Time Zones - Mad Men

Episode 7-01
"Time Zones"


Ken is spread pretty thin at this point.  If Ken's journey lately is an allegory for Vietnam, then he's suffering from PTSD at this point, yelling at his office and popping an aspirin, or something.  He's normally the calmest person around, like when Lane promoted him to co-heads of accounts and he coolly lights a cigarette and asks what it pays (in contrast to Pete).  Ken's never wanted a partnership and prefers time at home to his writing than all night boozing with clients, so it's unsettling to see him so rattled.  He's also showing us how thin SC & P is spread and how he's fighting a losing battle.

Lou Avery seems like a total hack who not only doesn't pick up on the best idea available but can't communicate his own thoughts clearly.  Very helpful for someone in advertising.  Not only that but he's the type who makes lame jokes and expects you to laugh at them.  Or thinks there's something wrong with you or your sense of humor if you don't.  His mediocrity seems to be seeping into the creative and art department, which Peggy puts out.  Can you blame them?  Why fight it?  The larger the agency becomes the less important any individual becomes, and the less important the quality of work becomes, as scale outweighs skill.

Edit 4/17
Using the rough approximation of one episode covering one month, which as been the practice so far, the series would end in 15 months, which would put it right around the Kent State shootings in May 1970 (assuming there's no time jump between these eight and next year's eight).

While last season, 1968, conveyed the bloodiest year of the War in Vietnam, it was not until December 1969 that the first draft lottery was held.  This was in contrast to a general belief that the war was winding down when in fact it lasted until 1974.  The draft would come on the heals of the exposure of the May Lai Massacre. 

I wrote a lot about Don/Matt Weiner/Tony Soprano and how the end of that series may influence the end of this series.  Toward the end of The Sopranos, there was a much larger focus on the Iraq War.  Notably, the finale's title "Made in America" is an allusion to the Iraq War as being made in America, that is wholly a product of the Bush administration*. 


*“The theme of that episode was “Made in America.” I used that title not only because Tony’s a made guy, and all these guys are made guys, but also because it was about the extreme amount of comfort Americans have, especially people with money. And specifically, it was about the war in Iraq—it was made in America, and as you saw in the show, Tony and Carmela just didn’t want their son to go, and they could afford to see that their son didn’t go. Like some of our leaders.”
“…Not to get too didactic about it, but it was really sort of about how we are going about our amply fed, luxury-car life here, and the world is going to hell and we’re under tremendous threat. And people don’t want to see it”. - David Chase in GQ

On that note, with the Iraq War having been out of sight and out of mind for so many Americans, Mad Men is about to enter a time where the War in Vietnam is about to be put front and center due to the draft, including the elimination of many deferments.  

• We don't see Don until ten minutes into the episode.
• Alan Silver, who I guess is Megan's agent or something, is a weird cross between Fredo Corleone and Jonah Hill's character in The Wolf of Wall Street.
• Don thinks that Pete looks and talks like a hippie.  What, with his polo Lacoste polo and sweater tied around this shoulders.  I mean just go to Woodstock and be done with it Pete.
• Peggy's all alone, except for the yelling match with the child tenant.  So is Don for that matter.  Interesting considering at the end of last season they seemed to be diverging, but their in the same spot more than ever
• Roger, like his fellow white-haired actor Malcolm McDowell, is leading some sort of Caligula-type life
• Are decreasing shoe sales really a sign of the times?
• Everything was modest and drab when the show began, in 1960.  Come 1964 and the new offices of SCDP, everything was incredibly bright.  The costumes and scenery seemed to have like a dark accent around everything, like it was outlined.  Maybe it's the way it was shot and maybe it's something else.
• Still no women wearing pants but look out for when that bomb gets dropped.
• Don and Megan seem to both know that it's over but neither want to acknowledge it, see the Vanilla Fudge below
• Poor Joan immediately has to think the worst when the college professor wants to "trade" for information, bringing up PTSD of Herb the Slimey Jag Dealer.
• I'm pretty sure the only on-the-job drinking we saw was Joan having a sip before her call with Butler's head of marketing.
• Don's open balcony door means...what, exactly
• Depth perception jokes don't stop being funny
• Pete only recently learned to drive, having been a lifelong New Yorker.  Now he's in the car town of all car towns, where he could walk to lunch, but doesn't.

