Lily loves her birthday, and Marshall loves planning birthday celebrations, so they're a match made possibly in Heaven and definitely in Hollywood. This year, for Lily's 32nd, Marshall has planned a black tie celebration for our fab five -- in the privacy and comfort of DOWISETREPLA. Call me old. Call me Princess Sweatpants. Call me a Glamour-Don't, but lose my number if you want me to doll myself up to black tie standards in order to go to my friend's (formerly) slanty-floored walk-up for a party with her, her husband, and my other two BFFs. WTF?
As soon as the party starts, Lily opens her gift from Marshall -- a new camera. Now understand, Lily has lovingly compiled gorgeous albums full of the gang's memorable moments -- and is not afraid to ruin said memorable moments in order to get a great shot. Barney and Robin groan at her new present, but Lily's excitement at the prospect of celebrating her birthday with only her four best friends is infectious. And then...Ted arrives. But does he bring with him the promised cognac-pumpkin cheesecake? Oh no, instead, he brings Amanda (Brooke Nevin), his latest stepping stone on his way to the mother.
Amanda is a chef (whom Ted met at her restaurant, when he sent back his soup -- after finding a hair in it) and he's brought her to prepare Lily's birthday cake. Ted's friends (particularly Lily and Marshall), are less than thrilled that a complete stranger has come to their intimate gathering. In fact, they're downright rude. But of course, bringing a total stranger to an intimate gathering -- with no prior notice -- is also less than polite.
Amanda is lost playing the Lily-centric games Marshall has created (Lily-al Pursuit and Gilding the Lily), so she retreats to the kitchen to finish the cake. As soon as she's out of sight, Lily hustles to get her real friends into an Amanda-less group picture. When Ted realizes Lily is purposefully excluding Amanda, he is offended, so Lily breaks out her photo album to prove to Ted he doesn't even remember many of the She-Could-Be-The-One girls he's dragged to their friends-only shindigs over the years. Later, when Amanda presents Lily's cake and it reads "Happy 42nd Birthday Lori," Marshall blows his stack and kicks Amanda out of the apartment. Ted goes after her, leaving me alone in my hopes that Amanda shed lots of hair into her masterpiece.
When Ted gets back to DOWISETREPLA without his girl, the gang performs the Ritual Airing of Grievances and Photographic Documentation Review. When they come across the first picture college-era Ted, Marshall and Lily ever took together, we're treated to a flashback of how it happened. Just as a guy is about to take Ted and Marshall's first official roomie shot, Lily wanders into their dorm room, and Ted invites her to be in the photo. Marshall whispers his concerns. "What are you doing, Ted? What if we break up?" Ted replies, "What if you don't?" Awwwww. Back in the present, Lily, clearly moved, insists upon getting Amanda back to the party. The poor sucker returns, they pose for their picture, and live happily ever after... at least until Ted meets his new skank, because, apparently, that's what we're now calling all the young women who deign to date T-Mos.
The B-plot revolves around Marshall's inability to take a good picture, Barney's inability to take a bad one, and Robin's inability to accept the latter. It's neatly wrapped up in the end-tag, so I'll save that for the full weecap, on Wednesday morning.
Why It Gets an A-: I expected to hate this episode. At first, the premise bugged. Ted's faux pas and bad habits aside, Lily and Marshall's reaction to Amanda seems over the top -- nearly irredeemable. But then, that old HIMYM magic kicks in. The premise is subverted, and all the obnoxious behavior fades into the background (which reminds me, Barney is a flavor this week, not the only ingredient -- hurrah). This is my show. These are my people. This is why I watch. We all have inexcusable moments with our friends, but our best friends excuse even those. There are callbacks, and perspective plays aplenty. Also, the lovely and talented Laura Prepon reprises her role as Karen, Duchess of Douchay. And best of all, in flashback, we get an adorable (yet truthful) look at Barney and Robin, pre-breakup.
I'll hit the end tag and all the details in the weecap, so check back tomorrow. In the meantime, come on over to the forums, where you can have your skanks and eat cake too.
