Season vs. Season: Volume 6
This is a weekly column where the episodes from seasons one, two, and three will go head to head in a humor cage match. This week, the episode six’s.
Season 1: Slutty Pumpkin
Ted makes his yearly pilgrimage to the rooftop Halloween party in search of a girl dressed as a pumpkin who he met years ago. Meanwhile, Robin is dumped after driving her new boyfriend away with her independent ways.
I love this episode. While talking to the wise and intellectual “The Mix” last week about favorite episodes he pointed out all the things about this episode that make it great. We get to see some of Robin’s flaws (and, to me, she’s never been more endearing. Her “needs her own space” nature is VERY appealing to me even if it did cost her a boyfriend in the episode). We get to see Ted’s undying romanticism. We get to see Marshall as a gay pirate and Barney as a wingman–for real. This episode had some great jokes too. I love the gang talking over Ted as he tells the story of the slutty pumpkin (and Robin’s authentic laughter, a technique that would go on to become a signature element of the show). I love Marshall’s string of pirate jokes ending with “What be a Pirate’s favorite restaurant?”, “Arrrrrby’s.”, “You’d think so, but it’s actually Long John Silver’s.”. I’ve used that joke many times since this episode. To top it off, we get Robin and Ted snuggling on the roof with a sweet Nada Surf song in the background.
Season 2: Aldrin Justice
Barney seduces Marshall’s law professor in hopes of getting her to grade more leniently. Lily takes a job at Ted’s office, where she promptly steals to teach Ted’s boss a lesson.
I’ve never really liked this episode. It seemed very ’sitcomy’ and contrived. I find the whole main storyline to be kind of lame. The Barney storyline is funny but covers material we’ve seen before. Guest stars get a 50% approval since Jane Seymour was great but I thought Ted’s boss (Bryan Cranston) was lacking. This gets points for the whole bit about how Ted made the former office assistant quit by accidentally calling out her eating problem. That was funny.
Season 3: I’m Not That Guy
Marshall has to contemplate giving up his plan of using his law degree to help the planet when he’s courted by a major firm; Lily reveals a secret to Robin that not even Marshall knows; Ted discovers a porn actor is using his name
If I had written this Tuesday morning I think I would’ve picked this as the winner because I really liked this episode. Since then I re-watched “Slutty Pumpkin” and have had its magic reaffirmed. While “I’m Not That Guy” was funny and ranked high on the quality of its guest star, it just didn’t have the charm and sensitivity of “Slutty Pumpkin”.
advantage
Season 1 wins by a healthy measure. Slutty Pumpkin gave us some great jokes, some quality visual gags, and a great amount of characterization for both Ted and Robin.
Scorecard
Season 1: 1-3-2
Season 2: 2-2-2
Season 3: 0-4-2
Vote
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eduardo | November 2, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
Right now I have to say I really like “I’m Not That Guy”… but its been awhile since I watched “Slutty Pumpkin”, maybe I should re-watch it too, it’s definitely a classic.
There’s nothing really special about “I’m Not That Guy”, except that we get to see more of Marshall and Lily being awesome together. But its just so enjoyable that you feel really good watching it, I have only good memories about this one, that’s probably why I like it so much. (I’ll post another comment after re-watching “Slutty Pumpkin”)
And thanks for the email JD!
I would have to say that my favorite episode is “Robin Sparkles a.k.a. Slap bet” simply because it’s perfect, and I didn’t like Robin that much until that episode. It was really unexpected and physical, which is always a good combination.
I love the one when Ted meets Victoria, and even tough I’m a 23 years old guy, I cry every time I watch it! It’s just that amazing.
There are so many episodes I love; I’m guessing Season vs. Season will be the best way to remember them all! So keep up the good work!
JD | November 2, 2007 @ 1:11 pm
Eduardo, I was just talking to “The Mix” about the episode where Ted meets Victoria (Drumroll, please). That’s an amazing episode. It’s so well done. It handles timelines with ease and makes good use of the subplot (which is actually Robin realizing who Victoria was) to accent the main storyline. The music is great (Michael Buble and Pavement) and it’s one of the more emotional episodes that really resonant. Good choice!