The episode begins and ends with a single character looking head on into the camera.  In a way it's the same character as Freddy is only Don's mouthpiece.  It's odd that Freddy's pitch is so good, and Peggy is as surprised as we are.  It probably should have been more obvious that it was Don Cyrano-ing for him but for some reason, it wasn't.  And it paid off beautifully.

When Are We?
Nixon's inauguration was January 20, 1969.  Don took leave of SC & Partners at Thanksgiving 1968 so two months have passed in Mad Men world (as Freddy points out), the shortest time jump we've seen between seasons

Music
"I'm a Man"
Recorded by The Spencer Davis Group in 1967
Re-recorded by Chicago in 1969

 Well if I had my choice of matter
I would rather be with cats
All engrossed in mental chatter
Moving where our minds are at
And relating to each other
Just how strong our wills can be
I'm resisting all involvement
With each groovy chick we see

"You Keep Me Hanging On"
Vanilla Fudge
Recorded by The Supremes originally in 1966
Re-recorded by Vanilla Fudge in 1967

You really don't want me
You just keep me hangin' on
You really don't need me
You just keep me hangin' on

Is there a better way to track the change of the show from March 1960 to almost the 1970s than with psychedelic cover versions of classic Motown hits?
 
TV and movies
Lost Horizon
Themes of Utopia

Next Week on Incongruous Mad Men Clips
Don puts on a jacket, in profile, and shrugs his shoulders

The Lion and the Rose - Game of Thrones

Episode 4-02
"The Lion and the Rose"

Written by GRRM

Directed by Alex Graves

Scenes Made for Television
I want to talk about what the medium of television adds to the show beyond the books. While we don't get the same background, from characters or geopolitically, that we do from the books, we do get a lot of scenese that are either occurred "off screen" in the book or are added out of whole cloth.  Often they are speechless scenes, as in "Walk of Punishment" with the Small Council scene or that episode's opening scene with the Tully funeral and the Edmure/Blackfish dynamic.  The thing these scenes have in common is that they use the screen to add depth to the characters involved. 

Tyrion and Jamie
Tyrion and Jamie have the most healthy relationship in the entire Lannister family.  They are much closer than one would expect considering their relationships with other family members. Jamie is understandably insecure about his fighting ability and confides this in Tyrion.  This despite his bravado and bluster when speaking about it last episode with Tywin, Cersei and nephewson Joffrey.  And it's Tyrion who counsels him on further training, as well as finds a sparring partner who is both ably skilled and compelled to keep his mouth shut.  Bronn has also been a great aspect of the show with his role expanded to that of the City Watch commander and Addam Marbrand, one of the more honorable Westerland knights.  Even better that Bronn smacks the sword out of his hand, like Syrio would.

Edit 4/17:
Adding to their already established relationship is that Tyrion and Jamie both share a handicap now.  Oddly enough, Tyrion is the one with experience in this area and can help Jamie through it.  Connecting him with Bronn in training his left hand not only helps with discretion, but with the manner in which he's going to have to train.  Jamie needs to get up to speed as fast as possible, and he needs to do that any way he can.  Bronn's not someone who was trained by a master of arms in a castle, or got private swordfighting lessons.  He is probably largely self taught and with that comes a manner of fighting that would not be described as "classic".  We saw this in Bronn's fight at the Eyrie, where he employs the old adage "speed kills" and while he does not fight with honor, according to Lysa, he is still the one standing there at the end.  And this is why he's the one to get Jamie up to speed, quick and dirty.

