How I Met Your Mother: The Locket (9x01)

So, these first two episodes of How I Met Your Mother played back to back, almost as one continuous episode, but they have different titles and different serial numbers so I'm going to talk about them separately. However, this review and the following one will probably be quite short.

We're back for our final season! I've got to say, this show has been a strong one over the years, but it's definitely time for it to wrap up. However, I'm glad to say that this final season started off pretty strong with its premiere. There were three different story lines going on at once, as all our main characters set off to Farhampton for the wedding. Each one had its merits, but there was one that particularly impressed me.

Okay, so first off there's Barney and Robin. Even though their wedding is really going to be the subject of a lot of the season, I found their plot line to be the weakest. It wasn't awful, but there wasn't a lot going on, either. The two of them are in the back of a car (driven by Ranjit!) headed to Farhampton. They start talking about all the crazy people in both of their families, and how inevitably one of them will ruin the wedding. Then, they get to talking about a crazy cousin Mitch... and they realize that they have the same cousin. Thoroughly disgusted, they frantically call relatives to try and figure out how exactly they are related. In the end, it turns out Mitch was adopted, and they are both hugely relieved. Barney then has a cheesy line about how since he has Robin now, he doesn't have to say "wait for it" anymore.

There was nothing wrong with this plot thread, per say, but I was just never hugely captivated by it. As we move forward, I want to see Barney and Robin really start their lives together without any more interruptions.

Marshall, meanwhile, is trying to get to New York from Minnesota, where he and Marvin have been visiting Marshall's mother. Marshall still hasn't told Lily about becoming a judge, and he's really worried that he'll ruin the wedding by causing a huge fight with Lily. Judy, his mother, then posts a picture online that reveals the truth, and Marshall realizes that the picture will inevitably be forwarded to Lily. He tries to tell his mom to get rid of the picture, but he has trouble explaining the process to her. The woman sitting next to him on the plane (Daphne) is very annoyed by all of this, and when the two of them get into a fight, they are both banned from the plane. Finally, Marshall (with some assistance from baby Marvin) manages to remove the picture online, thus preventing Lily from finding out the truth.

There were some decently clever moments in here. I liked how Judy couldn't use the computer - that's an old joke but a good one. I also liked the Daphne character and how antagonistic she is to Marshall. It's funny to see this Minnesotan stereotype combating with a very angry and feisty woman.

And then for the final plot thread. By far the highlight of the episode: we get to Meet the Mother! Or, rather, Lily gets to meet her. We start off with Lily and Ted in a car, taking a road trip up to Farhampton. Ted is being obnoxious and continuously pulling over to see tourist attractions. Lily gets fed up with this and decides to take the train instead. And she meets... well, we don't know her name yet, but we know she's The Mother! Played by Cristin Milioti.

Now, as I've mentioned, this show has had some weak points, especially in these last few seasons. I have to admit, I was very skeptical about the introduction of The Mother. How were they going to pull this off? It's just been these five friends for so long. Whenever Ted has had a serious love interest, (Stella, Zoe...) we know from the very beginning that this girl is not going to be The Mother. And now we're being told immediately that this girl is the woman Ted will end up with. If this girl doesn't have chemistry with Ted, then... well, they're screwed.

So. What did they do? They have someone else meet her first. Lily meets The Mother, and they have great friendship chemistry. I have a good feeling that the other friends will be meeting her before Ted does, which means that they will establish friendships and chemistry between all of these important characters and The Mother. I think this set up is tailored towards success.

Milioti hit a home run with this premiere performance as The Mother. She immediately offers Lily a cookie with an inappropriate name, tells an off-color joke, offers advice and comfort to a clearly distraught woman who is missing her child... my favorite part of the episode was when Lily is complaining about all the annoying things Ted was doing, and The Mother is pretending to agree with Lily. The scene freezes and Ted's voice tells us that The Mother was lying, and that she actually loved all of those things.

During this conversation, it occurs to Lily and The Mother that maybe Ted was trying to get rid of Lily so that he could go somewhere on his own: out to Stella's storage unit in Los Angeles to try and find the locket Robin has been missing. Lily is furious that Ted would do something like that, because it means that he still thinks he has a chance with Robin.

However, when Lily shows up and tackles Ted to stop him from giving the present to Robin, it turns out to be nothing more than a framed picture of the five friends. Lily is chastened, but she did have reason to worry: in a flashback to a few days earlier, we see Ted prepare to take a flight to LA. Sigh. Ted, get over it already!

And thus ends the premiere episode of Season Nine of How I Met Your Mother. It wasn't a standout episode in most respects, but nothing was really wrong with it. The best part of the episode was The Mother, and I have to say I'm very relieved to be enjoying her performance. Nice casting, and nice acting! 

7.5/10