I’m glad these Season vs. Season posts are generating discussion. I can’t wait till later in the season when the big guns start coming out.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts Eduardo.
The Mix | November 3, 2007 @ 2:16 am
As I said to JD (which, as a side-point is really weird because, my friend Hannah says I am very much like JD on Scrubs), Slutty Pumpkin is my favorite episode of HIMYM, so it obviously wins out.
I’m generally a sucker for the good quote slash introspective episodes of any show. I loved this show called “Ed” back in the day and my favorite episode of that “Live Deliberately” centered around two basic philosophies of life…..either “doing everything”, or Thoreau’s philosophy, “live deliberately”. My favorite episodes of Scrubs were the Michael J. Fox episodes. My favorite episode of Star Trek TNG (yes, I liked that show) concerned Picard living an entire life in a dream, though it was mere moments in real time, if only to record the history of a dying civilization.
In any case, Slutty Pumpkin happens to be my favorite episode because it defines our characters rather nicely. Robin not only exposes her main flaw but also realizes it, accepts it and makes a conscious decision (”why can’t I be Gretel”) to work through it. Ted not only realizes the obvious futility in his quest for the Slutty Pumpkin, but also realizes the fact that it’s sort of a necessary pain in order to be the guy that he really wants to be. All of us watching this season I’m sure see that the Ted we’re viewing is sort of a through the looking glass Ted. I think everyone has went through what Ted’s going through this season in some form, for some period of time…..the whole “hey, I need to be single, WOOHOO” kind of thing. Even though it’s shallow and kind of stupid, it’s ultimately helpful, because it lets us figure out and know for sure what we DON’T want. But in Slutty Pumpkin, we know obviously that Ted is a romantic…..and not just a blue french horn kind of on a whim romantic, but the kind of romantic that dedicates himself to whatever and whomever he really loves. As I’ve told JD, my favorite line of HIMYM also pops up in this episode and I think is the best indicator of Ted found in all of HIMYM…..
“”I know, chances are,the love of my life isn’t going to walk through that door at 2:30 in the morning, but seems just as nice a spot as any to just sit and wait”
And on a lesser note, this is the first real sign we see concerning Barney’s willingness to seriously be there for Ted. Even though he “wants” Ted to leave, he still stays to be there as a friend…..though obviously he would never admit it. That and the “Oh you’re dangerous Maverick” line is awesome.
Marshall and Lily make a very good aside to the episode along with Robin.
Thinking about it, this is kind of a pre-cursor to the ultimate problem of Robin and Ted’s relationship…..Ted wanting to throw everything he can into a relationship, and Robin wanting to be her and only her.
In any case, I enjoyed this last week’s episode, and would put it ahead of Aldrin Justice for sure, though I obviously can’t put it above Slutty Pumpkin. I loved Lily drowning in a pit of shoes….that was funny as hell.
Glad to see this website has a good repartee going on. It’s good talking with you all!
The Mix (formerly known as Jason)
eduardo | November 3, 2007 @ 12:41 pm
I re-watched “Slutty Pumpkin”, and I have to agree with Jason, it really defines their essences. We have a lot of episodes that add interesting information about the characters, but this one really shows their take on life. It’s definitely a winner.
I like episodes were the whole plot just flows, and even if sometimes they are not the most memorable, they are always funny to re-watch.
Mike | November 5, 2007 @ 12:29 am
Nice to see another Ed fan out there. Live Deliberately was a high point of season one if not the entire four seasons.
I haven’t seen slutty pumpkin since it first aired but, remembering what I do, it definitely outdoes aldrin justice and I’m not that guy. Ultimately I think that’s the way we want to see those characters and what we hope to see some of from week to week: Ted as the hopeless romantic, a knowingly-flawed but self-assured Robin and Barney who is there for Ted without question.
Great idea, JD, to compare the seasons!