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How I Met Your Mother Review: “The Pre-Nup” (Season 8, Episode 2)

After last week's serious, emotionally-driven premiere, I was hoping that How I Met Your Mother would take a bit of a lighter route in episode 2, leaning more towards the humorous side than the serious, plot-developing side, and it somewhat did. "The Pre-Nup" was nowhere near as heavy as last week's episode, and there is no major reveal in terms of Ted's love life, but we still do get another major plot development.

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Next in significance would be Lily and Marshall.

We’ve known for a long time that Lily and Marshall were going to run into problems when it came to agreeing on how to raise a child. It was first brought to light in season 4, episode 19 “Murtaugh” when Lily was vehemently against Marshall’s rough coaching style. Now that they actually have a baby boy, we can expect a lot more disagreements.

I loved Lily’s description of Marshall tossing the baby into the air, and her description of her reaction. It wasn’t quite as intense as her “you’re dead to me” stare, but her motherly instincts are certainly not something Marshall should be messing with.

The honesty when they discuss their problems was predictable, obviously Lily’s reaction would leave Marshall feeling like the inferior parent, and almost every issue Lily has relates back to her dad, but it was an effective way to quickly put the problem behind them.

Next, to Ted and Victoria’s problem.

Classic Mosby, having to play the hero again. I liked the slight over-dramatization of Victoria’s description of Ted taking Klaus in, but with Ted’s insistence on being the hero, I’m sure that was roughly how the situation would’ve gone. I also liked his almost instant remorse. It’s very consistent with the character flaws we love.

The biggest problem I had with this episode was Klaus’ presence. I’m not saying he wasn’t funny, a nude German and his ferrets is always good for a few laughs, but the insightful, deep Klaus that we got in the premiere was impactful and humorous. This episode greatly diminished the lasting meaning he provided before and I wish they would’ve just let him be. I said last week that I was willing to sacrifice some of the humor for more well-constructed, deeper moments, especially if this is the last season of the show. Nude Klaus is one aspect they should have sacrificed.

I’m also a bit hazy when it comes to the plausibility of Klaus going to Victoria for help after he left her at the altar. For someone who at the time seemed to really know his life’s path, he didn’t stick to it for very long considering everything went to hell mere months after the failed wedding. Even when things went bad, going back to the person you left just doesn’t seem right. It’s more likely he would’ve hopped a plane back to Germany, but I’ve never been left at the altar, so, of course, this is all speculation.

Things are weird if Victoria was comfortable letting Klaus stay, even if it’s just because she feels guilty. I’m saying the wick is very short here, and we’ll only have a few more episodes where Victoria is on the show. She’s been great, but her time is almost up.

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