8.5/10. Very enjoyable episode. Getting to see Barney's origin story, while a little corny, was a great opportunity to parcel out a fun if exaggerated tale about how Barney became Barney, and the premise that he needed other embarrassing stories to motivate him to keep going was a great way to do some fun little one-scene-wonder sketches and even a light retcon. One of the nice things about the first season is that Barney is just Barney, this reprehensible yet charming cartoon character in the lives of the rest of these relatively normal people, and the show doesn't shy away from that. They get the cartoonishness of him just right to where his awful stuff feels like a parody rather than approval. It's a tough tone to strike, but this episode manages it, and even fills in a little heart with Marshall and Lily trying to scope out Victoria and Ted having to confess his prior romantic entanglement with Robin.
Shout by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2016-01-30T05:28:26Z
8.5/10. Very enjoyable episode. Getting to see Barney's origin story, while a little corny, was a great opportunity to parcel out a fun if exaggerated tale about how Barney became Barney, and the premise that he needed other embarrassing stories to motivate him to keep going was a great way to do some fun little one-scene-wonder sketches and even a light retcon. One of the nice things about the first season is that Barney is just Barney, this reprehensible yet charming cartoon character in the lives of the rest of these relatively normal people, and the show doesn't shy away from that. They get the cartoonishness of him just right to where his awful stuff feels like a parody rather than approval. It's a tough tone to strike, but this episode manages it, and even fills in a little heart with Marshall and Lily trying to scope out Victoria and Ted having to confess his prior romantic entanglement with Robin.