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How I Met Your Mother – “Disaster Averted” (B)

You’re playing a dangerous game How I Met Your Mother...

A good 80% of “Disaster Averted” was sheer nonsense. Unfocused, uninspired, nonsense. But... and this is really where the writers were crafty, they gave us just enough story momentum, just enough of that slap bet magic, that I couldn’t help smiling to myself when it was all over and done with. It’s a cheap trick, but it worked... this time anyway.

Let’s start with what I didn’t like since it’s going to be tough to do it once I get into the ending. First off, Marshall’s Edgar Allen Poe bit got old very fast. I can forgive the first couple of jokes, but the bear attacks were stupid, and its effect on Lily – all that smothering – just seemed really forced. Plus there’s something off about the continuity of them conceiving their kid in that bathroom. Hurricane Irene was in late August, wasn’t it?

What’s worse is that after that initial Edgar Allen Poe monologue, the one where the music got intense and the camera crept in on Marshall’s face, the writers decided to keep using the technique completely out of context. They stripped the gag of its meaning and then just threw it out there hoping for a few cheap laughs... not good.

And there were a few more things along those lines I didn’t like, but they don’t seem worth getting into right now and honestly, I can’t wait to talk about it – slap bet’s back you guys! I’m so happy the writers worked that into the episode. Slap bet is one of my all time favourite How I Met Your Mother memories and with Marshall only having one slap left, it hasn’t made it onto to the show in a while. But this is great news – the writers managed to give us not one, but two slaps in this episode and still had the good sense to leave Marshall a spare for future use. If he’d just used up his last slap it would have been bittersweet, but now he can slap away and still have one left for, dare I say, the series finale... I think that may be how important slap bet is to the series.

Of course I can’t forget Robin and Barney hooking up in the cab. I kind of wish there was a little more build up to that moment – it really did come out of nowhere – but I was happy to see it happen. I may be alone in this but I’ve always been rooting for that couple. Though if I were to make my big call for next week I’d say that Barney’s going to renege on the kiss and he and Robin are going to play the will-they won’t-they game for a little while longer.

Alright, now for my favourite lines:

TED: If we don’t make it through the night I want you guys to know, and I really mean this, I wish I’d branched out and made more friends in my 20s.

TED: Pink is just easier to spot from the rescue chopper.

And line of the night:

BARNEY: I think I need to go home and re-evaluate how I make life decisions.

House – “The Confession” (B-)

“The Confession” was an improvement over last week’s lackluster affair, but I’m still not really feeling House this season. It’s no secret that the show’s been on the decline for a while now, but I was kind of hoping, what with all the talk of this being the last season, that the writers would break the mould a little and give us something we haven’t seen before. Perhaps they just need to get the confirmation that this is it before they go ahead with the big send off, but business as usual just isn’t cutting it anymore.

I was disappointed with the patient story again this week. I’m a big fan of Jamie Bamber going back to his Battlestar days and I didn’t think he was used well in the episode. It seems like it doesn’t really matter what they do with the cases these days, there’s not a whole lot left this show hasn’t already done. Just listen to how apathetically the old team says “everybody lies” and you can tell even the writers know the game is fixed.

Don’t get me wrong though, I was very glad to get Chase and Taub back. They really seemed to breathe some new life into the show. I was a big fan of the old team-new team comparisons sprinkled throughout the episode and just watching the two groups interact gave the show some of the intrigue it had been missing of late.

I also thought Chase’s return gave Foreman a chance to break into his new role. Up until this week we’ve really only gotten to see the administrator side of Foreman, and I don’t think I’m saying anything too profound here, but the man is not likeable when he’s in charge. Chase allowed him to let down his guard and open up a bit more, which probably provided the best storyline of the episode.

In the end though it just wasn’t enough to hold my interest. I think the best thing the writers and producers could do right now is commit to ending the series as soon as possible and use the remaining episodes to give these characters the send off they deserve. House probably still makes a ton of money, but from a creative standpoint I think the time has come to walk away.