Since this weecap is about Lily's birthday and will be published on March 24, I want to wish a Happy Birthday to three very important non-fictional people in the extended HIMYM family: Alyson Hannigan, her daughter Satyana Denisof (who turns 1 today, YAY!), and my husband, Scott. What? I said extended didn't I? [A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. --Willow] Fine, be that way. Let's just get right to the weecap, then.On the night before her birthday, Lily sets her alarm for midnight and when it sounds, she springs up in bed, flings her arms wide open and chirps, "It's my birthdaaaaaaaaay!" Marshall leans over the side of the bed grabs a sparkly birthday tiara, places it on her head, kisses her shoulder, and pulls her back down in his arms and dreamland. And at 9:00 AM, when Lily's alarm sounds again, she springs up in bed, again (tiara still firmly in place). "IT'S STILL MY BIRTHDAY!"
Marshall, who loves planning birthdays as much as Lily loves celebrating them, delivers her breakfast in bed, and although it seems to be a belgian waffle topped with strawberries, he says, "The theme of today's birthday breakfast in bed is Spanish Interlude." Lily: "YAY!" Marshall leads a tocaor into the bedroom, who plays his guitar (Lily: "YAY!") as Marshall pulls open the drapes to reveal the picturesque posters of Spain that he's taped up over the windows. Lily: "YAY!"
Marshall tells Lily about his plans for her 32nd birthday party that night. "Just the five of us, black tie dinner, and Ted is picking up your favorite cognac pumpkin cheese cake from Edgar's. ME: Black tie to hang out at your place and eat cheesecake? LILY: "YAY!" Marshall announces that he's off to run a super-secret birthday errand. LILY: "YAY!" He looks at the tocaor who is considering Lily with bedroom eyes, waits a beat, and then: "And I'm taking this guy with me, because I don't like the way he's looking at you." Lily nods as if to say that's a great observation and excellent idea and then lets out a much more subdued, "Yay." A word about the tocaor, before I move on. Don't you think he looked a lot like a younger, smaller version of Josh Radnor, with just a wee bit of Zach Braff and some young Rob Morrow thrown in the mix?
Nighttime; DOWISETREPLA: Lily opens her gift from Marshall -- a new camera. He tells her that as a bonus, he took some nude shots of himself, "Before I wrapped it -- put a bow on it." Lily says there wasn't a bow on it. Marshall: "Wrong it." Predictable, yet saucy. When Lily says she can't wait to get some great shots of the gang, Barney and Robin groan. Now understand, Lily has lovingly compiled gorgeous albums full of the gang's memorable moments -- but she is so not afraid to ruin said memorable moments, in order to get a great shot.
We cut to a photo of the day Robin became a U.S. citizen and then flash back to the moment the group shot was taken. As Lily sets up her camera, Robin and Barney (who were still together then) get all snuggly-wuggly on the couch. When Lily asks Marshall to sit between them, Robin wants to know why. Lily bluffs. "Uh you know, light, color, balance, aperture." Robin says, "You're just saying camera words.... Wait, you don't want Barney and me to look like a couple in this picture, do you?" Lily drops the pretense. "Of course I don't. You two aren't going to last! I'm going for timeless here." Barney: "How dare you?" Robin: "That's so rude." Barney: "It's true..." Robin: "It's totally true; we're running on fumes here, but still rude." Lily sits down on the arm of the couch and the timer goes off. Snap. Picture! Marshall, I see, went to the Cindy School of Modeling. You can tell by his telltale shut eyes. Sigh.
Saget!Ted notes they all hated Lily's group shots as we flash forward to the present. Lily allows that she gets a little bossy, but she just wants to remember special times. "Like tonight -- I can't imagine a better birthday than being here with just my four best friends. YAY!" I'm am so not one of those birthday people about my own birthday, but her enthusiasm is endearing and infectious.
Then...Ted arrives. But the cheesecake he brings with him is not the promised cognac-pumpkin. It's Amanda (Brooke Nevin), Ted's latest stepping stone on his way to the mother.
