Primetime with Caroline: Monday Roundup

I am trying something new here. I have always wanted to write about more shows but never wanted to write reviews for every single one. So I have decided to mini-reviews for episodes I liked the best from the night before. So here is Monday’s Primetime Roundup!

Bones: OMG They finally got married and it was a beautiful as I expected it to be! I haven’t been a faithful watcher of this show for a couple seasons now but I still try and watch as much as I can. But I HAD to watch this episode and I am so glad I did. Brennan bringing back the note she wrote to Booth when she was buried alive from Aliens in the Spaceship was the best gift they could have given to the fans. I balled like a baby. My only issue with the episode was the fact that their child was missing. That was weird but oh well. They got married and it was perfect and that’s all that matters!

HIMYM: Oye. This season of HIMYM has been terrible. And I am not ashamed to admit it either. If you actually like this season then do yourself a favor and leave my blog and go get your head examined. Because this show has just completely and utterly lost itself. That being said…this episode wasn’t as bad as the rest of them. We still don’t get to see the mother, who, by the way, is still a series regular; Ted is still attracting crazy chicks because well that’s what he does instead of meeting her. Then there is Barney and Robin who ACTUALLY admit that they are terrible people who belong together. Marshall admits he took the job without tell Lily and Shari Shephard’s character yells at him. Its all a big mess. And we still have over a half a season left. I really don’t think they can fix this. It’s just so bad at this point and I don’t think the writers care. At least its all over after this.

Hart of Dixie: How much longer is Joel going to stick around? I don’t get it, really. What is the point of his character other than to create drama between him, Zoe, and Wade? Or to try and show that Brooklyn hipsters can try to be normal as well. This storyline is pointless and the more Zoe is paired with Wade, or George for that matter, Joel continues to look more and more like a dud. You know who is also a dud? Lynly. She and Joel have gots to go. And sooner the better. On the upside, Lemon was amazing this week. She continues to have the best character development on this show and I am SO happy she finally quit the Belles. I would much rather watch her shenanigans with Wade and/or Annabeth then see a Belles storyline any day.

The Blacklist: I still have some mixed feelings about this show. On one hand I really love the dynamic between Red and Keen. They defiantly keep the show interesting. But I feel like they need to tone down the case of the week plot device and tone up the overall arch of Reds mission and Keen’s husband’s backstory. That is by far the more interesting storylines of the show. And it looks like we are headed that way. We found out at the end of the episode that Keen’s husband is aware that Lizzy knows something isn’t right with her husband and he confronted her about it! Next week is going to be explosive!

Castle: I loved this episode. I loved that they stole a little bit of the plot from Continuum and used it for their case of the week! And how freaking awesome was Joshua Gomez as the dude from the future?! And how cute was it when we found out that Beckett becomes Senator Beckett and is still married to Castle (who is now a serious author) and that they have three children? I really hope that ends up being true. They deserve to be happy and have a big family. And Alexis would love some brothers and sisters!  

How I Met Your Mother Review: Disaster Averted

I still have a grin on my face from watching that last scene of How I Met Your Mother last night. OK…maybe it’s because I’ve rewatched a bazillon times now but still…it was sooo Legen..wait for it…DARY! Even if it was totally wrong on a whole bunch of levels (but I am choosing to ignore that for right now.)

This episode was a HUGE improvement from the last couple of terrible episodes. I think it was a combination of Barney and Robin, Barney being Barney, the slap bet, and the flashback story. The stories work best when they aren’t trying to be too funny and just let it happen naturally.

Soo what is this crazy scene I am talking about? I’ll get to that in a minute. First let’s talk about the gangs experience during Hurricane Irene (I still hate you by the way…you ruined my fun beach vacay!!!)

