HIMYM review Season 3 Episode 8 “Spoiler Alert”

“Spoiler Alert” again proves how even when How I Met Your Mother isn’t about Ted meeting the Mother, it’s still worth watching. We find Ted excited about his new girlfriend, Cathy, played by Lindsay Price. After a long dinner, the group can’t stand Cathy and the worst part is Ted can’t see Cathy’s flaw because of his feelings towards her. After some begging, Marshall eventually reveals that Cathy talks all the time. When Ted thinks about the dinner he realizes Marshall is right, shattering his illusion, which Carter Bays and Craig Thomas illustrate with the sound of shattering glass.

Eventually, Ted breaks up with Cathy but the focus of the episode is on the gang’s own bad habits. One by one everyone’s flaws are learned by the group. Lily chews loudly, Ted corrects everyone, Robin uses the word “literally” a lot, Marshall sings his daily activities as he does them, bringing us to Barney, The gang all pitch in a bring up multiple flaws of Barney, including talking in a high-pitched voice, using lame catch phrases and spacing out during conversations.

With the gang at each other’s throats, Robin sings one of Marshall’s songs and adds how they get stuck in her head, “And what’s worse: they’re catchy! Apple, Orchard, Banana Cat Dance 8663. See, we know that one because you once sang it for like three hours? What the hell is that?” As it turns out, that song was Marshall’s password for the BAR exam results that he had forgotten earlier in the episode, AOBCD8663. Marshall rushes to his computer with the password and finds out he is officially a lawyer. The gang celebrates at MacLaren’s as future Ted tells us that if you really love someone, you can look past their flaws.

The episode ends three years in the future with Ted running into Cathy and her fiance, who happens to be deaf. Ted signs to Cathy’s fiance, as first mentioned in “How I Met Everyone Else”, and adds a joke about Cathy’s non-stop talking. The man looks confused and the phrase “(glass shattering)” is shown on the screen.

“Spoiler Alert” was a great change up from the seriousness of the past few episodes. The ability of How I Met Your Mother to bring a story full circle only continues to get better, whether it is in one episode or multiple. The fact that the episode began with Marshall’s lost password, switched to everyone’s bad habits, back to Marshall’s password and finally ending with future Cathy and didn’t seem to cluttered (unlike this sentence) is amazing. I have to give credit to the writers for making Cathy’s flaw that she talks a lot, “Chatty Cathy”, and that she ends up with a deaf man.

The added sound effect of glass shattering during the episode is my favorite part of the episode, but my favorite scene was when Ted met Cathy and her fiance and then shattered the fiance’s illusion of Cathy with the graphic “(shattered glass)”.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 3 Episode 7 “Dowisetrepla”

We find Marshall and Lily desiring to have a place of there own in “Dowistrepla”. Ted’s bachelor ways are becoming a thorn in the married side of Lily and Marshall. Marshall discovers an apartment for sale in an area called “Dowistrepla”. Despite Lily being from New York, the couple are unfamiliar with the neighborhood. Marshall and Lily, and eventually the rest of the gang, check out the apartment and learn it is beautiful. Despite Robin’s attempt to convince Lily to wait on the apartment because of her credit card debt, both Lily and Marshall agree to buy the apartment as a place to raise their future children.

Barney also takes an interest in the apartment but only because he wants to use the place to sleep with his new fling Meg, played by April Bowlby, and leave the next morning. The next day, Lily and Marshall venture to the bank to apply for a loan to buy the apartment. Despite Lily’s master plan of applying for the loan under just Marshall’s name, they apply jointly and miraculous are approved with an enormous interest rate. This is when Marshall finds out about Lily’s credit card debt but not by Lily, by the mortgage banker. Ted, Robin and Barney return to the old apartment and discover evidence of a fight between Lily and Marshall. Ted uses his “detective skills” from his childhood detective club, or lack there of, to determine Lily and Marshall fought over peanut butter before Marshall stormed out. Robin tries to tell Ted and Barney the real cause of the fight is due to Lily’s credit card debt but Ted doesn’t buy it. Instead he tries to prove his point by hitting redial on the living room phone. The trio is shocked when they find the last call placed was to a divorce attorney.

