Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Jennifer Hendricks
One Paragraph Synopsis: There's a countdown to big news, and it starts when Lily and Marshall fear that they might not be able to conceive children. They're recommended a doctor who focuses on fertility, Dr. John Stangel, who looks a lot like Barney- more than the doppelganger Lily thought she saw at the end of last season, anyway. His tests prove that Lily is just fine, which makes Marshall have his doubts. It becomes increasingly harder for him to "test" his fertility out when his parents come to visit, too. Dr. Stangel confirms that Marshall is quite fertile himself, which means that he and Lily are more than ready to have kids. Just as he's about to tell Lily the good news, though, he's hit with some bad news to counterbalance- his father died shortly after returning home to Minnesota.
Keep in mind that it's been mentioned by future Ted more than once that Marshall and Lily will have a child. Or children. Recall that he said "first child" in "Last Cigarette Ever", after all.
That should have made the idea of the bad news being that one of them is infertile be moot, and it is. In fact, the episode makes it seem that the title is purposefully misleading- that what is expected to be bad news doesn't occur, and the two get to have children after all. And that would have been fine. Welcome, even.
But the show has been wise about its use of Marvin this season, giving him more screentime than he's had in years, as Bays, Thomas and crew remind us of the bond he and Marshall shares. Of the character's parents shown thus far, Marvin and Judy have the most material to go back on, just as Marshall has the strongest history to dig into. This is able to work because of the working bond that gets the characters together.
And it makes the reveal hurt. Not as much as it must hurt for Marshall, but the reveal is well done. Especially since the idea of a fake out was given to Segel and Hannigan, who were expecting Lily to be pregnant by episode's end. The reveal of Marvin's death was a last-minute addition (not for the episode, but this was something purposefully kept from the actors), which they share with great sadness and realness to their performance.
The countdown is a great stealth addition, helping the audience to anticipate news, whether good or bad. I'm not sure how many first-time viewers catch the numbers, as some of them are placed in a nice, subtle manner, but others are easy enough to catch to show some kind of pattern. It's something the show won't really try again, but as a weird concept, it fits here.
Robin's story is pretty good, herself. The return of Sandy Rivers was welcome, even if only to see Alexis Denisoff mockingly mug for the camera again. But it allows for Robin to get closer to her dreams, even though she has to deal with corporate hazing first. The result is a fun highlight reel of some of her most awkward moments that remains entertaining as reminders to where she's from.
But this is only a taste of the course coming in the next episode. A big episode that aims high and reaches for most of its goals, Marshall still has yet to say goodbye to Marvin. Let's go.
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