It's difficult to articulate what I felt about this episode after only one viewing (and a lot of reading other people's opinions on it), because yes, it was controversial, but it was a lot of other things too, and I think those things are more important. There is a huge divide over whether this episode is fantastic or terrible, and I may be the only one who is hovering somewhere in the middle. And I don't mean it was mediocre or forgettable, I just mean that it felt each minute like it could be tipped either way, and then the episode ended without leaning fully one way or the other.
As a seasoned (and borderline obsessive) viewer of this show, I knew there was no way that opening could be real. Dropping a bomb like that about the endgame of the show in the first ten seconds of an episode is far too easy for a show that has been notoriously twisty and trickster-y since the pilot. Therefore I spent most of the next two commercial breaks speculating wildly on what the twist would be, my favorite prediction being that perhaps future-Robin was at a memorial service for Barney, and telling stories about him to console his kids (I was stuck on the fact that she next explicitly said they were her kids, she just kept naming Barney as the father). Of course, I was outsmarted once again by the magicians behind this show, and I think I'm okay with the way things went. I know many many people felt cheated or betrayed by the reveal that Robin was imagining the kids, (and this must be the thing that Thomas and Bays worried would turn some viewers away), but I liked it because of the way it punctuated the journey Robin takes in this episode.
After the previous episode, I worried that by going the baby route the writers were doing Robin's character a serious disservice-- she's always been adamant about not having kids, and the show (and her friends) have always seemed okay with that decision. Most importantly, Robin was secure in that choice, and I loved that about her (of course, I'm biased because I happen to feel the exact same way). The way this plot was executed allowed the writers to stay true to her character, and really flesh out how she feels. With Robin it's always been kind of a stock answer that she doesn't want to marry and have kids, but they've never delved into the emotional underside of that decision. By first taking away the opportunity to one day change her mind, then having her confront the idea of her potential kids in the most direct way possible, we the viewers got to accompany Robin on a journey through the ways she's changed over the seasons, and the ways she hasn't. She tells her imagined kids that she's glad they aren't real, and you know what? I'm glad too.
And I love that they gave Ted that moment at the end. I was half-expecting Barney to have done something nice for Robin (and okay, maybe hoping a little), but I'm really glad it was Ted. He hasn't had a whole lot to do this season, but this was a nice little touch for his character, reminding us that when Ted's not wrapped up in his own drama he's a really great friend. It also shows the importance of these characters in each other's lives, and why his friends are such an integral part of the story of how he met the mother.
Overall, this episode served almost the same purpose as "Bad News" back around this time last year. It gave us a tone and a hinge upon which the rest of the season will hang. Keep in mind that we still have to find out what's going to go down with Barney, Ted, and Robin as well as who the heck Barney's marrying at that future wedding. I have no doubt that this episode's events will influence both of those plots, and whether it will be for better or worse remains to be seen.
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