Lady Oleanna

• Mace Tyrell appears, only to be shooed away immediately by his mother.  Another thing that says so much in a quick second.
• "The Iron Bank with have its due"  With the crown's debts looming, perhaps this is some foreshadowing?  Perhaps Mycroft Holmes will pay a visit?
• "Killing a man at a wedding...horrid."

Tywin also seems to have some sort of old money/new money rivalry with the Tyrells, as though he doesn't respect them (despite them saving Kings Landing against Stannis) because of how they spend their money (due to them being 'new' to having it).  The Lannisters are an ancient family of Westeros and the Tyrells are the overlords of the Reach for "only" the last 300 years, so I suppose that qualifies them as "new money" in Tywin's eyes.

 Storms & Swords

• Roose Bolton has the North but does not hold it.  It's like a car with no gas
• For just a moment, we think Joffrey may have grown up, taking a cue from Tywin at his side when Tyrion presents his gift.  His human reaction to Tyrion's book is clearly suspicious to everyone there and it only takes another 60 seconds for Joffrey to revert back and hack the book to pieces.
• Last week, seeing Ice melted down was like watching Ned die all over again.  This week Joffrey mentioned every time he uses the new sword it will be like cuttiing off Ned's head again...as if Joffrey had done it himself.  His view of himself was completely encapsulated in that hilarious statute last week.
• On that note I wonder how they are going to incorporate Kevan Lannister or a composite equivalent
• Tyrion has to "White Fang" Shae, something Arya had to do to her actual wolf in Season One
• The wedding is a mix of Naboo from Star Wars, the Castle from Ocarina of Time, and EPCOT.
• Margarey would make both Pippa and Kate stop in their tracks.
• Cersei's new title is Tattletale Reagent
• Oberyn loves to dig into the Lannisters.  Unsure who else can speak to them that way and get away with it.  Probably him and Lady Oleanna.  Just keep driving in that knife though.  We have no Stark army, but we can root for the frenemies of their enemies.  Especially if they are super cool
• Joffrey cannot watch anything for more than a second before he wants to inflict pain on someone.
• Varys got bopped on the head by one of the dwarves during the performance
• The cultural differences between different kingdoms of Westeros have been slight, save for the North which largely operated as a separate entity and was set apart more by their different religion.  The direct interaction between Northerners and Southerners only took place for a limited period of time.  Now we have another geographic outlier, Dorne from the South, with cultural differences highlighted in every interaction.
• We know how many people gave a fluff about Joffrey by the number of people who rushed to help him.  The little pyscho couldn't even open the cake without killing things.
• Tywin, in a grandfatherly moment, holds Tommen, having him look away from his brother. 
• We finally get a good moment.  After Ned, Robb, Cat.  After Arya being imprisoned  and Sansa held hostage and Bran and Rickon forced to flee and Winterfell being burned to the ground.  And it's tainted by Tyrion being arrested. 
• The GOP needs a new standard bearer.  

Bran's vision, which appears to be a mix of a flash back and flash forward includes Ned in the dungeons, his execution, Dany's walk through the throne room via the House of the Undying, the Three Eyed Raven who actually seems to speak to him and a shadow of a dragon.  A quite large dragon.

One of the things about the Theon//Reek scenes with the Bastard of Bolton is that we, like those being hunted/tortured/psychologically abused have no idea what is going on or why it is happening, which makes it all the more unsettling.

Cersei's battle with Margarey continues.  Anything Margarey is in favor of, she is against.  Rather than pull the people of Kings Landing into the fold per Lady Di of Westeros, she feeds the leftovers to the dogs out of spite.  This does a few things.  1) Undermine Margarey.  2) Shows she can still threaten members of the small council 3) Continue her contempt for the small folk

"Lannister" is always inserted more with Joffrey, who it is easy to forget is a Baratheon in name.  He has to keep that name so they keep their claim to the throne, but the Baratheon's have zero presence in Kings Landing.   For example, behind Joffrey and Margarey, there are stags and lions (no roses) but also a big "L" pattern.  This despite that if Joffrey actually only has Lannister heritage, which he does, he has no claim to the throne.  That truth seems widely acknowledged and ignored. 

