How I Met Your Mother: Swarley

(S02E07) SWARLEY!

Swarles... Swarles Barkley... Swarlos... man, every time I heard the gang give a variation on Barney's new nickname -- given to him because a cute barista could never write his name right on his drink order -- I laughed out loud. And the joke never got old, especially when Ted would place calls to the bartender at MacLaren's so he could call "Swarely" and annoy Barney.

That's good sitcom writing, boys and girls. I mean, it's a joke that's as old as sitcoms themselves... a nickname that a person hates but the rest of his friends love. But it's written so well that it's the funniest thing HIMYM has done all season, and that's saying a lot.

Of course, the nickname is the Best Swarleyism.. er, I mean Barneyism. Yes, Barney didn't create it, but it was good to see him get upset about something for once, instead of pissing off everyone else. The tantrum that he threw after pretending to like the name was a riot. NPH played it the right way, making the swaggering Barney talk like he was back in school trying to get back his baseball cap during a game of Keep Away. His attempts to deflect, especially when the barista called Robin "Roland," were also really funny.

What's weird is, the one-note Swarley joke overwhelmed the actual big story of this episode: Marshall and Lilly getting back together. The story, where the boys try to tell Marshall that said cute barista, who he's dating, has "crazy eyes," was cleverly written; there were signs that Chloe the barista actually was crazy. The hunchback with the limp that was chasing her, the broken picture of Marshall and Lilly, and the fact that she knew every word to "We Didn't Start the Fire" sure made her seem loco (hey, I used to know all the words to "We Didn't Start the Fire"! So, means I'm... nah). But it was all Lilly, trying to scope out Marshall's date and make him feel a little guilty in the process. Again, flashbacks and selective editing are used very well here. When Lilly popped out from behind the couch and yelled, "STOOOOPPP!" I was truly surprised. Nice job with that.

Of course, the topper was the line Marshall gave Lilly when he realized she was the crazy one: "You're crazy... You have crazier eyes than anyone I've ever met." Then, when we find out Chloe actually is crazy, it was a nice topper.

Some more notes:

• Kudos to the graphic designer who showed what men see as "crazy eyes," with jack-in-the-boxes and swirlies and other "nutty" stuff. Of course, women have an equivalent: "jerk nails," which is when a man has perfect fingernails.
• Robin deals with her parents on the phone the way most people must dream of dealing with them, by just holding the phone randomly voicing "uh huhs" and other generic responses every so often. Again, not a new joke, but well executed by Cobie Smulders. Robin's so cool... too bad she's with a drip like Ted (which I'm sure will change soon).
• Even though I'm a Billy Joel fan I liked Marshall's line about Chloe: "She likes Billy Joel, I like... music..."
• A good narrator line, about Lilly: "Much like Billy Joel, she couldn't take it anymore."
• A straight- and darker-haired Alyson Hannigan is very, very sexy. Even as a hunchback making guttural noises.
• The ending joke, a Cheers tribute -- "SWARLEY!" -- even showed the executive producers' names in the font that the Ted Danson classic used. Nice touch.

Anyway, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are on that roll that we usually don't get to see in quality sitcoms until the third season or so. Now that Marshall and Lilly are back together, I'm wondering if we're going to go back to Robin and Ted. I hope not, at least not for a while; I'm having too much fun. And I hope they keep "Swarley" for a little while longer. "Swarley." See? It's still pretty damn funny.