In the case of the people vs. How I Met Your Mother, I find the defendants guilty of a very funny episode.
Like Marshall's case, "Twelve Horny Women" got off to a slow start with some pretty bad overacting in the opening scene, but won my vote in the end with some fresh jokes and great twists on a few old ones.
Before jumping into the battle for badass supremacy, Jason Segel and Joe Manganiello deserve a hand for those courtroom scenes. Marshall did his best to stay on the up-and-up in his proceedings, so I could not fault him for using the duckling to gain sympathy with the jury. He had to fight fire with fire when pitted against Brad's Bend and... wait for it...wait for it...Snap!
The courtroom sketch artist's depictions of the two lawyers was perfection. Having not only the all-female jury but also the judge swoon before the comely counselor Brad was a funny touch as well. They let the kangaroo court jump in with both feet, so there was no objection from me.
The piece de resistance without a doubt, though, had to be the video from Brad's trip to Frog Lake. I laughed harder with each part, from the gold coins to the turntables.
We have seen Marshall do his joke telling bit numerous times, but this was one of the better instances. The combination of the austere setting coupled with the one judge making his own "rash" joke just worked for me. I also did not for a second realize Marshall was actually there to discuss becoming a judge until it was revealed. I thought that was a great twist.
Moving on to the rest of the gang and their game of one-upping each other to see who fought the law the most... I was pretty sure Barney had hired an actor to play his old friend the bailiff. The magician club and Barney's skinny hands was a way better angle than I could have hoped for, giving him a chance to continue his streak of additions to the best How I Met your Mother quotes list.
Ted's mug shot turning out to be a renaissance fair memento was short but very sweet and I loved his idea to call in sick for everyone so they could support Marshall.
I could not decide which Robin Sparkles was funnier, the TV throwing misfit or the goodie goodie who made her own hotel bed and only used one washcloth.
The winner of the rap sheet ruse, however, was Lily. The Wire is perhaps my all-time favorite show, so the instant Lily began whistling like Omar Little, the competition was over in my book. It is hard to believe the show's writers have been able to resist using that reference so far. For it to come out this late in the game was a river card for the ages and a great wrinkle on Lily's darker hair days.
At the end, we were left with Barney and Robin sharing a booth and their thoughts. Earlier, while trying to pretend their kiss had not happened, we got a glimpse of how great they are together, as they funnily enough were both mocking Ted. When they cut to MacLaren's with time running out on the episode, I was worried the scene was going to seem rushed or jammed in at the end. Barney's speech, however, followed by Robin's "huh," was anything but. I loved the rapid transition from the humor of the previous scenes, to the emotion of Barney's apology to the perplexing response by Robin.
What did you think? Was Robin feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up after listening to what Barney said or was she relieved to not feel anything at all?