Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Stephen Lloyd
One Paragraph Synopsis: Marshall finally quits GNB to pursue a job as an environmental lawyer. Except the job isn't paying- all that's available is an unpaying internship, which he takes. As Lily is goading Ted for sticking with Zoey, despite how often they fight, she's getting tired of having to support Marshall as he chose a non-paying job rather than sticking to GNB, to the point that she almost leaves to Spain. When Ted convinces her to stay and be honest, Marshall decides to quit the internship and find a paying environmental job, effectively taking care of things. And Barney is saddened to see Marshall quit, but not for the reason you'd expect.
Well, he finally did it. Good on you, Marshall.
But he's not there yet. Marshall is just cutting ties to the toxic environment that GNB became for him. Taking a non-paying internship wasn't the best decision, though. Not when Lily can't exactly afford to support the both of them with a kindergarten teacher's salary. The best thing would have been for him to find an internship he could have done while still working for GNB, but that might have still been too much for him.
Although to Marshall, just leaving was the important thing. The fear of his graduation goggles sticking is too likely to ignore. And graduation goggles are a real thing, even being a phrase that predates the show. I mostly applaud the sequence for the return appearance of Scooby, which was more than welcome.
The point remains that if Marshall stayed at GNB for too much longer, he would have been less likely to leave, ignoring his emotional and mental needs for an easy out. Whether or not he and Lily could use the money, he is just not happy there. The conglomerate is sucking Marshall dry, which he knows, but it's easier to stay there than to deal with the uncertainty of succeeding elsewhere.
It's tricky, since there are solid reasons for him to either stay or go. But one thing's for sure- Lily seems to regret wanting Marshall to leave GNB since "Natural History". Or rather, she sees the reality of Marshall leaving a steady paying job for nothing, and it scares her.
Some could argue that this is out of character given her previous stance, but I think that Lily is being pushed with the reality of the salutation all too quickly, and it's hard to take in. Especially since there doesn't seem to be much of a conversation between the two. Marshall just went to the internship, no questions asked.
Things work out in the end, when Marshall decides to find a job in this field that actually pays, but that's actually a bit of a problem. Lily doesn't get to discuss it with him. Marshall just goes through with this by himself. There isn't much dialogue going on between the two. And considering how Lily and Marshall are supposed to trust and respect each other like no other, this isn't good.
Ted's material with Zoey feels like a waste, on top of that. The fact that they still haven't made anywhere near a mutual agreement together is still valid, but there isn't much to this subplot as they barely interact, and there's no conclusion. There isn't meant to be a conclusion right now, I believe, so that isn't a problem.
What is a problem is how unimportant their disagreements seem. This is supposed to be the most important event in Ted's life, but he's dating the one person who wants it to not happen more than anyone, and neither of them can find any sort of mutual agreement. And it feels like there's no attempt to do so on the writer's behalf. This deserves to be more than just a throwaway plot point, and hopefully there will be resolution soon. Right now, there isn't much to dig.
Aside from their reading of Tommy Boy. That's just gold.
Barney's material, meanwhile, is silly, but fun. Maybe more silly than fun though, but that isn't exactly a bad thing. My favorite bit is Robin's extended story, which seems to take from many different narratives, and seeing Barney deeply fall for it is funny. The final ending is cute, but not exactly rewarding.
I think this episode is a little stronger than that, but this isn't the show at its best. Lloyd is too strong at joke writing to not nail this aspect of the episode, but emotionally, this could have been stronger. Hopefully the last few episodes of the season will find some sort of necessary resolution, though.
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