Apparently during that crazy event the gang did something pretty crazy with a boogie board in front of McLaren’s and it resulting in a NO BOOGIEBOARDING sign in front of the bar. Kevin wanted to know the story and it really wasn’t all that special, it was basically that Ted wanted to flee NYC before the storm hit and they missed the evacuation period due to Barney being..well…Barney. There were other things going on, like Marshall losing his health insurance and clinging to Lily’s every move but that resulted them in them making a baby in Barney’s bathtub. Sooo there was that.

While this story is being told Barney is trying to figure out a way to get out of wearing the Ducky Tie because in a couple of day’s he is meeting Nora’s parents and he wants to make a good impression. This results in the creation of a new Slap Bet. Barney ends up agreeing to giving Marshall an additional 3 Slaps tagged on to the original one slap he had left. We got to see Marshall slap Barney TWICE which was extremely entertaining. Now there are two (for now) final slaps left. Oh this should be fun!

However the biggest development and shocker of the night was Barney and Robin. Back during the hurricane Barney did something kind of cruel. He called Robin pretending to be her father after everyone else’s parents had called them. Robin was really pissed. But then towards the end of the day, Barney said he was sorry and told her something beautiful: “when I let a day go by without talking to you…um…that day is just no good.” Man They almost kiss but are interrupted when Robin’s father calls her. Honestly that would have been enough for me. That told me all I needed to know, that Barney still has feelings for Robin too and that eventually they would make it work.

But then as they flash-forward back to the present and we see Robin and Barney laughing about how that could have been a disaster; this happens:

And all I can say is ABOOT DAMN TIME!!!!!

Yes I wish it had been under different circumstances but still. I NEED Barney and Robin moments from this show. They are like one of the top couples I actually Ship and that kiss was damn near perfect. But I do admit that it is going to create a gigantic mess seeing as they are both in committed relationships and Robin still works with Nora. I have a feeling this is also going to cause problems for Ted and Robin and Barney as well, which was predicted back in the third episode this season. Soo I have a feeling that we are in for some pretty interesting next couple of episodes.

How I Met Your Mother Review: The Stinson Missle Crisis

I don’t like seeing Robin suffer but I will be the first to admit that she was pretty darn funny in this week’s episode of How I met your Mother.

Over the summer we heard that the creators that this season would be about Robin pining for Barney the way Barney pined for Robin back in Season 4. In doing this they casted Kal Penn as Robin’s therapist, after she’s sent to court mandated therapy for assaulting a woman. It all stemmed from Robin’s unrequited love for one Barney Stinson. Poor Robin she just can’t win these days, can she?

I really liked Kal Penn as the therapist. He has great chemistry with Cobie Smulders and I loved seeing him call Robin out on all her issues. I don’t think they even touched on her daddy issues this week and already he could tell that Robin had more issues than just jealousy and unrequited love.

And then there was Barney who has no idea that Robin still feels this way about him. I mean, he let her help him out in de-Barneying his apartment and lifestyle while Nora was out-of-town (thanks to Robin who had Nora sent to the G8 summit in London, plan didn’t really work out that well though.) We learned last week that somewhere down the line things were going to blow up for the Ted-Robin-Barney triangle that apparently still existed, unbeknownst to all three of those characters. It will be interesting to see what happens if Robin and Ted end up back together for a short period causing Barney to wonder if he made the right decision with Nora. Again, this is just a theory…but it is possible.

Somehow in the midst of all the Robin and Barney drama, Robin found time to tell her therapist about Marshall and Lily’s baby storyline of the week. It really didn’t connect with the rest of the episode but it’s revealed who Lily’s baby doctor was and that when Lily has her baby, Marshall is going to be missing.  It also dealt a little with Ted always being the third wheel in Marshall and Lily’s big moments in life. As I said, it really didn’t connect well to the rest of the story this week but it was still pretty funny.

Overall I thought this was a pretty solid episode of How I met your Mother. I look forward to seeing Kal Penn again and I also look forward to seeing more Team Baby moments. What did everybody else think?

 

How I Met Your Mother Review: The Ducky Tie

Last Night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother was fantastic.

