Monsters of Television

“As per us, he bored the pants right on her.”

Unlike the numbers from a few episodes ago that slowly built to a payoff that comes from nowhere, the narrative structuring of playing phone tag allows the episode to do a lot of things, give everyone a bit of screen time, and tell the story in a compelling way. HIMYM is always at its best when it unfurls a narrative in non-linear-ish fashion, and I appreciate it when it succeeds at it (and it is a show about storytelling, after all, so it should be able to tell stories well).

As such, “Oh Honey” is the first episode since “Natural History” (that was way back in November, folks) that I really enjoyed. Even if the ending was a foregone conclusion (and it was), I still got swept up in the episode’s romantic scope and banter.

We all knew Zoey and Ted would end up together (“Mermaid Theory” confirmed this for us, as did Jennifer Morrison being a recurring guest star). So when Ted admits to being in love in with Zoey, it kind of doesn’t matter (but yay for the return of the Intervention banner!). At this point in the show’s run, we know Ted’s in love with her because he has to be (he has nothing else to do in his own narrative otherwise). So how well the episode unfurls the reveal is what matters more than the reveal itself.

To have the episode tell us this story as a phone tree is a nice variation on show’s standard structure of wooing the girl. Ted and Zoey have minimal agency in this episode, but the story, as told by the rest of the group (and Honey), allows us to see all the different paths of their journey from the outsider’s perspective. That little twist does make the other characters a little more integral to Ted’s romance, where normally they tend to be fairly segregated.

And HIMYM does excel at showing us why Ted falls for the season’s recurring guest lady. “Drumroll, Please” from season 1, featuring the one perfect evening Ted and Victoria had at the wedding of Claudia and Stuart, is a personal favorite of mine and it tells its story well, with charm and romance. “Ten Sessions” from season 3, with that glorious 2-minute date maybe doesn’t sell me on Stella (very little ever did), but it certainly sold me on the idea that Ted likes her.

This season, the show has slowly built up Zoey across episodes as opposed to making the case all at once. Kind of like with Stella, I’ve never been sold on Zoey, but this episode took the necessary steps to make me like Zoey (and, shockingly, Jennifer Morrison!), though I feel it comes a bit too late in the season for it to matter. Until this episode, I never got Zoey as a potential girlfriend (she’s not the Mother, folks, unless there’s some serious retconning coming) but while a fridge of ketchup is adorable and sweet (and it made me like Zoey), it’s too little too late for me.

The rest of the episode works, too. The Ericksens listening in on the conversation allows for funny little interjections (and keeps the thread of Marshall’s family going, though they seem to be coping well). Jason Segel continues to prove himself the MVP of the show as he’s able to have chemistry with people when they’re not even in the scene with him. I suppose Katy Perry acquitted herself well enough, though it was wise to team her with Neil Patrick Harris who, like Segel, makes everyone better.

So a strong episode from the show even if I’m not interested in the direction Ted’s romance takes.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• “I thought the oven was Celsius.”
• Love that everyone is dressed like characters out of Clue. Nice.
• “I’d say hump her brains, but obviously someone already has.”
• “HE’S GAY!”
• “Get on board or the sexting stops!”
• “After all, he told me I was his first.”
• “Who’s your daddy?” “I DON’T KNOW!”
• “Good manners are what separates us from those elbows-on-the-table Wisconsiners…”
• Is that a wishbone or a horseshoe necklace that Zoey is wearing?
• “You sneeze with your whole body.”
• Consider this last bullet my prerequisite complaint about how Ted has nothing to do unless he’s in a romance.