TV Discussion: A Controversial Prediction for How I Met Your Mother

If you haven't seen the most recent episode of How I Met Your Mother (which aired two weeks ago, begging the question of what, exactly, you're doing with your life if you haven't watched it), you probably don't want to read this, as I'll be discussing a particular plot point in heavy detail.

In my initial review, I proposed several possibilities concerning Robin's pregnancy and what it means for the show.  I felt equally not-confident in each prediction, but now having thought it over and (more importantly) gathered some revealing intel, I have reached two possible outcomes, and I'm not sure what to make of either one.

First, let's go over what we know.  In my excitement over the possibility of a Robin/Barney baby and subsequent reunion, I forgot that narrator Ted has previously told us that "Aunt Robin" doesn't have children of her own.  This was pointed out to me in a discussion, and though I have yet to corroborate it by tracking down the exact episode Ted says it, I do vaguely recall getting this information.  Therefore, unless the writers plan to unravel a thread established long ago, the options for Robin have diminished to two: abortion or miscarriage.

I have narrowed it down thus far because of a couple tidbits revealed by promotional materials and interviews with the executive producers of the show, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays (who I just realized I've been referring to on this blog as "Carter and Bays" for some reason, oops).  The first is that, much to my relief, the baby can't possibly be Kevin's, because according to Robin the two haven't had sex yet.  Additionally, Thomas and Bays dropped the revealing hint that Ms. Scherbatsky "really is pregnant, but whether she'll stay that way is the question."  In another article they are quoted as adding that this episode (presumably revealing the fate of Robin's potential child), is controversial, and that "some people might stop watching" the show in its aftermath.  Now, I can see the case for this being an obvious hint at an abortion storyline, but I'd argue that done in a certain way, miscarriage is still a possibility.  Let's break it down:

If she miscarries:  The reason for this turning audience members away seems obvious-- it might simply be too dramatic for a show that is predominantly a comedy.  Yes, part of the brilliance of season six was the somber storyline about Marshall's father, but that helped push all the characters into some positive character development and maturing.  I think a Robin miscarriage might be something that would just leave a dark mark on both her and Barney's characters, and maybe even the group as a whole.  It's difficult to imagine the gang bouncing back from something like that.  Also, if we want to get into a bit of a feminist debate, you could argue that the writers having Robin lose the baby takes away from the power of the choice she'd made, way back prior to season one, to not have children and pursue a career instead (that is, pulling the decision out of her control might imply that she would have inevitably had the baby if she could, and that doesn't necessarily jive with what we know of her character).

If she has an abortion:  The reason I'm hoping it isn't this (and simultaneously the reason I feel in my gut it's more likely), is because I don't think Barney would be able to forgive her.  Yes, it is absolutely Robin's choice and you will not see me fault her for it, but I'm thinking of it from a character development/writing standpoint. Barney has made huge leaps in terms of his views on family in past year (and the promos show him being excited about the prospect of fatherhood, though this could be taken out of context), and I think this kind of blow from the woman he loves would completely unseat him.  And that hint from narrator Ted at the beginning of the season is poking at the back of my mind again: what if this has to do with why Ted, Robin, and Barney can't all co-exist in harmonious friendship?  This would also be controversial for viewers because (apart from the obvious loss of staunch pro-lifers who are watching the show), over the course of the show we've primarily seen Robin softening as a character, becoming more well-rounded and even, in a few instances, motherly.  To have her return completely to her stance of kids not even being a vague option might feel to some viewers like a step backward, or something that makes her less likable (again, to be clear: arguing this from a TV standpoint, not debating the ethics of abortion).

I'll admit that I'm relieved we aren't going to have two babies introduced to the show at once (it's a notorious comedy killer), but I am anxious to see what this story line will do to the characters and relationships most concerned.  One thing I will say is that I don't think any outcome will make me stop watching (and I suspect many other viewers feel the same); I've come too far on this journey with Ted and the gang, if you think I'm not holding out until we actually meet the mother (maybe sometime in like... 2015), then you're nuts.

TV Review: How I Met Your Mother 7.11-- The Rebound Girl

I have to say, as much as I love NBC's lineup, if there is a November sweeps MVP this year, it's got to be How I Met Your Mother.  This show has pulled out every conceivable stop this month, throwing viewers on a roller coaster ride that I, for one, was not entirely expecting.

Speaking of expecting... (see what I did there?), we should probably talk about that teeny tiny little line that ended the episode and threw us all for a loop.  Our favorite former commitment-phobe, Robin, is pregnant!  Or at least, she seems to think she is.  She also seems to think Barney is the father, as he is the recipient of this cut-to-black bomb drop. 