 

Marshall and Lily return to the old apartment and explain they aren’t getting divorced. Lily offered to divorce Marshall on paper so the could get the loan under just Marshall’s name. But in one of Marshall’s most romantic gestures yet, he refused to divorce Lily because he married her along with her problems. Lily and Marshall also inform the trio they also bought the apartment despite Lily’s debt. The next morning, Lily and Marshall take a cab to their new apartment but are met with a horrendous outdoor. The cab driver informs them the neighborhood  is down wind from the sewage treatment plant, hence the name “Dowistrepla”.

“Dowistrepla” continued the advancement of Marshall and Lily’s growing married life as another main focus of How I Met Your Mother. The fact that Marshall has said there are three major mistakes in his life including buying the apartment in “Dowistrepla” and shaving his head at his wedding was a great nod to one of my favorites scenes from season two. The detective bit with Ted was a great, light-hearted way to show Marshall and Lily’s fight without distracting from the humor and delusion of Ted’s childhood. I think this episode was an episode of necessity. Lily and Marshall had to find a new place to continue their story and this apparent blunder of an apartment will give us many storylines for the future. Carter Bays and Craig Thomas seem to always have one eye in the past and continue to show us hindsight is 20/20. First they had Lily give the speech in “Milk” about making a mistake because that is the only way you know it’s a mistake and now they added the scenes of “what everyone should have said”.

My favorite scene was when Ted told Robin, “There’s a reason your name’s Robin, not Batman”.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 3 Episode 6 “I’m Not That Guy”

“I’m Not That Guy” mostly centered on Marshall’s story. Marshall is ecstatic to find out he got his dream job working for the National Resource Defense Council, but he already had an interview scheduled for an evil law firm. Marshall decides to attend the interview because his dad set it up and to tell the evil law firm what he really thinks about them. At the interview, Marshall is confused when he finds Jefferson Coatsworth, played by John Cho, as a friendly, young man. Coatsworth seduces Marshall by pretending to care about the NRDC and convinces him to go to dinner.

Marshall feels guilty about agreeing to dinner but Lily persuades him to go simply for the free meal. At dinner, Marshall is floored by the perks Coatsworth offers and an enormous salary. Meanwhile, Robin finds out Lily’s dirty secret, she is in major credit card debt from keeping up with the latest fashion. Robin then realizes why Lily was continually pushing Marshall to meet with Coatsworth. Back at dinner, Marshall drunkenly accepts the job and stays the night at Coatsworth’s apartment. In the morning, Marshall takes part in the New York City tradition of the Sunday morning, walk of shame.

Back at MacLaren’s, Marshall is struggling to decide which job to take and Lily is struggling with whether she needs to come clean about her debt. In a selfless moment, Lily tells Marshall to work for the NRDC and tells Robin she will get out of her mess on her own. Just as Marshall is about to turn down Coatsworth’s offer on the phone, Jeff shows up in a limo and takes Marshall to an amusement park. Atop the Ferris Wheel, Coatsworth finally convinces Marshall to take the job by promising the amusement park will be his only client. Little did Marshall know that the amusement park who have multiple negligent lawsuits.

While Marshall wrestles with the job offer, Ted wrestles with himself or show I say Ted Mosby: Porn Star. Barney finds an adult film starring “Ted Mosby”. Certain strange events start to happen because of this sudden star sharing his name. First, Ted is interviewed by a adult magazine thinking it’s an architecture magazine and then he learns Ted Mosby: Porn Star shares the same hometown. Ted decides to find the porn star at a porn convention with Barney. Upon meeting Ted Mosby: Porn Star, Ted learns his real name is Steve Biel, played by Kevin Heffernan, and he was a few grades younger than Ted. Ted once saved Steve from some bullies and from that day on Steve vowed to honor Ted Mosby somehow. Ted asks Steve to change his stage name because he is trying to become a popular architect, even going as far as giving him a better stage name in Lance Hardwood, but Steve continues to use Ted Mosby. The gang ends the episode by watching Steve’s newest movie, “Lance Hardwood: Sex Architect” starring Ted Mosby and discovering it was filmed in their apartment with the help of location scout, Barney.

