonight is to keep up with Ted. It shows Barney's dedication, that nothing matters to him as much as his goals, and surprisingly, his goals don't include getting laid that night. Although it's a great return when Barney does accept the woman's offer for sex at the end. Not only is the delivery perfect, but so is the timing, as he says yes just after failing to help Ted. Talk about nailing it.
The second is another fun plot, even if it takes from a Seinfeld episode. While George's endeavor as a faux tourist had some enjoyable material in its own right, I think this is a better usage of the plot. It helps that HIMYM is reaching its prime here, while Seinfeld was well past its when the story was done. Heck, Barney even references the show while he's with the girls!
But despite a slightly unoriginal premise (I only say slightly, because I can't think of another example of the plot on top of my head, and the execution is different), this works well for the two as it allows for Ted and Barney's pride towards New York come out. Ted is clearly a lover of New York, gladly supporting the state away from Jerseyers, while Barney, an actual NY native, shows obvious love for his own, but knows when to shut up. NPH's usually excellent mannerisms show more to the surface in Barney's performance, as he clearly isn't a big fan of these girls' taste in the area as well, but he sticks in character all the way through. And his southern accent is just a hoot!
Plus, it's always just a treat to see Ted and Barney interact. Both being young men that aren't tied down like Marshall, they have a niche that clicks well, no matter the circumstance. When they're arguing, it's fun to see, as Barney and Ted are high-strung people who aren't afraid to stick to their obvious biases against each other. But as friends? Radnor and NPH have wonderful chemistry, completely making their kinship believable and always enjoyable to see blown out, whether at MacLaren's or one of... whatever number of... whatever restaurants.
Sadly, Lily and Marshall are the odd ones out here, as even though their bond is still undeniable, there just isn't that much for them to do in either episode. Well, their time with Gael was a fun moment in the first, with Marshall's reaction to Gael's serenade continues to be a classic, as meme and onscreen. Hannigan's childish responses to her admiration for Gael is another strong point, keeping itself delightful.
Less fun is their plot in "We're Not from Here', which comes off as broad. I've heard that the story is similar to a King of Queens episode, and as someone who doesn't care for the show and thus haven't seen the episode in question, I can't talk about how they compare, but there just isn't that much to it. There are better ways to open the can of worms about trust, and while the ending pay-off is cute, it's hardly worth what ends up as some of the more tedious parts of the episode, as Marshall complains about Lily's "lack of respect".
Still, "We're Not from New York" is a strong episode, but I think the premiere trumps it. However you spin it though, season 3 is off to a good start, and these eps only remind me of some of the highlights to come!
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