Well, that was quite a letdown after an excellent season opener. Wildly exaggerated character flaws, stereotypical comedy - this is season 5 all over again.
The story lines involving the main characters are rather ordinary. Having Barney as the focal point is usually a recipe for a great episode, but in this one he's acting a bit too crazy considering the long way he's come and how serious he was about Quinn by the end of season 7. See "exaggerated character flaws". In fact, "The Pre-Nup" rises and falls with its supporting cast.
Enter Bob Odenkirk as the episode's saving grace. His portrayal of GNB's senior lawyer Arthur Hobbs is thoroughly hilarious. Especially the part where he hits on Lily. If the series is running out of ideas, better call Arthur! The low point, however, was Klaus (played by Thomas Lennon). Which is particularly disappointing since he was brilliant in the season opener. The writers should have left it at that. But not only did Klaus return unnecessarily, he returned as a pathetic walking stereotype. Thus ruining the positive impression he made in the previous episode, and raising the question why Victoria ever considered marrying him.
And national stereotypes are funny in small and frequent doses, but this was just too much. As a German, I have to be careful here not to perpetuate yet another stereotype (us having no sense of humor - which was surprisingly averted here via the sitcom-within-the-sitcom; or played straight, since this German sitcom was presented as being actually quite unfunny). The thing with the overly long composite words from the last episode was funny, because it's true, even though "Lebenslangerschicksalsschatz" and "Beinaheleidenschaftlichergegenstand" are made up. Same about Klaus' query for pig intestines. That actually was the single funniest line from "The Pre-Nup" for me personally. But the nudity thing was overdone. I get it, Germans have a more relaxed (or "healthier", depending on your perspective) attitude towards the naked human body compared to Americans. But Klaus running around in the apartment naked in front of his ex-fiancée and her new boyfriend is just absurd. Well, except if he has reason to believe that certain bodily features of his are apt to make his ex-fiancée's new boyfriend feel inadequate. That would have been clever, but sadly the writers didn't hint at that. And what on earth is this ferret thing all about? Is it because of the nihilists in "The Big Lebowski", who happen to be German as well? I have lived in Germany my entire life, I know countless German pet owners. Most of them have dogs and cats just like ordinary people. Some maybe have a guinea pig. Then there's the occasional weirdo how owns reptiles or a tarantula. But I have never heard of anyone who owns a ferret as a pet. I'm not even sure if that's legal in Germany.
The story lines involving the main characters are rather ordinary. Having Barney as the focal point is usually a recipe for a great episode, but in this one he's acting a bit too crazy considering the long way he's come and how serious he was about Quinn by the end of season 7. See "exaggerated character flaws". In fact, "The Pre-Nup" rises and falls with its supporting cast.
Enter Bob Odenkirk as the episode's saving grace. His portrayal of GNB's senior lawyer Arthur Hobbs is thoroughly hilarious. Especially the part where he hits on Lily. If the series is running out of ideas, better call Arthur! The low point, however, was Klaus (played by Thomas Lennon). Which is particularly disappointing since he was brilliant in the season opener. The writers should have left it at that. But not only did Klaus return unnecessarily, he returned as a pathetic walking stereotype. Thus ruining the positive impression he made in the previous episode, and raising the question why Victoria ever considered marrying him.
And national stereotypes are funny in small and frequent doses, but this was just too much. As a German, I have to be careful here not to perpetuate yet another stereotype (us having no sense of humor - which was surprisingly averted here via the sitcom-within-the-sitcom; or played straight, since this German sitcom was presented as being actually quite unfunny). The thing with the overly long composite words from the last episode was funny, because it's true, even though "Lebenslangerschicksalsschatz" and "Beinaheleidenschaftlichergegenstand" are made up. Same about Klaus' query for pig intestines. That actually was the single funniest line from "The Pre-Nup" for me personally. But the nudity thing was overdone. I get it, Germans have a more relaxed (or "healthier", depending on your perspective) attitude towards the naked human body compared to Americans. But Klaus running around in the apartment naked in front of his ex-fiancée and her new boyfriend is just absurd. Well, except if he has reason to believe that certain bodily features of his are apt to make his ex-fiancée's new boyfriend feel inadequate. That would have been clever, but sadly the writers didn't hint at that. And what on earth is this ferret thing all about? Is it because of the nihilists in "The Big Lebowski", who happen to be German as well? I have lived in Germany my entire life, I know countless German pet owners. Most of them have dogs and cats just like ordinary people. Some maybe have a guinea pig. Then there's the occasional weirdo how owns reptiles or a tarantula. But I have never heard of anyone who owns a ferret as a pet. I'm not even sure if that's legal in Germany.