“I’m Not That Guy” is a good episode that further’s Marshall and Lily’s story line as well as a small glimpse into the future of Robin and Ted. You can tell the writers are starting to focus on Marshall and Lily’s maturing romance as a focal point. That being said “How I Met Your Mother” is about Ted and that is why Robin moving in with Ted is buried in this episode. I’m sure it will become more prominent later on.

My favorite scene was when Ted asked the group if he looked like the porn star and they had him make funny sex faces.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 3 Episode 5 “How I Met Everyone Else”

“How I Met Everyone Else” picks up with the gang at MacLaren’s and Ted introducing them to his new girlfriend. Unfortunately, Future Ted can’t remember the girl’s name, so he calls her “Blah Blah”. Blah Blah, played by Abigail Spencer, tells everyone she met Ted at a cooking class but in reality, Ted met Blah Blah online. Blah Blah is ashamed by the fact she and Ted met online. Before Blah Blah arrived at MacLaren’s, Barney explained the “Crazy Hot Scale” and assumes she is crazy. Ted tries to change the focus of the conversation by having Marshall and Lily tell how they met.

We flash back to the college years at Wesleyan. Past Lily needed helping setting up her stereo and looked for someone to help her. As if guided by fate, Lily knocked on Marshall’s door and the two were in love at first sight. After Lily and Marshall’s story, Blah Blah shows a small amount of her inner crazy. Ted then tells how he met Marshall. Again we flash back to Wesleyan and find Marshall “eating a sandwhich” in the dorm room. Another student alerts Marshall the dean is coming. A few seconds later, past Ted walks into the room and introduces himself to Marshall. Marshall admits he didn’t know Ted wasn’t the dean until later that night.

Next we are treated to an expanded version of how Ted and Barney met. As first shown in the “Pilot”, Ted and Barney met in the bathroom of MacLaren’s. Barney starts up a fake story with Ted about his deaf brother. After a quick one-liner from Ted, Barney decides he likes Ted and leaves to use his fake story on a blonde at the bar. Later, Barney joins Ted at a booth and proceeds to tell him how to live as seen in the “Pilot”. “Rule one, lose the goatee. It doesn’t go with your suit. Rule tow, get a suit.” But it continues with Barney letting Ted in on the fact he told the blonde Ted is his deaf brother. To Barney’s amazement, both Ted and the blonde know sign language. Ted even gets the woman to give Barney here number while signing. Present Ted fells guilty about Barney’s story and tells him he really told the blonde Barney was lying and to give him a fake number. Barney gets even with Ted by telling Blah Blah they all know she and Ted met online and by telling Blah Blah how Ted met Robin.

Ted uses the real story of how he met Lily to calm Blah Blah down. College Ted met Lily at a freshman orientation where they were both drunk. Ted and Lily made out and the next day Lily couldn’t remember who she made out with by could remember Ted’s room number and that is why she was randomly ran into Marshall when looking for someone to help her. Blah Blah tells Ted he has to tell Marshall or she will. Back at the table, Lily tells how she met Ted as he was leaving a crying voicemail to his ex-girlfriend, Karen. While, Ted and Blah Blah pull Lily away to talk about the real story of how Ted and Lily met, Barney tells Robin, again, how he met Marshall. We flash back to a few days after Ted met Barney. Barney tries to tell Marshall he needs to dump his girlfriend and hit on the hot chick who just walked into MacLaren’s. Noticing Barney was talking about Lily, Marshall agrees and approaches her. A few seconds later, Barney is speechless when Marshall starts making out with Lily. Present Marshall tells Robin that Barney didn’t find out who Lily was until a week later.

After Lily’s reluctant acceptance of the truth, she and Ted inform Marshall of the actual events of their first meeting, but Marshall doesn’t believe them because he was at the party and knows Ted and Lily made out with two different students. Meanwhile, Blah Blah has been getting crazier and crazier, even accusing Robin of trying to undermine her in front of Ted because of their past. Finding out Ted made out with a different girl than Lily puts her over the edge and she breaks up with Ted before stomping off.

