Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, I’m continuing my coverage of How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014, CBS), which is currently available on DVD and streaming.
How I Met Your Mother stars JOSH RADNOR as Ted Mosby, JASON SEGEL as Marshall Eriksen, COBIE SMULDERS as Robin Scherbatsky, NEIL PATRICK HARRIS as Barney Stinson, and ALYSON HANNIGAN as Lily Aldrin.
This is another tough season for How I Met Your Mother, opening with Ted, Barney, and Robin all in couplings that we know aren’t going to last and therefore can’t deliver any situation-based value. It’s a writer-made stalling tactic that’s obviously as such because past teases have established that Barney and Robin are headed to the altar, and Ted is set to meet the future mother of his kids on their wedding day. And since this is a sitcom that promises plot movement as a matter of premise — hinged around a high concept with a guaranteed narrative endgame — artificially halted progression is counter to what the show is supposed to offer, especially at this late juncture. So, the first half of Eight, which mindlessly has to vamp until splitting all these inevitably temporary pairs, is particularly bad, with nothing of relevance for Ted in terms of getting nearer to The Mother, and more of the same with its emotionally regressive triangle between Barney, Robin, and Ted. I say “emotionally regressive” because Ted’s inability to get over Robin is the same beat over and over, long bypassing any motivated growth for his character or real exploration of the series’ stated premise. And for Barney and Robin, they’ve already shown both a willingness to commit to serious relationships and a love for each other, so everything keeping them apart feels contrived… Well, I guess early Eight succeeds in reigniting our rooting interest in them (which will later prove to be counterintuitive to Mother’s long-form story goals), but for episodic returns, the first part of this season is slim pickins’. Fortunately, things do pick up in Eight’s latter half, as Barney/Robin’s engagement means their wedding is drawing near and Ted is thus closer to meeting you-know-who, and there are a few nudges from the Narrator that keep momentum alive. You’ll note that most of my picks on this list come from the end of Eight — nothing is great, but premise-acknowledgment becomes more likely. However, because one final renewal, made official in January 2013, pushed the series’ finale even further back, Eight could only go so far with this A-story, leaving Nine to cover the actual wedding day and mother-meeting, with a change of pacing that, as we’ll see, may often be frustrating, but is at least more explicitly situation-backed… unlike too much of Eight, which is, well, just frustrating.
01) Episode 161: “Farhampton” (Aired: 09/24/12)
Ted tries to help Victoria ditch her fiancé at the altar.
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas | Directed by Pamela Fryman
Eight’s premiere is the weakest premiere of the entire run, and I pretty much include it here only for its final moments, which tease how Ted will meet the future mother of his kids — the situation this series promises to explore. Although it’s a flash-forward, at least this feels like A-story progression in an era that’s light on anything of value. And its use of the bus station — where Ted’s love will eventually wait with her yellow umbrella — makes for a smart framing device to jump back to Victoria’s wedding day, when another bride intended to jilt her groom (Thomas Lennon’s funny Klaus, who gives this installment some laughs). It’s as effective as it needs to be, inching us slightly closer towards that to which this entire series has been building, and which early Eight struggles to satisfy, especially because we’re near, but still so far…
02) Episode 172: “The Final Page (II)” (Aired: 12/17/12)
Ted breaks his promise to Barney and tells Robin that Barney plans to propose to Patrice.
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas | Directed by Pamela Fryman
This is the second half of a two-parter — originally aired in a single hour-long block — that culminates with Barney’s proposal to Robin (which she accepts), thus marking another forward step towards the day that Ted will meet the mother of his kids: Barney and Robin’s wedding. It’s exciting to see it finally set up, and even though the inevitability of their reunion, along with the brutally slow vamping this season (in particular) has so far been forced to enact to delay this inevitable plot point, has weakened our interest, it’s still a moment of victory, or at least relief. And while this is largely a serious selection with not a lot of laughs — like most of this series’ Big Development entries — I appreciate that Barney’s proposal is revealed to have been a carefully premeditated scheme that he enacted over the prior few months, with past moments thereby re-contextualized based on this new info. That’s quintessential Mother — for Barney, whose Playbook is now a classic piece of iconography, and for a storytelling that has deliberately (and often with justification from the premise) been so intentionally tricky. (Also, I have to shout out this two-parter’s use of Patrice, played as always by the amusing Ellen D. Williams.)