Ever since it was revealed that Lily was pregnant, we knew that the writers of HIMYM would have lots of source material. This week’s episode involved Lily’s chest. You know how the woman’s chest gets when she’s pregnant and considering Lily is one of two girls in a group of 5, there was no way Barney and Ted were not going to take notice.

Not only was this episode splendidly funny but it was also very emotional and touching. I had no idea what was going to happen after last week’s reveal that Ted had run into his ex, Victoria. We all knew that she wasn’t going to be the mother but we also wondered if she was going to be around for more than episode or two. Thankfully, Bays and Thomas saw fit to only bring her back for an episode, an episode that really opened Ted’s eyes to what his current situation is inhibiting him from; which is finding the mother.

But before we get back to Victoria, let’s get back to Marshall and Barney. I always love when these two make bets because you know it’s going to lead to something epic…always; especially when Lily sets herself up as the negotiator.

Barney, being the master manipulator we know and love has been waiting for years to trick Marshall into giving him something he wants. In preparation of this, Barney trained Marshall to crave a Japanese steakhouse, Shinjitsu, whenever Barney sneezed. Barney then went through 6 months of hibachi grill training, and befriended a Japanese chef named Takumi so he could manipulate Marshall into a bet; a bet Barney knew he couldn’t lose. Too bad Marshall figures out this master scheme at a group dinner at Shinjitsu and Barney ultimately loses his bet and has to wear Marshall’s Ducky tie for an entire year. Though to Barney’s credit, he did get to see Lily’s boobs for about 3 seconds; which Barney would probably see as a success.

During their group dinner at Shinjitsu, Ted tells the gang about his run in with Victoria. I have got to say this storyline was one of the best Ted and a girl story’s I have seen in a while. Was I sad when Ted told us that Victoria was about to be engaged to a man named Klaus and that even though she still had what if feelings for Ted, she ultimately chose Klaus instead because Ted still had one major issue he had to tackle before he could settle down with girl. That issue? Robin.

I always loved Josh Radnor and Ashley Williams chemistry and last night’s episode played that chemistry up beautifully. That kiss they shared? Electric; and I was devastated when Ted watched Victoria get on that bus to leave for the Hamptons.

It is an interesting theory that Victoria brings up, that it is weird that Ted, Barney, and Robin are all still best friends; even after all the drama they have shared with each other. Victoria says it’s not healthy and that it will cause problems for all of Ted’s relationships if he didn’t admit that his friendship with Robin didn’t work. I also wonder what future Ted meant when he said that he would finally realize it because we all know that Robin and Barney are both around in his future seeing as the kids know them as Aunt Robin and Uncle Barney. Hopefully we will find out sometime this season and not later on next season.

Favorite Quotes

“Lily, are you really suggesting that Barney spent six months commuting back and forth to Hoboken to learn a signature cooking style of a restaurant he doesn’t even like to win a bet he hadn’t even made yet? Yeah, the whole thing stinks.”

“You make it sound like I dated a series of Stieg Larsson novels.”

“Lily, it’s like you have a butt on your chest.”

“I invited you into a porno.”

How I Met Your Mother Review: “The Best Man”/“The Naked Truth”

After a really shaky final couple of episodes last season, How I Met Your Mother started off their seventh (can you believe it?) season with two strong and solid episodes.

I have gotten to the point with this show where I really no longer care about who the mother is to Ted’s children. It’s not what keeps me coming back week after week, season after season. What keeps me coming back are the characters; I am emotionally invested in the lives of these characters and their stories.

We left off last season with it being reveled that Ted would meet his future wife at a wedding and whose wedding was it? Barney’s. That’s right, somehow Barney manages to find a way to settle down and tie the knot. However still don’t know to whom (though they did throw some clues at us.) However, even though How I Met Your Mother has thrown yet another mystery at us; one that may not be even answered this season, I am still smitten with this show.