Years laters at their 20th college graduation reunion, Ted runs into the girl he made out with instead of Lily and she confirms she was the girl who made out with Ted. Then, future Ted, Marshall and Lily share a sandwich that Marshall confiscated from a student. Future Ted ends the episode by asking the question we all have been waiting for, “Where’s my wife?”

“How I Met Everyone Else” was a great episode. The fact that Future Ted can remember all the details of his past but can’t remember Blah Blah’s real name is a great nod to the absurdity of the show. Blah Blah was a perfect way to introduce the “Crazy Hot” scale but the real highlight of the episode was how everyone met everyone else. I like how the writers expanded on Ted and Barney’s story beyond what we already knew and anytime you get to see college versions of the characters is a treat, especially pretentious Ted with his Jew-fro.

My favorite scene was the expanded version of Ted and Barney’s meeting. The fact that Barney just met Ted and then used him as his deaf brother was priceless.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 3 Episode 4 “Little Boys”

“Little Boys” finds Robin set up with one of Lily’s student’s dad, George, played by Brad Rowe. Despite Robin’s previous distaste for children, she falls for George. Eventually Robin confesses to George that she doesn’t get along with kids but George insists it isn’t problem and suggests waiting for Robin to meet his son, Doug. As fate would have it, Doug finds Robin the following morning in George’s apartment, alone. After some initial annoyance from Doug, Robin bonds with him and realizes kids aren’t too bad.

Later, Robin tells Lily she has to break up with George before Doug gets too attached to her but Lily reveals it’s too late for that because Doug drew a picture of Robin with the words “new mommy” above her. Lily convinces Robin she has to talk with Doug before she break up with George. Robin finds Doug at George’s apartment and George in the shower. She uses this opportunity to use every break up cliche on Doug to soften the blow but gets interrupted by Brooke, George’s date and the actual “new mommy”. After finding out Doug likes Brooke better than Robin, she acts like a jealous little girl and even calls Doug a “stupid-head” to Lily. Future Ted tells his kids Robin got over her dislike for children as they know and we are shown hand drawn pictures of future Aunt Robin with Ted’s kids.

Meanwhile, we find Barney and Ted at MacLaren’s arguing over who has more game with the ladies. After Marshall’s failed attempt to prove he has more game since he won the dating game by marrying Lily, Ted and Barney decide to settle their argument by both of them attempting to sleep with the same girl. Barney distracts Ted and tries to pick up Stacey, played by Janet Varney, but gets slapped. Barney reveals to Ted and Marshall he already slept with Stacey last year and she hates him, Ted sees Barney’s previous history with Stacey as a way to take his time in winning the bet.

Ted begins to date Stacey and unexpectedly, he falls for her. Ted brags to Barney about how well things are going for him and how he is going to win the bet. But Barney has one last trick up his sleeve and asks Ted whether he can go where Barney has already been? Ted assumes he will have no trouble making a move on Stacey but he is wrong. Every time Ted tries to seal the deal with Stacey, he sees little Barney’s on her body. Ted eventually breaks up with Stacey thinking neither he nor Barney would win the bet, but Barney had another trick up his sleeve.

Barney reveals to Ted and Marshall he lied about sleeping with Stacey and the night he got slapped, he asked Stacey to slap him so he could show his friend Ted she didn’t like ladies’ men. Also, Barney used the information he found out from Ted to lay ground work on Stacey before the break up. Just as Barney finishes divulging his master plan, Stacey calls to cry on his shoulder about the break up. Barney heads over to her apartment to win the bet. A month later, Barney is dating Stacey and still hasn’t won the bet because she wants to take things slow. As Barney looks like he wants to kill himself, he looks at Stacey and sees a little Ted on her body.

“Little Boys” was a funny episode that didn’t get us any closer to finding the mother but it did give us a glimpse of future Aunt Robin. Robin’s story line with Doug reminded me a little of myself because I am also not a kid person. Her realization that getting full custody of a child was winning, made me laugh a little too hard and the small reference to Ghostbusters with her call to Lily that “It’s here. It’s looking at me”, made me love Robin even more than the first time she quoted Ghostbusters in the “Pilot”. As much fun as it was to see Robin revert to a jealous schoolgirl, Barney and Ted’s bet was the highlight of the episode, although I did enjoy Marshall’s attempts to compete with Barney and Ted. Barney’s master plan to win the bet was something from Dr. Horrible’s playbook. I love the fact that neither Ted nor Barney won the bet because of the little versions of themselves.

