How I Met Your Mother – This episode boasted a clever gimmick (aside from Neil Patrick Harris in a dual role as
the last of the five doppelgangers) that was never actually mentioned in the episode. A countdown runs throughout the episode – in almost every scene there’s a number in the background or on a prop, counting down from the number 50 in the first scene. Once you notice it happening, it’s kind of mesmerizing, and it forced us to pay attention to every scene, just to watch for the numbers. Kind of like Lost, actually. But what we didn’t know was that it was a countdown to tragedy, with Marshall learning that his father had died of a heart attack, just after the number 1 appeared on a taxi. Right up to that point, it was a very funny episode with all of the regulars getting nice bits (especially Barney’s laser tag obsession and the montage of Robin’s embarrassing past), and this ending came as a real shock. The countdown trick was great for forcing the viewer to pay more attention and engage more with the episode, so we all took that emotional hit. And farewell to Marvin Eriksen, as played by Bill Fagerbakke (Best known as the voice of Patrick on Spongebob Squarepants and the Aryan prison guard who helped break Beecher’s limbs on Oz. Dude’s got range!).
