There was a lot that felt contrived about "Tailgate" (obligatory "all drama is contrived comment" here.) I didn't buy that Marshall's sibling rivalries would extend to mourning for his father. I didn't care for Robin's New Year's resolution coming true so quickly, and so patently obviously. I'm also getting tired of the increasingly unrealistic Sandy Rivers and his retrograde views on sexual harassment in the workplace.
But there was a lot to laugh it too, including Marshall and his brother one-upping each other at their father's headstone. ("I'm trying to feel dad's spirit flow through my soul, butt-breath.") I also liked the twitter crawl under drunk Sandy's terrible broadcast, and Sandy welcoming in the year 212.
Most of the laughs came from Ted and Barney finally getting to open their bar, Puzzles. Their competing visions for the place made for some nice bits of humor, and their duet, singing-arguing during the bar's Cheers-like theme song was a lot of fun to watch.
I was also glad to see Kevin back on screen, especially as he was largely interacting with characters beside Robin. His attempts to work his way into the gang's good graces worked for me.
And even though they only came about due to obvious contrivances, the twin emotional moments at the episode's close still resonated. Marshall turning his private moment into a public party was nice, and Alyson Hannigan managed to sell her tearful joy at seeing her father again.
It was honestly just nice to have a new episode to watch.
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