My favorite moment was Robin’s realization that getting full custody of a child was winning and then her asking Lily not to tell anyone about it.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 3 Episode 3 “Third Wheel”

“Third Wheel” finds Ted left alone at MacLaren’s, thanks to Marshall and Barney’s Wii Tennis tournament. Ted is approached by Trudy from “The Pineapple Incident” and they two quickly hit it off, again. Things appear to be repeating themselves until Rachel, Trudy’s sorority sister from college, played by Busy Phillips, runs into Ted and Trudy. Trudy leaves Ted for Rachel and Ted is thinking of heading home until Rachel invites him to stay.

It becomes clear quite quickly that Trudy and Rachel are uber-competitive for Ted’s attention and leads him to call Barney for advice on which girl to go for. Lily decided to play wing woman and sneak to MacLaren’s to giver her opinion on which girl is into Ted and to Ted’s amazement, he has his pick. While, things are getting interesting for Ted, Robin is on a date with a dreamy surgeon with a British accent. Despite Robin’s earlier plan to abstain for sex, she decides Dr. Dreamy is too good to let go. As Robin mentioned earlier in the episode, she hadn’t shaved her legs to prevent herself from sleeping with her date and now that is a problem. She calls Lily and begs for her to bring a razor to the restaurant.

Returning to Ted’s situation, things get even hairier after the girls hint about a threesome. After calling Barney to brag about his luck, we found out Barney bought a belt that is to be given to the first one between Ted and Barney to have a threesome. Ted texts Barney, Marshall and Lily he is headed upstairs, with the girls in tow, to listen to “music”. After taking Trudy and Rachel’s coats, he discovers the trio held up in his bedroom. The group, surprisingly led by Lily, give Ted their blessing, that is until Barney’s jealousy boils to the surface and he breaks the Wilco cd Ted was supposed to play for the girls.Barney confesses he almost won the belt last year but the night was ruined by a spilled glass of wine.

Ted returns to the living room where the girls could care less about the cd and instead focus their attention on Ted. Ted quickly becomes nervous and panics. He tells Trudy and Rachel the night is over and leaves to fetch their coats. Back in his bedroom, Ted questions what is wrong with him, only to be cheered up by Barney. Barney confesses the belt got to him and he purposely sabotaged his chance at the belt but encourages Ted to win the belt. After some rather hilarious ideas from Barney, Ted returns to an empty living room. At first, Ted fears the girls have left and his chance at the belt but then he hears giggling from Marshall and Lily’s room. Peering in, a smile comes across Ted’s face. We jump to the next day where Barney demands to know if Ted won the belt. Ted smiles and explains, “Some stories you just don’t tell.”

Wrapping up the episode, we return to the conclusion of Robin’s date. She couldn’t get Lily to bring her a razor, thanks to Ted’s predicament, and has to pay the snobb waitress to get a razor across the street. When the waitress returns without shaving cream, Robin steals some butter and heads to the ladie’s room. With her leg on the sink and smearing butter on her leg, Robin slips and hits her head on the floor. After waiting for Robin out front, her date asks the snobby waitress to check on Robin. The waitress finds Robin unconscious on the floor but seizes the opportunity to steal Robin’s date by telling him she escaped through and open window.

“Third Wheel” didn’t further the story of how Ted met the mother but instead showed us he and Robin are already moving on from their relationship. Robin’s plan to wait for sex on to have it backfire was funny but Ted’s attempt at winning the belt was hilarious. Ted’s anxiety is the most accurate representation of how I would assume most men would act in a similar situation, myself included. Although, Lily, Marshall and Barney were background characters this week, the back and forth between Marshall and Barney over Wii Tennis was hilarious and the support from Lily reminds us how cool she is. I had hoped the return of Trudy would shed more light on the mysterious pineapple from their first hook up but it didn’t. Here’s hoping we learn where that stupid thing came from in the future.

