While this was an admittedly more tolerable episode than the last few, I still don't think I loved "No Pressure" the way I've loved episodes of How I Met Your Mother in the past. I'm very, very grateful for the way things resolved themselves, but the path to reach that point was rocky at best.
First let's talk about the opening. While it did do us the service of reminding us that eventually there is going to be a woman who becomes the mother we've been talking about for so long (at least in theory), it also did one of my least favorite things on this show, which is to illustrate that the current plot line (in this case Ted and Robin and the mystery of where they'll go from here) is an exercise in near-pointlessness.
We next see Ted in the present with Robin, expanding on last week's inexplicable confession of feelings. Robin is, unsurprisingly, struck dumb by this, but just as Ted convinces himself that his declaration was nothing more than a bout of temporary insanity, Robin shows up at his door with the full intention of getting it on. Fortunately, (extra emphasis on 'fortunately' for those of us who'd been cringing up to this point), Robin's co-worker shows up with a very convenient departure for their trip to Russia, interrupting what might have been a very big mistake. This leaves Ted to turn to Marshall and Lily with his dilemma.
One thing I absolutely despise about Ted and Marshall's conversation is that irksome bit where Marshall points out the "signs" we should have seen over the past few months pointing to Ted's renewed interest in Robin. And while a careful viewer could have just maybe interpreted these nearly-microscopic indicators correctly, it felt more like the writers were talking down to the audience than anything else. I find it more than a little annoying to be condescended to by a show that has, in many regards, lost its way this season.
Easier for me to swallow is Lily's reaction, because she spends this episode serving as the sole voice of reason (at least until Robin returns to her senses later, but more on that in a moment). Lily expresses my feelings (and, I'm guessing, more than a few others') about this backtracking perfectly, pointing out that although Ted has not, in fact, found the future Mrs. Mosby yet, he hasn't moved any further into a relationship with Robin, either. Ted continues to be hardheaded and whiny, however, insisting that Lily is rooting against him because of a bet she and Marshall made concerning the couple in question.
And because it apparently isn't enough to make me want to throttle Ted, Robin, and Marshall (but just a little bit; he's trying to look out for his BFF after all), we next see Ted thrust the blame for his and Robin's current predicament on Barney, who has a surprising reaction. He spills the details to Ted about what went down back in the fall (when this season appeared to have a more defined direction for itself...) between him and Robin, and insists that he's not waiting around for her when she doesn't feel the same. Barney also tells Ted that if he (Ted) can be the one to make Robin happy, then that is all right with him. For me this scene proves that Barney has officially become the superior character, and perhaps the better man.
Fortunately, when Robin returns from Russia she seems to have gained some perspective, and she and Ted finally have a heart to heart conversation (the majority of which we, fortunately, don't have to listen to). When Ted asks her point-blank if she loves him, she thankfully says no and saves us all from a continuation of this awful, awful story line. What follows is one of my favorite scenes in recent memory on this show, between Marshall and Robin. Marshall plays the part of best friend possibly better than he ever has, telling Robin that despite the brave face he might put on, Ted is crushed by this rejection. He also tells her what she already knows: if things are ever going to get better for anyone involved, Robin needs to move out of Ted's apartment.
The episode closes not on this conclusive note, but with a scene between Marshall and Lily that left me scratching my head. When Lily insists that it is now finally time for Marshall to pay up on their bet concerning Ted and Robin's relationship, he stoutly replies, "not yet." I can't tell now if this is simply Marshall's unwavering optimism, or if it is the writers' attempt (in a very lazy move, if it is the case) to leave the door open just a crack should they want to (heaven forbid) revisit this plot again in the future. As for me, I'm hoping for the former.
