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« How I Met Your Mother
Episode Recap: "Ten Sessions"
Well. They over hyped Britney quite a lot, did they not? Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mind, because Sarah Chalke was amazing and Ms. Britney, well…can’t really act. I bet that will get me a lot of angry feedback, but come on. She’s no Sarah Chalke.
Anyway, due to the previously mentioned over hyping done by everyone and their mother, I really don’t have much to say about Britney’s guest spot other than it was nice to see her functional. She delivered her lines in an acceptable manner and I barely even sneered! Pretty forgettable, honestly. I hope she had as good a time filming her scenes as has been reported.
Moving on, let’s get to the episode itself shall we? I came away from the episode tonight with three major points on my mind: Marshall really needs a haircut, Ted will never learn to be smooth with the ladies (and I blame it all on Barney), and the writers must think we are really dense (but I love them anyway).
Tonight focused on Ted’s desire to win over the lovely Stella, his tattoo removal doctor (played, of course, by Sarah Chalke of Scrubs fame). Stella refuses his date proposals and Ted spends all of his ten sessions trying to change her “no” to a “yes”. As he does this, we get intermittent scenes with the entire group at MacLaren’s (yay group time at the pub!). This group time includes Barney trying to “help,” Robin looking gorgeous and saying very little except for when she attributes “Stairway to Heaven” to the wrong, non-dead singer, and Lily wearing a variety of fake nails we are supposed to think are real. Still, it was excellent to see the gang together in one setting.
Ted spends the entire episode humiliating himself in numerous ways (screaming like a girl, thinking he has a date with Stella only to find out it’s a Girls Night Out, reading a really bad self help book to impress her, etc.), but I surprisingly didn’t find it as pathetic as I could have. You have to give him credit, really, considering he was there to get a butterfly tramp stamp removed. How many men would have the guts to still go after their doctor in such a situation? And then, at the end, Stella reveals that she has a daughter and no time for dating, but really does like Ted. So what does Ted do? He sets up an entire two minute date, including meal, movie and kiss. My heart! Some of you may mock, but he totally redeemed himself in my eyes. That was adorable and I am still a little starry eyed.
More important for us, however, is the throwaway line that Stella gives about the one party she has gone to all year – St. Patrick’s Day. She went home early! Yeah, I know, how many of you fell for that? Me either. Look, I would love for Stella to be the Mother, but I think we all know how unlikely that is. That said, if I turn out to be wrong I will be the first one cheering. Yeah, can anyone tell how much I liked Stella?
So, that is pretty much it, no? Not a very plot heavy episode, but enjoyable. They still have a ways to go before I will feel as enamored with the show as I once was, but I am still eager to tune in every week. Hey, maybe next week Robin will get more than three lines (perhaps with Barney, writers? What? A girl can dream!).
Oh, ok, look. You have to let me get one catty Britney comment in, okay? Because I respected her performance, I really did, but…she ended up with Barney. Propositioning Barney for random hotel sex and shopping. You just know she’s delivered those lines in some form before, no? Ok, ok. I promise I am done with the Britney bashing. Unless she returns and then all bets are off! Off!
Best episode moment tonight goes to Barney sneakily getting Ted to grow the mustache, despite how horrifying it was. Not quite as scary as the Breakup Beard, but close. A well earned ten dollars, Barney. Well done, indeed.
Poll: How do you rate Britney's performance on HIMYM? Vote here.
Poll: Do you want Sarah to be the Mother? Vote here.
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Mar 24, 2008 11:39 PM
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I have to say the this episode definitely exceeded my expectations. I thought Britney was fine. I think she played awkward neurotic quite well.
Here is hoping to see more of Sarah Chalke!
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Mar 25, 2008 12:57 AM
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My thoughts:
Brittney - eh.
Robin did really look gorgeous tonight, didn't she?
Marshall's hair was bad but Ted's was a bit better than it's been.
I didn't think Ted was doing too badly with the doc. I think he was funny and adorable. Absolutely loved the date!
Sarah Chalke = magnificent! I was afraid we'd be seeing her Scrubs character but she was someone new and fresh and it was wonderful. She's come a long way since playing Becky Conner. My sons are huge Scrubs fans, so I've saved this episode on the DVR and hope her appearance will get them to watch HIMYM. I've been trying to get them to watch for ages. I did finally convert them to Supernatural now and they've, in turn, converted their friends (who now curse me for their new addiction, bwahahahaha).
All in all, a good episode. Better than last week. Not the best, but good. Could have lived without Brittney, but you can't have everything.
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Mar 25, 2008 1:02 AM
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I think the Britney character would have been played better by a lesser known actress who could have played her more psycho.
At this point, it feels like they are burning off episodes until Mrs. Ted shows up. Ted doing all those things to try to win over his doctor - that is soooo not Ted. He's Ted Moseby, nice guy architect. All of a sudden in the past two episodes he's turned into Barney's mini-me?
Can we either cut Robin or get her and Barney to end up together?
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Mar 25, 2008 4:07 AM
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The two minute date definitely redeemed this episode for me. I was not impressed at all with Britney. I still think she needs to get herself straightened out and get back to being a good mother before looking to work again.
I think the St Patrick's Day remark wasn't intended to make us think she is the mother, but just to leave that option out there if the writer's go down that road. She could have said, "I left so early I forgot my favorite yellow umbrella." That would have been too much.
