It just caught my eye after watching the episode maybe 10 times, n i found it really really interesting … if anyone knows the reason for it … plz let me know …..

Back to this episode. There were some good parts, like the Marshall-Barney slap ‘issue’ (Barney appearing nonchalant at first, then slowly reaching the point where he begs not to get slapped before Lily stepped in was classic), and the awkward moments between Robin and Ted.

But there were some bad parts I didn’t quite like. I thought the old Bob was only funny at the very beginning, when Ted explained that he could only see his flaws. After that, he was pretty much pointless in the plot for me and they showed’ve only had him in that bar scene and be done with that. Also, while I thought the awkward moments between Ted and Robin were great, I wasn’t impressed with the having-to-deal-with-sleeping-with-one’s-ex moments. Cliche was all over it for me.

The best part of the episode was when they came to the ‘realisation’ that they weren’t realy friends and they should’ve ended it. I think the episode would’ve been much stronger if this was the main point of the episode, where they had to deal with that throughout the episode. I wish that they came to the ‘conclusion’ at the beginning of the episode and they had to deal with that throughout the episode. I think the uncomfortable moments in the table and then the slow realisation that they were friends (topped, of course with, the military inside joke they shared) was where they concentrated the non-humour dialogue on would’ve resulted in the episode being much stronger in plot. Heck, they could’ve stretched the awkwardness for two/three episodes.

Instead, they leave Ted’s bedroom, go have dinner, share an uncomfortable look or two (which was fine) and then they were back to friends. It was a way too quick for me.

Honestly, they could be closing on the place for another six months or so. Buying a home isn’t instantaneous. There was another family still living there.

“And, the night before, if they’re preparing at Ted’s place as it appears, why does Ted not know about it until after he arrives at Robin’s in Brooklyn 2 hours after they were supposed to be there? It does not take 2 hours to get from lower manhattan to brooklyn at that hour…”

It could take 45 minutes to an hour, especially on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, a huge travel day. Also, Ted lives on the upper west side, not lower Manhattan. Third, the whole point was that no one was helping Lily–Ted was probably at the bar or still at work. Plus he showed up with groceries, that’s another 30-40 minutes.

The more granular we get the less enjoyable it is. This show wins the continuity award for some of the tricks they’ve pulled on us over the years. Number one being that in ‘Showdown’ where Lily was staying with Robin before the marriage, the blue french horn was already missing from Robin’s shelf–Ted and her had broken up at this point but not told anyone–but it wasn’t mentioned explicitly and no one noticed until the reveal in the finale. That buys Bays and Thomas some get-out-of-editing-free cards.

………

“I think if we started getting caught up in the minutia of the different continuity errors we would never like any show, well, ever.”

My opinion is that talking about travel time is getting a bit ridiculous….just a thought.

I was a bit afraid that the plot would rely too much on the slap; it was a great surprise to get a great Ted and Robin episode.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to question their relationship after they broke up; it seemed a bit weird that it all went too well. This episode addressed the matter in a really honest way, there isn’t much to be said actually, it’s just awesome. Congrats to the writers and actors for this, they made it really intense but sweet.

I like that you pointed out how similar Ted and Robin are, I used to see their differences, based purely on the fact that Ted wants a marriage and family, and that Robin doesn’t; but this shows why they became friends, and why they chose to remain friends by the end of the episode. I can see Ted and Robin with the same intimacy that Barney has with his brother, a partners for crime kind of thing. That would be really different from Ted’s relationship with Lily, which seems more like a mother and son thing (especially after this episode; angry Lily kicks ass!).

Marshall was very awesome and very Marshall, which is always great.
I also like that Lily and Marshall got different plots this week, we got to see more of their characters, it reminds us that they can be awesome by themselves as well.

A great episode and a great review, thanks JD

I’ll re-watch “Robin Sparkles” now. Get ready for season vs. season, it’s going to be a tough one.