Marshall fakes up his best welcome for Amanda, even as he chides Ted for not bringing the cheesecake and for bringing a stranger into his home. And he does this right in front of Amanda! The vibe goes right over Ted's head, but I think Amanda is just too polite to let them see that she's feeling it. Ted explains that Amanda is a chef. They met when Ted sent back some soup. "Luckily, she's got such pretty hair I didn't mind eating a little of it." Gag. Amanda blushes. "They call me The Shedder at work." Ew. Lily manages to choke out that she's go glad Amanda will be making her cake.
Amanda, who doesn't know Robin from Lily, is totally lost playing the Lily-centric games Marshall has created (Lily-al Pursuit [Lily trivia] and Gilding the Lily [Lily tributes]). Why they didn't just let Amanda team with Ted makes no sense to me, but no biggie. Eventually she excuses herself and returns to the kitchen to continue working on Lily's cake. Who makes a cake at the birthday party, you ask? TV people do. It's just like cutting down and then decorating the tree on Christmas Eve, or starting a 22lb turkey Thanksgiving afternoon.
As soon as she's out of sight, Lily hustles to get her real friends into an Amanda-less group picture. When Ted realizes Lily is purposefully excluding Amanda, he asks her about it. She tries to bluff with more camera words, but finally says, "I'm not going to let another one of your dumb skanks ruin my precious memories." She shoves him into the photo pose, the camera clicks and everyone looks horrible. Except Barney. Commercial.
Lily breaks out her photo album, for "a little walk down random skank lane," to prove to Ted he doesn't even remember many of the She-Might-Be-The-One girls he's dragged to their friends-only shindigs over the years. She starts a new trivia birthday party game: Name That Bitch. First, there is the one from Christmas, four years ago. Ted thinks her name might be Sandra or Sarah, but Lily points out that he's only guessing those because they sound like Santa, and this is a Christmas photo. The woman's name is actually Leilani. On New Year's Eve, 2007, there was She's-The-One Emily. At Robin's Uncle Cecil's funeral (who takes pictures of themselves mourning at a funeral?): This-Just-Proves-You-Find-The-One When-You're-Not-Looking Isabel. Lily turns to the photo. "My appendix surgery: Robin, Marshall, Barney, Lily, Ted, and...well, this one you admitted you were just trying to bang." We cut from the picture to Lily and Ted sitting on the DOWISETREPLA couch. Lily holds up her fist. "Respect." Ted bumps it. And hey, wait a minute -- the She-Might-Be-The-Ones are skanks, but Ted gets Lily's "respect" for bringing a girl he's trying to bang to visit a post-surgical Lily in the hospital? The logic fairy must get Lily's birthday off. I hear it's a national holiday.
Barney, sitting in the chair, now has the album. "Oh hey, remember this Yoga instructor you brought to my birthday, last year?" We cut to MacLaren's and right after the gang and Yogi Dear finish singing "Happy Birthday," Barney spots Slash (from Guns N' Roses) entering the bar. Lily suggests a group shot with Slash. Cut to the picture: Yogi Dear's face blocks Slash's -- all we see is his hat and hair. Of course his hat, hair and specs usually block his face, so what really are we missing? Robin says, "You know what's funny about this picture? He was grabbing my ass." Lily giggles. "Really? He was grabbing my ass, too." Barney does not giggle. "He was grabbing my ass, too. How many hands does that guy have?" Ted: "No wonder he's such a good guitarist." Marshall (to Barney): "Actually... sorry dude. I thought that you were Lily." Barney cringes.
Robin takes the album and notices that Barney's in nearly the same pose for every shot. Even in photos years apart, he poses as if he's just adjusted his tie, and on his face he wears a cocky, devil-may-care expression. Barney says that he never has and never will take a bad picture. Even in his elementary school pictures, Barney was on (and adjusting a non-existent tie). "I always look drop-dead, stone-cold amazing, unlike Marshall who always looks dead, stoned and cold."
