by Dash
This weeks instalment of How I Met Your Mother brings us a Christmas episode...well sort of. 'Symphony of Illumination' is the second episode of the show to not be narrated by future Ted, the first being 'The Stinson Missile Crisis' which like this one was narrated by Robin and also happened just 8 episodes ago.
The episode opens with Robin telling her kids the story of how she met their Father. This continues the bombshell that was dropped at the end of the last episode and, for now at least, confirms that Robin is clearly the bride at Barney's wedding (despite how much I don't want that to happen).
The show then picks up exactly where we were left at the end of last weeks episode, showing Barney's reaction to Robin being pregnant. Barney makes some inappropriate comments for which Robin proceeds to beat the crap out of him for. I'm not sure how I feel about this bit, it was kind of funny, but it just seemed forced to me. It's like the writers only had one word descriptions for the characters, Barney: Inappropriate, Robin: Tough, and all they managed was to make the obvious joke. I would have liked to see a bit more vulnerability from Robin and bit more cold indifference followed by blind panic from Barney, but then again I'm still hung up on the first season.
But instead of the expected reactions Barney is actually really happy about being a Father, which makes sense considering what happened a few episodes ago with him and Ted. Of course Robin has a hard time getting excited about being pregnant since she has never wanted to have children and Barney spends the episode trying to bring her round to the idea. Seems Barney has come a long way since inventing 'Not a Fathers Day'.We are also introduced to an old friend of Barney's, 'Insane Duane'. Who they meet at We B Babies while shopping with Lilly. It seems he has changed since getting married and having kids. The extreme change in Duane brings Barney to the realisation that he doesn't want to end up like that and no longer wants kids. All the while Lilly is explaining all the bad stuff that happens to your body when your pregnant, terrifying Robin even more. So the next day when they both go to the doctors, Barney and Robin are both relieved to find out Robin is in fact not pregnant.
While this is going on Marshal decides that he is going to beat his new neighbour for the best Christmas lights display in the area and is approached by a kid who Marshal seems to identify with as a Father. Sadly this Christmas display rivalry is never developed, instead a story line that, to me at least doesn't make a while lot of sense is used.
Marshal invited the kid, Scott, over the next weekend to help him put the lights up. While on the roof Marshal drops his phone and Scott, who is holding the ladder at the bottom picks it up, this is when things start to not make sense to me. Scott decides to knock the ladder down, stranding Marshal on the roof and then proceeds to throw a party, bribing Marshal by taking a picture of his 'ding dong' with Marshal's phone.
So lets see if I can get this straight. Scott decided to approach a new neighbour in the street about his Christmas lights, decided to agree to help him, because....why? There is no way Scott could have planned on throwing a party from the beginning, the only reason he got away with that was because Marshal dropped his phone, something Scott had no control over. Are we supposed to believe that one moment this kid was overly helpful and pleasant then as soon an opportunity to do bad came he along he suddenly changed into a ass hole? I know teenagers are temperamental but come on. Again it seems like the writers simply had a one word description of Marshal: Trusting and just thought up an obvious joke.
Robin was called back to the doctors and informed that they had run some more tests and she can in fact never have children. Confusing since we have seen her future children but I was happy to roll with it. Robin explains why she cant talk to her friends about it because she knows the way they will react. This scene was pretty funny showing the over the top reactions of each of the group, but was immediately ruined the next time we see them. Robin gets upset at the bar and says it is because she just found out that she cant be a pole pole vaulter. Everyone then reacts in the exact way they had in Robins imagination, which was ridiculous. For one this lie didn't even make sense, it was so random they would have just been confused not concerned and two, these were real reaction not ones from her imagination which just made them stupid, the reason they were funny the first time was because they were over the top which could be gotten away with because it was just Robins imagination. I get the joke, but it isn't one I like, again the writers seemed to just go for the obvious.
I could have hated this episode if it wasn't for the ending, this was one of the most shocking, sad and touching moments of the show so far. Robin is talking to her kids, explaining why it is a good thing that she cant have kids (weird) and then suddenly and really casually drops another bombshell on us "I'm glad your guys aren't real". She had just imagined her kids because she was sad she couldn't have any. But just when my heart had been ripped out Robin came back to the apartment and couldn't turn on the lights. Now just before she left she had told Ted, very harshly that it wasn't his job to cheer her up. But apparently he didn't care what she said and instead made an epic light show throughout the entire apartment to AC DC's 'Highway to Hell' a band she had mentioned earlier and Ted proved himself to be the super awesome crazy nice guy that we haven't seen enough of lately. It seems in this whole episode Ted was the only one the writers managed to get right, but they got him so right it almost makes up for everything else.
Overall this wasn't a great episode, it had its good (and great) moments but mostly it was lacking. And as far as Christmas episodes go, well I want another one next week.
Let me know what you think of this weeks episodes in the comments!
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