Imagine the most awkward toast, father of the bride or best man speech you've heard at a wedding.  Multiply that by a thousand for the reactions to Joffrey scolding Tyrion.  So everyone is sitting there listening to the child who they know is not the rightful king make everyting super awkward and tantrumy, all the way until he is made dead.

Restitution - Justified

No small thing, taking a life.
 
I think Season Five is going to be best viewed after we've seen Season Six.  For the first time, the overall storylines of this entire season will inform the storylines of next year.  There have been aspects in the past that carried over, such as Raylan/Augustine/Art or Mag's money or the immediate chase of the Miami crew at the end of Season One.  But this felt more like The Wire Season Four, which ended without much resolution, besides finding the bodies.

Season Five also spent an enormous amount of effort culling the herd, to the point where it was almost perfunctory when Picker got blowed up, leaving a head and a gigantic concave piece of his torso.  All the killing simplifies the cast to where it is largely only Raylan and Boyd left standing, with a few supporting players directly connected to them.  It leaves a less complicated version of Justfied to finish the story next year, which will be a nice change of pace after the multiple cities, countries and new characters we had this year. 

Justified did a lot in Season Five.  It spanned three countries and the weird world that is Florida.  Plus Tennesee and Detroit.  There was a lot going on, and while the season felt strung along in some places like "Ava's One Thing" each week, it needed the time to connect all the other business that was happening.  At the same time, much of the need to address that business was self imposed just this year.

The end result?  Boyd's not one to strike out on his own, dealing with large outside criminal organizations.  He's a medium fish in a small pond who nontheless is really really good at a few things, like blowing things up which appears to be the route he's taking next year.  So he's going to rob banks.  Raylan on the other hand is finally going to get the chance to serve justice to Boyd now that Boyd has no further use to the marshals, and has also connected himself to a crime boss who AUSA Vasquez has no love for.  Thus, the showdown.

It really did all have to come down to Raylan versus Boyd in the end, didn't it?  And this is the way to do it.

Ava's gone from self made widow to Raylan's girl to solo operation to Boyd's girl to informant.  I really thought she was going to bite it in prison, but this makes even more sense.  Placed in a holding pattern, or cell, for the entire season, she needed to be in a place where she truly, finally, absolutely had run out of options.

Raylan's running up against the cop cliche of "one last job" making plans go to Florida but putting them on hold at the last moment for Boyd's case, which he doesn't hesitate for a moment to do.

I've always viewed the "Never Leave Harlan Alive" song as more appropriate for Ava than Raylan, but it was nice to hear it come on as both Raylan and Ava leave the bridge.

Things that make it Justified

• Late night bridge meeting
• Marshals and outlaws being astonishingly upfront with each other, per Tim and Daryl's tete-a-tete
• The crux of the show is that Raylan became a lawman because he hates his father and his father is a criminal and therefore Raylan hates criminals, and it was never better said than his time with Kendall in this episode. 

Mad Men: Season Seven

Over the last two months I rewatched the entire series anticipating the new season and hoping to have a better grasp on it when it airs. 

Coming off a season mostly set in 1968, the bloodiest year in Vietnam, and a bloody year at home for that matter, it will be interesting to see what the general tone of the show will be.

The advertisements have often given us a clue into what's coming, last season's ads featuring aspects of duality, as did the show.  There's been a pyschedelic aspect to this year's ads, and Matt Weiner touched on the meaning: 

“There is a dreamlike quality to it, and believe it or not, it is related to the show, and not because it’s psychedelic,” said Mr. Weiner, dressed appropriately for the period, with a buttoned-up suit vest but also a bright pink patterned tie. “That’s not what it’s about. What it’s about is the material and the immaterial world, and that’s what I loved.”

Did the imagery hold any clues to the season, beyond Don Draper’s affection for women and drink? Mr. Weiner, known for being unforthcoming with plot details, said, “This is related to the late ’60s, which is all I will say about it.” He added, “It maintains the idea that this is somehow going on in Don Draper’s mind, which is what the story is always about — and what the back of his head is about, on some level.”