My favorite scene was when Ted asks Barney is Marshall’s pants were off when they refuse to come to the bar.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 3 Episode 2 “We’re Not From Here”

So apparently this is the only good picture I can find from “We’re Not From Here”. The episode begins with Ted asking Marshall and Lily how the married life is. Marshall and Lily complain about all the paperwork involved after marriage and mention they had to create “death folders”, which are packets with a letter and all the personal information a spouse would need should you unexpectedly die. Marshall begins to panic because he didn’t know he was supposed to write a letter After some teasing, Marshall leaves to write the letter and we are treated with a flash back of Robin’s vacation in Argentina, with Gael. Vacation Robin is shown as being a stereotypical hippie. Returning to the bar, Robin tells the gang she is happy with her new self and plans to continue living this way with Gael but Barney doesn’t believe her, telling her she will end thing with Gael soon and return to old Robin.

Marshall writes his letter to Lily and pours his heart and soul into it. After completing multiple heartfelt pages, he decides to read Lily’s letter and to his disappointment, Lily’s letter contains no heartfelt letter and the bare minimum needed information. While Marshall is at the apartment, Barney and Ted are jealous over all the attention Gael has attracted from the female patrons. After Barney and Ted talk about how easy Gael has is because he is from out of town, they decide to pretend to be from out of town to pick up women. This is kind of a variation of Barney’s play from “Sweet Taste Of Liberty”. Barney and Ted meet some New Yorkers and pretend to be from Missouri. They arrange to meet the women the following evening so they can show them around the Big Apple. The following evening, the women take Ted and “Ignatius Peabody Nobel” to their favorite restaurant, a measly potato-themed chain restaurant. After dinner, the ladies invite Ted and Barney to a friend’s party.

During the cab ride to the party, Ted’s inner New Yorker starts to slip out when he tries to correct the cab driver on where to go. Ted finds out the party is in south Bronx and voices his concern about traveling there at night. Ted’s fears are justified because he and Barney are shown giving a statement to the police about being mugged. Thanks to all the excitement the women want to take Ted and Barney back to their place which we find out is in New Jersey. Ted finally loses it and confesses he and Barney are from New York and he is offended the women would call themselves New Yorkers and New Jersey “pretty much New York”. After refusing to travel to New Jersey for sex, Ted and Barney are left to fend for themselves but their dates and the cops who also happen to be from New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Lily asks how Robin’s relationship with Gael is going. Robin confesses she is getting irritated by the things she loved about Gael in Argentina, such as being feed food and spontaneous acts of love making. Robin reaffirms her commitment to her new self and decides to press on. After being surprised by a stranger in the shower, Robin finds Gael has invited some foreign travelers to stay with them indefinitely. Robin eventually gets tired of her new roommates and runs them off with her gun. Gael is awoken by the commotion and Robin tells him they have to break up. Later, Barney cheers Robin’s return to her old self.

Eventually, Marshall divulges to Lily he read her letter and is offended she didn’t put anything heartfelt, leading to their first argument as a married couple. Marshall and Lily eventually make up and Lily agrees to rewrite the letter if Marshall promises not to read it until her death. Marshall kept his promise until November 1, 2029. We flash forward to Marshall opening the letter to find Lily’s message is that he sucked for opening the letter early. Marshall calls Lily into the room and we are delighted to know she isn’t dead. The two argue again about Marshall opening the letter in advance.

“We’re Not From Here” is a somewhat weak episode. Both Robin, Marshall and Lily’s story arcs were subpar. There were a few good scenes, such as Robin having to remind everyone she is Canadian and future Marshall’s slip up about not wanting the nude photos of Lily in her old age. I did enjoy the newspaper article in future Marshall’s office alluding to him capturing the Loch Ness Monster. Ted and Barney’s storyline to me was average. Yes, we got to see them use a dumb tactic to pick up women but the real highlight was Ted’s speech about hating New Jersey and the New Jersians.

My favorite scene was at the beginning of the episode, when Ted and Barney tempt fate to kill Marshall before he can write his death letter because his is superstitious.

Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 3 Episode 1 “Wait For It”

And we’re back. After a very long “wait for it”, “Wait For It” picks up where we left off in season two, Barney telling Ted the single life is going to be legendary. Future Ted tells his kids they know the short version of how Ted me their mother and the yellow umbrella, but this is the story of how he became the man he needed to be before he met the mother. Despite Ted’s big talk about needing a wing man, Ted turns down Barney’s plans because he isn’t ready to move on yet. His opinion quickly changes when Robin returns from Argentina with her new boyfriend, Gael, played by Enrique Iglesias. Robin and Gael share their adventures with the group, causing Ted to become furious that Robin already moved on.

The following evening, Ted and Barney prepare to head to MacLaren’s as Robin and Gael arrive for their double date with Marshall and Lily. Robin pulls Ted aside to talk because she wants to make sure Ted is ok with Gael being around, this only cements Ted’s idea that Robin is trying to “win the break up”. Determined to score a girl hotter than Robin, Ted runs into a tattooed, bad girl named Amy, played by Mandy Moore. Barney immediately hates Amy because he didn’t help Ted get her and because she makes fun of him for being a “suit”. Ted and Barney hang out with Amy and her friend, eventually retiring to her place and her hot tub.

Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily make a pact to hate Gael because Ted is their best friend. After some massages and singing, Gael wins everyone over, including Marshall. Back at Amy’s hot tub, everything is going great for Ted until a little boy notices the gang and calls for his parents. As it turns out, Amy didn’t live there. She used to nanny the little boy and thought the family was on vacation. Ted decides to leave Barney and get a tattoo with Amy to celebrate him winning the break up despite Barney’s objections but Ted blacks out before the tattoo and awakens in his bed the following morning alone and tattooless or so he thought.

On Ted’s lower back, lies a butterfly tattoo and Lily and Marshall notice it right away. The married couple call Barney over to show him Ted’s souvenir from the previous night. After alluding to Ted’s butterfly tattoo the trio finally let him in on the joke and Ted’s memory quickly returns to him. The tattoo artist who gave Ted his beautiful tramp stamp, was Amy’s recent ex-boyfriend and Ted had made fun of him not knowing who he was, hence the butterfly. While looking for ointment, Ted finds some Spanish massage oil leading to Marshall and Lily divulging the awkwardness of their double date with Gael. Ted decides enough is enough and leaves to have words with Robin.

Ted shows up to Robin’s apartment and finally lets his frustration out on her. Robin stands silently, letting Ted get everything out because she feels she owes it to him. After Ted calms down, the two share their struggles after the break up. Even though Ted and Robin had a clean break up, they each had to find ways to cope and Robin’s way was Gael. Ted confesses he thought Robin was trying to win the break up by dating such a perfect guy. Robin tells Ted she wasn’t trying to win the break up and becomes defensive that Gael isn’t perfect. When Ted asks how is better than Gael, Robin tells him he’s “bigger”. Ted celebrates at MacLaren’s with Barney and Marshall, toasting their beers to Ted shouting, “I won!” The episode ends with Marshall calling Barney and showing him his new website, slapcountdown.com. Barney looks at the counting clock and screams.

“Wait For It” was a good way to start season three. It appears this season is going to focus on Robin and Ted’s struggle to be friends after the break up. The guest stars are a welcomed addition but I hope we see more of the Mother and her yellow umbrella. Ted’s speech about the yellow umbrella has me wondering what he was referring to and how it lead him to the Mother. There were numerous comedic moments that me laughing including Amy causing Barney to look like a dork, not like his usual quick-witted self, and the gang making fun of Ted’s back tattoo behind his back. I think the latter is a great reminder that even the best of friends can be hyenas.

My favorite scene was Barney, Marshall and Ted had trouble understanding Gael’s name, “Gale? Kyle? Girl?”.

Cheers and it’s good to be back, surprisingly I missed this.

HIMYM review update

I want to thank everyone who has stumbled upon my blog. For those who didn’t read my first entry, I started reviewing How I Met Your Mother episodes to get back in the habit of writing and because my friend Ray wanted to rewatch the episodes from the beginning. In order to finish the seasons before Ray leaves for college I am going to have to double up on episode each day which will make it difficult to fit my reviews in along with everything else in my life. I am going to continue to review episodes but it will be reduced to one episode every Saturday and Sunday. Thanks for reading.
Cheers.

