HIMYM – You can’t always get what you (don’t) want

This episode did not play out as I thought it would. I really thought that Robin’s bombshell last week would have far-reaching affects on her and Barney’s story would be told for the rest of the run of How I Met Your Mother. Instead, she isn’t pregnant; that’s enough of a twist for one episode … but to be honest, a rather cheap one in this day and age of television writing. No, the producers didn’t stop there, choosing instead to put a permanent stamp on the series in this episode but in a much, much different way.

I’m not sure what to think. On one hand, I was really excited for an unresolved but decidedly forced future for Robin and Barney (as you are well aware, I’m never going to back off of that eventuality). But two couples going through baby-birthing-drama at one time? That might just be a little too much for one show at one time.

This is obviously the inciting incident that is going to revitalize the Ted/Robin dynamic. Ever since Victoria warned Ted that he wasn’t truly over his old flame, the proverbial shoe has been floating up in the ether, waiting to drop unexpectedly. It doesn’t mean that the two of them will get back together, but it does mean that figuring out their relationship will become front and center, at right about the same time that Barney will theoretically be discovering whomever it is he is slated to marry at the end of the season.

You’d think, though, that faced with seeing his friend “Insane Dwayne” so matured by his family experience, he’d be less likely to set a path down that particular rabbit hole. Despite “Sane Dwayne’s” experience, we do know that something is going to happen to Barney that will change the way he thinks about his future. We’ve seen little nods and pushes in that direction this season, but I suspect there is some big, life-changing event upcoming this season. If I had to hazard a guess, the first thing I’d research is whether or not Barney ever mentioned his father being at his wedding. Because, if not. …

Notes & Quotes

• I missed the boat last week when I said it was a near certainty that Robin’s hypothetical baby was Barney’s – any self-respecting fan of HIMYM would know that there was exactly an 83% chance.
• “Kids, have I ever told you the story of how I met your father? Well, I’ll just skip ahead to the moment I told him I was pregnant.” – Robin
• I loved Barney’s responses to Robin telling him she was pregnant:
• “Are you sure you’re not just getting fat?” – Barney
• “So uh, you’re pregnant. Huh. Looks like nobody told your boobs.” – Barney
• “My stepdad Clint made us get rid of anything that reminds him of the commercialization of Christmas.” – Ted
• “I thought you said he dresses up as Santa?” – Lily
• “Yeah, but to protest gender stereotypes, he plays Santa as a woman – though he keeps the beard. The result … is … disturbing.” – Ted
• Don’t think I didn’t notice Scott eating a sandwich in the house … those crazy kids!
• “Robin is upset. She and Kevin are having trouble. He cheated on her!” – Ted
  “No way, Kevin is an honest, decent guy who never on his best day couldn’t pull a hotter chick than Robin.” – Lily
• “I wouldn’t go to Cleveland for $125 million dollars paid over six years.” – Robin
  “Still? Still with the LeBron jokes? Where’s that ring huh? Where’s that ring he’s supposed to have by now?” – Ted
• “Kids, your Aunt Robin never became a pole-vaulter. But she did become a famous journalist, a successful businesswoman, a world traveler … she was even briefly a bullfighter. That’s a funny story; I’ll get to that later. But there was one thing your Aunt Robin never was – she was never alone.” – Ted.

Clacked by Ivey West
on Dec 05, 2011 @ 21:38 EST5EDT