Tuesday, November 8, 2011

HIMYM: Signs Posted Because of Things YOU Did...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I
can't say that I've ever been the reason for a sign to be posted. In a roundabout way, I was the reason that a clause was entered into the school board's paperwork, though. In a nutshell, I was injured on a school bus riding home one day in seventh grade. I was rushed to the emergency room via ambulance. At the time, there was no clear definition on who would pay for that ambulance ride, and my mother fought it until the charges were dropped... and the school board included a couple lines about future such things being the financial responsibility of the parent. Yeah. Anyway, this episode of How I Met Your Mother is about the gang telling Kevin the reasoning behind why there's a sign outside MacLaren's that reads "Absolutely no boogie boarding," which we discover was put into place because of Marshall. The other major thing in this episode is that Barney is now free of having to wear the "ducky tie" for a year. Read on for recaps & remarks... but if you really want the nitty-gritty, make sure to read the final paragraph... I'm angry about the writing of Lily's pregnancy!

How I Met Your Mother "Disaster Averted" (S07E09): The opening is a very strange scene... Barney is being chased and needs to save a kid, so he tries to use the ducky tie to pull the child from the edge of a building. A bird then picks up the tie and flies away, so he doesn't have it. Then we find out that Barney is telling this story to get out of wearing the tie. [remember, he's got to wear it for a YEAR.] Except, Lily finds it in the trash.

Moving on, we hear a lesson from Future Ted: "You haven't truly lived until somewhere somebody puts a sign up because of something you did," like "no motorcycles on the casino floor" and "absolutely no boogie boarding" at MacLaren's. Kevin, of course, wants to know what the deal with the boogie-boarding sign is, so the gang sets out to fill him in. It's a flashback to August 26th, 2011 - Hurricane Irene. Ted got a disaster rental car and some emergency supplies, and they stop by Barney's for beer. [a) love how prepared Ted was. b) why did they bother to park and have everyone go upstairs if Barney just needed to "grab something"?] Everybody wants to stay and party, though Ted thinks they should evacuate. While this is going on, Marshall has been freaking out for two weeks because he's between health insurance coverages. [his coverage at GNB must have last a while after he left, since that was a few episodes before the end of last season.] And, for Marshall, this means that being bumped by a bicycle courier is just as likely as a bear mauling... in NYC. [a) I love that. Marshall is so not-a-New-Yorker sometimes! and b) haha on "knot" being a "tie pun."] Then, when some weather footage came on television, everybody started to freak.

cbs.com
Barney wanted to stay, since hot women may lose their clothes in the storm. [hahahaha. also, I am in love with the bear maulings.] Barney's dad calls, and he decides that they need to get out of there. But Ted, at that point, decides not to let Barney go, as he met a girl named Maya in the hallway, and she needs a ride. [wow, Ted. that's low!] So, Lily volunteers to stay, as she wants time away from Marshall. Barney fakes being Robin's dad and calls her to see that she really did want him to check on her. [dang, Barney!] They missed the evacuation time, however, and that causes Ted to REALLY panic. To the extent that he even mentions a concern about not making it through the night. [really? I mean, I realize you're in a tall building with a lot of glass, but seriously.] In a romantic moment in Barney's bathroom, Lily and Marshall conceived. [whoa. this throws off a few things. but I'll wait until after I finish a recap to gripe...]

So, though the hurricane was in full force, the group headed to MacLaren's and found it closed. [yeah. places do that when parts of the city WERE EVACUATED!] Marshall tries to boogie-board with a trash can lid, and went through the front window of MacLaren's... hence the sign. And, a falling oak tree landed in the living room of Ted's house, so it's a good thing that they didn't end up there after all. [right place, right time, guys!]Now, back to the tie thing, which keeps interrupting the boogie-boarding story... Barney starts offering the gang money to stop wearing the tie (like tens of thousands of dollars) and nobody will take it, but KEVIN is willing to! Then, Barney offers some more slaps (Marshall only has one remaining from the long-ago Slap Bet). [I was laughing so hard at the idea that, "we have a baby on the way. a slap could really come in handy."] Kevin tries to intervene, figuring out that Barney's motivation to lose the tie is based on the fact that's he's meeting Nora's parents in a few days. [oooh! and love the fact that Kevin was the one who figured it out.] After a while, Marshall and Lily trade Barney's tie promise for three additional slaps. Marshall delivers two right then and there. [Barney's "I think I need to go home and re-evaluate how I make life decisions" had me rolling!]

And, a final look at the end of the episode.... While outside the closed MacLaren's during the hurricane, Barney tells Robin that a day without talking to her is no good... and they almost kissed. [he can be so sweet every once in a while...] After telling the bulk of the story to Kevin, Robin and Barney share a cab, and do kiss while reminiscing. [I did NOT see that coming, though my husband says that he did!]

Gripe: if Lily got pregnant on the weekend of August 26th, the finale episode of Season 6 had to be after that, since she already had morning sickness and had a positive pregnancy test in that episode. So last season's finale took place in September, which was the confirmed time that this season started. Okay... I guess I'll buy that. It really runs things together and doesn't make complete sense, but whatever. But, it creates other issues. If it's November on the show (and it should be since Halloween was last week), Lily would not have been "pregnant enough" to find out the sex a couple episodes back, which was markedly pre-Halloween. You can't find out the sex of a baby when you're only 8-10 weeks pregnant. You're not even remotely close to seeing formed sex organs. The only thing this episode does answer? My "why isn't Lily showing yet?" conundrum. Otherwise, it just made a mess of the timeline. Can anyone else reason this out another way??
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