How I Met Your Mother - Recap: Yes We Canada
Recap and review of How I Met Your Mother - Season 9 Episode 12 - The Rehearsal Dinner:
This was a pretty fun episode for How I Met Your Mother, and given the relative lack of forward plot momentum on the overall story of the season, I wasn't expecting the show to stay in "mostly fun" mode. But I don't really mean this as a criticism. Maybe if the next episode avoids moving the story forward in meaningful fashion (i.e., having other members of the group meet The Mother; showing us more of Ted's life with The Mother; addressing some of the lingering issues of the season more directly, such as Lily and Marshall's troubles), then there will be cause for concern. But we're still in the first half of the season, so I'm a bit more receptive to the easy pace. It certainly helps that the show is able to keep the laughs consistent. "The Rehearsal Dinner" is another fine example of how the show has remained consistently strong throughout this final season.
The episode centered on Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) planning their rehearsal dinner, only for everything going awry in spectacular fashion. Basically, Robin becomes furious when Barney uses increasingly desperate logic to convince himself that Robin has planned a laser tag-themed rehearsal dinner for him, duping himself into believing it's one big surprise just waiting around the corner for him. Barney ends up handcuffed in a security guard's office, having been caught snooping to discover what Robin has been up to. The story is well-worn territory as there's no way this can just be a situation of Barney misunderstanding Robin, and their relationship changing as a result. One or the other has to be up to something. Of course the question is whether it's Barney or Robin: is she really planning an elaborate rehearsal dinner for him, or is Barney the one who's got something up his sleeve? It's not terribly hard to piece it all out, given the history of this relationship, but the journey to the inevitable conclusion is pretty funny.
Credit: CBS
For instance, there's the list of Barney's terrible ideas, from gluten-free edible panties to single-malt scotch tape. He even apparently decided to run for Mayor once, which isn't all that surprising when you think of Barney Stinson's loftier ambitions. As for Robin, she planned on Canada as their wedding location, prompting the gang to rattle off a bunch of Canada jokes that are so corny they almost work ("Are you going to walk down the aisle in snow shoes?"). There's even a great, show-long bit in which Ted (Josh Radnor) is shown learning piano while dressed as Liberace, in preparation for Barney and Robin's nuptials, once again taking advantage of Ted's hilarious flair for theatricality. But this is all window-dressing for the exploration of Barney and Robin's relationship, as so much of their pairing is based in deception: at this rate, he's tricking her just to have fun, such as when he fakes calling off the wedding just to surprise her with a suitcase full of puppies.
Credit: CBS
From Barney's proposal to Robin's planned bachelor party, so much of their relationship is built on a foundation of dishonesty...and it's not different here, as we learn that Barney faked the whole laser tag scenario to reveal a special rehearsal dinner for Robin. It takes place on a hockey rink and features Alan Thicke singing "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies. In essence, because he knew Robin couldn't have her wedding in Canada, he brought Canada to her. Why he couldn't have just told her that, without all the deception, is beyond me. But Robin seems satisfied with it, so it seems as though she doesn't mind as much that their relationship is founded in trickery so long as the tricks work. It's a cute kind of dynamic that would be creepy if just about anyone other than Harris and Smulders were called upon to perform it.
Credit: CBS
As for the rest of the episode, we get a bit more detail on Lily's plight as a keeper of secrets (a bad keeper of secrets, but a keeper nonetheless). Lily has still not told anyone about Ted's decision to move to Chicago, but she does tell Ted about Marshall's job offer. And we learn that she's already made up her mind, despite having not told Marshall what it is yet: she's not going to Italy. Even though she hates having to give it up, she doesn't want to cost Marshall the job of his dreams. It shows a selflessness that only rarely comes out from Lily, and I think the episode questions whether we should want Lily to give up her dream so easily. But then again, she did leave Marshall to go study in San Francisco for a year. Both Marshall and Lily have sacrificed for one another, and while it's a difficult situation for everyone involved, I'm not certain who the show wants us to side with, and I like that ambiguity. It makes for a more interesting storyline that we could, conceivably, side with either Marshall or Lily in this situation. I've never been all that wild about their storyline this season, but it's slowly starting to come into focus.
"The Rehearsal Dinner" is a fun episode in a consistent season for How I Met Your Mother. I'm enthusiastic to see where the rest of the season is headed.