This episode's first twenty or so minutes were pretty hilarious, and this would have been an okay installment even without that last-minute cliffhanger.  We see Marshall and Lily wavering in their decision to sell the house in the suburbs left to them by Lily's grandparents, contemplating the virtues of leaving city life behind to raise their kid.  Robin is adamantly against this possibility, absurdly so until you put it together with her later revelation.  She locks herself in the bathroom in protest, while Lily and Marshall wait for a sign from the universe that they ought to uproot their lives to make way for baby.

Also contributing to the laughs, Barney and Ted drunkenly lament their woes with women, first wishing they could just be gay together, and ultimately arriving at the conclusion that they should adopt a kid together and embark on a happy lifetime of "bro-parenting".  It's perfect-- all of the great parts of having a kid, with none of the romantic drama!  The plan veers out of control right around the time Barney shows up at Ted's with a mystery baby he appears to have stolen (don't worry, it's later revealed to be his niece, whom his brother asked him to babysit), and both Ted and Barney come to the conclusion that they really do want families, but with the "right" person.

But of course, the focal point for me is Robin's announcement at the episode's end.  I kind of wish she would have apologized to Barney for her behavior last week, or at least tried to explain, but it's clear that she's got more than a few things on her mind at the moment.  What does a Robin pregnancy mean for the rest of this season, for the overall arc of the show, and most importantly, for her and Barney?  Let's look at our options, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

1) It's a false positive.  This would be almost too easy, and kind of a huge let down after the way the set up the reveal.
2)  It's Kevin's.  Unlikely, since Kal Penn's arc on the show is almost over with no additional episodes contracted (of course, that can easily change); and I can't really see him walking away from his kid.  Also, he just doesn't mesh as well with the gang as he could, and I feel like Ted would have given us some kind of indication in his narration that Keven is part of Robin's future if that were the case.
3)  It's Barney's.  This is the one I think many fans are rooting for, but it will not be an easy road even if it turns out to be true.  Several factors are working against our favorite couple here, the first being that a casting announcement was recently made about a new long-term love interest for Barney with episodes beginning in January.  I personally am predicting that he may rush into a marriage with this girl in order to "compete" with Robin's pregnancy (assuming she keeps the baby), and that's the wedding we saw in the flashforward in this season's premiere.  Remember that Barney was feeling slightly conflicted in those scenes; that could easily be because he's still torn about lingering feelings for his friend (and possible baby-mama) Robin.
3a)  It's Barney's, and Robin is the girl he's marrying in the flashforward.  And everyone lives happily ever after.  And then we meet the mother, which shifts the focus back to Ted full time.  Actually...this could maybe, just maybe, be a real possibility.  Maybe the writers (and future Ted) have set up the story in a way that sort of "settles" everyone else's lives before launching into the endgame tale of Ted meeting his own future bride.  Then again, this show and many of the fans seem to thrive on Barney/Robin drama, so I'm not sure they're willing to give that up any time soon.

There are a hundred possible ways this story line can unfold, and my predictions may be way off target.  However, I do think this is part of the "huge season" for Robin that the writers were mentioning back in the summer, so I do think she'll go through with the pregnancy, whoever the father may be.  It's possible she'll simply go it alone for now, and any development with Barney or another suitor will come along later.  Based on everything they've done so far, though, one thing is certain: I trust the writers to tell this story, and I can't wait to see what they do next.

TV Review: How I Met Your Mother 7.10-- Tick Tick Tick

Every so often there is an episode of a television show where I'm sure the writers have targeted me personally.  "Andrea," they hypothetically say, "we decided to write 20 minutes of television with the sole intention of taking your heart, squeezing and releasing it a hundred times, and ultimately shattering it into a million pieces."  This is that episode.

Needless to say, if you haven't watched it, I'm about to have a lot of detailed, spoiler-filled thoughts about it, so you probably shouldn't keep reading.

After last week's twist ending, I was pretty sure HIMYM couldn't outdo itself this week.  But it really, really did.  "Tick Tick Tick" is perhaps one of my new all-time favorite episodes, because it did almost all of the exact things a comedy needs to do during sweeps.  There was conflict, with Barney and Robin fretting over how to tell their respective partners what they'd done; there was a gradual increasing of the stakes (Barney's speech about them getting back together floored me.  I think that was the most open he's ever been with Robin and possibly with any character on this show thus far, and it was absolutely amazing.  This is how you develop a character, folks.)  There was a dramatic ending (not necessarily a "twist," since you knew the moment they set that midnight deadline that something would go awry), and potential for weeks and weeks of fallout (that I can't wait to see).  And as the icing on the cake, there was a hilarious B storyline seemingly designed solely to diffuse the tension of the Barney and Robin goings-on in the A story.  Ted and Marshall and drugs will always be funny to me.