I do feel like the writer's have not gotten their game back yet. Hopefully it will pick up soon. Don't we still have to see the goat in the bathroom story this season?
How cute was Barney's time out?
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Mar 25, 2008 6:00 AM
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Wasn't there already an entire episode centered around Ted wanting to go on a date with his tattoo remover doctor and the gang tried to not get him to go? And then he came back from said date upset because she couldn't date him anyway? Also I swear they already had another girl playing the doctor.
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Mar 25, 2008 7:10 AM
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Jambuba, you're thinking of "The Platinum Rule," which (I believe) was filmed and completed while the writers were on strike. They mention Ted wanting to date his tattoo removal doctor and the not-date date in that episode, but you never actually meet the doctor.
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Mar 25, 2008 7:54 AM
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I have several thoughts about this episode:
1. I barely noticed Britney. She really was a minor character and could have been played by anyone. However, she did a good job with the role.
2. The two minute date set my heart aflutter. That was the moment that I thought they might be getting back on track. I would even go so far as to say that that might be the scene that wins them another season. It was classis HIMYM.
3. I was trying to picture Alicia Silverstone in the role of Stella. I just thing Sarah Chalke did such an amazing job that I don't see Alicia doing it any better (although I love me some Cher Horowitz).
4. I too was thinking that the "Can we have sex and then go shopping" line probably hit a little to close to home for li'l BritBrit.
All in all, the best spisode in a while.
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Mar 25, 2008 7:55 AM
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You never know what they'll end up writing, but I have to think Stella isn't the mother - mostly because, if she came into the marriage with an eight y/o kid, it doesn't match up with the 2 kids sitting on the sofa at the beginning of some episodes. And if there is an older child they're just not showing, don't you think the other two kids would know more about how their mother and father met - "Yeah, dad, you took Mom on a two minute date - Lucy already told us."
That said, I loved the episode - thought Britney did an OK job, and loved Sarah Chalke.
I also loved Barney's time out, where he and Robin alluded to the fact that he tried to talk her into getting together.
They have got to keep this show going. It knocks the socks off 2.5 Men.
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Mar 25, 2008 8:37 AM
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I thought Britney did a fine job, and I giggled every time she said something and then went, "No, stupid, stupid..." I hope she continues on this path that she seems to be on.
I liked seeing sweet Ted again after being Barney-ish this season. He's back to being the sort of guy I'd totally date.
I wish we could have seen more of the gang, but it definitely worked as a Ted-centric episode.
Edit: The Barney/Robin hook-up-that-never-happened was referring to the episode where they played laser tag and then went back to Robin's to play Battleship, right? Or am I forgetting another incident?
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Mar 25, 2008 8:42 AM
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I have to admit, I also thought Britney was fine. Although, I like dave's idea of having a lesser-known actress play the character a little more "crazy eyed."
Loved Sarah Chalke. I too tried to picture Alicia Silverstone as Stella and as much as I like Alicia Silverstone, Sarah Chalke made Stella her own and now I can't picture anyone else playing her. She was fabulous.
I missed the rest of the gang this episode. Sure, we got glimpses of them, but they were really playing supporting roles in this episode and I've always thought the strongest HIMYM eps are the ones that involve them all as an ensemble. So, I missed that. But now that I have the idea of Robin and Barney together, I want to see it happen! I know Carter and Craig have said that they're too similar, but I'd still love to see it happen!
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Mar 25, 2008 8:47 AM
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First, I'll add my voice to the Chalke-loving choir. Yes, she was fantastic.
I'm going to disagree with the Britney bashing, though. The fact that her character was not too over the top made the final, "As long as we can have ... on that bed if it's fixed" ending much funnier.
This was a really good episode. Not many shows could have pulled this off. The date was sweet, the mustache joke only worked because we know the characters so well, and it's okay not to have too much Lily or Robin in one episode because you know there will be other prominent episodes for them. And we didn't just laugh because the book was stamped with Ted's information, but we laughed because it is so like the Ted character to stamp the inside of his book.
But my favorite part was how Ted's New York facilitated the date. RANJIT was driving the cab!!! WENDY was waiting the table!!!
It takes good writing to be able to paint such a rich canvas in a sitcom. For the life of me, I cannot understand how Two and a Half Men has better ratings that this show!
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Mar 25, 2008 9:04 AM
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It was a good episode. Nothing too exciting plot wise, but enjoyable enough. I did LOVE Sarah Chalke and wish she could be on the show more. I'm looking forward to see where she goes whenever Scrubs ends... anyway, Britney was fine, as others said. Not extremely noticeable, but she did a good job with the role. I expected her to have a little more lines though. After all the hype, it really was like she was just a seat filler.
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Mar 25, 2008 9:13 AM
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Loved Stella. Chalke's an absolute dear. I've love her to end up being mother.
Could have done without Britney. She really isn't an actress, is she?
Loved the mustache. What's the term "foliclephilia"? Have to use that in the future.
And how could anyone resist a guy who puts together a perfect 2-minute date?
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Mar 25, 2008 9:27 AM
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I love this show. I loved Ted and his two minute date. I want to marry him and be the mother!!!
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Mar 25, 2008 9:54 AM
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