I had my problems with season 1, too many characters, hardly any good humour, only Charlie was on the same level as the old characters and the narrative structure was weak.
Some things have remained the same, seven or in this episode even nine characters, who all have to play their part, are too many for a 25 minute episode, not everyone can be considered accordingly in the character development.
There are still some jokes that appeal to a very young audience at boomer level and thus take you out of the scene.
Now that I've said that, it's important to mention all the positive things.
The characters harmonise really well, they are written in such a way that they can develop and still contribute to the story, which is classically constructed while incorporating a lot of the flair of the original series.
The cuts are similarly well placed as in HIMYM and thus support the mostly really good jokes of the episode.
The showpiece of the episode though is definitely the finale, while you expect a good episode to fade out, there is a frequently used stylistic device from the original series that breaks the mood and creates a moment of pure ecstasy with a legendary (wink) character.
It is truly a good start to a long and hopefully similarly good season as this episode.