I think this episode, when it wasn't amping up the drama between them, really gave us a good look at where Barney and Robin are individually as characters.  It was interesting to see Barney be the one to ultimately confess his transgression to Norah, who promptly dumped him, while Robin, who they both seemed to agree was less of a mess than Barney, got miraculously let off the hook by Kevin (who I personally think came off as kind of a pushover in that last scene), and didn't have to fess up at all.  I think Barney is in a place now where he wants to try his best to not be selfish, whereas Robin will still take the easy way out if given the opportunity (granted, in this case it was pretty much presented to her on a silver platter), and I think that has given us an intriguing and fresh imbalance in their relationship.  Dare I say that Barney is now the more mature of the two, willing to step up and confront what's really going on while Robin hides behind her boyfriend?  This has some definite potential, especially in contrast to season 4 when Barney was pining after Robin but afraid he wasn't good enough.

Also, that scene at the end, where Ted saw Barney in Robin's room, cleaning up his would-be romantic gesture?  Not only was that a heartbreaking moment, but I think it is also the very beginning of the conflict between the three of them that Ted alluded to in the voiceover of the episode earlier this season, when Victoria insisted the three of them couldn't all be friends.  Ted knowing that Barney is pursuing/wants to pursue Robin again is something that I think will play an increasingly significant role the rest of this season.  I only hope that it doesn't go the same way as the season 3 arc following Barney's initial tryst with Robin, where Ted held a grudge for entirely too long. 

If there's an episode next week we might get another dose of this sweeps goodness before Turkey Day, if not I'm expecting more of a focus on Ted when the show returns.  I love the Barney and Robin stuff, I really do, but this season is also supposed to show us Ted actively trying to find his wife, and so far we haven't seen much of that.  I think it'll be good to see a renewed energy on that end of things while Barney and Robin simmer in the background, at least until she inevitably breaks up with Kevin (it is inevitable, right?  Right?).

TV Review: How I Met Your Mother 7.08-- Disaster Averted

This entry should be read with an implicit November sweeps SPOILER WARNING.  Remember that time when I said this show was gearing up for some changes during sweeps?  Yeah, I won't bore you with the gloating, but I was right!

"Disaster Averted" contains not one but two fully realized stories:  one takes place in the present, with the gang at MacLaren's, the other is a flashback sequence to the week when Hurricane Irene threatened to flood New York City.  Both stories had equally fulfilling elements, and some very funny moments.

In the present, Barney is obsessed with getting Marshall and Lily to revoke their decree that he wear the ducky tie every day for an entire year.  He comes up with the genius plan that they can trade the wearing of the tie for additional slaps in the "slap bet" made by Marshall and Barney so many moons ago. 

Meanwhile, in the coverage of the gang's storm watch, we get a healthy dose of Ted being a huge nerd, which tends to be the times I like him best.  He is in full boy scout mode, prepping for the impending disaster, donning some lovely fuschia rain boots, and attempting to convince the gang to evacuate.  Through some patented Barney manipulation, they all wind up stranded inside his apartment instead.  This bit is a stroke of genius because it gave us a bottle episode experience without the entire episode having to take place locked in Barney's living room.

Back in the present, Kevin riddles out the reason Barney is suddenly so dead set on removing the ducky tie:  he's scheduled to meet Nora's parents in a few days' time.  Marshall and Lily sympathize (and also reveal that their son-to-be was in fact conceived in Barney's bathroom the day of the hurricane), and agree that Barney can remove the tie in exchange for three additional slaps. two of which Marshall doles out on the spot.  For those keeping score at home, the remaining slap count is now 2.

The best part of the episode (in my heavily biased opinion) comes in the final five minutes, after just about everything else gets wrapped up.  Barney and Robin share a cab home, and Robin asks Barney if he's ever mentioned the "other thing" that "almost happened" during the storm.  We then got a flashback revealing that Barney and Robin had a bit of a heartfelt moment, not to mention an almost-kiss.  Now, having known going into this episode that these two were going to have a "moment," I thought this was all we were going to get, and was more than happy with it.  However, the show zagged when I expected a zig, and at the last moment we went back to the present to see Barney and Robin, both now engaged in serious relationships with other people, share a pretty heated kiss.