In the premiere episode we see that the gang all follows Ted to Punchy’s wedding. If you remember Ted was asked to be Punchy best man and he fulfills theses duties. Much of the premiere episode takes place at Punchy’s wedding and I have to say it was quite a fun thing to watch, mainly because the episode primarily focused on my favorite on/off couple, Barney and Robin. They really stole this premiere episode away with their undeniable chemistry and heart. Did anyone else die of a little sadness when Robin helped Barney with his phone call to Nora? I was nearly in tears. I have a feeling Robin is going to break my heart the same way Barney did back in season 4. Gahh if she is not the bride to Barney I am going to be very upset!!

The second episode focused primarily on Marshall, which I have to say I loved. Jason Segal is just a phenomenal actor and I love that he has become to really carry this show in much of the way Neil Patrick Harris did during the first four seasons of this show. As we learned at the end of last season, Marshall and Lily are having a baby! Which means Marshall really needs to find a job. Luckily he gets a call from one of the top environmental law firms in NYC. They are ready to hire him but they need to run a background check first. So Marshall Googles himself and finds a video of himself streaking back in college. It is a hilarious video and he spends much of the episode tracking down the uploader and trying to get the video taken down. It was funny and it made me laugh but it also taught us that Marshall is ready to grow up and be a father. I personally can’t wait to see how this goes down because you know it is going to be a hilariously touching transformation.

Then there was Barney, who spent much of the second episode trying to convince Nora that he wanted to be with her still and that he wanted a second chance. He spent over 24 hours at a diner to tell her that he has changed and that he wants to commit to just her. Eventually she gives in and accepts his offer for a second date. All I am going to say is she better not be the one he marries. That is all.

Now we’ve come to Ted and that little curveball Carter Bays and Craig Thomas threw at us at the end of the episode. You guys!!! Victoria is BACK!!!!! For those of you who may have forgotten, Victoria was Ted’s girlfriend from season one, played by the charming and beautiful Ashley Williams. Victoria was the cupcake chick whom Ted had explosive chemistry with yet cheated on with Robin.

Where this is going to lead is anyones guess, especially since its become pretty clear that she is defiantly not the mother. However I am curious to see where this return leads and it sure as hell makes me excited for next week!

Other Thoughts:

~ Barney and Robins Dance was EPIC!

~ Bow down to Beercules!

~The color coded charts Ted made=hilarious and oh so Ted.

~Edward 40 hands!!!!

What did everyone else thing about the premiere?

 

 

How I Met Your Mother Review: Hopeless

Last week I was really harsh on How I Met Your Mother; the episode just wasn’t up to par with the rest of the season and it kind of left me bitter. After seeing this week’s episode, I think I may hate last week’s episode even more…but that’s not the point. The point is this week HIMYM came back with a really great episode and it all started with this:

Yes, that’s right people: for the first time in I think all 6 seasons, HIMYM surprised us all with new opening credits and I am sure I am not the only one in saying this but I hope we see them again!

Aside from the new opening credits, the rest of the episode was great as well. Barney’s Dad is back which meant we got another episode with John Lithgow and anything that man is in automatically makes the episode that much better but what was great about seeing him this time was how he began to bond with Barney and teach him that growing up is just a part of life. When Barney claims that “We’re not getting too old for anything!” Ted responds by saying “I feel like we collectively learn the exact opposite lesson at least once a year.” The rest of the episode moves along to prove to Barney that while he may be too old to continue partying the way he has been, he will never be too old to grow up.

After Barney’s dad tells him that once he finds that right girl, he’ll be ready to settle down, Barney lets out that he may have already met her. Now after letting it slip earlier in the episode that the reason Barney can’t let his Dad think Robin is single because he would say “‘deep down you know you were never happier than you were with her.’ Uh, no thanks!” I can’t help but hope that Barney means Robin, even though the last girl he was with was Nora. I know it’s my shipper heart wanting Barney and Robin to make it work, even if they did introduce Michael Trucco as Robin’s secret crush, but I mean, come-on they wouldn’t throw hints out like that if it wasn’t meant to mean something would they? This is a show that has built a large fan base in which they listen to almost every word that comes out of our characters mouths. So when Barney says that he may have already met the one after hinting at earlier that he was never more happier than when he was with Robin, than that has to be a clue, Right??? I think I need to stop thinking about this before I make my head hurt again.

