Mind the Gap

I’ll eventually recap “Barney’s Heart”. Unfortunately, I have to wait until CBS reruns the episode. So, for now, we’re moving on!

The gang visits Ted’s house. You remember, the one he bought after his mother remarried. Since this is a fixer-upper, it’s nice to see that Ted is actively working on getting it repaired. Barney suggests that Ted install a stripper pole in the backyard. Ted, of course, shoots it down. The gang gets Barney out on to the patio where their intervention sign hung over the doors. Barney is happy to see it and thinks the intervention is about Ted buying the house. But the intervention is for Barney.

And the reason why starts a few days prior.

The gang is gathered at Barney’s house for March Madness…except his giant TV set is on the fritz. Barney calls his super to bring him a screwdriver, which the gang teases him for. They ask him why he doesn’t know how to use a screwdriver and Barney reveals he doesn’t know anything about tools. A knock comes to the door and on the other side is John Lithgow! He tells Barney that he got his letter and Barney realizes this is his father.

CREDITS!

The “A” plot of course surrounds Barney and his dad. He and John Lithgow bond in MacLaren’s. And can’t stop raving about his dad—Barney calls his dad “Legend…wait for it…daddy!” Yeah, it sounded painful to me too. He’s a ladies’ man, just like Barney. In fact, he goes to chat up a woman and gets her number in less than five seconds.  He then rips it up saying they can’t waste time with chatty women. He then tells Barney that’s a roadie with Bon Jovi and will be touring the world with the band. He invites Barney along for the Asian leg, though.

The gang is understandably hesitant to believe Barney’s story. They think Barney’s dad sounds too good to be true. Barney, though, is upset and says that he’s going to renew his passport and purchase something the gang doesn’t want to know.

The next day, the gang minus Barney hangs out at MacLaren’s. They are surprised when John Lithgow shows up to ask for their help—Barney won’t return his calls. The gang is confused; John should be off with Bon Jovi. John doesn’t blink—he tells the gang he is a driving instructor in White Plains. They look at each other, realizing what happened.

John Lithgow joins the gang, taking Barney’s usual seat, and tells them what really happened the night before. He first surprised Barney by having a class of milk, saying he had a lot of acid the night before. Barney gets excited, thinking John still lives the fast-paced life of Barney’s youth. But no, John means acid reflux. It kept him up late—9:30 PM. John said he couldn’t connect with Barney and was so desperate, he started to brag.

If you can call publishing two nonfiction (and one fiction) books on broccoli bragging.

We then see the scene where John got some woman’s number. He walked up to the bar and told her the truth: he was trying to reconnect with his son and if she could just write down any seven numbers. That would be ten—an area code would be needed. Did she have a 212 number? A 646 number? A 718 number? A 917 cell number? Or a 347 number? Was she even from New York City?

Either way, Barney isn’t impressed. He wanted the hard-living, cool roadie from his childhood. But John tells Barney that was why he couldn’t see Barney anymore. His mother didn’t want his druggie lifestyle around her son. And he says that’s when he hit rock bottom and he tried to clean himself up. He invites Barney to meet his family in White Plains but Barney just leaves.

And that’s why the gang has put together this intervention for Barney. Marshall says that Barney has a chance to see his dad, something Marshall no longer has. And so, the intervention works and Barney agrees to go see John Lithgow while the others wait in the car. And Barney is psyched to meet John’s wife and son (his daughter is away in college). John and Barney pal around as Barney enjoys ribbing his new half-brother. His step-mother thinks he’s gone a bit far, but Barney goes until he insults JJ’s name. It is then revealed that JJ is short for Jerome Jr. (keeping in mind that John Lithgow’s character name is “Jerry”).

He then realizes everything he could’ve had and storms out. John finds him trying to take down JJ’s basketball hoop. Barney lets it all out at John—how come he couldn’t be the suburban dad to Barney? John apologizes, but Barney says that if JJ gets John, then Barney gets the hoop. John goes to get his tools, handing Barney a screwdriver. Barney uses it to whack the hoop, so John teaches him how to use it. And Barney gets the hoop down.

The gang returns to Ted’s House of Repairs. Barney tells Ted that the hoop is his. Ted jokingly says he preferred the stripper pole idea. Barney, quite solemnly, tells Ted that every kid needs a basketball hoop.

While Barney deals with his father, the gang deals with other things. Namely, each other’s “gaps.” You know, knowledge that others think is so basic but you never learned—like Barney not knowing how to use a screwdriver. Ted does feel bad about teasing him as Ted learned how to use tools from his father. Same with me. But Ted does have a gap. Seems he never learned how to pronounce “chameleon” properly. He has been pronouncing it phonetically until his class corrects him. He dismisses them and cancels a few classes.

Robin’s gap, it would seem, would be to not realize that some things are real. For instance, a boyfriend was explaining that he was being sent on an expedition to the North Pole. Robin laughs and tells him that if he doesn’t want to see her again, just tell her. She says he doesn’t have to make up some excuse. As he protests that he’s really going on an expedition, Robin asks if he’s going to help Santa and his elves. When he points out that the North Pole actually exists, Robin tries to save the relationship to no avail.

As the gang laughs at Robin’s gap, they turn to Lily. Apparently, she can’t aim. We see her try to throw something and it lands somewhere else, breaking something. It’s exaggerated, but in all honesty, I have really bad aim as well. Marshall, in a callback to an earlier episode, tells Lily she’s the one who pees on the floor. While I understand Rule of Funny, how is that possible? Women don’t really have need to aim—we just sit on the toilet. And just to emphasize Lily’s poor aim, when Marshall asks for the keys to drive Barney to his dad’s, they end up in the yard.

While Barney dines with John’s family, the gang teases Robin in the car by asking if reindeer are real. She’s unsure. Marshall then asks about his gaps and the car gets quiet. He says he knows his dad just died, but he hates being treated with kid gloves. He mentions a time where his voice cracked noticeably but Lily passed up the chance to mock him. He’s tired of that and wants to be treated normally again. And so they fire away, naming Marshall’s gaps. I can’t recall them all, but Marshall basks in them. There is one that he does reply: “My dad just died” and they stop. Then, presumably, Barney gets in the car and they go back to Ted’s House of Repairs.

I do not recall a tag.

This was one of those poignant episodes that How I Met Your Mother does well. I was very excited to see John Lithgow had been cast as Barney’s father. And he delivered, in my opinion. So did Neil Patrick Harris. The secondary plot with the gang debating each other’s “gaps” seemed a bit weak, especially compared to the “A” plot.

So, how did you think John Lithgow did being Barney’s dad?

Quote of the Episode:

“I thought this was supposed to be funny!”—my mother after the episode was finished.