, we're treated to a series of pasty-faced, mouth agape, pictures of an ever-blinking Marshall. I sympathize, my brother. Marshall says not all his photos are like that. He flips through the new shots on Lily's camera. "Here, look at this one. My eyes are open." Ted and Barney recoil in disgust. Ted covers his eyes. "Oh no!" Barney backs up. "You did put a bow on it."
Just then, Robin offers Barney some tortilla chips and salsa (which she calls chips and dip, which I guess is okay, but I feel like being specific, because there's a chewing issue and well...I'll just get to it). As he's loading the chip into his mouth, she snaps a photo of him. "Aha! Got it. A bad picture." Barney, mouth still full, says, "Is it, though?" We cut to the photo. Barney's all 007. Robin can't believe it. "No, wait. You were eating a chip. Where's the chip?!" Barney finishes chewing. "It is physically impossible for me to take a bad picture." He shrugs. "I don't know why. Ask God." He kisses two fingers and raises them heavenward. God laughs and says, "This is going to be legend...wait for it..."
Back on the couch, Ted says he's sorry about Amanda, but tells Lily she's being a Birthday Brat. Lily gasps and Marshall covers his mouth in horror, as Ted continues. "You're all bent out of shape just because you think I ruined a couple of pictures." Lily says, "Oh...Ted. These girls have ruined so very many events, or are you forgetting Paris?"
Junior year of college, Lily did a semester abroad, in Paris. Lily says she hadn't seen Marshall for two months. Marshall: "Two months. And I had just started having sex. I wasn't ready to stop for two months." Marshall went to visit over Spring break, and at the last minute Ted decided to join him, and brought Karen, Duchess of Douchay (Laura Prepon) along with him. We flashback to the plane, where Karen and Ted are acting all schmoopy -- at least until Karen tells him she just slept with her Philosophy professor the night before. They spend the trans-Atlantic flight fighting, making out, and crying. Finally, poor Marshall has to sit between them. We cut to the...
Airport: Perky demi-Goth Lilypad is waiting with her "Bienvenue, Marshmallow," sign and a giddy smile. Before Marshall can take her in his arms, Karen inserts herself between the two young lovers. "Ted broke up with me. I need to sleep in your room this week. Marshall can bunk with Ted." Lily and Marshall look at each other sadly, and once Karen leads Lily away, Marshall glares at Ted.
DOWISETREPLA: All these years later, Marshall still hasn't gotten over it. "Two months. My balls were bleu. Bleu! Lily says that the rest of the trip was terrible, too. We see unhappy photos of the proto-gang in front of the Arc de Triomphe; outside the Louvre; at a sidewalk café (Karen's actually smiling in that one, as is one other subject -- the waiter, François, who is flirting with her); and in front of Notre Dame Cathedral. Lily tells Robin that all she wanted was a romantic kiss picture in front of the Eiffel Tower. And she got it all right. In the shot, Ted, Lily and Marshall look miserable, but Karen and François are lost in their lip lock.
As Robin commiserates with Lily, she very obviously "drops" her phone on the floor at Barney's feet and asks him to pick it up. When he bends down, she says, "Smile, you son of a bitch! Got it." Barney stands. "Did you, though?" Robin reviews the photo. In it, Barney is still at his James Bond best. Robin says, "How'd you do that? You weren't even standing up?" Barney says, "The camera loves me, Robin. More than loves me -- the camera lusts after me." Oh boy, is that a telling (if expected) look into Barney's psyche. "The camera wants to put on some nice lingerie, pop in an Al Green CD, dim the lights and do all the work, while I just lie there with my eyes closed." He winks at her and clicks his tongue.
Ted apologizes about Paris and all the ruined photo-ops, but says that when you're single, you have to hope that each new girl is the one. "I've got to stay hopeful. I mean, what's the alternative?" Lily tells him: "How about no more random skanks at my birthday?" Of course Amanda picks that moment to exit the kitchen to ask where she can find a cooling rack, but she seems not to have heard her hostess with the leastess, who manages to fake up enough grace to call Amanda sweetie, answer her question, and say, "You're just the best."
