How I Met Your Mother – Recap & Review – The Best Man & The Naked Truth

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How I Met Your Mother
The Best Man & The Naked Truth

Original Air Date: Sep 19, 2011

Caitlin – Associate Staff Writer
caitlin@thetwocentscorp.com

When we last left the gang, Lily learned she was pregnant and a scene set in future the revealed that Barney was going to set aside his womanizing ways and get married. But to who? Questions like this have tormented us all summer.

Tonight’s premiere was comprised of not one but two episodes. With a whole hour of HIMYM to make up for the whole summer away, we were given a few more hints and a lot more reason to wait anxiously for the rest of the season.

The first episode takes us back to the wedding again. Barney asks Ted if he chose the right tie, and it’s thoroughly obvious that “tie” is a metaphor. I’m not too worried about this. I mean, it’s Barney. This wedding leads to that of Ted’s friend Punchy. The term “friend” is used loosely, seeing as Punchy has asked Ted to make the toast at his wedding only in hopes of see him break down over his miserable life as he has at other weddings. But Ted’s probably not so miserable now, what with being on the cover of New York Magazine and all.

Meanwhile, Robin is totally in denial of her renewed feelings toward Barney, and Marshall and Lilly are trying to avoid revealing their pregnancy until they’re sure nothing can go wrong. (Obviously, there’s a host of things that could go wrong, but I doubt those would happen on a sitcom.) Just one problem- there’s alcohol at weddings. While Marshall downs both his and Lilly’s drinks, Barney uses blatantly hopeless tactics to hit on a string of girls. Lilly (of course) figures out Robin’s feelings, and believes Barney’s actions are a sign he wants her back, too.

Robin approaches Barney, who sweeps her into a professional dance routine. But then Nora calls, and he begs for advice. Crushed, she helps him win a different woman and Barney/Robin shippers claw at their televisions, trying to knock some sense into him Robin wanders outside and meets Ted, who, despite his new success, is more discouraged than ever. He has some fame, but he still has no girl. Things cheer up slightly when Marshal and Lilly give in and reveal their pregnancy to everyone. Ted’s speech isn’t tearless, but Marshall stands up for him and inadvertently reveals Punchy’s wife’s pregnancy. He doesn’t ruin the whole wedding, though- just the reception.

Episode two! Marshall, still recovering from double drinking at the wedding, swears never to drink again, and we instantly know he’s going to be plastered by the end of the episode. He gets a call from a representative of an environmental firm that could offer him his dream job. They’re doing a background check, which would be fine if not for a video of him as “Beercules” (that’s a great name for a frat movie), interrupting a student news broadcast while drunk and naked. Ted’s mood has improved a lot, however, because his magazine cover has gained him dates with two different girls.

Not to be outdone, Barney goes to meet Nora with a neck brace, trying to gain sympathy. She doesn’t buy it for a second and tries to walk out before demanding to know all the lies he’s ever told women. This doesn’t exactly go well, and she wants to leave again, but he claims he won’t leave the restaurant they met in until she agrees to a date. As all this happens, Marshall goes to try and persuade his old friend to take down the Beercules video, which will be difficult with the bottles of booze taped to the guy’s hands. By “difficult”, I mean there’s a new video of Marshall as Beercules that night.

Ted, being Ted, can’t be a womanizer for long, and debates which girl to take to a ball, convinced he could wind up marrying one. But after Robin hears Lenny Kravitz will be there, she gets him to take her instead; only to find out that this “Lenny” is actually an old man. No matter- Lilly gets the videos removed from the internet just a bit too late, but Marshall gets the job anyway. Nora finds Barney exhausted in the restaurant and seems ready to give him a second chance. And Ted turns around to see someone he recognizes at the wedding- Victoria! If you heard a loud noise just before nine Monday night, that was the fandom collectively screaming.

A lot of my fellow shippers strongly dislike Nora, but I still find her smart and justified in all her actions. That said, Barney’s last minute sweetness making up for all the lies he’s told her just rubs me the wrong way. I actually liked them together. I believed and still believe Barney/Robin is endgame, so I wasn’t too bothered by his relationship with another woman. Now, though, I don’t know why she’s putting up with him. I’ll focus on Victoria instead. I loved her most of all Ted’s girlfriends save Robin, and even though she can’t be the mother, who Ted meets at Barney’s wedding, I’m thrilled to see her back.

Other things I liked about tonight’s episodes? The Barney/Robin dance number, obviously, and Martin Short’s first appearance. Hopefully we’ll see a good deal more of him as Marshall starts working for Garrison. Lilly being the first to recognize the presence of feelings between Robin and Barney is great opportunity, although I hate that she inadvertently set Robin up for heartbreak. Thankfully, that angst was relieved somewhat by the gang celebrating Marshall and Lilly’s pregnancy. And now he has a new job to support his kid, too. What your favorite or least favorite bits? Did you like the episodes overall? How are you feeling about season 7?