03) Episode 173: “Band Or DJ?” (Aired: 01/14/13)
Ted and Lily argue about Barney and Robin’s wedding details.
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas | Directed by Pamela Fryman
Frankly, just like the premiere, I’m primarily opting to spotlight this installment because it’s got a flash-forward that reveals to us more information about how Ted will meet her, therefore making it a play to the series’ situation. I hate that I’m forced to deliver selections based on whether or not they contain plot points; as you know, I prefer low-concept sitcoms that explore characters in relation to each other, predicating value more exclusively on their usage. But this is a high-concept show with a specific design. Accordingly, it’s more satisfying to see — as in this example — a story about Ted and Lily clashing over wedding plans for Robin/Barney (as Ted is still clinging to feelings for Robin), for it enables Narrator Ted to drop a tease as to how the music debate gets resolved, via a run-in with The Mother’s old roommate (Rachel Bilson), which leads to The Mother being booked for the wedding. So, another crucial bit of intel is learned, and now in the back half of Eight, it feels like their meeting is actually near…
04) Episode 175: “P.S. I Love You” (Aired: 02/04/13)
Ted and his friends are unsure if his new girlfriend is a crazy stalker or not.
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas | Directed by Pamela Fryman
Out of all the episodes in Eight, this is the one that most looks like a sample from the show’s Golden Age, with a story where Ted’s got a new love interest — only this time it’s someone whom the Narrator explicitly frames as his last big mistake before The Mother, making it so there’s no misalignment in terms of promised premise connectivity and actual derived value. That is, she’s just here for laughs, and as a symbol of the kind of wrong-for-him woman that Ted has spent the entire run pursuing on his quest for the right one. Also, its “Dobler vs. Dahmer” bit is a named piece of social lore to which Marshal introduces Ted, and although this feels like a retread of prior gems like “Rabbit vs. Duck” or “Mermaid vs. Manatee,” it is in the spirit of this series’ idea-driven trivial interests. And with corresponding flashbacks to Marshall and Lily’s past, it also stands as a further exploration of them as a couple. Additionally, Robin Sparkles is trotted out again — with another uncovered video (plus lots of guests, including Alan Thicke and James Van Der Beek) — and despite there being diminishing comic returns here as well, she’s at least a unique part of the show’s established history, serving as something special to Mother that only it can offer. Indeed, that’s how I regard this outing as a whole: it’s individualized to the series, and since it’s funny too — the half hour I’d most choose to watch from Eight in a one-off sitting — it’s got to be my MVE (Most Valuable Episode).
05) Episode 177: “The Ashtray” (Aired: 02/18/13)
A phone call from The Captain sparks different versions of the group’s last encounter with him.
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas | Directed by Pamela Fryman
Kyle MacLachlan returns as The Captain (Zoey’s ex-husband) in this entry, which exists to set up an arc where Marshall and Lily will be moving out of New York after Barney and Robin’s wedding, further justifying the end of the series via the end of its low-concept ensemble hangout construct. However, we don’t know that until the close of “The Ashtray,” which has fun with a Rashomon structure where the regulars have different character-revealing recollections of their last encounter with the Captain, and while this is nothing especially original or unique, it is an example of the kind of storytelling that Mother has always provided in support of its high-concept framework, where an unreliable narrator allows for non-linear episodic plotting and gimmicky devices like this, which play with the audience’s understanding of a story based on shifting perspectives. Accordingly, it works well for this series.
06) Episode 178: “Weekend At Barney’s” (Aired: 02/25/13)
Ted uses one of Barney’s plays from his Playbook in an attempt to win back the crazy Jeannette.
Written by George Sloan | Directed by Pamela Fryman
This is another offering that feels a bit like classic Mother, as it returns to Barney’s Playbook — again, a familiar piece of iconography that is therefore uniquely reflective of the series’ identity in a way that can be deemed valid situation comedy. Here, it comes up in one of several narratives from Eight that deal with Barney’s shedding of his bachelor habits in favor of making a serious, monogamous commitment to Robin, with whom he now seems incredibly compatible and effectively evolved as a result of being together. So, it’s a decent showing for him. Additionally, this segment ends Ted’s arc with the crazy Jeanette (Abby Elliott, daughter of the recurring Chris Elliott)… further bringing us closer to the wedding and The Mother.
07) Episode 179: “The Fortress” (Aired: 03/18/13)
Barney has an open house after he agrees, for Robin, to sell his bachelor apartment.
