The Countdown

Sometime in middle school I decided to watch How I Met Your Mother.

Netflix was in a transition period, and was still sending physical disks to people's houses. I wasn't going to wait around for each DVD to arrive in the mail, so I found a website online called watchfreetv.com or something. This is also how I watched The IT Crowd.

My wife and I are currently in the process of watching the show again. She's seen it like 5 times already, but this is only my second viewing. It's interesting to notice the things I remember from the first viewing, and the things that hit me differently now a decade later.

I remember being angry at the ending, even when I was 15 years old. I remember hilarous highlights like when Barney ran a marathon, or Let's Go To the Mall. I remember the chemistry the characters had between each other.

There is one episode in particular though, that I don't remember, and that I watched yesterday: season 6 episode 13: Bad News.

The episode focuses on 2 main characters, Marshall and Lily, and their attempts to have a baby. Throughout the episode they discuss how often they've been trying and what could possibly be preventing them from getting pregnant. They see gynocologists and reproductive experts. Marshall has been meaning to call his dad but continues to put it off until he has recieved good news that infertility isn't an issue. He tells Lily that he usually only calls his dad with good news anyways.

Towards the end of the episode, my wife pointed out to me that there's been a countdown happening thoughout the entire episode. It starts at 50 which can be seen on an apartment door. There's a 23 on a book, and an 18 on a television screen. 10 is sewn onto a jean jacket, Marshall opens a bottle of 7 champagne, two characters high 5. I'm playing along with this little game, wondering what could possible happen when it reaches the end. It's fun spotting all the number easter eggs.

Marshall walks out of the bar, a neon sign in the background is lit up which reads "open till 3 AM". He's just recieved news that infertility isn't an issue, and he's trying to call his dad to tell him the good news. His dad's phone is ringing face down on the workbench. An unfinished handcrafted clock is lying next to it. The only number that has been painted onto the clock is 2. Marshall sees a taxi pull up outside the bar. The taxi's number, 0001, lights up as it rolls to a stop. Lily steps out of the car, distraught.

Marshall, your dad had a heart attack. He didn't make it.

A parking meter can be seen in the background switching to "time expired".

This whole episode was so subtle, and so well done. How can you add a sense of foreboding that something bad is going to happen but you can't quite place your finger on what? Just add a literal countdown to every scene.

It hit me really hard, and it's so interesting to me that I don't remember it from my first viewing. I guess different maturity levels and different priorities caused me to remember episodes a little differently. Back then I guess I just thought I never had to worry about something like this happening to me. Now I realize that it could happen at any moment at any time, often when you least expect it.

And that really sucks.