HIMYM season 9, episode 21, “Gary Blauman,” just aired and it was another poignant end-of-series episode. But first, anyone up for some Scottish-Mexican food? No? We don’t blame you.
This episode was set up rather dubiously. We’re made to believe Robin declares a Code Red because Gary Blauman shows up at the wedding with no spot at a table during the reception, but that’s not what “Gary Blauman” is about. She passes the responsibility of finding one off to Marshall, so this will end well.
It’s also here we should mention Gary Blauman is played by Taran Killiam, currently a cast member on SNL and Cobie Smulders’ husband. But he’s not the only significant other of a HIMYM star we will see tonight.
You have got to love Gary Blauman.
Or hate him. Or love to hate him. Or hate to love him. Lily, Ted, James and Barney all fall into one of these categories.
The rage present-day Ted feels towards Gary dates back years ago when they battled it out during the night of a party, both chatting up a woman about Teddy Roosevelt.
We all have that one friend who obsessively talks about their favorite book or television show that you can’t get them to be quiet about. We are not saying that has been us at some point or another, but we know how Ted feels when his friends shut him down about his Teddy Roosevelt facts. When Ted meets the aforementioned girl, and Gary joins in, it becomes a ‘who knows more about Teddy’ competition with no clear winner.
But Lily loves Gary. During her brief breakup with Marshall, she went to get a butterfly tattoo, but only had half of it completed when Gary saw her and dragged her out of the parlor. Lucky that he did, as she was planning on getting much more than one butterfly etched into her skin.
Barney, meanwhile, loves that he has the opportunity to destroy Gary’s weekend, and decisively hates him. Why? Blauman joined Barney at the bar one time just as he received a basket of fries. Gary ate not one, but four fries, and the last one was an accidental curly. Everyone knows the lone curly fry “is the dream” in a basket of regular, boring-cut fries.
Billy Zabka loves Gary because he recognized him for his poetry and not his signature villainous acting roles.
And James perhaps has the most reason to not want Gary at the wedding. He was the guy he cheated on Tom with! But nothing more comes of this beyond Gary telling James he has to stop blaming him for his own decisions.
Marshall, acting as the judge he wants to be, demands a recess while he deliberates his verdict. The law that acts above all other laws: when the bride asks for something, she gets it. Gary stays!
Ted and the Mother, sitting in a tree…
Three days after the wedding, the Mother and Ted attempt to embark on their first date. As Ted is retelling the Gary story, he and the Mother have been walking down New York City streets and, of course, who do they almost run into but the man the Mother left just that past Saturday.
This night clarifies a few things: 1) Ted doesn’t go to Chicago. 2) Ted and Robin don’t run off together – or if they do, they come back within 72 hours and Ted is emotionally well enough to date another woman. 3) The Mother has the kind of gull Ted wishes he had.
They’re a perfect match!
Where did everyone end up over the years?
As Ted says, “as the years go by, you just lose touch” with the people you think mean the most to you at various stages in your life. Thus begins HIMYM‘s best continuous shot, dethroning the infamous two minute date Ted created for Stella way back when.
Who was your favorite to see again?
And Gary Blauman does return to the wedding to make amends before parting ways.
That’s when Ted learns, “When you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it.”
When Ted and the Mother say goodnight, Ted finally learns not to say “I love you” on the first date, but it is the Mother that initiates it all. She calls him back, she kisses him first. She invites him to walk around some more. It’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Two more weeks, three more episodes.
Next week promises some Robin/Mother interaction, and the Mother is back to her calming way – telling Robin to take deep breaths before making an important decision.
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