Anyways, the episode also brought back the return of a happy Marshall who seems to finally be moving forward after his father’s death. He and Lily make a bet to see who can get the most numbers on their night out on the town. It was cute and sweet and I am pretty sure Marshall purposefully lost which made him even more charming. We also saw the return of Douchy Ted who sabatoged Robin’s chances of reconnecting with her secret crush after she told Ted that when they once had really great sex it was because she was imaging her secret crush instead of Ted (she even made him cover his face with his shirt!)

There were other good things the episode did as well: the magicians talk between Barney and his Dad, the elaborate “Who’s On First” parody/ gag about Manhattan Club names , the return of Ted’s red boots, and NO ZOEY, which I was very thankful for considering I am pretty sure she’s going to be around for the rest of the season…ugh. However, if there are more episodes like this one than I think I am going to be very satisfied with this season overall! Just no more stupid exploding meatball subs please.

How I Met Your Mother Review: The Exploding Meatball sub

I don’t even know where to begin in regards to this week’s How I Met Your Mother. It’s not that it was super complicated and really good; it’s more that it just really fell flat, especially after the great string of episodes that preceded it. I have no idea what happened. It was like they had a really really bad off week and just decided to come up with some of the lamest stories ever.

They had a great opportunity to write a great story between Barney and Robin (and still not have to make it romantic) and instead they use it to make Barney look stupider than ever.  I have to agree with Robin on this one, what’s wrong with you Barney?? I would like to see Barney take a step towards admitting he wants to know more about his Dad. I feel like they have completely lost track on what to do with Robin as well. They gave her that new job earlier in the season and they sort of abandoned that storyline to focus on everyone else. I really hope, with this new two season renewal, that they start giving her more stuff to do again. You’ve made some great progress this season!! Why are you holding it all back? I hate to say but I think Robin needs to somehow get Nora back to shape Barney back up again. I’d love for Robin to help, but I am coming to the conclusion that the writers no longer want to go back there with her and Barney. It’s sad because these two have great chemistry together, but I just don’t think they want to put them together.

I’d really wish they’d just end Ted and Zoey now that we know their relationship ends disastrously, I’d rather not see them fight and then make up for the rest of the season. Also, why did Marshall have to quit his job at GNB to work for the NRDC only to realize he needs a stable income to support him and Lily? Nothing seemed to fit and nothing was funny and there was nothing great about that whole “10 years later” but either.

I have no idea where the rest of this season is headed and with the season almost over, I am really hoping this was just one of those episodes they throw in their before the last leg of the good stuff. I know what this show is capable; we all do, so I have hope for the rest of the season. I just hope they don’t prove me wrong.

How I Met Your Mother Review: Legendaddy

After what seem like a really long break, How I Met Your Mother came back with another solid episode about Barney finally meeting up with his father, played wonderfully by John Lithgow.

While we were led to believe that this season was going to lead to more development in the Mother Storyline, somewhere along the way, the season transitioned into being about father-son relationships. We first learned about Barney’s father back in the episode called Natural History in which he discovered that his Uncle Jerry was in fact, his biological father. Since then we’ve seen him struggle with wanting to meet him and with the death of Marshall’s father back in January, that struggle became more recurrent. This week we finally saw development when Jerry reached out to Barney after getting his letter. Unfortunately, Barney’s father wasn’t exactly what he wanted or expected him to be.