Robin, who seems to have learned her lesson after bringing Old Man Bob to Slapsgiving, sides with Lily and explains she didn't bring Don tonight because events such as these are hard for a new person. Robin tells the gang that when she was living in Japan, a guy brought her to his brother's wedding -- on their third date. We cut the picture of a seemingly gigantic Robin slouching awkwardly as she poses with the more petite Japanese bridal party. "I, a total stranger, am in that Japanese couple's wedding picture for all eternity." Hee. Until we were engaged, every time I was included in a family group shot at one of my now-husband's relative's weddings, I felt so out of place. We cut to Japan, where the Japanese bride and groom are looking at their wedding album with the groom's brother. The bride taps on a photo with force as she addresses her brother-in-law. The subtitles read: Name that bitch! Robin's ex: "Uh...."
DOWISETREPLA: Lily says she thinks Ted should listen to Robin. Ted says, "Right, 'cause Robin's your best friend." Lily agrees. Ted: "Your best friend in the whole world." Marshall whispers: "Careful Lily, it's a trap," but she doesn't listen and it's totally a trap. Ted: "And before she was your best friend, what was she? Oh, that's right -- one of my random skanks." Robin objects, but Lily talks over her. "Yes Ted, this skank happened to work out..." Robin: "Hey!" Lily: "But she's the skanky exception, not the skanky rule." Robin: "Hey, I'm crying a little bit."
Guitar in hand, Marshall tries to end the argument by encouraging the gang to sing the "Happy Happy Lily Day" song he wrote for Lily's birthday, but it's a no go. Ted tells Lily that he brings girls to their get-together because his friends are important to him. "You're like my family." Lily agrees that they're a family, which is one of the reasons she'd like some of their parties to be just them. She reminds him of their dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse, in celebration of Marshall passing the bar exam. We flash back to...
Restaurant: Ted and his new girl join Marshall, Lily, Robin and Barney, who are all seated around the table, watching the chef prepare their meal. Ted: "Hey guys, this is the disgusting, smelly hippie I'm dating." Although they're somewhat taken aback, the gang responds sweetly enough. Back in DOWISETREPLA, Ted insists, "I did not say that." Lily says, "Well, you might as well have." Back at the restaurant, we try it again. Ted walks in with his latest. "Hey guys, this is Strawberry." Heh. Marshall offers to order some more food. Strawberry says she won't be eating, as she's a vegetarian. Lily says "Okay," in that tone of voice that means, "Ted, why in hell did you bring a vegetarian to a Japanese Steakhouse?" She then changes the subject and proposes a toast to Marshall and the three years of hard work he put into reaching this moment. As soon as she says she's so proud of him, Strawberry stands up, screams, "MEAT IS MURDER," throws red paint all over the poor chef and runs out leaving everyone stunned and humiliated. Back at DOWISETREPLA, Ted admits Strawberry was a mistake. "But how could I have known that, going in?" In unison, the gang answers, "Her name was Strawberry." I like to think a little bit of Lily's reaction to Strawberry is rooted here. How about you?
Ted tells Lily that Amanda doesn't have to be in the group photo if it's that important to Lily, but adds, "I promise she's not going to ruin your birthday. Just give it a chance." Marshall tries to force a peaceful resolution by declaring them all friends again, and breaking into yet another chorus of his "Happy Happy Lily Day." When the gang joins in, Amanda walks out of the kitchen, and pronounces the cake done. "I hope you like it." She presents it to Lily who reads the salutation. "Happy 42nd birthday Lori." Music from The Exorcist plays, and Saget!Ted reminds his kids that he told them about how Lily goes all Dark Willow and gives people her You're Dead To Me look, "right before she explodes in white hot rage..." A beat. "Well, this wasn't it.
