i know i'm one of the only people on ilx who watches *how i met your mother* on a regular basis, but did anyone else see the robin sparkles episode? where robin didn't want people to know that she had

lol'd at 'you can't just tell someone what you want out of a relationship: this isn't england'

can you explain it please

that was a sad barney story. : (

Liking this barney arc a lot, seems right that he has an emotional breakthrough of some sort just before he (presumably) meets his dad.

Really loving this season's focus on early 30s milestones - Marshall's dad dying, Robin's career change, babies etc.

sandwich brownies

Seems the writers realized Barney was becoming a prop and started moving him into a different territory. On the other hand he was the one character that provided comic relief when all the others failed... season 6 is sort of a downer.

so i never realized it until syndication ep tonight but after the initial episode with ted's sister heather she is totally dropped from the show. but she lives in NYC and ted is a cosigner on her lease. did they ever explain why she just totally disappeared from the show?

I don't think she disappeared, she just hasn't been involved in any storylines. Same thing with Robin's sister.

well, Robin's sister visited NYC and then went home, Ted's sister moved there, so it's a little different. but yeah it's not so much a plothole or weird oversight as just the show not having much else for that character do, compared to say Barney's brother (although it is kinda dumb that they could have an episode about Ted's wedding and not have his sibling at least show up for a minute or something).

reeally glad that barney ending was a fakeout

i'm not even against making Barney more of a fleshed out human being vs. a cartoon (despite that being the obvious strength of the character) but the last time they tried to rush this with him and Robin, it didn't really work... better that they're taking their time a little better (and also that they didn't drag out his relationship with Nora for months and months)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS5X8ASyy08

i dont really like this show anymore but i cant stop watching :-/ *conflicted*

such a bad unfunny episode

Yes this one was really unfunny. Drama Barney is definitely not a strong enough character to keep an episode interesting without the support of the rest of the cast.

Bad thing is, at this point of the development there's no turning back.

had no problem with the episode or this plotline, although it was probably one of the weaker spots of an otherwise great season.

yeah p much

(it's definitely a better season and i don't actually give a shit about this but... they have given up on ted's story really)

i am terrible about pronunciation so appreciated that joek

This would have been better had the fantasy dad was the real dad. Too much "Very Special Episode...." stuff for my liking.

all the dramatic stuff with Barney going "I'm never going to see my father again" and Marshall saying "yes you will, but I'm never going to see MY father again" etc. got to me, but that's probably more because i'm Going Through Some Shit Right Now.

yeah i thought that was affecting, but it sort of jarred to then have barney being a cartoon character again with the kid, even though it was funny. a bit like with the funeral ep, where robin killed (pretending to be a drug dealer) but everything else was difficult. still think it's a rly good season.

^^yeah my basic problem with the ep - veered a bit too much between serious barney and cartoon barney.

there are plenty of episodes where they get that balance just right, like that ep where he learns that his mother lied to him all the time or even the last ep with Nora.

also didn't really buy either extreme - crazy cool dad or lame suburban one.

^^^ OTM, it felt like a vehicle for John Lithgow to do some wacky comedy, but even so, I thought he was great in this episode.

I don't think the writers or NPH have really figured out how to split the difference between serious and cartoon Barney, although it's been fun watching them try (I think they managed it best on the "Superdate" episode from last season -- the one where J. Lo. was a co-star).

that was pretty bad, treading-water stuff, im sure marshall has almost quit 4x now

true, but...he did quit, so the water treading would be before, not now right?

sort of, but i guess this means we're gonna be saddled with a bunch of Marshall goes through wacky jobs episodes

also the Zoe thing has been dragged out for an entire season now - seems like it was even longer than the Sarah Chalke thing

yup -- Morrison has been in 12 episodes so far, and Chalke was only in 9 (wow they almost got married in 9 episodes, Ted really did rush things!). i do like that they established the character for a while before they started dating, though.

i watch this show because i like these characters and their wacky adventures, maybe Marshall will have some dumb ones, maybe he won't, it's all good imo.

i basically feel the same way, but i can't shake that feeling for the last two seasons they're running to the generic sitcom premise well a lot more than they used to, a feeling reinforced often by earlier season reruns on cable all the time

but yeah i'm with this show to the end, pretty much attached to the characters for better or worse

More than any other sitcom I've been into, growth is important to HIMYM and I feel like it's going to stall hard knowing they've got to fill at least two more seasons.

The mother is Robin. I'm convinced.

Not sure if you're joking. He constantly refers to her as "Aunt Robin" to the children and has pretty much explicitly stated that she is not the mother in the first season iirc.

Not so convinced anymore.

so Robin is secretly a student at the college Ted teaches at and is the roommate of a girl he dated?

we all lead double lives. are you really only SOME DUDE?

They're probably really mad that they wrote themselves into a corner with Robin, never expecting to last 18 seasons.

i dunno, how is Robin in a corner? they've exhausted the potential for her pairings w/ other members of the cast but they've gradually gotten better at writing her/letting her be funny.

> they've exhausted the potential for her pairings w/ other members of the cast

lily?

ys plz

They boxed themselves in with 'Aunt Robin' and ruling her out completely - at the end she's going to be the only constant sexual female presence in Ted's life over 8-9 seasons, the most logical mother (the way they've written Ted and Robin's relationship - if she hadn't been eliminated, would anyone be shocked for them to get back together) and enormously popular with the average fan.

would be massive lols on my part if they just retconned everything at the end with "Oh, have I been saying Aunt Robin? I meant Aunt Debra, Robin is what we called your mom."

Robin's popular with fans but i don't think Ted & Robin is popular like Ross & Rachel or anything, i'm sure there are some goofballs out there rooting for them to get back together or for the show to wave some LOST-style fairy dust and make her the mother, but probably not most viewers?

The "Mother" is a brunette, I am sure of that at least.

i get the general impression that more fans root for Robin and Barney than Robin and Ted actually.

Did I miss something or did the writers screw up a little? I thought that originally Barney had never met his Dad at all: That was why he could believe that Bob Barker was his Dad and later believe, if briefly, that his Dad was black. If he had actually known and even lived with his Dad until he was 6 (looked older than that!), what we know about his background so far makes less sense. Besides, his mother was not supposed to be the type who would have stayed with a man for 6 years.

his dad posed as his uncle iirc

Oh, he said "Uncle Jerry"? Cool, I thought maybe I missed something since they're usually really good about narrative and continuity.

i sort of feel ted wasn't going out with robin when he got the boots

ha you're right -- the original red boots episode was halfway through the 3rd season, which began w/ them breaking up.

yeah but didnt he already have them in that episode?

i guess he could have bought the boots during the relaish but not really made a thing of wearing them till after