In all honesty, I never expected Barney’s father to be just like Barney. Barney is the way he is because he grew up without a father; he just had his mother and his brother. We knew he was someone special growing up and that it wasn’t until he lost his virginity and was burned by that chick that he turned into a playboy. So I wasn’t in the least bit surprised when it was revealed that Barney’s story about how awesome his dad was turned out to be a lie. Barney meeting his dad wasn’t going to be that easy. No, in fact Jerry was the polar opposite of Barney; he had a family, a wife and two kids, lived in the suburbs, and above all he was a driving instructor.

So when Barney went to dinner at Jerry house and he met his new stepmother, Cheryl and his new brother, J.J, 30 years of jealousy, hurt, and anger came spilling out of him like wildfire. I have to say that dinner scene was beyond fantastic. I mean, Neil Patrick Harris, John Lithgow, the kid who played JJ, and the wonderful Nancy Travis realllllllly acted the hell out of that scene. Barney trying to compete and one-up his 11-year old brother as Jerry tried to support Barney and Cheryl who kept trying to defuse the situation was utterly perfect. You could really see the pain and hurt seeping out of Barney. And then when it was just Barney and Jerry in Jerry’s driveway, as Barney tried to take the basketball hoop, How I Met Your Mother, made me cry again.

The interaction between these two was flawless that I even started forgetting that John Lithgow was the Trinity Killer. Both of them showed the perfect blend of heartbreaking emotion and laugh out loud comedy (which is something I forgot John Lithgow could do thanks to Dexter.) The scene in which Jerry apologized for not being there for Barney growing up as he taught Barney how to use a screwdriver was so poignant and touching. It showed that yes Barney didn’t have his father while he was growing up but that he had him now and there was still a lot to learn. I am glad that they left their story open and that we will have the option to see Lithgow again (in April I believe!) Now that HIMYM has been renewed for two more seasons I expect will be seeing him more and more which in my opinion, is a GREAT thing!

The B-Story this episode was in typical HIMYM fashion, i.e. the flashbacks. This week theme was gaps in our characters intelligence which started when the gang learned that Barney didn’t know how to use a screwdriver (which he now knows thanks to his dad!) From there we learned that Ted doesn’t know how to say Chameleon, Robin somehow didn’t know the North Pole existed even though she’s from Canada (huh?), and Lily has no aim (apparently she’s the one who misses the toilet.) Marshall then wants to know what his intelligence gaps are and the gang pauses. Apparently they’ve been trying to act nice around him to not upset because he’s still grieving his father’s death.  It was one of two great scene for Jason Segal this week; the first was when he played the dead father card to Barney when Barney refused to see his Father again (nicely done Marshall!) In the second scene we see Marshall telling his friends that it’s time to stop treating him differently and to let him have it because he needs the humor again. While some may find this B-story silly, I found it perfect. I mean, the fact that he brought home a possum and Lily said OK was HILARIOUS! I nearly fell off my bed laughing.  It was the perfect balance of humor and emotion for Barney’s emotional storyline with his father. It’s episodes like these that really make me love this show more and more.

Folks, we have an Emmy race on our hands. Jason Segal has really stepped up his A-Game this season thanks to his storyline with his father’s death but now Neil Patrick Harris is back in the race (well he never actually left, he just reloaded his ammunition.) I think as long as they both get nominated, I’ll be fine. John Lithgow should be nominated/win for best guest actor because well, he’s awesome at everything he does and was amazing as Barney’s father. Man I am glad this show is back. I can’t wait to see how Barney will change from this point forward. It’s going to be difficult but he has a great support group to help him through it. I am super excited to see where the next five episodes are headed.

HIMYM Review: Garbage Island

In 2021 we now know that Ted will get stuck in Hong Kong of all places and he will run into Wendy the Waitress and it will be revealed that SPOILER ALERT Zoey is indeed SPOILER ALERT not the mother. Not like we didn’t know that already. However, it did lead us to another clue, that Ted’s relationship with Zoey is going to end disastrously and I sure as hell hope that it will involve more interactions between Ted and The Captain, oh and please Thomas and Bays, can we see the return of Ted’s Mustache? Once or twice would be nice.

