HIMYM: Are Comedies Allowed To Be Serious?

How I Met Your Mother had another serious episode this past week, ‘Last Words’.  While the ending didn’t slap us in the face like ‘Bad News’ did (yes I did use slap on purpose) the episode was definitely not one to take lightly.  Now considering HIMYM is my favorite TV show, I read a lot of blogs, tweets, posts (you name it- I probably read it) about it.  I’m always interested to see how fans react to the episodes.  And the fan reaction to these serious episodes is definitely interesting.

When ‘Bad News’ aired people started freaking out.  They didn’t understand why a comedy would have something so sad in it (has no one seen Scrubs?).  Like I said in my last post, people need to realize that How I Met Your Mother tells a story.  Things aren’t sugarcoated for the viewer…ever.  Even when Bob Saget future Ted tries to gloss things over for his kids, the audience still always sees what is actually happening.  Yes we might see sandwiches instead of bongs…but hey we know what is going on.  Anyway, back to my point:  because HIMYM is told as a story it is going to have high points and low points.  That is the main reason why so many people love this show; they can relate to it. 

I recently read an interview with Craig and Carter (I told you I read a lot about this show).  They said that they chose to have one of the characters suffer a major loss because HIMYM covers major milestones…and unfortunately, no matter what your age is, loss of a loved one is typically a milestone most people experience.  I personally love that they included it- like I keep saying it makes the show feel more real.  But anyway enough about that, let’s get back to the show at hand.

When ‘Last Words’ aired I looked around to see what people thought of that episode.  To me it was definitely another tear jerker—I mean come on it was a funeral.  But in my opinion, despite the episode revolving around something so somber, they did it in their classic “HIMYM way.”  Robin was hilarious as Vice Girl.  She literally had everything in that purse (including Crocodile Dundee 3)! I was cracking up when Lily said she was fine because Robin gave her some orange pill and it “really got the juices flowing.”  Also, Ted and Barney handled the situation exactly like you would expect- they tried to make their best friend laugh with immature jokes and live theatre.  Basically the only sad part was Marshall…and again what would you expect? His father just died!  And to me, seeing Jason Segel playing such a serious role makes me appreciate him even more.  He portrayed the loss of his dad so realistically which is the reason I was crying at the end.

So for those of you who didn’t see the last episode and don’t know what happened towards the end (although I don’t know why you would still be reading this if you didn’t see it…I bet you’re highly confused) the theme of the episode was last words.  Marshall was trying to recall the last words his father ever said to him.  He kept remembering random things from his dad’s visit- so he wasn’t quite sure exactly what his dad had last said to him.  But finally, he found out he had a voicemail from his dad- which would truly be the last words spoken from his dad that Marshall would ever hear.

Sidebar- Marshall didn’t get the voicemail because his phone had been dead.  In ‘Bad News’ he uses a cell phone to call his dad, after his dad had already died.  A lot of people thought this was a goof because how could Marshall call his father then and not see there was a voicemail?  Well if you think back he used Ted’s phone to call his dad.  I thought this was a really smooth move by the writers.  I love that they are always thinking ahead!

So Marshall goes back and forth the whole episode deciding whether or not to listen to the message.  Finally when he listens to it, it is a pocket dial.  A freaking pocket dial.  Obviously Marshall flips and Lily cries (so I cried too) which leads to an extremely sad scene.  I’m sure a lot of the anti-serious fans were pretty pissed by this point.  But finally after Marshall basically tells God off, his father’s voice comes through.  He tells Marshall that he loves him…and talks about his foot fungus…but he tells Marshall that he loves him!  It was beautiful.  It was well written.  It was HIMYM. 

Towards the end we see all of the characters call their dads- except for Barney.  Barney calls his mom…but tells her he wants to finally meet his dad.  This is HUGE.  People were upset about this too because they thought it took the spotlight away from Marshall, but it was so heartwarming to me.  Barney has clearly been struggling with this forever, and now this situation finally gives him the push he needs. 

Now as I always say, everyone here is entitled to their own opinions.  I am The TV Referee, not The TV Expert, but I definitely have my own opinion.  I thought this episode was freaking brilliant.  It was funny at times and serious at others.  It had character development.  Like I keep saying it was classic How I Met Your Mother…and to me this episode was a big fat WIN!