How I Met Your Mother - Recap: Princess Daisy
Recap and review of How I Met Your Mother - Season 9 Episode 20 - Daisy:
I've never been that big a fan of episodes centering on Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan), yet "Daisy" is an effective episode of How I Met Your Mother that focuses on this marriage that has been one of the anchoring relationships of the series. It's not a terribly funny episode or anything, but as we inch closer to the conclusion, I'm really not sure that matters much to me. Sure, HIMYM is still about the journey, and that journey has featured some genuinely funny moments (hell, the return of Billy Zabka tonight made for some amusing callback humor), yet I don't know if the jokes are why anyone is still watching. We're invested in this story, in these characters, and in seeing what the future holds for all of them. And so "Daisy" is a satisfying episode that tells a brisk but emotional story, despite in no way addressing the ill tidings of last week's half-hour. But I didn't really mind, since the episode is anchored by some really strong performances.
Credit: CBS
The story centers on Marshall trying to get to the bottom of where Lily went after their big fight several episodes ago (within the world of the show, it hasn't even been a day). It doesn't take long for Marshall, with the help of Billy Zabka, to piece together that Lily was with The Captain (Kyle MacLachlan) that night. So Marshall, Billy, Ted (Josh Radnor), and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) travel to The Captain's house to confront him and to figure out why Lily came to him, of all people. What follows is a Sherlock Holmes-esque mystery, complete with parlour scene, as Ted deduces the real reason Lily came to The Captain, and luxuriates in drawing out the suspense in that hilariously lame way that only Radnor can (seriously, it's a great performance that returns to the wonderful well of Lame Ted). Per Ted's theory, Lily took up smoking once again, as she always has every time she and Marshall are separated. And so she came to The Captain's house to find a safe haven in which to smoke. He expects that they'll find the telltale cigarette butt inside a potted daisy left by the bathroom windowsill, since Lily would have been environmentally conscious and placed it in the dirt to make biodegradable mulch (eh, just roll with it). Yet when Ted goes to search the daisy soil, he doesn't find a cigarette butt. Instead, he finds a pregnancy test.
Credit: CBS
It's a surprising twist that I didn't see coming, and it's all the more effective for how it recontextualizes past scenes with Marshall and Lily. During their big argument, she stormed out of the room after Marshall implied that their son and "any future children" would be nothing more than a consolation prize to her. He didn't know at the time that she was already wrestling with doubts about her pregnancy, as evidenced by the retcon in which the drinks Lily ordered from Linus were all non-alcoholic (for fear of damaging the fetus). And so when Marshall realizes that Lily is pregnant, he tracks her back to the hotel and basically apologizes for everything he said. Moreover, he gives up the judging position to allow Lily to follow her dream in Italy, since she's giving him his dream by giving him another child. It's all incredibly schmaltzy, but Jason Segel is just such a remarkably earnest performer, really selling the sincerity of his affection for Lily. And Hannigan, in simply reacting to everything and not really being all that active this week, makes Lily infinitely more likable. As the flashforward to a year later illustrates, not only do Marshall and Lily have a wonderful life in Italy, speaking fluent Italian, but they've also had a daughter. The baby's name? Daisy. (And her caretakers? Lily's Dad and Marshall's Mom, who've taken their relationship to the next level) Such storylines run the risk of being too overwrought and melodramatic, but I felt this was pretty much the perfect balance of sweetness and sincerity.
Credit: CBS
The B-story this week features the arrival of Robin's Mother (Tracey Ullman), whose fear of flying almost kept her from coming. And yet, her presence is valuable in how it prompts Robin (Cobie Smulders) to reconsider her relationship with Barney, which makes for a dramatically intriguing subplot: as her mother tells her, she needs someone in her life on whom she can depend, someone who makes her feel safe. And the look in Robin's eyes seems to suggest that Barney may not be that person. In fact, when her mother asks her if she does have a dependable guy in her life, she thinks about it for a bit and says "I do." It just comes across as though she was thinking about Ted in that moment, and that might be a lot to extrapolate from a look, but Smulders is the kind of actress who can make a lot out of a simple look. And Ullman is every bit as good, taking a character that could be little more than a caricature, and finding the very human, motherly center.
Ultimately, while I didn't really laugh much, "Daisy" was a narratively satisfying episode of How I Met Your Mother. And at this stage of the game, that's all I really want or expect from it, weird as that might be to say.