HIMYM 7x13: Tailgate

Original Air Date: 2 January 2012

Storyline: After celebrating New Year's Eve, Marshall visits his father's graveside to carry on their tradition of tailgating. Meanwhile, Barney and Ted open a bar called "Puzzles," and Robin is forced to fill in for an inebriated news anchor.Best quote:  

Sandy: I don't know what went wrong. Robin: Well proposing a three way was bad, starting without us was worse, finishing in the hallway was the nail in the coffin.

The Ted Mosby:  It's funny, but it seems each time I read James Joyce's "Ulysses", it's a different book, begging the question: Has the book changed... or have I?

The Review: It's a bad sign when you start tearing up at the end of a sitcom episode. A really, really bad sign. It's like watching the fiasco of the last couple of seasons of Friends all over again. And yeah, I know the many Friends fans will hate me, but it was awful back than and it's awful now. I've been complaining about How I Met Your Mother before, but this season has to be the worst ever. And If I'm still complaining about stuff, here's a question for all of you lovely fans of the show: did the producers tell Allyson Hannigan that if she wanted to get pregnant again, this would be a really good time to do that? Not that I'm not happy for the Denisof family, but wouldn't it have been funny if she played a pregnant woman while not being pregnant, after playing a non-pregnant one when, in fact, she was pregnant? Oh man, even I'm losing the trail.

But speaking of the Denisofs, Alexis reprised his role as Sandy Rivers, being the source of one of the few funny moments of the week with his unsuccessful threesome. And that makes me want to see Angel again. There's just not enough time in a day.Among my many complaints about this episode, doing yet another New Year's Eve one is the least of them all. And there's nothing bad in throwing in a little emotion (not to mention I welcomed both Bill Fagerbakke and Chris Elliott), but I felt the Marshall part of the episode - at least the tailgating part - was less than well done. And I won't even go into the predictability of the little Aldrin family drama.
Actually, Marshall was overall annoying. You simply must love his little quirks, but it's borderline absurd to be a grown man who insists on screwing up his kid with the stupid "Enigmas of The Mystical". But he did have one of the best lines of the season, one that I've quickly saved as future Facebook status (yep, I'm one of those people)... "Faith is what gives life shape and meaning. I mean, if there aren't yetis or leprechauns, what's the point of even getting up in the morning?".
I will just go past any Robin reference, since she's become one of the most annoying characters on TV ever, and move to my favorite part of the episode. It involved the return of a classic, and no, I'm not talking about Doug (sans the toupee, I might add). It's Puzzles, ladies and gentleman, the best idea Ted and Barney ever had, and with it a little bit of the old Barney (even though I can't even remember his last "legen... wait for it... dary"). The theme song was probably the best thing out there this week and it reminded me of the shy beginnings, when Ted was Barney's bro. Oh, the good old times...
The question of the week is still why the party hats were wet. In perfect HIMYM fashion, I bet this will be another goat episode, revisited sometime in the future, but for now, I just say "boo" for not revealing that.