How I Met Your Mother had yet another pretty good episode this week. It may have not been as stellar as the last couple of episodes, but it certainly was not as bad as a couple earlier episodes this season. We actually got a lot of development in this episode amidst all the silliness that occurred as well.

I love how they played the whole there are always two sides to every story in regards to Ted and Zoey’s relationship. Ted and Zoey had been going around telling people that Zoey left her husband because he was mean to her and she had enough and left. However, a different story was told when Ted went to pick up things from Zoey’s old apartment and he ran into The Captain. It’s a hilarious encounter in which The Captain tells the tale of how he and Zoey fell apart because she fell in love with another man…a man with a Mustache, he presumed and Ted agreed. However, their scenes we quite hilarious, especially when The Captain told Ted that calling the doorman a rapscallion was taking it too far. Like the mace-ball and chain were not?

Anyways, it led to Ted finding out that he had pretty much stolen Zoey away from her husband, which is never a good thing. Even before Future Ted told Wendy the Waitress that his relationship with Zoey had ended badly, you could already see it coming from a mile away. Now, I have to say my theory about the mother being The Captain’s daughter is pretty much flat lining. I really don’t see how she could be the Mother given the state between The Captain and Ted and the disaster that will happen between Ted and Zoey. I am not saying it won’t happen, but I think it’s time I start thinking about a new theory because I don’t see this one panning out too well.

Now let’s talk about Marshall and Lily. I have to say I am really loving these two this season and Marshalls sadness about his dad never getting to see what he’d become was kind of perfect. I had wondered for a while now if they were ever going to go back to Marshall’s passion for saving the environment storyline and I am glad that they are using this great opening to open that story back up again. And poor Lily, she had to suffer 5 weeks and 3 days without sex and she was getting so desperate that she dove into the dumpster full of garbage just to figure out what was going on with him. She is seriously one of the best things about this series as her actions always come so naturally and at the same time are so hilarious. I love these two.

And then there was Barney and Robin. Part of me loves that Robin is out there trying to help Barney out because she wants to see him change but at the same time as Barney and Robin fan, I am extremely scared that Barney’s new relationship could lead us down a sad road for these two.  Don’t get me wrong, I really did/do like Nora. I think she will be a great person for Barney and will help him overcome a lot of his flaws but I think deep down that Robin is still in love with him and I fear that it won’t be so easy for her if Barney and Nora become really serious; so serious that the wedding we got glimpsed back to this week, could be theirs…and that frightens me. I just don’t understand why they can’t progress Barney and Robin’s relationship? These two have fantastic chemistry together, they are overall a big hit with the fans, and they did/do love each other; so why can’t they just put these two back together? Bringing in a new girlfriend for Barney seems a like a waste of resources, especially when they should be focusing on casting the Mother. I know there are people out there who disagree, but in my opinion they should be working at putting Barney and Robin back together at this point.

I am still not sure where everything is headed this season. I still think that it’s going to end at that wedding; I just don’t know whose wedding it is. I don’t believe that it’s Punchy’s because I see no reason for Marshall and Lily to be there, then again, I guess they could be but I doesn’t make as much sense as it being Barney’s wedding to somebody. But I wonder how the Mother ends up there which I guess will be told to us soon because there are only seven episodes left of the season. Yup, Seven episodes. Where has all the time gone?

Other Thoughts:

So in 2021 we are going to have a smartphone that can project a hologram of the person you are calling? Alright Thomas and Bays, I am holding you guys to that prediction.

Poor Robin…18 weeks, come on girl, there’s always Sandy Rivers.

Barney about Nora: “She had a nice face, her booty was in place, but Barney don’t chase.”

