"How I Met Your Mother" Review/Recap: “Gary Blauman”

James Canellos ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

It’s never too late to make use of a past guest star. The How I Met Your Mother episode “Gary Blauman” is proof after putting Taran Killam (Saturday Night Live) front and center.
This character has popped up a handful of times but has never fully taken advantage of Killam’s talents as an actor. Killam has proven in minor roles such as 12 Years a Slave and The Heat, that he can play characters with mysterious intensions very nicely. That remains the conflict of tonight’s episode with so little time before the wedding.
The episode opens however three days after the wedding on Ted’s (Josh Radnor) first date with The Mother (Cristin Milioti), they walk through Manhattan as he tells her this story. When you think about the concept it feels like a Woody Allen film, however Ted lacks that amount of neurotic behavior. Through his story we learn that Blauman randomly arrived at the wedding, Robin (Cobie Smulders) wants him to stay and assigns Marshall (Jason Segel) the task of finding a place for him. The problem is that Ted, Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Barney’s brother James (Wayne Brady) all want him to leave. While Lily (Alyson Hannigan), William Zabka (William Zabka) and of course the bride want him to stay.

Their reasonings for loving/hating Blauman are each pretty funny, except for James once you realize that Blauman’s the one he cheated on his husband with. Barney’s story is perfectly ridiculous and over the top when you see that the secret feud began over a curly fry. No one can do quiet and suppressed rage quite like Harris, until he explodes.
What I really like about this episode was how the writers, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, managed to tackle secret feuds, misunderstandings and simple miscommunications so well through this character when they’re so close to the end. Most shows that have a wedding episode almost always have that character who shows up uninvited, but Blauman’s not like those wedding crashers. With Blauman you actually continue to question whether he should be here or not and how a bad first meeting can completely alter your perception on somebody who might be a great person if you gave them a chance.

What really surprised me though was Ted’s part of the episode with The Mother. While they’re walking The Mother sees her ex-boyfriend who proposed to her and asks Ted if they could cut the date short. When Ted walks The Mother back to her apartment, they have an incredibly awkward moment and it seems like Ted’s giving up as he walks away. Knowing Ted, you have this feeling that he’s going to do something over the top and charming to win her heart, but he restrains himself. Instead, The Mother asks him to come back. I liked this a lot not only for Ted’s character, because it shows that he’s growing and not letting the women in his life control him. But, it also shows that The Mother is willing to make an effort into their future relationship as well by not letting him do all the work.
By the end of the episode it becomes a sweet farewell to a lot of memorable guest stars on the show by giving them all their own endings. It’s done in an excellent single take as the camera pans to each character moving on with their lives. Plus you finally learn Blahblah’s name! Although she’ll always be Blahblah no matter what. This episode almost felt like a celebration of all the guest stars who made their episodes so memorable as they each get their cameo that wishes them the best and thanks these actors for their chapters in this story that’s almost over.
Overall Episode Rating: A-