How I Met Your Mother 9.03 Review: Goodbye New York

Let’s keep this brief, if you have yet to watch last night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother, entitled ‘Last Time in New York’, and wish to do so spoiler free, now would be the time to exit this blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

So we got one more episode into the longest wedding weekend ever, and it wasn’t all that bad. Marshall’s scenes on the road to the wedding were kept blissfully brief. That was not a great part for the season premiere, but kept short actually isn’t completely terrible.

This series still feels to me like it’s a different show this year. No bar, barely any apartment, and not much New York. But I suppose that’s the significance to this episode, not for Ted to say goodbye to New York, but for us. The New York that this series has given us. In that way, it’s rather poignant, but it still makes me nostalgic for the episodes where all the characters interacted with each other at some point in the episode, at least for the most part. This season, the characters have been more separated, and they no longer seem to feel like a whole unit like they did before. Sure, Barney and Robin are getting married, but that doesn’t mean these five people that have been so much apart of each others lives the last near decade aren’t going to stop being friends.

My favourite scenes from this episode were all of the ones surrounding Ted and Lily’s conversation at this new bar, especially all of the scenes in the apartment. Ted has a fair amount of funny moments in this episode that I love. He’s definitely elevated this episode enough to keep it interesting, and not make it feel like this season completely revolves around Barney and Robin’s wedding.

Of all the parts in this episode, I liked the scenes where Barney and Robin are trying to escape their old relatives the least. These scenes were the ones that made me feel especially that this isn’t the same series as last season. They felt like they almost didn’t completely connect the story to whole picture. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that this is the most amount of relatives that have been seen in this series related to just one or two people. Most episodes before this has just been a few relatives, and it’s made it feel like the five core characters had really become each others family. And also the fact that it made me feel like Barney and Robin are still unsure about their relationship because they’re still insecure about whether they’ll want each other when they’re old. I know that this happens a lot with weddings, but when the whole season is about the lead up to that wedding, it can become a bit tedious.

I do have to say that this episode did improve on the last one. I’m still not completely loving where this wedding is being held, other than the bar and patio area, but I’m beginning to get a bit used to it. This setting is so far from where this series has been held before that there is a fair amount of disconnect, but I suppose I’ll just have to get used to it or stop watching. And this is the last season, so I’m certainly not going to stop watching.

My rating: 3 out of 5.

Best Lines:

“Marshall’s driving through Wisconsin?” – Ted asking Lily, after hearing a bullhorn through the phone. A fun little ‘I know this guy well’ reaction.

“Don’t say buffet, it attracts old people. Same goes for coupons, Sixty Minutes, and Mandy Patinkin.” – Robin to Barney. The most comical part being the reference to Mandy Patinkin.

This interaction: “I knew it!” – Ted. “You knew nothing!” – Lily, practically speaking over Ted.

Now I’m off to watch Bones, stay tuned for that review. Then it’s Sleepy Hollow and The Blacklist, most likely in that order.