It happens to almost any sitcom. At some point, as the regular stories about normal human interactions become exhausted, you resort to more and more cartoonish, outlandish bits to keep the momentum going. HIMYM has always had a certain magical realism vibe to it, and that was charming and one of the things that made the show stand out from its staid sitcom brethren, but in episodes like this one you can see that sensibility going off the rails and severing the show's tie to reality in the process.
To wit, the whole "different alcohols magically make you different kinds of drunk" is a cute idea, but one that goes so far into crazyland that it can't sustain any character or narrative within it. It just becomes a series of loosely connected gags that feel entirely rudderless. And the fact that the show lampshaded itself turning subtext into text doesn't make Barney and Marshall just stating their internal motivations any less clumsy. Even Lily and Robin seemed more caricatured and all-around broader than normal.
And the bit with Ted and Zoe in the Arcadia fell flat as well. Zoe's monologue about having grown up there is out of nowhere and feels pretty strained as a means to get Ted over to her side, and the whole "we're turning this car around and spending a night at the old abandoned building to teach you a lesson" is another dumb sitcom cliche type deal. Hell, even the whole cock-a-mouse thing, which was never exactly grounded humor, felt wackier this time around.
That's the problem with a tone like HIMYM's. At its best, the show feels like it takes place in the real world, with a few more out there or absurd elements that give it an accent or character of fun and whimsy. But as the show leans more into that, it just begins to feel like a cartoon world where no rules apply and nobody acts like a human being anymore, let alone the characters we knew. It's a rough go, and a bad sign for the show going forward.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-06-24T18:07:15Z
It happens to almost any sitcom. At some point, as the regular stories about normal human interactions become exhausted, you resort to more and more cartoonish, outlandish bits to keep the momentum going. HIMYM has always had a certain magical realism vibe to it, and that was charming and one of the things that made the show stand out from its staid sitcom brethren, but in episodes like this one you can see that sensibility going off the rails and severing the show's tie to reality in the process.
To wit, the whole "different alcohols magically make you different kinds of drunk" is a cute idea, but one that goes so far into crazyland that it can't sustain any character or narrative within it. It just becomes a series of loosely connected gags that feel entirely rudderless. And the fact that the show lampshaded itself turning subtext into text doesn't make Barney and Marshall just stating their internal motivations any less clumsy. Even Lily and Robin seemed more caricatured and all-around broader than normal.
And the bit with Ted and Zoe in the Arcadia fell flat as well. Zoe's monologue about having grown up there is out of nowhere and feels pretty strained as a means to get Ted over to her side, and the whole "we're turning this car around and spending a night at the old abandoned building to teach you a lesson" is another dumb sitcom cliche type deal. Hell, even the whole cock-a-mouse thing, which was never exactly grounded humor, felt wackier this time around.
That's the problem with a tone like HIMYM's. At its best, the show feels like it takes place in the real world, with a few more out there or absurd elements that give it an accent or character of fun and whimsy. But as the show leans more into that, it just begins to feel like a cartoon world where no rules apply and nobody acts like a human being anymore, let alone the characters we knew. It's a rough go, and a bad sign for the show going forward.