Written by Stephen Lloyd | Directed by Michael Shea
As with the above, this is an episode whose A-story emphasizes Barney’s evolution, as he actively leaves behind remnants of his old playboy lifestyle while finally planning to do what he never thought possible: settle down in a genuinely committed relationship. Accordingly, the main value of this outing isn’t the clichéd and not character-specific “Ted and Marshall are mistaken for a gay couple” logline, it’s the overarching fact that it spotlights Barney’s unique characterization — with all the gags and gimmicks in his classic bachelor pad — and it thereby feels tailored to enough of Mother’s personal details to indeed be situation-based comedy.
08) Episode 180: “The Time Travelers” (Aired: 03/25/13)
Ted and Barney encounter future versions of themselves.
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas | Directed by Pamela Fryman
Probably the most narratively ostentatious excursion in Eight, “The Time Travelers” has the gimmicky setup of Ted and Barney talking to future versions of themselves as they debate whether or not to attend a Robot Wrestling event. It has no logical explanation inside the premise — that is, the high-concept framework of Ted narrating, to his kids, the story of how he met their mother — and so it feels more like a tired stunt than a reflection of the situation. But it also tries to hang a lantern on that fact by insisting that it’s all one big fantasy for Ted, who is alone while all his friends aren’t… thus setting up just how low he is prior to meeting The Mother, who is actually just around the corner, and even teased here via the genuinely unique device of Narrator Ted taking us to where she lives and communicating that he wish he’d met her earlier. (Hmm; more on that later…) So, it eventually gets around to acknowledging the premise, even if the logline itself, and the bulk of this entry, is a tough sell.
09) Episode 182: “The Bro Mitzvah” (Aired: 04/29/13)
The group plans a seemingly terrible bachelor party for Barney.
Written by Chris Harris | Directed by Pamela Fryman
Barney’s bachelor party — or “Bro Mitzvah” (a fun title that speaks to Mother’s love of labeling things and making them funnier because of this inherent accentuation of trivial social minutia) — is the basis of this installment. It’s a jovial half-hour that engages with the ever-popular “caper” template, wherein the proceedings are revealed at some point in the episode to be one big scheme that characters are colluding to perpetuate. It’s often Barney who’s doing the scheming — like a play in his Playbook — so it’s amusing to see it reversed, with everyone else putting one over on him. And with some ensemble hangout goofiness, like the random inclusion of Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, this is one of the more affably memorable samples of the series here in its mostly exhausted, and exhausting, penultimate season.
10) Episode 184: “Something New” (Aired: 05/13/13)
As Barney and Robin’s wedding day approaches, Ted plans to sell his house and move.
Written by Carter Bays & Craig Thomas | Directed by Pamela Fryman
Season Eight’s finale is not funny. Well, aside from a trivial and actually laugh-providing subplot for Barney and Robin where they toy with an obnoxious couple (played by Keegan-Michael Key and Casey Wilson), this installment is all about crusading to Barney and Robin’s wedding, on which day Ted will meet The Mother, and after which the series seems poised to end, with Marshall and Lily possibly moving… and now Ted possibly moving as well. That last part is due to Ted’s difficulty in accepting Robin moving on — yet another whistle of the same familiar tune, which we’re conditioned now to tune out, since we know Ted has another love of his life waiting around the proverbial corner, while Barney and Robin currently look so right for each other and happily evolved as a result of their pairing. So, the Ted stuff here isn’t fun… outside of the final few minutes, where it’s 55 hours before the wedding and everyone is on their way. Finally, the momentum is palpable — especially when we behold the face, at long last, of The Mother, whose identity is confirmed by her umbrella. And boom. I’m excited again. Let’s see how good Season Nine is at sustaining this interest through situation comedy…
Other notable episodes include: “The Final Page (I),” which capably leads up to Barney’s proposal to Robin with a fun story where he is forced into silence as a result of a jinx, and “Something Old,” which sets up the year’s finale by reigniting some of Ted’s feelings for Robin. I’ll also take this space to cite “Lobster Crawl” and “The Over-Correction,” both of which also help build up to the big Robin/Barney proposal, and “Ring Up!,” which I appreciate as one of several instances of Barney and Robin both adjusting to their newfound commitment to each other and what that means for how they have changed (or will change).
*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Eight of How I Met Your Mother goes to…
“P.S. I Love You”
Come back next week for Season Nine! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!