HIMYM review Season 2 Episode 22 “Something Blue”

I would like to say up front that I try not to allude to future events in the show but this is my favorite season finale to date.

“Something Blue” takes place at Lily and Marshall’s wedding. The two are finally announced as a married couple while Robin and Ted discuss announcing their secret the following day. Barney overhears Ted and Robin’s talk and annoys them until they agree to tell him their secret. Ted tells Barney about Robin and him celebrating their one year anniversary two weeks prior to the wedding. Ted took Robin to the restaurant from their first date, the one Ted stole the blue french horn from. While at the restaurant, champagne is given to Ted and Robin, compliments of the house, and in Robin’s glass is an engagement ring. Robin freaks out but the ring actually belonged to a different customer who was asking his girlfriend to marry him. (Fun fact, the was a real engagement. The guy is friends with one of the writers and asked for his help.) Robin’s sudden freak out forces Ted and Robin to talk about where they see themselves in five years. Ted wants to be married and have children, while Robin wants to travel the world and focus on her career. The two leave the restaurant but not before being recognized for stealing the blue french horn in the “Pilot” and being coerced into returning it.

Back at the wedding reception, Barney has to continually find ways to lure Lily and Marshall away so Ted can continue telling the story. Ted returns to the story just as he and Robin returned to her apartment from the restaurant. Ted brings up moving to Argentina with Robin and the two becomes excited at the idea of leaving together once more. Present Barney immediately hates the idea of Ted and Robin moving to Argentina due to it’s financial instability but the story wasn’t over. Returning to the story, Robin interrupts her and Ted’s make out session to bring up the other big issue in their relationship, children. Robin mentions again she doesn’t want kids but if she did want to have babies, it would be Ted’s babies. After realizing neither one of them have a condom, Ted and Robin decide to “risk it”. This risk, along with Ted’s choice of beer and Robin’s choice of water at the wedding reception, leads Barney to believe they are pregnant. The trio watch Marshall and Lily’s limo drive off on the patio and Barney tells Ted and Robin how horribly a mistake having a kid is but the story isn’t over.

After Ted and Robin finish celebrating their new found plan, they begin to playful bicker about changing clothes before returning the blue french horn. Ted makes an off the cuff remark about his lack of clothes due to their failed move in attempt from “Moving Day”. Ted and Robin realize they are all talk and don’t want to move to Argentina and have kids. The two realize they have an expiration date. When Robin brings up Ted stealing the blue french horn for her, Ted replies he “would have stolen a whole orchestra”. Present Ted tells Barney they went to tell everyone about the break up during “Showdown” but decided to wait until after the wedding due to Lily’s wedding stress.

Meanwhile, Ranjit takes Marshall and a very intoxicated Lily to a fast food restaurant as they couldn’t find time to eat at their own wedding. An employee informs Marshall his wife is throwing up in the trash can but all Marshall can focus on is the fact Lily is now his wife and he is happy.

Back on the patio, Barney tries to comfort Ted, even admitting he never wanted Ted and Robin to fail. Ted tells Barney he is ready to get back out there and have some fun. Trying to hide his excitement, Barney tells Ted he might be rusty and asks if he needs Barney to be his wing man again as Jaymay’s “Sea Green, See Blue” plays. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK0wvjx0Ch4) After Ted says “I do”, Barney’s excitement can no longer be contained. He puts his arm around Ted and says, “It’s going to be legend, wait for it.”, just as the song swells. The screen fades to black.

I absolutely love everything about “Something Blue”, from the list of wedding cliches that are eventually performed to Ted having to tell Barney “the story isn’t over yet”. I am curious if the title is referring to the blue french horn or the bad news of Ted and Robin’s break up. I guess we knew Ted and Robin’s relationship wouldn’t last but I always liked them as a couple, I just hope the story isn’t over.

My favorite scene is the ending with Barney and Ted on the patio. Barney trying to hold back his excitement and Ted slyly egging Barney on combined with “Sea Green See Blue” and the line from Barney, “Yes! Yes! We’re back! We are back! And Ted, my boy, it’s going to be legend, wait for it,” black screen is one of my favorite scenes of the entire show.

Cheers.