How I Met Your Mother "The Burning Beekeeper" Review

"The Burning Beekeeper" felt like a spec episode. Carter Bays and Craig Thomas used the non-linear structure they love so much; it had the outlandish, mysterious element; and a couple of character moments ardent fans crave in an episode. The overall narrative didn't advance one bit. Indeed, it's a stand-alone episode. The stand-alone episode felt more hollow than usual, like the writers were unaware of the direction of the rest of the story, thus the spec comparison. The episode touched on Lily's parental fears and Marshall's struggle between his work and personal life. The rest was fodder--Ted and Robin arguing about NOTHING, and a Barney-is-a-sex-addict throwaway C story.

A house-warming party is the ideal setting for an episode in season seven. The last new episode preemptively bid farewell to the bar. The times are changing for our characters. Marshall and Lily welcomed neighbors, friends and family to their home on Long Island. Lily felt stressed out from planning the party. Marshall couldn't help because of work obligations. Lily's noticeably pregnant now. The baby's more of a reality each and every day, and Marshall's so busy that Lily's just worried about how she'll deal with a new crisis every few seconds. Husband and wife don't talk about this though. Husband and wife talk to OTHER people about their fears; a party's thrown to avoid conversing about the most important subject to both; a dirty gouda, or a lack of vegan dishes, or a sadistic ex-divorcee who may or may not castrate Barney are presented as situations that are unavoidable, situations that Lily MUST face as a mother-to-be.

The story didn't work at all for me. Lily and Marshall have been the most stable characters in the series. Their collective emotional and mental health dwarfs the other characters. Beyond that, Marshall's hectic work schedule didn't track with what we've seen throughout the season. Bays and Thomas dealt with Marshall's job early in the season. The storyline disappeared. Marshall had the time to tailgate in a cemetery near his father's grave. Marshall was around for the gang's adventures throughout the city. The house stuff must've been time-consuming, but Marshall didn't miss a second of it. Suddenly, Marshall cannot get time off. I understand that every company has busy, hectic times; however, it's like Mr. Coots never gave Marshall time off. Coots reminds Marshall that Mother Earth never has a day off, so neither will them. Whether this mind frame is new is unclear, but Marshall's overworked enough to quit, which doesn't track with what we've seen. In other words, the storytelling's lazy. Mr. Coots experiences an epiphany after accidentally engulfing himself in flames while in a bee suit, recalls the conversation in the kitchen with Marshall about letting loose and having a beer, and decides to have a beer AND give the company the night off.

Lily, meanwhile, wanted a perfect party so much so that she sits her father down to specifically tell him not to cause any havoc when the guests are eating, drinking, and socializing. Everything goes wrong within five minutes, in three separate rooms. Each room story is its own act. Lily's in the middle, or on the outskirts, in each story, helplessly watching her best laid plans go to shit. Lily opens up to Ted about her true feelings. She's worried that her inability to manage the party signifies a future inability to raise a child and deal with individual crisis’s, which is stupid. Adults at a house-warming party and your own child are entirely different. But Lily needed to have inner doubt for the sake of drama.

Ted, Robin and Barney were involved in insignificant stories. Ted and Robin argued about their respective natures--Ted's a nice guy and Robin's a loud mouth who'll yell at people. Both admitted they liked one another's nature in their last scene. Barney wanted to sleep with an ex-divorcee, but felt afraid when he heard about her castration habit if a man wrongs her after sex. The story led to a horrible 40 seconds of dialogue between Barney and Robin. Ted's desire to stand up for himself led to the best scene in the episode. Josh Radnor and Martin Short let it all out in their confrontation over vegan Swedish rolls.

Overall, "The Burning Beekeeper" was without direction and purpose. The emotional story was lazy and didn't track with what we've seen this season. There were funny moments though.

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