How do you follow up a stomach punch ending about the death of a close family member when you are writing a comedy? I want really bad to criticize this episode for being to emotional and sappy, but at the same time I'm not sure what choice the writers had. They couldn't just leave Marshal's pain out there and not dealt with but at the same time I tune in to HIMYM to laugh, I tune into other shows to deal with these issues. Like I said in my review of the last episode, I don't mind a little drama mixed in with my sitcom as long as its done well and we don't lose the funny. This episode just felt a little to somber. The Robin storyline was probably the funniest part of the episode and was a good example of finding silly situations amongst the drama. Lilly's joy in being her mother-in-law's bitch was humorous as well. Where I think the writers dropped the ball the most was with Barney and Ted. Humor is an important part of any funeral, many times the mourning benefit from being reminded of the good times, the funny times they spent with their lost one. Showing videos of people getting punched in the nuts was not only not funny, it's lazy and inconsiderate. If anything it made me think of the two as really bad friends. There was humor to be found with these two that could have made the episode a gem but it just didn't happen.
I also found Marshal's fixation over his father's last words poor story continuity, something the show is normally so aware of. I could help but think every time Marshal lamented how poor his father's last words were about the wonderful scene between the two in the previous episode. Why would Marshal focus on the final few words when one of the last conversations he had was so great and comforting? And if the point was that we focus on minor details when we mourn, why wouldn't Lilly or one of the gang point this fact out?
This isn't to take away from the fine acting Jason Segal and Alyson Hannigan have put in over the last two episodes. You don't usually see such good chops in a sitcom. When you add Neil Patrick Harris into the mix, the fine acting is one of the things that puts this show ahead of so many sitcoms on tv.
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