“Last Words” is the type of television episode that makes you want to get in the car, find your dad, and give him a great big hug. One of the reasons that I’m not, as a rule, a fan of sitcoms, is they all eventually get to the “Very Special Episode.” Just those words bring back terrible nightmares of Jesse Spano singing “I’m So Excited” or any time Home Improvement tried to do a dramatic story. The “Last Words” episode of How I Met Your Mother however, is the exception to the rule. As Deb said in her preview post, the writers and actors managed well in balancing the drama and the comedy, and churned out a darn good thirty minutes of television.
I hate that feeling of helplessness when you were in the position that Ted, Lily, Robin, and Barney were in. All you want to do is to support and love your friend, but more often than not, your efforts can’t even begin to be appreciated. Be it the familial obligations, or just not being emotionally ready, the person you’re trying to help is simply isolated, and you end up searching for ways to be helpful. As often as not, you strike out, like Ted and Barney did. I’m not sure why anyone finds videos of people getting hit in groin funny, but hey, I guess it was worth a shot.
Much more successful, though, were the efforts of Lily and Robin. The Mary Poppins reference about our favorite Canadian’s bag was right on the mark. By the time she pulled out a copy of Crocodile Dundee 3 I began to wonder how thoroughly she might have packed for the trip (Funny side note: It is actually called Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles). Lily, though, smartly discovered that being Judy Eriksen’s whipping post for the day was where she belonged.
Speaking of Lily, I mentioned it last week, and feel the need to say it again now: Jason Segel has gotten quite a bit of (well-deserved) credit for his performance last week, and will so again this week. But, in this humble blogger’s opinion, it was Alyson Hannigan’s performance that crushed my heart to a pulp. She does sad face better than anyone I know.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Have you called your father yet to tell him how much you love him?
Notes & Quotes
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Jan 17, 2011 @ 20:30 EST5EDT
I agree about Lily … at the end of the last episode, when she told Marshall about his dad, she was heartbreaking.
What I read about Braeden makes him sound not as bad … he had hip surgery three weeks before, and was exhausted b/c he was back working on Young and the Restless. So when he found it was only 2 lines (granted, the night before shooting) he begged out.
Agree about the “big reveal” –wasn’t huge.
*POST AUTHOR*
I guess, Deb, but my question is why didn’t that story come out in the first place?
More to my point, if it was such a small role, filming would have only take a short period, and I’m sure the producers would have worked around his schedule. I’m sure it would have been real tough on his hip to sit in a chair the whole time during filming.
Agree with Debbie on all.
I really enjoyed how they dealt with death while neither making a mockery of it (well, not much) nor forgot that it’s a comedy show. The characters felt real, even Robin and her bottomless purse.
How could you not point out the reference to Shawshank redemption…
Random Person: “I hear you’re a woman who can get things”
Robyn: “I’ve been known to locate certain objects from time to time”
*POST AUTHOR*
I guess I missed it. I’ve not watched Shawshank in a long, long time.
Thanks for the catch, though!!