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Ongoing "How I Met You Mother" thread of doom...

So. The concept of the series, apparently, was always for Ted to always be hung up on Robin and to get back together with her as the series finale after The Mother died. I suspect Robin dating Barney was also part of The Plan. But the show was a lot more successful than they expected, so they had to stretch everything out. That's why Barney and Robin date and then break up before eventually marrying. That's why Ted dates Victoria early in the show--and then dates her again towards the end. Or why Robin's sleazy co-worker, Sandy Rivers, disappears into obscurity over a scandal--only to come back and be Robin's boss again towards the end of the series. We also got way more stories developing Barney and Robin and their feelings for each other than Robin and Ted. The entire last season revolved around getting Barney and Robin married--and introducing The Mother (and showing why Ted would fall for her over Robin). So it's very jarring that this all got undone in the last half hour of the series--just so they could use footage of the actors playing Ted's teen kids (they shot it early on because the actors would've been too old in the 8-9 years the show was on).

I mention all this because Barney changes and develops as a person, dramatically through the series. Robin changes and grows. Even Marshall and Lily do. The one character who doesn't really seem to grow, IMO--or at least grows the least--is Ted. Sure he gets to design a skyscraper. Sure he has some relationships. But series finale Ted is pretty much pilot episode Ted.

Now I don't know if this is because he is the narrator or not. The series makes big use of the "unreliable narrator" device. The most obvious case is in the first Slapsgiving episode, where Robin is dating a 40 year old guy--who Ted thinks is too old for her. We see him as the rest of the gang sees him in the first scene. Then for the rest of the episode, the character is played by an actor in his late 70s. There are other times this sort of thing happens--Robin is reunited with a friend from her days as a teen idol in Canada. They sing karaoke together at a Canada themed bar she likes to hang out at and confetti and a big Canada flag drop while they perform and mounties and lumberjacks and her old robot costar, among other Canadian stereotypes literally show up out of the woodwork. Ted doing a rain dance to cause Robin's company camping trip to be cancelled. Marshall smashing a "fake" jukebox with a slap. So it's possible the Ted doesn't realize he's changed but I don't know. I do know he makes for a much more implausible love for Robin. We see the lengths Barney has gone to to win her. We see how compatible they are, while Robin and Ted have relatively little in common. But in the end all it takes is showing up outside the apartment with a blue French Horn.
 
I need to come back and talk about plot structure but for now I'll mention the actors. Beautiful talented people that have chemistry together and are able to speak the lines written for them in a convincing manner. Neal Patrick Harris is an accomplished magician. He can juggle. He can sing and dance. They use all this. Jason Segal plays piano and banjo and will regularly do this in an episode. Josh Radnor may play piano and juggle. The piano may be faked, but they have an episode where he and Barney fantasize about owning a bar that involves a "Cocktail" "Kokomo" sequence. Robin's Canadian turns (Cobie Smulders is Canadian, as is, IIRC, at lest one of the writers) are great. And she's very convincing in her Robin Sparkles bits. Allyson Hannigan is funny. And cute. Their skills and their timing and interplay really add to the show.

So yeah. Plot structure. A regular feature in the show is stories that are told repeatedly from different perspectives. I only remember 1 episode of the British sitcom "Coupling," "9 1/2 Minutes," that is a blind date, told from 3-4 different perspectives. Each time through, we get a new aspect of the story. HIMYM uses this a lot. The first one I can think of is the episode where Ted finds out his parents are divorced. They use it in the aforementioned episode where Ted and Barney get left in charge of MacLaren's during a blizzard while Marshall is picking Lily up at the airport. There are other instances. Many, many others. But for now they escape me.
 
Ah, the "Rashamon" storytelling technique... I can think of a couple not-so-subtle examples...

The Odd Couple, 'A Night to Dismember' - Felix surprises Oscar and his ex-wife Blanche by inviting them both to dinner. They all discuss the New Year's Eve party when they decided to split up, with each of them giving their skewed recollection of the events.

M*A*S*H, 'The Novocaine Mutiny' - Frank brings charges of mutiny againstg Hawkeye, and Frank and Hawkeye each testify their version of the incident, which we see acted out.
 
OK. The actual reason I started this misbegotten thread in the first place. To recap, LaffTV was showing "HIMYM" marathons like 7 days a week for 3 hour stretches. They could burn through a 10 year long series in a month or so. And it's a really clever show with some really neat storytelling. But just as I was spinning this thread up, they switched in "Home Improvement" and moved HIMYM to the dead of night. BUT! There was a tornado warning tonight. Sirens and nonstop live news coverage just as I was getting ready to turn in. When the warning cleared I popped over and, sure enough, HIMYM was on. Episode where Ted is trying to track down Victoria.

To recap, the entire point of the entire series is getting Ted and Robin together. In the first season Ted is supposed to go to a wedding with Robin BUT... he forgets to check "+1" on the invite--and very nearly ruins the wedding getting to bring Robin. Robin is into it and has a smoking hot dress. BUT...at the last minute she gets called up to cover anchor the news--her dream career shot. Ted, being Ted, tells her to go. And he meets Victoria at the reception. But Victoria is a crazy, sappy romantic like Ted so she want's it to be a magical, unfilled "two ships crossing in the night" evening. Next morning Ted is telling Marshall and Lily how great it was and realizes he's an idiot for letting his dream girl get away. Hilarity ensues while he attempts to track her down--even calling the Bride on her honeymoon. As the episode is winding down, Lily tells Robin the whole story--and Robin reveals she knows who Ted's mystery girl is.

