How I Met Your Mother: The Bro Mitzvah (8x22)

Okay... I didn't hate this episode. It had a lot of funny moments in it. What I mainly disliked was the overall premise, and that seems like a pretty big problem to me. I guess my issue was that I was never once fooled. I knew the whole thing was going to be a fake-out from the minute I saw the crappy hotel room that Marshall and Ted had gotten for Barney's bachelor party. It was a setup that I've seen before in this show and in others, and I guess I just wanted more from this show as we close in on the finale of the season.

I'll list all of the jokes/moments that I did like, because to be fair there were quite a few. Barney is describing what a night out with his mother will entail for the young couple. "I love Barney the most, no I love Barney the most!" To which Robin replies "I know, I might not even get a chance to talk!"

During the flashback scene with Quinn, she says "There's a good chance our engagement doesn't work out, isn't there?" Barney replies "Not now, honey."

Ted and Marshall arguing over who Barney would chose to use as collateral during the poker game was pretty funny. Lily's exclamation: "You sold my husband?!" was also pretty spot-on.

Barney's mother saying "You're a dirty hoe bag just like me!"

I also liked the call-back to the earlier joke about Barney rooting for movie villains. He lists some of these villains, including among them Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker. All of the similarities between Barney and Ralph Macchio were pretty hilarious, and I do admire the show for getting him on board. The best moment in the entire episode was the reveal that the clown had been William Zabka the whole time. I will admit I did not at all see that coming. 

I also enjoyed seeing Quinn again. She was a fun character and it was good to have her back, even if the reasoning behind it was stupid. And that, of course, is my biggest problem. The plot was so flimsy and contrived, even by this show's standards, that even a bunch of funny jokes couldn't save it entirely.

Barney's fake-out at the end, wherein he pretended to be angry but then was happy with the surprise... I have seen so many shows do this. In fact, Castle just did it recently. I suppose my main issue was the framing device of the episode itself. There just could have been a more creative premise to hold all these jokes. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't great either.

6.5/10