What does this mean?  Are these two and their respective significant others headed for trouble, or will they bury this incident, chalking it up to poor judgment?  It seems too good to be true that we're headed for a genuine Barney and Robin reunion, and so we'll have to wait and see how they manage to steer themselves in the wrong direction.  And of course, Barney's wedding and mystery bride are always in the back of my mind-- does this kiss give us further evidence it could be Robin, or will Barney re-commit to Nora even more seriously after this misstep?  Time will tell, but if this is the kind of episode the writers of this show have up their sleeves for the rest of November, I say bring it on.

TV Review: How I Met Your Mother's Premiere Double Dose

"...We're nowhere near the end."
This is what Ted tells his children (who have got to be sick of sitting on that couch) near the conclusion of part one of Monday's two for one premiere, and it is a statement that for this viewer was simultaneously frustrating and satisfying; the former because I want to know already, gosh darnit, and the latter because if the mystery continues to unravel like this (and if we continue to see equally intriguing mysteries concerning the rest of the gang surface), I will be willing to watch this show for as long as it takes for Ted to tell this story.  (On that note, do you think his kids will ever agree to hearing a story from their dear old dad again?)

I'm going to go through the two episodes as chronologically as possible, even though (SPOILER) I am so excited that my Victoria prediction has already been proven correct.  So in the first episode we witnessed a split between future and present, with Ted and Barney reminiscing at Barney's wedding about Punchy's nuptials, which the gang attended here in 2011.  We didn't get very many clues about Barney's impending marriage, just that he's feeling a little jittery, but I would like to bring up the fact that in this flash-forward, we saw Lily tell Ted that "the bride wanted to talk to him."  I think there are three reasons this indicates the bride will in fact be Robin:  one, Ted isn't friends with Norah, so why would she want to talk to him?; two, Lily is presumably helping the bride prepare and was dispatched to deliver the message, and she's not friends with Norah either; three, this bit was almost immediately juxtaposed with the scene where Ted and Robin had something of a heart to heart about their respective love lives, and I think Ted would be just the person to talk a nervous Robin down on the day of her wedding.  Thank you for indulging me in that little sidebar of speculation; and if it's all a misdirect and we get an episode down the road where Norah or some yet unknown lady friend of Barney's becomes super tight with the gang, my apologies in advance.

Continuing on... We saw Marshall and Lily try (and fail) to keep their pregnancy secret from everyone.  It wasn't much for either of them to do, but it did supply us with ample amounts of Drunk Marshall, and the only person who loves Drunk Marshall more than Lily is me.  Watching him inadvertently send the reception into chaos was just icing on the cake.  And speaking of the reception, two things that I wondered:  first, why was everyone wearing purple and orange?  Is that an Ohio thing I've never heard of or did the couple really choose such an awful combination for the theme because they liked it?  And second, is the balcony where Ted and Robin have their cigars and soul-baring time the very same from Lily and Marshall's wedding?  It sure looked like it (but this is not remotely relevant to the plot).  Barney and Robin proved that they still have undeniable chemistry, which was unfortunately disrupted by Norah.  Watching Robin feed Barney her own confession of still-simmering feelings so that he could relay it as his own to his new crush was one of the episode's better moments, and absolutely heartbreaking to boot.

The second episode was a little more the focused and linear, and it had a favorite device of mine from the older seasons, where the B-plot turns out to be at least as important (if not more so) to the overall narrative than the A-plot.  You see, this episode was supposedly about Marshall trying to get a job working for Martin Short's environmental law firm, and his unfortunate run-in with employer cyber screening practices.  Additionally, we saw Barney continue to attempt to win Norah's affections by camping out in an all-night diner (which I guess would have actually been the B-plot, meaning Ted's was the C-plot, or maybe the B 2.0- plot).  I am not crazy about what they've done with Norah's character in this episode; she seems a little snobbish, I guess, and what I liked about her before was that she seemed so earnest.  However, this gives me further hope that she is not his endgame relationship, because this show has a historical tendency to spoil female characters once they've decided she is not "the one" for Ted (see Stella, Zoey, Victoria, and even Robin to an extent).  It is not a huge jump in logic to think they might be doing the same with Barney to outline Robin (or someone else, I grudgingly admit) as his true love.

But like I was saying about Ted's plot-- it felt throwaway, to him and to us, and so I wasn't super invested in him going to the Architect's Ball (though the bit with Robin angling for an invite was pretty great), and I didn't really think anything of consequence would happen there.  That in combination with the fact that I was sure Ted's running into an ex flame was something we wouldn't be seeing until at least November sweeps made Victoria's last-minute appearance genuinely and satisfyingly shocking.  I can't wait to see that interaction next week.