In talking about the "dreamlike quality" I can't help but go back to the Sopranos, a show well known for its dream sequences.  And if the show is going to be anything like where Weiner made his bones, maybe dreams sequences will play a larger part this season.  

• We can play the fun game of guessing what historical events will be observed or at least name checked.  The biggest one in 1969 (I'm assuming we're spending time in 1969) is obviously the moon landing.  
• Even more than that, I'm always excited to hear the music they pick.  More than a few of my favorites like "Crimson and Clover"
• On the re-watch, it's really apparent what a hack Paul Kinsey is
• I feel confident in saying the most recent season is the best of the show and one of the finest in contemporary television

For my previous posts on the end of Mad Men, see parts one, two and three

And here for posts on last season's episodes

Two Swords - Game of Thrones

"Two Swords"
Episode 4-01

Written by showrunners Benioff & Weiss.

Directed by Weiss.

Lots to do kids, and there's one less worthwhile voice out there to talk about it, so let's get to it.

• The first episode is good for one scene for each character, maybe two.  We're spending a week, maybe two, establishing where everyone is a mere several weeks after the Red Wedding, both physically and their state of mind.
• HBO, particularly Game of Thrones, does great "previouslies" and there are a lot of chickens coming home to roots, some things you may not have thought about in quite a while.
• Ruthlessly pragmatic Tywin thinks Ice is big to a silly extent, so he makes the titular "Two Swords".  It's a bit like killing Ned all over again seeing the Stark family Great Sword melted down and turned into, of all things, a new Lannister heirloom.  Actually, it's more like Sansa becoming a Lannister via marriage.
• Though, what did Tywin throw on there at the end?  A pig?
• I love Tywin because everything he does is grounded in pragmatism, and he has no aspirations or pretension of his actions being anything other than effective. 
• As much as Tywin talks about his/the Lannister legacy and name (starting a war for the "least of" them), when he kicks it one day, he essentially has no heir.  He won't give Casterly Rock to Tyrion (but pragmatically gives him Winterfell), Jamie still forsakes his claim, and he has no faith in Cersei who also happens to be a girl.  Maybe Tommen can get it (even though he's technically a bastard) with Myrcella, also a girl, enjoying Dorne.  But they are short on options.  
• On second thought, maybe the two swords are "Ice" and "Needle" rather than the two Lannister swords.  The Stark swords bookend the episode after all.  Maybe I am just refusing to pick the obvious choice here though.
• Dreadfort is added to the always epic credits, as is Mereen.
• "Can you read the sigils?" "Yellow balls?"
• Jamie's wave...perfect.
• Oberyn steals the show, as expected.  With all the Starks dead, there's a lot fewer people to root for.  So we're pretty much reduced to rooting for enemies of their enemies.  Probably not ideal foreign policy
• Passing his hand over the candle says more in a half second than the rest of it combined 
• Tyrion's indifference to Oberyn stabbing the Lannister soldier is quite hilarious
• Doran Martell gets a mention and I ponder who they will cast for him next year 
• The best way to describe Oberyn is as a honey badger, giving zero shits. 
• It is somewhat impressively how quickly and seamlessly they integrate the exposition of the Martells beef 
• Funny how everyone screamed bloody murder at this casting.  Turns out its going to be okay
• Alisair Thorne ascending to acting commander is just the ultimate version of getting stuck with a horrible boss following a good boss.  It is basically Jason Sudeikis' part in Horrible Bosses
• The Gold Cloaks commander showing up at the Wall is one of those chickens coming home to roost.  It appears he's weaseled himself into some sort of leadership position, despite goldbricking it and not actually going north of the Wall yet
• Was that a statue of Joffrey?  It looks like something Calvin would imagine
• "Reigns of Castamere" times heard: 2
• Sansa Lannister gets a bird to roost as well via Ser Dontos
• Looking forward to seeing the result of Pedro Pascal's Wushu master training
• The Hound quotes Omar "A man's got to have a code"
• Arya's scene at the inn mirrors the new, just published chapter of The Winds of Winter
• Chickens roosting!
• It's impressive that the first episode of a season actually has many payoffs, rather than the traditional structure of building over the season and having payoffs towards the season end
  
