TMC
05-18-2011, 01:41 AM
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/how-i-met-your-m other-challenge-accepted-dont-make-me-puke
And, again, I don't care about the future anymore. The "HIMYM" episodes that worked this season - that had me defending the show at a time when many of you seemed upset that I wasn't bashing it on a weekly basis - were the ones that were about moments in the present, like the death of Marshall's father, or the present and the past, like "Blitzgiving." The show hasn't had a good relationship with the future for a while, where the hints are often more fun than the payoffs, and/or when the payoffs come so far down the line as to be pointless. In the show's early days, for instance, I'd be pleased to know that Lily's pregnancy is now established so we can find out why Ted was wearing the green dress in that scene from "The Mermaid Theory," but I'm struggling to think of the last thing Future Ted told us would be coming soon that I actually enjoyed when it came.
Somebody asked me on Twitter the other day if I think Bays and Thomas lied to the critics who attended that intimate little mea culpa session at last summer's press tour. I don't think so at all. I think they did recognize that season 5 didn't work, and they made efforts to do better this year - and at times, they succeeded. There were both good story arcs and individual episodes this season, and on the whole I do think it was a notable improvement from season 5.
At the same time, I think Bays and Thomas grossly miscalculated with the appeal of the Zoey storyline, then didn't know how to back out of it gracefully. That's no fundamental sin, even if a lot of it wasn't pleasant to watch. But I'd really like to meet the Mother already, because I think the show is going to continue writing other Ted stories until she turns up, and because, again, the show has become much better at telling stories in the moment than at bending the timeline to its whims. And now that they've explicitly tied the meeting to Barney's wedding (rather than Punchy's, which could happen at any point next season), we're still going to have to wait a while to get there (or else Barney's going to need a major personality transplant).
So... I don't know. I'll be back in the fall, both for the characters and for those episodes where the show works the way it used to. But my expectations are going to be modest, until or unless the writers decide that a lot of their games have outlived their usefulness and it's time to move the show forward. Bays told Joe Adalian that "we're in the twilight of the show." The two-season renewal won't definitely mark the end, but it easily could. The other characters seem to be moving forward significantly. Lily and Marshall are going to have a baby. Barney is letting go of his commitment issues and will be getting married at some point. At this late stage, not only is it not going to wreck things if Ted meets the Mother; I think it's the show's best chance to stay creatively relevant in this twilight.
What did everybody else think?
And, again, I don't care about the future anymore. The "HIMYM" episodes that worked this season - that had me defending the show at a time when many of you seemed upset that I wasn't bashing it on a weekly basis - were the ones that were about moments in the present, like the death of Marshall's father, or the present and the past, like "Blitzgiving." The show hasn't had a good relationship with the future for a while, where the hints are often more fun than the payoffs, and/or when the payoffs come so far down the line as to be pointless. In the show's early days, for instance, I'd be pleased to know that Lily's pregnancy is now established so we can find out why Ted was wearing the green dress in that scene from "The Mermaid Theory," but I'm struggling to think of the last thing Future Ted told us would be coming soon that I actually enjoyed when it came.
Somebody asked me on Twitter the other day if I think Bays and Thomas lied to the critics who attended that intimate little mea culpa session at last summer's press tour. I don't think so at all. I think they did recognize that season 5 didn't work, and they made efforts to do better this year - and at times, they succeeded. There were both good story arcs and individual episodes this season, and on the whole I do think it was a notable improvement from season 5.
At the same time, I think Bays and Thomas grossly miscalculated with the appeal of the Zoey storyline, then didn't know how to back out of it gracefully. That's no fundamental sin, even if a lot of it wasn't pleasant to watch. But I'd really like to meet the Mother already, because I think the show is going to continue writing other Ted stories until she turns up, and because, again, the show has become much better at telling stories in the moment than at bending the timeline to its whims. And now that they've explicitly tied the meeting to Barney's wedding (rather than Punchy's, which could happen at any point next season), we're still going to have to wait a while to get there (or else Barney's going to need a major personality transplant).
So... I don't know. I'll be back in the fall, both for the characters and for those episodes where the show works the way it used to. But my expectations are going to be modest, until or unless the writers decide that a lot of their games have outlived their usefulness and it's time to move the show forward. Bays told Joe Adalian that "we're in the twilight of the show." The two-season renewal won't definitely mark the end, but it easily could. The other characters seem to be moving forward significantly. Lily and Marshall are going to have a baby. Barney is letting go of his commitment issues and will be getting married at some point. At this late stage, not only is it not going to wreck things if Ted meets the Mother; I think it's the show's best chance to stay creatively relevant in this twilight.
What did everybody else think?