Ep 4. Intervention

As the fourth season of How I Met Your Mother rolls on, the show hits a great groove of blending comedy and heart perfectly. "Intervention" is an episode that has the entire cast involved but it also has a strong emotional core that ties the episode together.

The episode focuses on two key storylines, both of which blend together nicely. The first is Marshal's addiction to playing an old video game called "Tekken" and how that is causing a rift between him and his soon to be wife, Lily. The other is the group's concern that their friend, Intervention Addiction Ted (or IAT for short), is about to try and stage one of his famous interventions on one of them.

Throughout the episode, the group tries to steer IAT away from any possible intervention targets, even going so far as to plant a fake concern for himself to throw him off the scent. Meanwhile, Lily tries desperately to get Marshal back into the real world and away from his obsession with "Tekken."

What is great about this episode is how it balances both its emotional and comedic elements. The humor, as always, is spot on with the witty dialogue and the use of IAT's quirks as a way to both make fun of and relate to the characters. But the emotional core of the story is what really sets it apart, particularly with Robin's growing concern for Ted's addiction to trying to fix everything and everyone around him.

Ultimately, "Intervention" is a touching episode that holds a clear mirror up to Ted's own flaws and quirks while also building on some of the more minor stories from previous episodes. It's worth a watch for both the humor and heart.