• I didn't think the old Daario was particularly bad, but the new one is obviously better and living up to more of the potential
• "The king is safe"
• Three seeds planted.  The dragons can't be tamed, Oberyn is looking for trouble, and the jig is up on Tyrion and Shae 
• Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Episode
• Stannis (and Melisandre and Davos), Roose Bolton, Bran & Co., the Ironmen.  Was Varys in there?
• Still dead: Most of the Starks.  Most of the Targaryens. Robert. Renley.

The War of Two of the Five Kings

I wonder how things would've played out between Stannis and Robb, had he lived.  Robb went from rescue mission, to vengeance to war for independence.  Stannis had no love for him and would've fought into the North just to be ornery if one or both of them had taken Kings Landing.

Pragmatically, Robb could've accepted his terms and gone back to being Lord of Winterfell under Stannis as Ned was under Robert.  Not sure his lords would've been keen on it though, spilling that blood to not rescue Ned and not be independent.  It may work if they did get the chance to kill all the Lannisters and Joffrey though.  I feel like a good compromise may have been something like a semi-autonomous republic, like Crimea.  But Stannis, being "iron" would probably not bend to that.

The two kingdoms at the peripheries of Westeros are both a bit like that, looking at themselves as their own deal.  Dorne even calls its lords "princes".

Two Characters

Sansa Lannister nee Stark
The episode spent an impressive amount of time  showing her grieving and hitting a lot of the right notes.  Sansa's never been one for actively taking out her anger, unless she is mad at her father or sister.  And she is still as polite as ever to her husband whose family murdered her whole family.  Not wanting to eat or sleep, Sansa's only retreat is the Godswood. 

Just like I was thinking about how Robb-Stannis would play out, it's interesting to think what would've happened with Sansa if Joffrey had been even the least bit not sociopathic.  Her ability to play along with everything is impressive and takes a certain temperment.  She also showed how she could handle queen-ly duties when they hid in the Red Keep as Stannis stood siege, while the actual queen drank and exuded contempt for everyone there.

Part of her grieving is her saying what she's heard about the Red Wedding, including how deep the cut was to her mother's throat.  

Arya Stark aka Arry aka Boy aka Girl
Without giving anything away, I'll say very generally that the show has deviated from the exact scenes that take place.  This of course causes some people to scream bloody murder over the Internets.  However, the one thing the they've stuck very closesly to is conveying the ideas in each of those scenes, as well as Arya's state of mind.  Simply put, there is more than one way to skin a cat and the way some things have been handled, while deviating from the original material, make the show all the more impressive.

For example, the scenes between Arya and Tywin are some of the best in the show.  However, they do not exist in book land.  It gave a lot of insight to both characters, as well as allowed us to spend time with two favorites. 

Arya's story so far is her trying to go somewhere and then being interrupted and taken somewhere else.  Yoren tries to take her to Winterfell via the Night's Watch route, she's interrupted and taken to Harrenhall.  She escapes and tries to go to Riverrun, but is taken to the Brotherhood Without Banners.  She's supposed to go to the Twins, but can't.  Now the Hound is taking her to Eyrie...
 

Game of Thrones Season Four

The past three seasons of Game of Thrones have followed a pattern of a semi-major event around the halfway point, followed by building to a major climax in episode nine, with ends tied off and led into the next season in episode ten.  This made sense with the first three books following sequentially, and they are through around two thirds of book three.

However, with Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons taking place largely simultaneously, and a large portion of A Storm of Swords still to occur, there will likely be elements of three different books this season.  Considering the source material, the pattern will not follow for Season Four.  Instead expect more major events consistently throughout the season.

