This was another fantastic old-school episode of this show. We had the somewhat silly story of the gang going out to Marshall's favorite restaurant and his bet with Barney, the stakes of which included a glimpse of Lily's "pregnancy boobs" and wearing Marshall's duck tie for a whole year. We also had Ted somewhat sentimentally narrating his run-in with Victoria, and yet another lesson on fate. And as if that weren't enough, we finished the episode with a strange twist in Ted and Victoria's conversation, which led to a somewhat cryptic hint about his and Barney's friendship with Robin.
It seems no matter how many ties they do it, the whole Marshall and Lily trying to outmaneuver Barney shtick never fails to amuse me. Because of course Barney went all the way to New Jersey to learn Hibachi cooking, just so he could trick Marshall into a Pavlovian suggestion of that particular restaurant. I'm not always an advocate of making light of sociopath behavior, but with Barney it just adds to his ridiculous character (and it usually manages to blow up in his face any time it nears the danger zone). Plus, this plot was a nice balance to the more serious things happening with Ted and Victoria.
Speaking of, I really did like what they did with this development. I was worried they would send Ted back down this path only for it to go nowhere (since we already had confirmation Victoria wasn't the mother), but I really liked the idea of Ted trying to do penance for cheating, and that Victoria has found someone she's really happy with. I think it was important for Ted to have this interaction with her at this point in his story, because I think it will both alleviate the guilt he carried for his betrayal as well as give him an extra nudge in the search for the mother.
Now let's talk about the Robin weirdness we saw at the episode's end. First, Victoria's assessment of Robin and Ted's relationship might have made sense a few seasons ago, but I was feeling really secure that they're finally in a completely platonic place. I don't know what to make of it, or of the fact that Ted didn't mention it. And as for his comment at the end about how his and Barney and Robin's friendship "didn't work, but they didn't realize that until later"? What in the world does that mean? Now I'm going to be speculating about that for the rest of the season. Great.
Overall though, a great third episode. Season seven is looking very strong so far.
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