Last night’s How I Met Your Mother episode, “Three Days of Snow,” demonstrated how truly superior this show is to all other sitcoms on the air. It was an incredibly clever reveal when we found out that all of the events that took place during the episode occurred over the three days of the Blizzard of ’09. The writers are able to manipulate the timeline of each of the episodes as easily and masterfully as cute things falling asleep can turn my stone cold heart into mush, but for me, the incredibly adorable and telegenic devotion that Marshmallow and Lilypad have for each other was the best part.
Here’s what happened. Ever since their sophomore year in college, whenever Marshall (Jason Segel) or Lily (Alyson Hannigan) comes back from a trip, he or she brings a six-pack of beer from wherever they were, and the other one wears a chauffeur hat when coming to meet them at the airport. This year, however, they decided to put that tradition to bed, along with their other little traditions of telling each other what they ate that day, dirty lunchtime phone calls and New Year’s kisses. So, when Lily returns from a trip to Seattle (which I am personally going to take as a shoutout – what up, Seattle?) she came home empty-handed, and Marshall made no plans to meet her at the airport. However, at the very last minute, they decided, screw that, they want to keep their tradition alive. The only problem was, the three-day snowstorm interfered with their plans. Lily’s plane was delayed a day, and when Marshall finally got to the airport to pick her up, he brought along the entire Arizona Tech marching band (Go Hens!), whom Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Ted (Josh Radnor) have newly befriended, to recreate the New Year’s kiss that they missed this year.
Alright, I’m realizing that it’s difficult to write coherently about the timeline shenanigans of How I Met Your Mother, so go watch the episode now!
Marshall and Lily are the one beacon of hope I have that relationships can work out and that getting married doesn’t automatically turn you into a dull automaton who talks about real estate and investments. Their relationship is what is single-handedly keeping me going. My quest to be like Marshall and Lily will probably end in disappointment because there is no way that anyone can ever come close to their level of adorableness (although, I’m doing my darnedest), not to mention that they are a fictional couple, but a girl can hope. The thing I love about them the most, and what I most aim for in my own relationships, is that their cute pet names and rituals on any other couple would be gag-inducing and nauseating, but on them, it’s just endearing and very real. I think the key is to have just enough dirtiness – like crazy monkey sex, say – to add some spice to their relationship and to counteract the vomitous quality that cutesiness often has.
I’ve been in love with Jason Segel ever since he played stoner Nick Andopolis on Freaks and Geeks, but when he showed up at the airport with the marching band in tow, it was quite possibly the sweetest gesture I had ever seen, and I’m even more convinced that Marshall is my ideal TV boyfriend.
Marshall’s undeniable awesomeness is definitely a key component to why they are such a great couple, but also important is the fact that Lily is written so realistically. She’s not the stereotypical woman that is ubiquitous in all lesser sitcoms, someone who is overly girly and obsessed with marriage and babies and what not. She likes to indulge in retail therapy, yes, but she can also chug beers with the best of them, competes in farting contests and rules as a fair and disinterested Slap Bet Commissioner. You really can’t beat these two.
Best Quotes:
Ted: So, how many people are in on this Party School Bingo thing?
Barney: Oh, it’s just me.
Ted: So what’s the point, then?
Barney: The point is to get five in a row.
Ted: And what do you get when you get five in a row?
Barney: I get Bingo.
Imaginary Marshall: Woah, woah, woah, where’s my beer?
Imaginary Lily: We said we weren’t gonna.
[Marshall flips his sign to read “Someone with beer” instead of “Lilypad.”] Hot blonde chick: I have beer.
Imaginary Marshall: Wow. A six-pack and you’re an appropriate height for me. Let’s go, New Lily.
Brunette: I don’t know if you guys have ever seen Star Wars, but it’s like Hoth out there.
Ted: Dibs.
Blonde: It reminds me of when I used to go sledding with my dad…before he left.
Barney: And dibs.
Robin: I still say this is stupid. What happened to ‘As we mature, the relationship matures with us’?
Marshall: That’s just something Lily read in Psychology Today. Alright, she read it in Cosmo. Alright, I read it in Cosmo. Alright, it was CosmoGirl! Just drive, OK?
Ranjit [yay, Ranjit is back!], referring to crazy monkey sex: Oh, Lily. TMI. Too many informations.
Lily: Hey, baby. It’s lunchtime, and I love you.
Marshall, in front of his lawyer colleagues: I reciprocate in principle, although with the caveat that there seems to be a bit of a surplus here on my end.
Lily: No, I love you more.
Marshall: Do we need to get in a room together and bang this thing out? [pause] Those sound like agreeable terms, although I may need to adjust my briefs. [pause] Love you too.
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
