HIMYM – Weddings and babies

Another season of How I Met Your Mother ends without us finding out the identify of the titular matriarch. I thought, just for a quick second, that the woman sitting next to Zoey might just be the answer, only to have Carter Bays and Craig Thomas again play Lucy to my Charlie Brown in the proverbial game of football. I was once one of those HIMYM fans that said “It is more about the journey than the destination,” but even I’m not singing that particular song anymore. That being said, it is nice to see that the character development amongst the rest of the cast is leading somewhere. Barney a husband? Lily and Marshall finally parents? This show is, at its roots, a story of building families, and it is nice see some of the characters finally on their way.

If I’m being completely honest, I was a little disappointed with the ending. Not really the “What” nearly as much as the “How Much.” I’ve long figured that Barney would be the groom in the wedding “a little ways down the road.” Bringing Nora back and playing up Robin’s reluctant smile was the perfect way to build up some buzz over the summer. However, I’m past the buzz. I wanted some commitment! Show everyone that Nora was the bride to be. You know Barney: he’ll never let anything get in between him and a “Challenge Accepted.”

I’m not saying that Barney will actually go through with the wedding. I’m perfectly content with seeing (over the first part of next season) his courting, dating, and proposing to Nora. As long as, concurrent with that, we see Robin’s eventual realization that she was fully meant to be with Barney. Throw in a speed bump type obstacle to that realization (I nominate a Cylon, natch), and you’ve got some decent conflict. In this scenario, however, it would have been vital to NOT show Robin breaking up the wedding in this finale (as I predict she eventually will). That would mean we’d spend so many episodes watching a relationship blossom that we know where that would eventually lead, and it never ends well — does it, Zoey?

Despite the fact that Lily’s morning sickness was telegraphed from the very beginning, the storyline worked for me. Marshall, as he indicated, has had a very bad year. There’s no way their story this year was going to end on anything but a good note. I’ve been advocating for the Eriksens making with the baby time for a while. This is the perfect plot to give Lily some relevance to the overall storyline (You’ve got to admit they’ve given her very little to do in recent years).

The bit about Marshall understanding Lily through her dinosaur roar (because, really, like Ted, vomit humor is not my thing)? Not nearly as funny as I’m sure it was on paper. In fact, I’m not sure that joke was particularly funny on paper, either. Now, the Charlie Brown’s teacher noise for Barney and Robin ignoring Ted’s droning on and on? Classic.

Notes & Quotes

• “[Responding to Ted and Barney arguing who gets to press the button to blow up the Arcadian] Guys, I dated you both, and neither of you is good at pressing, or even finding, the button. After some pawing around, that building is going to fake an implosion, say, ‘Hey baby, that was great,’ and go to sleep.” – Robin
  “She means you.” – Ted and Barney simultaneously
• “He’s out printing out a whole batch of new resumes because he misspelled the phrase ‘detail-oriented.’” – Lily
• Legendary-Adjacent? Awesome.
• “Do you know how many people it takes to change 50,000 light bulbs?” – Ted
  “Are these people Irish? Polish? Blondes? What are we dealing with here?” – Barney
• It’s cute that they always get Ted’s ex-girlfriends right: Natalie and Karen (though Robin nailed it).
• RANJIT!!!
• “[Looking at a slideshow of environmental atrocities] That’s my wife’s waterbirth … Not sure how that got in there.” – Mr. Bloom
• “Look Ted, the future is scary. But you can’t just run to the past because it’s familiar. Yes it’s tempting….” – Robin
  “…. but it’s a mistake.” – Robin
• What would have really sold the “And that’s how I met your mother … sike!” joke would have bringing in a surprise guest star … Like Katee Sackoff.

Clacked by Ivey West
on May 16, 2011 @ 21:35 EST5EDT