Legendaddy

"Legendaddy"

"Legendaddy" is the nineteenth episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 131st episode overall. It aired on March 21, 2011.

Plot

The gang goes to the house that Ted bought in "Home Wreckers". While Ted explains his plans for the house, Barney attempts to persuade Ted to add erotic and sensual objects. It is then revealed that the trip is an intervention. Barney believes it is for Ted, but it is actually for him.

A few days before the intervention, the gang attempted to watch TV in Barney's apartment and they learn that Barney does not know how to use tools, so he has called a repairman to fix the TV. However, instead of the repairman, Barney is greeted by Jerome Whittaker (John Lithgow) at the door; he is Barney's father and has received his letter. Later, Barney related to the gang his meeting with Jerry, telling them how he is a tour manager who loves Scotch, suits, and loose women as much as he does. Though the gang is happy for Barney, they worry that Jerry will hurt him again, which Barney brushes off. However, the gang is later approached by Jerome, who reveals that he is actually a driving instructor with a normal suburban life. During the actual meeting with Barney, Jerry attempted to impress him but failed miserably.

The gang reveals that Barney's intervention is about seeing his father, who lives nearby Ted's house. Barney reluctantly agrees to have dinner with Jerome's family and meets Jerry's wife, Cheryl, and his son JJ. Barney acts antagonistically toward JJ, but stops when he learns that JJ stands for Jerome Junior. Upset, Barney abruptly leaves and Jerome follows him to the garage, where Barney is attempting to steal the basketball hoop attached to it. When Barney expresses his disappointment that Jerry is nothing more than a "lame suburban dad" and that JJ got to have a normal childhood while he did not, Jerry apologizes for abandoning Barney and helps him remove the hoop while teaching him how to use a screwdriver. Barney leaves with the basketball hoop and tells Ted that he should have it for his future kids, choking up as he says, "a kid needs a hoop."

Meanwhile, the gang begins to note all of the things that each of them never bothered to learn, noticing it when Barney mentions he doesn't know how to use a screwdriver. Robin points out Ted's odd pronunciation of the word "chameleon." Ted points out that Robin is unaware that the North Pole is a real place (and later she does not know that reindeer are real or that Jack Kennedy and John F. Kennedy are the same person). Ted also points out Lily's bad throwing skills. Marshall is the only one whom the gang does not mention, and he eventually asks the gang to pick on him. He reveals that he is aware that the gang has been careful around him ever since his father died, and says that he just wants to feel normal again. The group does resume picking on Marshall, mocking his inability to wink or swallow pills, his tendency to add too much water to his oatmeal, how he always misses one belt loop and how he is too old to ask to see the cockpit on planes. Marshall thanks them, grateful to be treated like an equal again.

Continuity

• Ted bought the house for his future family in "Home Wreckers".
• Ted's habit of pronouncing words incorrectly is first referenced in "Intervention" and "Spoiler Alert".
• The episode completes Barney's search for his real father, which began with the season two episode "Showdown". In "Oh Honey", Barney confesses to Honey that he wrote his father a letter, but hadn't gotten a response. In this episode's opening scene, Jerry is seen holding the same letter. Jerry also explains his disappearance, which Barney first notes in "Natural History".
• Marshall is driving his father’s station wagon that he and Ted used to return to New York in "Desperation Day".

Barney's blog

Barney discusses how a father and son can become wingmen, revealing a list of plays that they can do.

Music

"I Will Come for You" - Jack Dolgen.

Cultural references

• While breaking up with her boyfriend, Robin makes sarcastic references to The Chronicles of Narnia, the board game Candyland and Harry Potter by mentioning running through Narnia, travelling through Candyland and becoming the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
• One of Marshall's attempts to get Ted and Barney to disagree with him is by calling The Phantom Menace "by far the best Star Wars movie"; the film in fact received unfavorable reviews.
• One of the bands Barney lies about his father managing is Bon Jovi. He also claims Jerry accompanied the Rolling Stones during their West Germany tour in 1983.
• Barney asks his dad whether he slept with Stevie Nicks.
• Barney is given a picture of him, his father and ZZ Top. Barney says he remembers sitting on the lead guitarist's lap and telling him what he wanted for Christmas.

Production

Co-executive producer Craig Thomas said the issue about the identity of Barney's real father was already a plot point in the initial conceptualization of the series. John Lithgow was the first choice to play Jerome Whittaker and the producers gave him a collection of specific episodes detailing Barney's father issues (including "Showdown") to help him get acquainted with the role. Thomas said Lithgow will still appear in future episodes, as the role would complicate Barney's connection with Nora.

Reception

Donna Bowman of the AV Club gave the episode a B.

Zach Oat of Television Without Pity graded the episode at B+

Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a rating of 8 out of 10.

A number of reviews also praised Harris' emotional scene with Lithgow.

External links

• "Legendaddy" at IMDb