Lily laughs and shakes her head. But then the music starts up again. The camera pans to Marshall, and Saget!Ted interjects: "But this was Marshall's." Marshall says, "Forty-second? Does this hot piece of ass look 42 to you? OR -- OR, does she look like her name is LORI?" Hee. I love how that was even more upsetting to him. Lily, who seems more amused than disappointed by the cake, sweetly tells Marshall that it's okay. Ignoring his wife, Marshall turns to and on his best friend. "Ted! Get this stranger out of my house!" Yikes. I'm having a hard time swallowing the idea that Marshall is being quite this harsh about some young woman, in that woman's presence, but it is what it is. Amanda places the cake down, apologizes and rushes out as Marshall yells again for her to do just exactly that. Ted glares at Marshall, leaves, and slams the door behind him. Then Robin, Lily and Marshall all look at each other. A beat. Barney, still seated, starts playing Marshall's guitar and singing "Happy Happy Lily Day." He only stops when Marshall turns to him with a snarl. Commercial.
When Ted gets back to DOWISETREPLA without his girl, the gang performs the Ritual Airing of Grievances and Photographic Documentation Review, which includes Marshall complaining about how he's always girlfriend clean-up crew after Ted dumps them. There's a flashback to February 2005 (and the fourth episode of the series -- ever). Marshall returns to the apartment, after a 36 hour study session. Natalie (Anne Dudek) is sitting on Ted's couch, crying that Ted broke up with her, again. The only problem is, although it's great to see Dudek again, in 2005, Ted dumped Natalie on her birthday, in a restaurant, and she beat the duke out of him with her mad Krav Maga skills, so it's kind of hard to understand how she's later at Ted's apartment, crying about it, so I'm not giving this bit any more coverage than it deserves. There's another girl in 2007, and then another in 2010 (when Marshall doesn't even live there). Marshall gets progressively less sympathetic as the years go by. So, while he was ready to eat ice cream and give Natalie his shoulder, by 2010, he's telling Ted's latest, "Oh, shut up," and walking away.
Back to the present at DOWISETREPLA: Ted issues a sarcastic apology and suggests the precious pictures might be better without him in them. Barney leans in. "They'd look a lot better if Marshall weren't in them." Marshall tells Barney that's a cheap shot, while Ted continues to rant about the pictures. He tells Lily they're all a big lie. "They're what you want our life to be -- not what it is." Lily says that's not true.
Ted flips through the album and points out a Halloween picture of Lily and Marshall. The truth behind the smile filled photo is -- the couple was in a huge fight at the time (because not only did Lily tell Marshall she didn't dress up like a penguin, she also said penguins are lame -- never trust a girl that would choose a duck over a rabbit, Marshall). Ted declares it completely phony. He moves onto a picture of Robin's birthday 3 years ago. Robin was sick in bed, and Lily made her get dressed for a group photo. Robin adds, "And then you pinched my cheeks really hard, to get some color in them." Lily says, "Yeah, but you look pretty." Robin pauses a moment as she remembers. Her feature soften, her voice grows warm. "And then we all ate chocolate cake in my bed." Marshall says, "Actually, that was a really nice night." Everyone agrees.
It's then that Lily comes across the first picture college-era Ted, Marshall and Lily ever took together, and we're treated to a flashback of how it happened. Just as a guy is about to take Ted and Marshall's first official roomie shot, Lily wanders into their dorm room, and Ted invites her to be in the photo. Marshall whispers his concerns. "What are you doing, Ted? What if we break up?" Ted replies, "What if you don't?" Awwwww. Back in the present, Lily, clearly moved, remembers that Ted believed in her then, and she should believe in him now. She insists upon getting Amanda back to the party. "For all I know, she's the one." Ted thanks her. Robin says, "I think Lori's age has made her very wise." Barney adds, "They say your forties are when you really get to know yourself." We sideways whoosh to a little while later. Poor Amanda returns. The gang, including her, poses. Right before the shutter clicks, Robin tells Barney he has a hole in his jacket. He rips it off and searches furiously for it. And yet? When we see the picture, he's standing there in his typical pose (and jacket), as photogenic
as ever. Robin's Voice Over: "Damn it!"End Tag: At DOWISETREPLA, one year later, the gang gathers for Lily's birthday. Unlike tonight, Lily and Robin are dressed in clothes that make us wonder whether or not they could be pregnant. Only the fab five are onscreen, so if Don or the Mother have managed to stick around/show up, they don't seem to be present. Lily opens her photo album and shows Ted her 2010 birthday. She points to Amanda and says, "Ted, name that bitch." Ted: "Berth..uh. Bertha?" Lily says, "No. It was my birthday." Marshall: "Your brain makes associations in a very obvious way." Lily then gathers everyone for a group shot. Barney, who is still chewing, asks Robin what's in the dip she made. "It tastes like...cilantro, and you know that...cilantro...makes me snee..." Barney's body convulses as he sneezes. The camera works its magic. We see the shot of Barney, mid-flail." Robin shouts, "YES!" God says, "...dary."
