Directed by Pam Fryman
Written by Joe Kelly
One Paragraph Synopsis: After Arthur has been blackballing Marshall's job offers, he decides to join Zoey's side to help keep the Arcadian alive. This, of course, upsets Barney, as the two begin one of their biggest arguments ever. Lily and Robin decide to help them out by giving them a slew of drinks to cool their emotions down for them to find an agreement, which almost works... until Barney and Marshall have one too many drinks and continue their fight. At the same time, Ted and Zoey spend the night at the Arcadian so Ted can prove his point, which does end up working... until Ted decides to side with her anyway.
Do any alcoholic beverages have a side-effect on me like any of the gang for any given drink here? I dunno. Don't give me tequila though.
This has been coming a longtime for Barney and Marshall, and the episode gives them a tasteful hashing out as they handle things together. Their friendship isn't as strongly defined as their own with Ted, but they're still a part of this dynamic manly trio.
But it's funny, we see the gang drink a LOT, yet they hardly get drunk for as often as they do. This shows that either they can take their alcohol pretty well, or they just can until it's necessary for them not to for the plot. Here, we get a highlight reel of the five characters being at least a little too buzzed, and it works pretty well.
Frankly, the actors are just great at sticking to anything comedy, and playing drunk is no exception. Smulders, for example, doesn't have too much to do on her absinthe trip, but she's amazing at it, thanks to crackerjack delivery. Genius angle framing and movement on Fryman's part helps, as well. And of course, Ted's beatbox material is out of this world.
The main point is Marshall and Barney's marathon, which Segel and NPH sell well. Their chemistry is fully bonded, solidifying their close, if not entirely agreeing friendship. It makes even their silliest feuds believable, which the episode maintains alongside serious discussions about their issues.
If there's a problem though, their whiskey chat doesn't contain much information that we don't know. The core stories of the season have involved Marshall trying to make his dead father proud, and Barney attempting to get over the absence of his father. Discussing this directly doesn't add too much, but at the same time, this was supposed to be about the subtext becoming context, in which case this works.
The lack of resolution at the end is telling, but maybe this is too big of an issue for the two to settle instantly. We have two episodes left, and the Arcadian has yet to be decided on.
Especially since Ted jumped ship. But how did that even happen? You'd think that the return of the Cockamouse would be more than enough for Zoey to drop interest in the Arcadian, but apparently not.
I believe Zoey's story about the Arcadian, since we're not given much of a reason to doubt it. Zoey seems sincere in her plea to Ted to consider keeping the Arcadian alive, as does her childhood nostalgia. Jennifer Morrison may not have been the best actress the show ever maintained, but she's good at making her emotions feel real, and thus making her at least somewhat likable.
When she isn't pretty insufferable, at least. The Ted and Zoey relationship hasn't been given a whole lot of breathing room, which hurts the season a little in the long run, as the show is more concerned in giving the other characters more interesting plots. Ted and Zoey don't get the time they require to expand, and thus seem stuck to their positions. It becomes hard to care about them if they rarely get much to do as a pair, and are still stuck on the ground.
There are only two episodes left of the season, and while there has yet to be a real stinker, the lack of development on Zoey's person does hurt a little. There is still time to change this, and to help make an otherwise great season one of the best. We'll see. y'no what, though? I'll take a couple of tequila shots.
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