Comedy requires tragedy

I've written before about how much I like How I Met Your Mother because I can relate to it. For a group of characters who are supposed to be my age (fairly exactly--I graduated college the same year Marshall, Lily, and Ted did), they seem about dead on. Sure, I don't spend nearly that much time in a bar, but they're people I relate to.

SPOILER ALERT

There's some debate about the ending of last night's episode--the sudden death of Marshall's father. One reaction that I just don't understand is that people don't want to watch the show for tears and didn't like the unexpected ending and "I don't want to see a sitcom do that" or "I watch this to get away from real life." There are certainly shows that I can see for that, but HIMYM has always been more to me.

To me, it's an amusing look at people growing up. You see them deal with their careers and relationships that involve hard choices (the Ted/Robin "I love this person, but we ultimately want different things") and parental issues (Lily, Barney). The situations can be comical, but there's a layer of realism that's very much there.

For the past couple of seasons, it seems like the show has drifted. It's still been enjoyable, but the characters have become too sitcommy. A show that had real people became one with cartoonish characters. This season has been a return to form, and it peaked with this moment. Of course, where they go from here is an issue, but I have faith in these writers.

The other major complaint I see is about the countdown. Honestly, I didn't even NOTICE the numbers until a friend on Twitter mentioned them. Then, thinking about the episode, I remembered some numbers sticking out. I've seen people being all, "It so SO OBVIOUS and DISTRACTING!" But...no. I mean, yes, some people noticed from the beginning, but it was subtle enough that a lot of people didn't. Inappropriate? I didn't think so. Co-creator Carter Bays said that it was done to create some foreboding in the episode. Because really, you never do know when those big moments are going to happen (as Whistler said on Buffy so many years ago). A countdown in life like that might be nice.

Anyway, it's nice to know that the cast of the show also appreciates it. Also, Josh Radnor needs to marry me.