Last Words (How I Met Your Mother)

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"Last Words"
How I Met Your Mother episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 14
Directed by Pamela Fryman
Written by
Production code6ALH14 [1]
Original air dateJanuary 17, 2011 (2011-01-17)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Oh Honey"
How I Met Your Mother season 6
List of episodes

"Last Words" is the 14th episode of the sixth season of the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother . It originally aired on January 17, 2011, on CBS to an audience of 10.51 million viewers, the highest of any season six episode. It was written by series creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, and was directed by Pamela Fryman.

Contents

The series focuses on main character Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his group of friends in New York City. "Last Words" focuses on Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) as he mourns the death of his father. (Bill Fagerbakke)

Plot

The gang travel to St. Cloud, Minnesota, to attend the funeral of Marshall's father Marvin. Marshall's mother, Judy, keeps herself distracted and has not eaten or slept in two days. Lily offers to help Judy, which results in Judy yelling at her before taking a nap. Robin accidentally gives alcohol to Marshall's teenaged cousin, however Lily takes the blame allowing Judy to vent all her emotions. Finally, an exhausted Judy eats and rests.

The theme of Marvin's funeral is "last words". However, Marshall is reluctant to tell his story as his last conversation with his father was about renting Crocodile Dundee 3, while the stories told by his family are very touching and inspiring. After charging his phone, Marshall discovers that he has a voicemail from his father. Wary about listening to the message, he asks the gang what their father's last words to them would be; they realize that none of them would have anything special to say.

During the service, after hearing stories told by Judy, Marcus, and Marvin Jr., Marshall's turn to speak at the memorial service comes. He impulsively goes out to hear his father's message, which appears to be a pocket dial. An outraged Marshall says how much his father meant to him and how unfair it is that his last message to him was a "pocket dial". However, as he continues to rant, Marvin's voice jokes about his mistake, before telling Marshall that he enjoyed his visit before saying "I love you." He keeps his father’s real message private and instead tells everyone that the last thing his father said to him was to rent Crocodile Dundee 3. Judy thanks Lily for helping her throughout the service, resolving their strained relationship. After reflecting on the service, Ted, Lily, and Robin call their fathers to have meaningful conversations with them. Meanwhile, Barney calls his mother and tells her that he is ready to meet his father.

Production

"Last Words" was written by series creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas; [1] it was directed by Pamela Fryman. Fryman directed nearly every episode of the series. [2]

This is the first episode since the season one finale, "Come On", to not have a cold opening; instead, it starts with the opening credits.[ citation needed ]

The closing moments of the episode feature Barney attempting to contact his absent father, [3] [4] his father had first been mentioned in How I Met Your Mother's second season. [5] The character was formally introduced in the 19th episode of season six, "Legendaddy". [6]

The episode stars Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen, [3] alongside Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby, Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson, Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin, and Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky. [7] Bill Fagerbakke appears in flashbacks as Marvin Erikson. [4] Bays stated the producer's had plans to have Fagerbakke reprise his role as Marvin in future episodes through flashbacks. [8] Fagerbakke reprised his role in a later season six episode, "Desperation Day", as a hallucination. [9] The character's final appeared was in the season nine episode "Sunrise". [10]

Suzie Plakson reprises her role as Marshall's mother Judy. Chris Elliott reprises his role as Lily's father Mickey. [11] However, he does not appear on-screen; his brief cameo just consists of a voiceover as Lily is talking to him over the phone.[ citation needed ] Danny Strong guest stars as Marshall's childhood bully Trey. [8]

According to Harris, Eric Braeden was set to reprise his role as Robin Scherbatsky Sr, Robin's father, but backed out at the last minute, claiming that his cameo appearance was not "substantial" enough. The character was recast as Ray Wise who remained in the role through the remainder of the series. [12] Harris publicly criticized Braeden's decision over Twitter calling him a "D-Bag". Braeden told Deadline Hollywood that while he enjoyed working on the series, he ultimately pulled out as he felt overworked with his role on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. He noted that he had never met Harris while working on How I Met Your Mother. [13] [14] In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter , he characterized Harris as a "little boy" who "needs to be spanked". [14]

Reception

"Last Words" was first aired on CBS in the United States on January 17, 2011, to an audience of 10.51 million viewers. It was the highest rated episode of the season. [15] It marked an increase in viewership from the previous episode, "Bad News", which drew in 10.15 million viewers, the season's second highest ratings. [16]

Critical reception

Reviews for the episode were highly positive.

Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, noting it "unpretentious, unobtrusive, funny, balanced, and shot through with genuine feeling and unexpected grace". [17]

Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a rating of 8.5 out of 10. He said the episode built up on Bad News' momentum and had more roles in store for the rest of the main characters, but criticized Barney and Ted's efforts to lighten up Marshall as weak and worse during a funeral. [3]

DeAnn Welker of Television Without Pity graded the episode at A. [4] In a review by Time, the episode was praised for the realistic premise and for "not backing down" from a series topic. [18]

Henry Hanks of CNN.com's Marquee Blog compared the episode's impact on the series to that of The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust" and the first episode of NewsRadio after Phil Hartman's death in 1998. [19]

References

  1. 1 2 "How I Met Your Mother". The Futon Critic . January 17, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  2. ↑ Eng, Joyce (March 28, 2014). "How I Met Your Mother: Meet the Real Mother --- Director Pamela Fryman". TV Guide . Archived from the original on May 4, 2025. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Canning, Robert (January 18, 2011). "How I Met Your Mother: "Last Words" Review". IGN . Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Welker, DeAnn (January 17, 2011). "How I Met Your Mother: Famous Last Words". Television Without Pity . pp. 1–2, 6. Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
  5. ↑ Reilly, Phoebe (March 22, 2011). "How I Met Your Mother Recap: Mind the Gap – TV". Vulture . Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  6. ↑ Ken, Tucker (March 21, 2011). "'How I Met Your Mother' review: Was John Lithgow truly a 'Legendaddy'?". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
  7. ↑ "How I Met Your Mother". The Futon Critic . March 21, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Mikey O'Connell (January 17, 2011). "'How I Met Your Mother': Carter Bays talks 'Last Words'". Zap2it . Archived from the original on January 19, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  9. ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (February 15, 2011). "'How I Met Your Mother' – 'Desperation Day': If it bleeds, we can kill it". Uproxx . Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  10. ↑ Goodman, Jessica (February 4, 2014). "'How I Met Your Mother' Season 9 Episode 17 Recap: 'Sunrise'". The Huffington Post . Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  11. ↑ "How I Met Your Mother". The Futon Critic . January 17, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  12. ↑ Williams, Jordan (April 14, 2022). "How I Met Your Mother: Why Robin Scherbatsky's Father Was Recast After Season 4". ScreenRant. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  13. ↑ Ausiello, Micheal (December 17, 2010). "Update: Eric Braeden Fires Back At Neil Patrick Harris Over 'D-Bag' Comment". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  14. 1 2 Bryan Alexander (December 17, 2010). "Eric Braeden Snaps Back at 'Little Boy' Neil Patrick Harris for Twitter Slap". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  15. ↑ Gorman, Bill (January 18, 2011). "TV Ratings Monday: 'Chuck' Returns At Season High, 'Harry's Law' Premieres Little Better, 'The Cape' Falls". TV by the Numbers . Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  16. ↑ Bill Gorman (January 4, 2011). "Monday Final Ratings: 'Two And A Half Men' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Archived from the original on January 8, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  17. ↑ Bowman, Donna (January 17, 2011). "How I Met Your Mother "Last Words"". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  18. ↑ "HIMYM Watch: Friends for a Funeral". Time . January 18, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  19. ↑ Henry, Hanks (January 18, 2011). "'HIMYM' juggles humor and tragedy". Marquee Blog. CNN. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011.
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