Why It Gets an A-: As I said in the recaplet, I expected to hate this episode. At first, the premise bugs. Ted's faux pas and bad habits aside, Lily and Marshall's reaction to Amanda seems over the top -- nearly irredeemable. But then, that old HIMYM magic kicks in. The premise is subverted, and all the obnoxious behavior fades into the background (which reminds me, Barney is a flavor this week, not the only ingredient -- hurrah). This is my show. These are my people. This is why I watch. We all have inexcusable moments with our friends, but our best friends excuse even those. There are a few things that didn't work (the Natalie tie-in, baking a cake during the party, and I'm sure there's more, but) that, on reflection, made me consider changing my grade to a B+. But, as I've mentioned before, I try to grade sitcoms based on how I feel right after I watch them. They're not built for the same sort of heavy analysis some dramas and sci-fi shows are. They're built to make you laugh in the moment. So with that, I'm leaving my A- as is -- largely because I am so grateful for the break from the Barney Show.
Now, a lot of people seem to be coming down a lot harder on either Ted or Lily than I'm inclined to. Ted lived with Marshall, and then Lily and Marshall for years. Although I do think he should have checked when bringing a date to an intimate event, even though we didn't see any photos along these lines, I have to figure a lot of those get-togethers were in his own home. That's going to change his perspective on what sort of asking/notification is necessary. And for that matter, Robin lives with him, now. I can understand Ted not seeing a big difference between hanging at his place or MacLaren's with the gang, versus going out to dinner elsewhere or to a small party with them. And honestly, although Lily was over the top about her photos, and I would be happy if my birthday went by with nothing, I don't think Lily was a birthday brat. Yes, she loves her birthday, but she wasn't all, "This is my special day," about it. She was delighted by everything Marshall did for her (and Marshall gets way into doing for her) and she made no demands. Her demands regarding photographs seems to extend way past her Birthday Princess tendencies -- since she's just as het up about having outsiders in Christmas, Thanksgiving (see "Slapsgiving"), and other celebration group shots, as she is about her birthday picture.
To me, it was Marshall -- the one who spent so much time and energy trying to prevent/defuse the argument -- who went way the hell over the line. He's had umpteen years to tell Ted, "Hey, could it just be us this time -- please don't bring a date." He hasn't done it. People assume the status quo. If the issue of Ted bringing a date to these parties has never been raised, why would Ted think he had to ask, after all this time? Should he have asked, or at least let Marshall know Amanda was coming -- ahead of time? Absolutely -- for both his hosts' sake and his guest's sake. For one thing, it wasn't in his apartment; it was in DOWISETREPLA. For another, it was a dinner party. Depending on the menu, Amanda could have ended up feeling like a big jerk, even if she wasn't booted out. Still, his was a sin of omission, not commission. It was an unintentional faux pax, not an overt act. Marshall was out and out rude, and not only rude -- he was mean. He was playing a different game entirely than either Lily or Ted.
That said, I liked that Marshall was the one who lost it. It keeps him more real. He's better when he's just good enough to be true, rather than too good to be true. I'm going to skip ranting about how I'm tired of words like skank and bitch on this show, much like I skipped my slut rant, last time. Just know I'm thinking it. It's my husband's birthday, and I have to get this tocaor out of here - 'cause I don't like how he's eyeballing my man. 'Til time, join us in the forums, where you can have your skanks and eat cake too.