How I Met Your Mother - Recap: The Too-Many-Manhattans Project
Recap and review of How I Met Your Mother - Season 9 Episode 18 - Rally:
I suppose I could question the wisdom of How I Met Your Mother deciding to do such a light episode this close to the series finale, but I also realize that, as we get closer to the end, we'll have fewer opportunities to have these sorts of quirky adventures. "Rally" is probably one of the last times we'll get to see the gang team up for a wacky episode that isn't a heartstring-tugger, but makes up for what it lacks in poignancy with fun.
Credit: CBS
The plot of the episode basically centers on the gang uniting to bring Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) out of his alcohol-induced stupor in time for his wedding photos. In order to do this, the gang tries to piece together the ingredients for Barney's famous Stinson Hangover Fixer Elixir. Over the years, Barney has given them the background of the drink, forged by Dr. Stinsonheimer, a play on Robert J. Oppenheimer, the man who fronted The Manhattan Project. The "Too-Many-Manhattans Project" features Barney's ancestor concocting the brew from a series of insane ingredients (including Funyuns!) and winning the "Brobel Prize" in the process. It's a great little anecdote that kicks off a fairly incisive little story...
Credit: CBS
While the gang each vows never to get as drunk as Barney again, Future Ted (Bob Saget) recounts all the times they inevitably would, as Barney and Robin end up hungover in a stranger's hotel room during a trip to Buenos Aires in 2016, Lily becomes consumed with motherly affection when young Marvin leaves for college, and Marshall drowns his sorrows after nearly losing his race for re-election as judge, only to then win and deliver an embarrassing victory speech (in a great bit of "drunk acting" from Jason Segel). Yet Future Ted also recounts all the times Barney nursed them back to health over the years with the Stinson Hangover Fixer Elixir, and it's these callbacks that become most important later, since there was much more going on beneath the surface than Barney simply pushing his own family legend forward. In fact, the eventual reveal at the end of the episode is what makes the entire adventure feel far more substantive than it probably should have, given that it was about snapping a guy out of a hangover.
Credit: CBS
But in the meantime, there are plenty of other wonderful little moments spread out across the half-hour. Ted (Josh Radnor) and Marshall (Jason Segel) attempt to figure out the secret ingredient for the elixir while Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) try to think of ways to snap Barney out of his stupor. Both tasks are easier said than done, but it leads to some funny stuff, from the idea of doing "Weekend at Barney's" wedding photos, to Ted trying bacon for the first time after spending a lifetime believing his mother's lies about being allergic. Also fantastic is the little subplot in which Lily and Robin decide to make out in order to snap Barney back to life, and it's a moment Lily has pretty much wanted since the series began. Lily's attraction to Robin has always played out in the background of the series, but it comes back to the fore in interesting ways here. Their kiss works, but it's all too brief on Robin's end: in essence, Robin becomes the new Lily, as she's the one whose attraction is now unrequited. She tries to make up a reason for Lily to make out with her again, but Lily ultimately feels it was an experience she only needed to try once. Smulders and Hannigan are a great pairing here, winningly awkward around one another. But I'd argue Radnor wins the episode for his bacon indulgence, as Ted proclaims his regret at never having experienced bacon before: "My mother had the road map to Heaven all this time and she never showed me the way!" Tremendous.
Yet the laughs are bolstered by the fairly poignant narrative underneath, as Barney drunkenly admits that the secret ingredient to the Fixer Elixir is...nothing. As we see in flashbacks, Barney elixir is mostly encouragement. After Ted is ditched at the altar by Stella, before Robin returns to the airwaves for the first time in what seems like forever, and all the other times Barney nursed a friend in need, the elixir was always secondary to simply being there for a loved one. His drunken declaration of why he lied to them is, quite simply, "I love you guys." It was important for Barney's friends to believe in the lie of the elixir, and to believe in themselves instead of believing in some outside force to put them back together. Sure, Barney helps, but it's ultimately Ted, Robin, Lily, and Marshall who all come to the decision to get back on their feet and fix their own respective lives, and it's a choice compelled the help Barney provides. It's an endearing little storyline that is reflected in the conclusion of the episode, as the gang vows never to get so excessively drunk again, only for us to flash forward to New Year's Eve several years later, in which Ted nurses The Mother (Cristin Milioti) back to health with the elixir -- and she almost immediately recognizes it's simply a way of saying "I love you". Their kids rush in, and it's the kind of idyllic scene of wedded bliss that Ted's story has been driving towards for these nine seasons. And it was worth the wait.
Credit: CBS
"Rally" is a fun little episode that marks one of the last full-fledged adventures we're likely to have with the gang before things start getting serious. With a little more than a month to go until the series finale, but How I Met Your Mother is still delivering the familiar. And I'm not complaining about that at all.