Tuesday, March 31, 2009
I'm Too Old For This SHHHtuff!
How I Met Your Mother: MurtaughSeason 4, Episode 19
You have to love an ensemble sitcom. This week's episode just shows how a strong cast can mean nonstop laughter throughout. From dealing with children to the idea of coming to terms with getting older, "Murtaugh" had some hilarious scenes for our five New Yorkers to endure. Join me on a clever romp into using a 1980's cop action film as a metaphor for growing up.The show's cold open was priceless. Barney playing laser tag and beating the crap out of prepubescent kids for the opportunity to earn the most tickets was great. I love that they keep Barney as almost this innocent child, who just happens to like to have sex all the time.
After hearing this story, Ted pulls out the Murtaugh List. This list includes all things that Ted is now too old for. Some things on the list include drinking from a beer bong and pulling all nighters, as well dying your hair a crazy color(See: picture above). The namesake of the list is Danny Glover's character from Lethal Weapon, Roger Murtaugh and his famous quote, "I'm too old for this shit." Barney sees the list as a challenge and makes a bet with Ted that he can do everything on it. The challenge begins with Barney running to the bathroom and piercing his ear(which is number one on the list). This leads to Barney going through the rest of the episode with a freakishly ugly red ear.
Meanwhile, Marshall is excited as he is embarking on a new task, taking over Lily's kindergarten basketball team. You have to love the level he takes it with these kids. Channeling Bob Knight, Marshall belittles kids and runs them to the brink. I relate very much to Marshall in this episode, as I myself coach elementary basketball. Marshall does take it too far and the interaction he has with the far more nurturing Lily is great. I think any young couple with long-term intentions run into the problem these two have in dealing with parenting values.
Throughout the episode we see how the entire group must come to terms with their age. Whether it be from growing up, to learning their boundaries. In the end Ted makes a decision to eliminate the list after watching all four Lethal Weapons and realizing that Murtaugh isn't really too old for the shit since he keeps coming back in sequels. Because if he truly was, he would have retired the first time he was on patrol with Riggs. And then Richard Donner wouldn't be wiping his ass with $100 bills.
The high point for the night had to be the basketball game. Since what we see on the screen every week is told through the perspective of Ted's flashbacks, the game is shown how Marshall described it. At the beginning of the game the opposing team (actually only a year older) is shown as a group of high school-level athletes. Mid way through, they morph into college stars and one of them transforms into a "Teen Wolf" and the game gets out of control. How else could Marshall explain that his team lost by over 100 points then for a freakishly hairy man beast to do backflips into dunks. Overall, it was a great episode that truly hit home.
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9 comments:
"The shows cold open was priceless." Do you even know what a possessive is? Apostrophe esss. I know it's a tough thing to grasp, but you should have learned it in grade school. Wait, how old are you? Maybe you are a hyper advanced six-year-old. If that is the the case, I applaud your advanced syntax, if not, go back to fucking school and learn how to write.
The post has been edited.
My biggest issue is that you failed to mention the hilariously cliched interactions between Barney and the Lasertag Supervisor, McKraken (GREAT NAME!) played by Robert Wisdom (a.k.a. Bunny Colvin from The Wire!) Let me get you another copy of that memo.
Sorry for not triple checking myself. I applaud you for having the moxie to stay nameless and critique me. I at least put myself in the public and can come as a man and admit I messed up. But, hey, it's the internet. Anyone can be a genius or a 25 year old bodybuilder with a 12 inch wang.
Ya know Jim, I had that in there and then my internet messed up and when I went back to rewrite I didn't get back to it. I failed to add this has to be my favorite episode of this season.
Agree with your take, I think this episode will go down with my all-time favorites.
You appear to be acquiring fans in my absence. I also quite enjoyed this episode. I apparently missed all the typos and grammar mistakes ... too bad, thanks Jim! You will notice that this was far from a "sitting around talking about their lives" episode, and yet still great! I'm not sure I would classify Barney as an "innocent" child, just a child. The beating the crap out of the kids part kind of eliminates innocent. And how many things can Lily hold in front of her belly? I especially liked the guitar at the game!
Well, Allyson Hannigan(sp?) had the baby. I am not sure if filming of this season has ended or not, but we may get a non-hidden Lily by seasons end. As for Barney, I did use the word ALMOST.
At least you spelled Ms. Hannigan's last name correctly, although her first name is spelled Alyson. It takes less than 30 seconds to look this stuff up. Do you want to be taken seriously? The average fourth grader puts more effort into his/her research. You need to take a step back, read the work of your colleagues on this blog, and learn from their example on all fronts. BTW, no obscurity here.
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