Do I think Ted will end up with Victoria?  No, probably not.  Six years is a long time, and though I think Ted will certainly try to pick up where they left off, it won't work out.  We've gotten too many clues about the mother for it to turn out to be Victoria, whom Ted knew and dated for a while (and therefore would have known well enough to be able to tell if she was Rachel Bilson's roommate, just to point out one example), and I'm pretty sure the showrunners still think they've got enough time to introduce the mother as a completely new character.  If the writing stays at this quality level, maybe they do.  In any case, season 7 is off to a hilarious and well-crafted start, and I am excited to stay tuned for more in the weeks to come.

Fall TV 2011: How I Met Your Mother, Season 7

Where We Left Off:  Marshall and Lily found out that they are about to become parents, after months of ups and downs.  Ted broke up with Zoey, to the surprise of no one.  And Barney made life changes in two different time periods:  in the present we saw him earn a second chance with Norah, his months-long crush, much to the dismay of Robin; and in the future ("some time down the road," according to Ted's narration) Barney prepares to (gasp!) walk down the aisle...at his own wedding!

What's Ahead:  Season 6's finale set us up to solve some pretty big mysteries, the juiciest involving the recently evolved Barney.  We got a potential love-triangle setup, with the further complication of Robin and Norah being co-workers and good friends, and hints that they are the two primary contenders for the position of the mystery bride at Barney's eventual nuptials.  Carter and Bays, the shows producers, tease that this season will have even more twists and turns for both Barney and Robin, and that this love triangle has the potential to become a much more complicated shape.  We are also going to see Marshall and Lily's inevitable hijinks on the road to parenthood, struggling with what adding a baby to their quirky relationship will mean.  And Ted is supposed to get a visit from an old girlfriend, a visit which according to Josh Radnor will "reward long-time viewers of the show."  My money's on Victoria, but it's anyone's guess.

What I'd Like to See:  Carter and Bays have said in multiple interviews that this is going to be very much a "Robin season," something I will be interested to see given the fact that she seemed to get the short straw for most of season six.  I'd like to see her have an arc similar to one we saw Barney given last year, easing her into the character she's going to be in the show's endgame.  She's apparently getting Kal Penn as a psychologist and possibly as a competing love interest, which has definite potential, but I hope they do a bit more with her than exclusively romantic stories.  Also rumored to be getting better material this season is Ted, who in the wake of Marshall and Lily's news will renew the search for Ms. Right/the titular mother he's been yakking about for the past six years.  I'm getting a little tired of seeing Ted in long-term relationships with placeholder women, so I hope that Carter and Bays have something a bit more momentous up their sleeves.  We'll have to see, but if anything is guaranteed on this show, it's a steady supply of laughs, and I'm looking forward to every one.

Premiere Date:  Monday, September 19th on CBS

TV Review: HIMYM Returns Just in Time for Spring

How I Met Your Mother:  Spot on.  Again, no fireworks, but a great installment in the lead-up to sweeps.  I felt like each plot line moved the respective pair's story forward (and yes, I'm going to persist with my belief that we are getting these charming little Barney/Robin interactions for a reason), and that we got a bit of a preview of what's to come.  Ted and Zoey are headed for a rocky place and an eventual bust-up, and given the level of discord in their relationship now I think I'm okay with that (provided he has even better chemistry with the mother).  As for Marshal and Lily, I still think we'll get a pregnancy announcement out of them by the end of the season-- there's been so much discussion of them conceiving on purpose that I think an accidental baby when they're least expecting it would be a great twist.  Honestly, I was kind of expecting something of the sort last night following Lily's secret plan to go to Spain.  I'm glad she came back in the end, but I think keeping us a little more in suspense, even until just next week, might have been a better move.  Then again, the seeming completeness of this episode convinces me that the next few will be more intertwined, and those are always the episodes with the biggest payoffs.

Additionally, I am convinced, not only by my own hopes for it but also by the numerous articles I've read positing it, that the end of the season wedding reveal will in fact prove to be Mr. Barney Stinson.  I think there's been too much growth for his character this season for that not to be the place where he ends it.  As to who the bride will be I only have guesses (and hopes!), but I think this theory is even more supported by the fact that the producers have said that the reveal will involve a jump pretty far into the future.  That gives Barney ample time to travel down the path toward monogamy on which he already seems poised, not to mention time for him to meet and court the lucky lady (or to get back together with Robin and make it work!).  Ignoring my over-enthusiastic parentheses, I think there's a lot of grounding here for a great final string of episodes and a finale that people will be talking about into the summer.