Farhampton
| "Farhampton" |
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"Farhampton" is the premiere episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and 161st overall. It aired on September 24, 2012.
Plot
Sitting alone at a train station in Farhampton ten hours after Barney and Robin's wedding, Ted tells a nearby old woman the story of what has recently happened.
When Robin asked to see him before the ceremonies began, she asks how Barney is doing. Ted tells her that Barney is fully committed to the wedding, even as Barney tries to run away with Marshall and Lily holding him back. Robin says that while Barney will see the wedding through, she is not ready to get married and wonders whether she can go out the window in her wedding dress. Ted narrates to her the story of how he and Victoria fared at her own wedding.
In a flashback to May 2012, future Ted narrates his drive with Victoria, who apparently forgot to leave her fiance, Klaus, a note stating her decision to run away. Ted decides to drive back to the church—the same one Barney and Robin's wedding will occur in—and forces her to make a note which he will leave at the bride's room. During his initial attempt to infiltrate the church, Ted runs into Klaus' sister Uta. After Barney distracts her with phone sex, Ted leaves the note. He returns to his car only to forget that he left the car keys in the bride's room. As Ted tries to get back in the church, he sees Klaus also escaping and heading to the Farhampton train station, giving Victoria an alibi for her departure.
Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily cannot put their newborn son Marvin to sleep and, out of exhaustion, misinterpret anything Barney, Quinn, and Robin says. Robin and Lily accept Quinn's offer to be her bridesmaids, but Lily accidentally reveals that Barney used to date Robin. An angry Quinn gives Barney one minute to explain everything about him and Robin, which he does in less than 52 seconds. Quinn leaves the room.
Since Barney and Quinn got engaged, he had doctored or purged all of his mementos from his relationship with Robin to ensure that Quinn will not be jealous. However, at MacLaren's, Barney gives Robin (who is now dating Nick, her secret crush) a key to a storage unit where he kept all the mementos intact.
Before he and Victoria leave, Ted goes to the train station and asks Klaus why he ran away. Klaus explains that Victoria is a wonderful woman, but she is not "the One" for him. Returning to the post-wedding flashforward, as Ted reads a book waiting for the train to come in, the future mother arrives as well with a yellow umbrella[1], but her face is hidden from view.[2]
Music
Continuity
- Part of the episode follows the season 7 finale "The Magician's Code", in which Ted and Victoria drive into the sunset. Victoria reappeared in Ted's life earlier in the season and told him she was engaged to Klaus, whom she met while studying in Germany.
- According to Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, the closing scene is when Ted meets his future wife.[2]
- Robin's co-anchor Becky previously did a commercial for the Farhampton Boat Show.
- Robin first met Nick, her secret crush, a few years before, as stated in the season 6 episode "Hopeless".
- Barney's minute-long monologue refers to all of the gang's love stories for the past seven seasons, specifically those involving him, Robin, and Ted. He even finds time to insert the story of his victory on The Price is Right and Ted's tramp stamp. He errs twice, however, in stating that Robin went to Brazil instead of Argentina and stating that Ted got hit by a bus when it was Barney who was hit by a bus (Ted was in a cab when it was hit by a speeding car).
- In explaining why Victoria must leave a runaway-bride note for Klaus, Ted refers to how Stella left him at their wedding on Shelter Island.
- Ted's future wife is seen with her bass guitar and yellow umbrella. The yellow umbrella was first mentioned in "Wait for It", and the guitar in "Girls Versus Suits".
- Lily exhibits her inability to keep secrets.
- Barney and Quinn both use the phrase "Come again for Big Fudge?" previously used by Marshall in the episode "Jenkins."
- In keeping with "The Mermaid Theory", Robin wears a mermaid-style wedding stress, with, according to "Symphony of Illumination", no chance of reverting to a manatee.
Cultural references
- In learning that Klaus' sister Uta was a former wrestler in Leipzig, Ted refers to her as Andrea the Giant.
- In the final scene, Ted is shown reading his all-time favorite book, Love in the Time of Cholera as the mother steps into the station. He described it as his favorite book earlier in different situations.
Critical reception
The AV Club's Donna Bowman said that "the comedy doesn't suffer on account of the many mother-related threads that need to be kept in the weave" and gave the episode a B.[3]
Max Nicholson at IGN wrote that the episode "lacks the classic elements that once made the show so great" and gave the episode 6/10[4]
Angel Cohn of Television Without Pity graded the episode at D+ calling it "a shitty story with some random non-sequiturs". He added, "the only redeeming thing in this whole episode is the countdown clock that Quinn initiates when she gives Barney a chance to explain himself." [5]
References
- ^ "Listing for "Blue French Horn" at cooltvprops.myshopify.com". Retrieved March 6, 2013.
- ^ a b Rome, Emilly (2012-09-24). "'How I Met Your Mother': Showrunners talk about the (possible) beginning of the end". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
- ^ http://www.avclub.com/articles/farhampton,85113/
- ^ http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/25/how-i-met-your-mother-farhampton-review-2
- ^ http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how-i-met-your-mother/farhampton.php
External links
- "Farhampton" at IMDb