You see, after the news, Robin decided to surprise Ted by coming to the reception and she saw him playing nookie at the piano with Victoria and retreated to the bathroom to cry her eyes out. As it happens, Victoria went to the bathroom and wound up consoling Robin through the stall door--and revealing that she made the wedding cake (which Marshall fell in love with--I forgot that part, although maybe I mentioned it when I covered this episode earlier). So Marshall wants Ted to marry Victoria, but Lily has realized Robin has feelings for Ted and wants her to tell Ted that (while keeping quiet on the identity of Victoria). Robin heads off to find Ted--not fully sure what she'll tell him.

Robin finds Ted--just as his phone rings. It's the bride. She remembers Victoria. She made the cake. So we'll never know what Robin would've said. Ted heads off to the bakery and, after briefly worrying that he will ruin the perfect evening, enters. Victoria is thrilled to see him and they embrace and kiss.

Now at this point I should go to bed but Laff is evil about running the teaser for the next episode right in after the last episode's credits. And this episode is what I wanted to talk about. Because it has nice complete parallel plots for all the major characters. Ted and Victoria are happy. But they've decided to take it slow and wait a full month before sex. Barney is frustrated because his wingman is now in a "lesbian relationship." So he winds up accidentally hitting on Robin. Robin points out to him that he could use the bar mirror to check out his target instead of relying on a wingman. Barney likes her way of thinking and invites her to be his bro for the night.

Meanwhile, Marshall and Lilly are supposed to go on some horrible couples weekend to a B&B 4 hours upstate. They decide to chuck it and Netflix and chill. While this is happening, Victoria and Ted realize their "do it" day will happen when Victoria is out of town. So Victoria suggests they do it that night. They come in and Marshall and Lily wind up trapped in the bathroom because they don't want to ruin the moment.

At this point Barney is, of course, suited up and enjoying a fine stogie in a rich Corinthian leather chair at some fancy bro bar when Robin comes in, elegantly suited up--and proceeds to order a glass of Johnny Walker Blue, neat, and some particular fancy cigar. Barney is impressed. They share some jokes at Ted's expense and Robin asks how Ted likes this bar. Barney reveals that he's never taken Ted to it. They're having a great time so Barney introduces Robin to one of his fetishes...Lazer Tag.

Back at the apartment Ted and Victoria are taking forever with foreplay on the couch while Marshall and Lily are amused and frustrated by it--while wondering when their relationship lost this magic. It finally looks like Ted and Victoria are off to the bedroom...when Ted takes a call. Ted is dismissive of the caller and then everything resets while he gets them another bottle of wine.

At this point, things are pretty dire in the bathroom because, in spite of them thinking they are out of firsts, Lily reveals that she has to pee and she's never, in 9 years, peed in front of Marshall. (At this point I was tired enough to head off to bed--but not before typing this up--so I'm going from memory at this point.)

Ted and Victoria eventually do it. Lily eventually pees while in the same room with Marshall. And that phone call? It was Barney, asking if Ted's OK with him dating Robin. (Ted didn't think there was any way that could ever happen, hence his tone on the call.) But Barney finds himself back at Robin's apartment for "a game of Battleship." While Barney is stripping down for action, Robin is off finding her Battleship game. She comes back and awkwardness ensues before they work through it and play a game of Battleship and agree not to tell the Gang about the event.

So really, a few episodes after we get set up for Ted and Robin's big moment, that falls apart--and we immediately set up the triangle with Barney. We also realize Ted and Robin, for any physical attraction, basically have nothing in common, while Barney and Robin really work well together. And Lily and Marshall become more close. So a lot of interesting stuff happening in a very early episode(s) that set's up a lot for later--WAAY later--in the series. Good stuff. And really nice set design. Ted, Lily, and Marshall's bathroom is fascinating.
 
Oh. Just realized another thing from these 2 episodes: When Ted is at the wedding with Victoria, he makes small talk about how he's not really some fancy dress tuxedo guy, he's more of a jeans and a bleach-stained hoodie guy. Back when he stole the blue French Horn to try to first get Robin, Barney condoned the plan--as long as he suited up. And he did. So when they're all set to pile into a cab to go get Victoria, Barney tells him to suit up...and Ted says "no." He wears jeans and a bleach-stained hoodie--and gets the girl. In the next episode, when Robin comes out to be Barney's bro for a night, she suits up. So early on they're setting up that Ted and Robin really aren't that compatible while Robin and Barney are.
 
For reasons I don't even know or can't explain, I'm drinking too much and watching YouTube. LaffTV has not yet figured to move HIMYM to a reasonable hour but I must delve into the saga of Robin Sparkles:
 
Getting a part-time night job has wreaked havoc on my TV viewing routine (to say nothing of my sleep schedule). Trying to renovate a house hasn't helped either. I miss "Jeopardy!' a few nights a week. I miss "Sell This House" reruns most of the nights it is on. I miss the news often--but this is more from trying to fit everything into my busy schedule. The one good thing is that, sometimes I find myself up at the time LaffTV has moved "How I Met Your Mother" to. But I only have time for maybe 1 episode. I can't sit for the entire 2-3 hour bloc they run 7 nights a week.

This has created an interesting observation: Single episodes of the show aren't particularly strong. They feel like a newer, raunchier "FRIENDS" rip-off. It's only when you're watching the episodes as part of a story as a whole that it really packs a punch.

That or I'm in a different place than I was 2 years ago. After losing my dog and cat of about 10 years in the space of 3 months--and living alone where I don't know many people--the story of a little group of flawed humans who, while supposedly about 5 years younger than me, share my cultural references (owing to the writers being a few years older than me). Maybe now that I've got a new dog and cat in my life, I care less about the imaginary lives of these characters. I dunno.
 
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