5.7/10. This episode basically has two genuinely good moments. The first is Barney's speech at the beginning, which again, feels like the genuine side of him that the relationship between Barney and Robin was and is mostly missing, but which is problematic for reasons we'll get to a little ways down the road. The second is the tag where Marshall and Lily get revenge on Ted by taking his daughter to do a bunch of her firsts. It's the kind of timeline-jumping gag that this show is pretty unique in being able to pull off.
But the rest of it is a reaaaaallll mixed bag. There's meat to the idea that Robin only wants something when she's told she can't have it. (And it even ties into Barney and Robin's previous deal at the end of S3.) But Robin turns into the broad crush-having-machine so quickly that it doesn't click. Her trying to run plays is a nice change of pace, but in contrast to that speech, it's all a big Road Runner chase, so the lack of a grain of realness into it robs it of its power, comedically or dramatically.
At the same time, Ted's realization that he was making Marvin his "baby" now that the GNB building, his prior "baby" is done is a nice enough emotional beat for the character. (And it led to the other good comedic moment -- Marshall explaining why Ted cannot give his lollypop to a kid at the pool), but the jokes weren't really there and the ramping up to get to that point is a little easy. The C-story with Barney's Bro Bibs is pretty slight, but it's good enough for a larf.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-08-21T17:00:03Z
5.7/10. This episode basically has two genuinely good moments. The first is Barney's speech at the beginning, which again, feels like the genuine side of him that the relationship between Barney and Robin was and is mostly missing, but which is problematic for reasons we'll get to a little ways down the road. The second is the tag where Marshall and Lily get revenge on Ted by taking his daughter to do a bunch of her firsts. It's the kind of timeline-jumping gag that this show is pretty unique in being able to pull off.
But the rest of it is a reaaaaallll mixed bag. There's meat to the idea that Robin only wants something when she's told she can't have it. (And it even ties into Barney and Robin's previous deal at the end of S3.) But Robin turns into the broad crush-having-machine so quickly that it doesn't click. Her trying to run plays is a nice change of pace, but in contrast to that speech, it's all a big Road Runner chase, so the lack of a grain of realness into it robs it of its power, comedically or dramatically.
At the same time, Ted's realization that he was making Marvin his "baby" now that the GNB building, his prior "baby" is done is a nice enough emotional beat for the character. (And it led to the other good comedic moment -- Marshall explaining why Ted cannot give his lollypop to a kid at the pool), but the jokes weren't really there and the ramping up to get to that point is a little easy. The C-story with Barney's Bro Bibs is pretty slight, but it's good enough for a larf.