How I Met Your Mother - Review: Cobra Kai - Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy!
Recap and review of How I Met Your Mother - Season 8 Episode 22 - The Bro Mitzvah:
How I Met Your Mother is functioning at a pretty high level with "The Bro Mitzvah", an episode that takes the best of the show's comedic sensibilities, and blends it with a character-centric story that makes exceptional use of the ensemble and a handful of colorful guest stars. It's a story that's as focused as it is funny, giving us a last burst of genuine comic joy before what is likely to be the most dramatic season finale for the show in a long time. The central conceit is that Ted (Josh Radnor) and Marshall (Jason Segel) have planned a surprise bachelor party for Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). What results is a twisty series of turns that essentially proves to be a play in Robin's (Cobie Smulders) playbook called "The Barney". It's the extent to which the characters go to authenticate this con that gives the episode much of its comedic power, though there's also a solid narrative in play here, as we get the sense that Barney is coming full-circle, in a sense. It's his last stand before manhood, as represented by his marriage to Robin. In that sense, it's more bar mitzvah than bachelor party, as Barney makes the transition into a more committed, adult version of manhood, making the episode title all the more apt.
Credit: CBS
Barney is set to go out with Robin for dinner with his mother, Loretta (Frances Conroy), when Ted and Marshall abduct him for a surprise bachelor party. Ted and Marshall proceed to give him the worst night of his life -- a terrible motel room overlooking the Taj Mahal, a clown for entertainment, and an appearance by Ralph Macchio, the actor Barney hates most (Barney believes that Cobra Kai actor William Zabka, Macchio's opponent in The Karate Kid, is the real "Karate Kid"). Worst of all, Ted and Marshall have hired Quinn (Becki Newton) as the stripper. Apparently, she fell on hard times following her breakup with Barney, resulting in her going back to stripping. She remains bitter at Barney and, as punishment, decides to strip for everyone at the bachelor party except for the bachelor himself. Barney waiting in the bathroom with a crown made of balloons while everyone outside enjoys Quinn's show is a terrific sight gag that kicks off a series of similarly excellent running gags, including Lily's (Alyson Hannigan) unsubtle flirting with Ralph Macchio, and Barney's outrage at being compared to the Karate Kid star, involving increasingly over-the-top vocal inflections on "I'm nothing like Ralph Macchio!" Also terrific? Robin's extended dinner with Barney's mother, who's been led to believe that Robin is a virgin, leading to a drunk Loretta trying to stuff as many breadsticks into a napkin ring as she can, by way of a visual metaphor for a past confrontation with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (I have no idea how that joke got past Standards and Practices).
Things only get worse for Barney, as Ralph Macchio goads him into taking the whole gang to Atlantic City, where Barney gambles away the envelope of money Robin gave him for safekeeping. As a result, Barney winds up in debt to Chinese mobsters, who take Marshall as collateral. Yet things get even worse, as the mobsters remain unsatisfied, and decide to chop Marshall's hand off ("Not the skeeball hand!") right before Barney's eyes. This happens not moments after the nadir of Barney's night, as Robin calls off the marriage upon discovering that Quinn was the stripper at his bachelor party.
However, this is all revealed to be a part of Robin's plan. Barney had declared, weeks earlier, that the gang was incapable of planning a bachelor party that would deliver everything on his extensive list of requests. Ted and Marshall were at a dead-end in their planning attempts, believing it would be impossible to plan a truly thrilling bachelor party for a man whose daily existence resulted in raunchier outcomes than most bachelor parties. Cue Robin, who proposes that they give him his perfect bachelor party by giving him the worst day of his life, fulfilling every demand on his list, but in twisted ways. Ultimately, Barney would be clued in to the con, at which point they'd throw him a proper celebration. This is exactly what happens, with the surprise party being thrown in Barney's apartment, with his mother, Robin, Quinn, Ted, Marshall, Lily and Ralph Macchio present -- as well as the clown, who removes his makeup to reveal he's been William Zabka this whole time. Barney has pulled his fair share of long cons, so it's fitting to see him so thoroughly played by Robin here, particularly after playing her with "The Robin."
Credit: CBS
"The Bro Mitzvah" is uniformly terrific, and makes for a nice transition into the endgame of the season. I wish more of this season had featured episodes that blended comedy with narrative efficiency as well as this. This isn't to say that the season has been bad, but simply that this episode represented a return to form for How I Met Your Mother, recalling how effective the show could be at pulling off a complicated comedic plot that utilizes its tremendous ensemble. I sincerely hope the final season is packed with episodes that use their half-hour runtime this well.
