HIMYM Final Season Premiere and Pilot Thoughts on Mom

Even as I acknowledge that the show is not as good as it was, I still find myself being a big apologist when it comes to How I Met Your Mother. I can't really help it, because when it was good it was great and I just adore the cast. With that said, I was equal parts apprehensive and excited right before watching the final season premiere of the show. At this point, they don't really have to prove anything to anyone since it's their final season, but I'm hopeful that they are able to recapture some of the magic it has lost just for being in the air for so long. The premiere gave me more reason to be optimistic.

First and foremost, the best part of the premiere is Cristin Milioti as the titular mother, whose face was shown to all of us in last year's finale. Her scenes with Alyson Hannigan, and more importantly, Josh Radnor were utterly delightful and after eight years of hype, she more than lived up to all of it. She really only had one scene with Radnor as a sort of flashforward, but the time-travel gimmick and immense heart showcased in the scene are How I Met Your Mother at its best and truly affective for any long-time fans. Getting the two of them together in a scene this early also bodes well for the rest of the season in that we won't have to wait until the series finale to see them interact and learn more about Milioti's character.

The premiere also showed some promise with how they're going to handle the whole season taking place in the 56 hours encompassing Robin and Barney's wedding weekend. Granted, we might get sick of Farhamptom after eight or more episode, but for now I'm looking forward to seeing what they do. I'm still not sure how I feel about Barney/Robin after they've essentially messed that whole relationship up the past few seasons, but the two actors sell it the best they can. I even like Marshall hanging out with Sherri Shepherd, but again let's see how long that actually happens. Basically in summary: so far so good and also Milioti is amazing.

I had slightly low expectations for Mom despite my love for the talented Allison Janney and Anna Faris, but I think that helped since I walked away after the pilot wanting to see what happens next. The episode wasn't perfect, but it was still able to succinctly introduce us to a whole host of characters without feeling to cramped as well as make us understand how each related to one another. The show is about Faris, a young working recently sober single mom, and her relationship with a mother, played by Janney, who is also trying to fix her life and mend fences with her daughter. The two work well in trading barbs with each other so that bodes well. Plus the show doesn't seem to rely on potty humor (yet) which is quite refreshing froma CBS Chuck Lorre show. B-

In other news, the second episode of Sleepy Hollow was fine. Didn't really blow me away, but all of the stuff I really liked about the pilot were all still there. Nice to see John Cho sticking around for at least a few more episodes. The way the bad witch was dispatched felt a bit rushed, but the show also seems to be following the standalone episodes featuring a monster that genre shows often do.