‘How I Met Your Mother’ season 9, episode 3 review: Ted and the Mandy Patankin curse
After a one-hour premiere of “How I Met Your Mother” that was divided between “great” and “good enough,” tonight’s “Last Time in New York” managed to provide some of the laughs that you have wanted to see on the show as of late. In addition to that, there was also a significant spattering of drama as a major revelation about Ted’s future plans leaked.
What was it? The answer is simple: The news that he is planning to leave New York for Chicago after the wedding. In the midst of her search with Barney for the right spot for “one last bang” prior to the wedding, Robin found Ted’s list of the last things he wants to do in New York before the move. What made it worse? That she also found Ted in an outfit that was “Where’s Waldo” chic if we have ever seen it. This, on an unrelated note, was the result of a “punishment” Lily gave him for shredding her dress while engaging in a sword-fight. (Ironically, Lily also broke Ted’s bottle of expensive scotch.)
The theme of this episode was basically that you can never really make your best-laid plans work, since they are not going to work out the way you want… whether it is your hopes to grab “one last bang,” or a plan to get away from the city that you love. After all of the silliness was over (which included a great connection to Mandy Patinkin in various forms), the major realization that Ted came to was that he was avoiding Barney mostly because he didn’t want to be around him and yes, his feelings for Robin were probably in play. Lily gave him the advice that he needed in the end, and we were at the conclusion of a funny, but also rather sweet, episode … save for the shocker at the end that Barney saw Robin and Ted at the carousel. (Oh boy.)
As for the Marshall story, it’s basically him being humiliated in a Green Bay Packers outfit and nothing else. There is some humor in seeing him with Sherri Shepherd, but not as much as when he is with the gang.
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Photo: CBS