Monday, September 20, 2010

The Small Glass Screen: "HIMYM", and "The Event"

How I Met Your Mother: Big Days

A lot has been made about this season premiere, and perhaps too much if you ask me. I would've rather gone into this knowing as little as possible, but I went in expecting some huge reveal about the whole "wedding" plot-point, which was only a small segment of the actual episode. The episode was actually a bait-and-switch that kept preparing the audience for Ted to meet the love of his life. Then there was the switch at the end, and I was left with questions but no answers. I'm sure we'll get them at some point, but for now, it's Lost all over again.

But disregarding the main plot, this episode wasn't quite as funny as I was hoping. Barney offered some moments that evoke the best of his character, but leave us wanting more. Marshall and Lily ALMOST try to have a baby, but they're sidetracked by an unforeseen intervention by Marshall's father. I didn't really feel the distraction was worth it. And finally, Robin is looking a lot like she did in
The Rough Patch, and it offers as much comedy as you'd expect from such. Ultimately, this episode left me wanting a little bit more from this great series, despite a few small laughs. I'm sure it'll improve as the season goes on, but this is definitely a rough start.

The Event: Pilot

So I went into this episode not knowing much about what was happening, as most certainly did as well. However, from the first twenty minutes on, I was hooked on it, if only because it evokes two well respected series that are now off the air: 24 and Lost. From start to finish, I had very little idea exactly what was going on. I had a vague idea of what was going on, but I still don't know why any of this is happening. There's nicely written dialogue, a fast pace, spectacular use of the non-linear formula, and solid acting, so I'm going to have faith that the creators weren't just meshing a bunch of random events together to make people think it's important. Then again, it could easily end up being like the last science fiction show to premiere in that spot on Monday (Heroes). At the very least, I'll be checking out the second episode. For now, I'd just be stabbing in the dark if I tried to review this episode.

P.S. What was with the Monsters Inc. style title sequence that lasted all of 10 seconds? It makes this show seem like a whiz-bang caper.

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