Kings Landing
Marriage of Joffrey and Margerie, Joffrey's death, probably in the second episode "The Rose and the Lion" with Joffrey being so kind as to finally die
Trial of Tyrion
Escape of Sansa
Trial by combat between Oberyn and the Mountain
Murder of Tywin 
Escape of Tyrion
Cersei ruling by default.  defaulting on debts to the Iron Bank, eproving a Lannister may not pay their debts, encountering probably a cominbation of Noho and Tyco

The Wall and Beyond
Battle at the Wall
Jon Snow elected Lord Commander

The Riverlands
Lady Stoneheart emerges


The Iron Islands
Hoping this is where we cut some time.   But I think they could get it down to 3-4 scenes if they really felt like they had to do it. 

The East
I think we are maybe a season or a season and a half away (episode 5-09, max) before Dany rides Drogon out of the pit, possibly signaling the beginning of the end of our time in the East.

Once that happens we are, sadly, likely to pass GRRM's published material.  If this happens, it means he has until the end of 2015 or the early months of 2016 to get The Winds of Winter out, assuming he's not providing pages to Benioff and Weiss on the down low.  We do know he's shared the broad strokes ending with them.  
Unfortunately, it sounds like Oberyn is the only Dornishmen cast, meaning next season will likely be the season of Dorne.

Predicting the season ends with Lady Stoneheart

How He Met Their Mother and Other Answers

Best read after viewing the finale, but spoiler tagging items related to the episode just in case.

I quit this show.

Toward the end of Season 7, I stopped watching.  I met to watch the final five or eight episodes that built up on my DVR at the end of the season, but after hearing how the last episode ended, I decided to not bother.  Until that point I had gradually lost interest in all the "live" episodes I watched after viewing the first two seasons on DVD in about a day or two.  But being the Lost devotee I was, I decided to stay strong.

Season Seven was bookended by flashfowards at a wedding where we know the groom to be Barney, and at the end learn the bride to be Robin, provoking an eye roll and a "delete all episodes".  So I went about two years without watching any new episodes.  The show had also been extended for a few years so I knew I wasn't going to miss anything, and always knowing I was going to tune in for the series finale. 

I tuned in for "How Your Mother Met Me"* which showed the path Tracy took to meeting Ted, filling in the negative spaces in scenes where Ted narrowly missed the mother throughout the shows run, such as the St. Patrick's Day party, or being in her apartment as a guest of her roommate.  It showed the origins and emphasized the significance of the yellow umbrella.

* The HIMYM version of "The Other 48 Days"

The yellow umbrella became an object that they both were attached to and could claim ownership, so when one eventually saw the other with it, it would make sense to be the subject of their first conversation, getting the ball rolling.

The show posed two main questions, and a third as a sub question.  I actually view 2 and 2-1 as more important.  Question 1 is a vehicle but Question 2 and 2-1, though unstated, are actually the crux of the mystery.

1. How did Ted meet their mother?
2. Why is Ted telling their kids at this particular moment?
1. And why is he telling them in this incredibly long and drawn out way that actually is 98 percent about his friends, Barney, Marshal, Lily and Robin?

Immediate reactions to finales are mostly a product of their expectations and I think it takes time and perspective to take it in.  Having quit the show, my expectations were low, so the ceiling was high.

Probably the biggest reason I gave up on the show was not that I was frustrated with the indirect route they were taking to solving the titular mystery, but how they seemed to bastardize the characters, particularly Robin, Ted and Barney, who bore little resemblance to the people we first met, and whose differences were not a result of carefully charted growth, but what I perceived to be a lack of ideas and respect for the characters.

Not only that, but despite the innumerable prospects that rotated in and out of the three unmarried characters' lives, the show also failed to develop any additional characters of interest or depth, or that catalyzed change or growth from the gang.  My favorite non-gang character was James, but daytime television is a busy time and we saw him once in a blue moon.  Victoria was a close second simply for being so dern likeable (and cuter than a sleeping dormouse), though it always seemed more of a product of the actress than the writing.  

