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| "Last Words" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| How I Met Your Mother episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 6 Episode 14 | ||
| Directed by | Pamela Fryman | ||
| Written by | |||
| Production code | 6ALH14[1] | ||
| Original air date | January 17, 2011 (2011-01-17) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| How I Met Your Motherseason 6 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Last Words" is the 14th episode of thesixth season of the American sitcomHow I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on January 17, 2011, onCBS to an audience of 10.51 million viewers, the highest of any season six episode. It was written by series creatorsCarter Bays andCraig Thomas, and was directed byPamela Fryman.
The series focuses on main characterTed Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his group of friends in New York City. "Last Words" focuses onMarshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) as he mourns the death of his father. (Bill Fagerbakke)
The gang travel toSt. Cloud, Minnesota, to attend the funeral ofMarshall's father Marvin. Marshall's mother, Judy, keeps herself distracted and has not eaten or slept in two days.Lily offers to help Judy, which results in Judy yelling at her before taking a nap.Robin accidentally gives alcohol to Marshall's teenaged cousin, however Lily takes the blame allowing Judy to vent all her emotions. Finally, an exhausted Judy eats and rests.
The theme of Marvin's funeral is "last words". However, Marshall is reluctant to tell his story as his last conversation with his father was about rentingCrocodile Dundee 3, while the stories told by his family are very touching and inspiring. After charging his phone, Marshall discovers that he has a voicemail from his father. Wary about listening to the message, he asks the gang what their father's last words to them would be; they realize that none of them would have anything special to say.
During the service, after hearing stories told by Judy, Marcus, and Marvin Jr., Marshall's turn to speak at the memorial service comes. He impulsively goes out to hear his father's message, which appears to be apocket dial. An outraged Marshall says how much his father meant to him and how unfair it is that his last message to him was a "pocket dial". However, as he continues to rant, Marvin's voice jokes about his mistake, before telling Marshall that he enjoyed his visit before saying "I love you." He keeps his father’s real message private and instead tells everyone that the last thing his father said to him was to rentCrocodile Dundee 3. Judy thanks Lily for helping her throughout the service, resolving their strained relationship. After reflecting on the service, Ted, Lily, and Robin call their fathers to have meaningful conversations with them. Meanwhile, Barney calls his mother and tells her that he is ready to meet his father.
"Last Words" was written by series creatorsCarter Bays andCraig Thomas;[1] it was directed byPamela Fryman. Fryman directed nearly every episode of the series.[2]
This is the first episode since the season one finale, "Come On", to not have acold opening; instead, it starts with the opening credits.[citation needed]
The closing moments of the episode feature Barney attempting to contact his absent father,[3][4] his father had first been mentioned inHow I Met Your Mother'ssecond season.[5] The character was formally introduced in the 19th episode of season six, "Legendaddy".[6]
The episode starsJason Segel asMarshall Eriksen,[3] alongsideJosh Radnor asTed Mosby,Neil Patrick Harris asBarney Stinson,Alyson Hannigan asLily Aldrin, andCobie Smulders asRobin Scherbatsky.[7]Bill Fagerbakke appears in flashbacks as Marvin Erikson.[4] Bays stated the producer's had plans to have Fagerbakke reprise his role as Marvin in future episodes through flashbacks.[8] Fagerbakke reprised his role in a later season six episode, "Desperation Day", as a hallucination.[9] The character's final appeared was in theseason nine episode "Sunrise".[10]
Suzie Plakson reprises her role as Marshall's mother Judy.Chris Elliott reprises his role as Lily's father Mickey.[11] However, he does not appear on-screen; his brief cameo just consists of a voiceover as Lily is talking to him over the phone.[citation needed] Danny Strong guest stars as Marshall's childhood bully Trey.[8]
According to Harris,Eric Braeden was set to reprise his role as Robin Scherbatsky Sr, Robin's father, but backed out at the last minute, claiming that his cameo appearance was not "substantial" enough. The character was recast asRay Wise who remained in the role through the remainder of the series.[12] Harris publicly criticized Braeden's decision overTwitter calling him a "D-Bag". Braeden toldDeadline Hollywood that while he enjoyed working on the series, he ultimately pulled out as he felt overworked with his role on the soap operaThe Young and the Restless. He noted that he had never met Harris while working onHow I Met Your Mother.[13][14] In a statement toThe Hollywood Reporter, he characterized Harris as a "little boy" who "needs to be spanked".[14]
"Last Words" was first aired onCBS in the United States on January 17, 2011, to an audience of 10.51 million viewers. It was the highest rated episode of the season.[15] It marked an increase in viewership from the previous episode, "Bad News", which drew in 10.15 million viewers, the season's second highest ratings.[16]
Reviews for the episode were highly positive.
Donna Bowman ofThe A.V. Club gave the episode an A, noting it "unpretentious, unobtrusive, funny, balanced, and shot through with genuine feeling and unexpected grace".[17]
Robert Canning ofIGN gave the episode a rating of 8.5 out of 10. He said the episode built up onBad News' momentum and had more roles in store for the rest of the main characters, but criticized Barney and Ted's efforts to lighten up Marshall as weak and worse during a funeral.[3]
DeAnn Welker ofTelevision Without Pity graded the episode at A.[4] In a review byTime, the episode was praised for the realistic premise and for "not backing down" from a series topic.[18]
Henry Hanks ofCNN.com's Marquee Blog compared the episode's impact on the series to that ofThe Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust" and the first episode ofNewsRadio afterPhil Hartman's death in 1998.[19]