HIMYM Review: Desperation Day

Last Night we got a special Valentine’s Desperation Day episode of How I Met Your Mother and I have to say it was quite wonderful.  Marshall was still in Minnesota, Lily was in New York missing him, Ted and Zoey were trying to figure out how to start their relationship, and Robin and Barney were, well acting like Robin and Barney. Not only did the episode seem to tie up Marshall’s storyline about losing his father, it also felt like HIMYM has really risen above its shaky first half from this season.  I may have said this before but I feel like this season has been about growing up because from what I watched last night, pretty much all of our characters have grown a lot in the past 2-3 years.

Let’s start with Robin. She was the one who was taking a backseat to Valentine ’s Day this year. She and a couple of her friends from work had decided to protest the holiday by wearing purple. Her friends were really weird and just as desperate as Barney knows they would be. However, as sad as Robin was to be single again on Valentine’s Day, she still rose above it all and didn’t do anything childish or crazy. Instead she helped out Barney because she knew it would make him happy.

Barney has grown up a lot in the past couple of years as well. Yes he is still a childish playboy, and who didn’t die of laughter during his spot on impersonations of the “Predator.” His clicking noises he was making to annoy Robin? Legen-wait for it—dary. It was great to see him still act like his old self yet allow himself to be open to the idea that maybe he liked someone who wasn’t “desperate” on the day before Valentine’s day. That someone was Robin’s co-worker named Nora (Nazanin Boniadi of General Hospital) and I have to say, she had a lot of chemistry with Barney. I am glad that she can keep up with him and still put him in his place. It was nice to see Robin notice this and notice that Barney had a crush and then set them up on a laser-tag date on….thats right, Valentine’s Day. I wouldn’t mind seeing Barney in a committed relationship again. However I don’t want it to last forever, let it last long enough to help him grow up some more and maybe have Nora help him with meeting his dad and all that stuff, but in the end, he needs to choose Robin.

I still am hesitant about Ted and Zoey, mainly because we all know she can’t be the mother. However, it was nice to see Ted in another relationship as opposed to being single for nearly two seasons. It was funny watching these two navigate the waters of this new relationship. I was not in the least bit surprised when Ted brought the overnight bag; he jumps the gun in relationships all the time. However, I did not see him running away from the relationship like he did after Zoey told him that she saw them together for years to come.  It was funny to see him run off to Minnesota to stay with Marshall.

Marshall and Lily have really taken this show over this second half of the season. Marshall’s storyline about losing his dad ended up working really working out beautifully for this show. Marshall had such a close relationship with his father and I am glad that Carter and Bays left him in Minnesota for a couple of episodes to show how hard it is to move on when you’ve lost a parent. Last week we saw him and his brother both helping out his mother but this week we saw that he had reverted back to his old teenage self, leaning on his mom to take care of him. So Lily comes because she misses her Marshall; poor girl had to resort to using a body pillow to keep her company (props to TPTB for making that body pillow work so well.) When she gets there, she sees that Marshall, and later Ted, is abusing his mom’s kindness and she tells him that she is going back home and that she wants him to go with her. Marshall says he can’t because his mom needs him, even though that’s not true anymore.

Marshall and Ted then sit there, playing video games, when Marshall finally admits that he misses his Dad. It’s the first time we’ve seen Marshall really talk about his father’s death. The conversation feels so authentic and real and Jason Segal acts the scene so well that I am starting to think he and Alyson Hannigan are the ones really leading this show now. Marshall realizes that, even though his Dad is gone, he will soon learn to see the road ahead, as evidence of making home to NYC through that snowstorm, and the help of his Dad’s ghost (btw, thanks himym for making me cry YET again this season, what are we up to 4 times now?)

How I Met Your Mother has really come into its own again and who would have thought it would have been a tragic storyline about losing a parent to jump start it back into goodness again? But hey if it works, don’t try and stop it. I love how this show has its old charm back and that they are not trying too hard to be funny. I love that they are just letting these actors take back the show. It seems like we now have quite a few new storylines to lead us through the end of this season and I for one couldn’t be more excited!