Not only that but seeing Robin and Barney together, and knowing much of the show would be dedicated to their path to the alter was grating at best.  It seemed like a poor attempt to make them the Chandler and Monica to Lily and Marshall's Ross and Rachel*.  In particularly, seeing them both move up and down and back and forth from the independence that definied their characters early on was disappointing, especially when Robin was infatuated with her bland co-anchor, Dud.

* One could argue Ted and Robin were Ross and Rachel.  After the finale, I would say that is spot on

My opinion of the characters falling so far is similar to people's expectations of a finale.  It was so high after two seasons of the show there was little opportunity to move but for moving down.  So now looking back after quitting this show for two years* I saw let us not bury the gang but praise them.

* For example, after two seasons of relate-able experiences, the show kept trying to invent "a thing".   Which is when one character references some phenomenon by its proper name, another character asks what that is, the first character (probably Barney) explains and then spends the rest of the episode involved in hijinks pertaining to the phenomenon, involving other members of the gang as needed.  The League does this as well (often via Taco).

I think because the gang was so darn likeable and relateable is why I wanted them to continue to succeed so much, and to do so as the people I knew.  So when in my opinion the show turned away from being about those people, my tv friends, then I turned from the show.  One of the reasons I liked the finale was because it combated this.  Barney pleaded with his friends to let him be himself as he chased tail in the bar.  Sometimes people don't change.  Like Ron Swanson not taking the city manager job on Parks & Rec for a plausible reason that is actually rooted in his character, Barney wasn't going to change.  Unless there was a reason.  They probably could have gotten a lot of good episodes out of his arc squeezed into the finale, and it was the some of the best character development the show has done.  Ultimately though, may we just take what they gave us.  A baby storyline is usually a lemo or even a death knell for a shown, unless the baby is largely ignore once it arrivesd.  But in Barney's case, giving one to a character like his can result in something interesting.

One of the things everyone wants to know in a finale is simply "What happens to....?"  The show that answered this best was Six Feet Under, which is probably part of the reason it is so universally acclaimed.* HIMYM uses a similar device as the end of "Everyone's Waiting", jumping ahead in the years but also using bits of the flash forwards we saw throughout the series' run.
 
* I/everyone marveled at both its concept and execution, and it forever changed how I/everyone listens to "Breathe Me".  I think though, the reason the audience reacts so positively to this closing was because it tied off ends as much as a show can, and that seems to be what audiences want, and that number of stories closed off seems to directly relate to how good or bad a finale is received.  Which is a terrible metric.  Additionally, I think unsatisfied viewers are more likely to be louder about their dissatisfaction than satisfied viewers will be about their satisfaction.  Reading forums, I've learned the first several pages of posts are generally from these unsatisfied viewers, regardless of any circumstance, and are written from an emotional and reactive state.  These being the first reactions are both the starting point and driver of the conversation.  Which is a terrible way to do it.  See Sopranos, The.  It's all part of a terrible version of the squeaky wheel getting the grease and makes my introverted brain a-splode.

"Last Forever" quickly answers question 1.  Now that we've answered the title, why is there more show?  Because HIMYM questions 2 and 2-1 lying there, posed in a more indirect, almost meta, way.

Sure enough Ted and his kids speak directly to the audience as the show wraps.  And the three of them provide the answers to the remaining questions.  It's significant because it shows us the window for Ted's dream, to be married and with kids in the house he fixed up, making a living as an architect designing skyscrapers in New York, was actually quite small, meaning that he lived his dream but not for long.  So what else is there?  The whole point of the show was Ted answering these questions and realizing that dream.  At this point the show, passes into "present" time,  it's caught up.  It's zero hour.  So for the first time in the show, he doesn't know what's going to happen and the clock is moving forward.  Ted spent his life trying to achieve something, and he did so briefly.  But with that gone, the thing that defined his existence, what does he do?  So he goes to Robin.  And while his life doesn't have "the" ending he planned for, it's actually somewhat comforting and satisfying to see one that is deserved.