How I Met Your Mother – Gentlemen, give it up for Karma!

Sometimes, change is a good thing. Be it Ted’s decision to move out of the apartment or Lily and Marshall’s decision to move back to the city, small changes can be a catalyst to bigger and better things. In Barney’s case, that change is been coming for a long time. Every once in a while, though, even changing for the better cannot compete with years and years of bad karma.

Quinn’s stripper name of Karma defines her character’s purpose on the show. Even as Barney’s recent relationships with (some) women have shown his maturation, he has never atoned for his lifestyle. I’m not sure that he has to apologize to be redeemed as a character – for those that think’s he needs atonement, he’ll ever actually be able to obtain it. Karma (both the literal and figurative versions) did provide him a costly kick in the rumpus this evening. Some of me – only some – felt badly for what she was putting Barney though. The way he has thrown money around in the past, he certainly could afford being taken for a ride the way that he was. My only question, though: is Barney really that gullible?

We know Robin isn’t. She saw through Lily and Marshall’s scheming early on. Their actions do make sense (even the croquet mallet as a rather striking analogy to Kathy Bates’ sledgehammer in Misery). They were trying to justify their (poor) choice to move out of the city by co-opting Robin into that lifestyle. If there is any member of the group that would never move to the suburbs, it is Robin the jet setter.

It was nice that she stopped by to see Ted. Their relationship can’t stay strained forever – How I Met Your Mother was frustrating enough when Ted and Barney were at odds. Having two characters so awkward around each other would not be good plot-wise. Their chat seemed nice, and I think theirs is obviously a relationship that can overcome the shadow of its past.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised by his decision to give the apartment back to Lily and Marshall. I’d always assumed that their eventual return would be to their place in Dowisetrepia – either I’ve missed a throwaway line about them selling that place, or it will be addressed later on. I’ve always thought, as Ted obviously felt, that the apartment was always Lily and Marshall’s home, despite who lived there. Perhaps it is a little bit of karma that they’ve returned.

Notes & Quotes

• “I don’t know, bro. Look at me and that Quinn chick. You don’t hear me prattling on about how beautiful her smile is. How her hair is like a waterfall of honey-colored silk. How her eyes are like a warm south sea kissed by the fire and gold of sunrise. I don’t even remember what she looks like.” – Barney
  “Dude, you obviously like her.” – Ted
  “Can’t you read between the lines, Ted? I obviously like her!!” – Barney
• “We just connected. Emotionally, intellectually, spiritually.” – Barney
  “So? Mind blowing sex?” – Ted
  “Mind blowing sex! God, for an hour afterwards I couldn’t uncross my eyes. Which was awesome because when I went back for seconds it was like having a three-way with twins.” – Barney
• I’d think that Marshall would have more of a reaction to Lily’s journal entries of murdering his mother.
• “Nothing says healthy like smoking 40 pounds of pork loin in an unventilated room while having a conversation with your ex.” – Imaginary Robin
  “Just for that, you’re not getting any.” – Ted
  “I’m not getting any? Good luck smoking your own meat! Oh!” – Imaginary Robin
• “In a city of eight million people, you happened to walk in the club where she works. Maybe it’s destiny.” – Ted
  “No, Destiny strips at the Melon Patch. They’re people Ted; try to keep them straight.” – Barney
• “Dear Diary, it is day four on this island, which the natives have dubbed ‘Long Island.’ Perhaps referencing how each hour here feels like it will never end.” – Robin
•  “I like smoking meats, but I have a new passion: Wood.” – Ted
  “You hear these things coming out of your mouth, right?” – Imaginary Robin
• “If it’s not a date then why did she say every fifth dance was free?” – Barney
  “Because that’s the Lusty Leopard’s policy on Friday nights, and I’m SO mad at you that I know that!” – Ted
• “I can’t believe we’re at a strip club and the biggest boob in here is you.” – Ted
  “Apparently you haven’t seen the DeSalvo twins … she’s right over there.” – Barney
• “Hey, gorgeous? Want a dance?” – Karma
  “Is it a jig? ‘Cause if so, it is up! … Sorry, I only had the last verse of Hot For Teacher to work on that.” – Barney

Clacked by Ivey West
on Feb 27, 2012 @ 21:38 EST5EDT