I want the Internet to be honest with me; was this week’s How I Met Your Mother funny, or is there something wrong with me? Aside from Barney declaring himself leader of the group (followed by a tweaked title sequence featuring way more Barney) I never so much as chuckled during “46 Minutes.” I was amused at certain aspects of it, such as the return of Stripper Lily (now known as Better Lily) and Ted’s increasing drunkenness, but being amused isn’t necessarily the same as being entertained. There was probably a good story to be had here, but the jokes surrounding the story fell flat, at least for me. But maybe I had an off day. I would love to hear from anybody who laughed until their sides burst from this episode.
This probably won’t a long recap/review, but we’ll see how it goes. The driving force behind everything in “46 Minutes” is Marshall and Lily’s decision to move to Long Island to raise their child. The gang is at first upset, seeing the move as a step toward never seeing each other again. As they get older, the reality that they can’t always be together becomes clearer and clearer. This is great motivation for any number of stories; instead Barney elects going to a strip club and Ted, Robin and Kevin simply go along with it. The joke of Kevin and Robin not being able to say no to things was both uninspired and rather against continuity. In Season 5, when Robin was dating Barney, she was adamantly opposed to him going to strip clubs, but now she’s apparently buying Kevin a lapdance? It didn’t add up. Robin wouldn’t do that, and subsequently it completely took me out of their narrative. For me it became unwatchable.
Ted and Barney had the most fun at the club, with Ted becoming more and more clingy and needy for Marshall and Lily’s presence. Like I said, it was amusing, but ultimately it never rose above that initial amusement. It was a one-note joke played several times. Barney was obsessed with replacing Marshall and Lily, which is where Better Lily came in, as well as her pimp, New Marshall. I think the doppelgangers were best used as one time gags. At first I thought, “This could be great! Revisiting some of the doppelgangers has potential.” Part of me still believes that, but not of Better Lily. She already had an entire episode devoted to her. If we were to revisit a doppelganger, why not do one we spent next to no time with, like Lesbian Robin or Mustache Marshall?
Finally, over on Long Island, the real Marshall and Lily were dealing with Lily’s annoying father, Mickey (Chris Elliot). Ever since he was introduced in Season 5, I’ve never warmed up to him. He’s just not a good character in my opinion. He’s childish, without tact, and completely oblivious to his flaws. Granted, those qualities are intentionally there, but they can be just so grating. I thought for sure he was going to have a big change take place after “Tailgate,” where he drove all night to see Lily, but nope. He was as childish and annoying as ever.
For me, this was a big waste of potential. Thankfully, the idea of friends drifting apart is one that cannot be fully explored in a single episode, giving HIMYM time to tackle it again in the future. I just hope they can do it in a way that’s more pleasing for myself.
