By Matthew Wood
Talk about your classic Barney. The sleazy former fifth wheel (Neil Patrick Harris) has always been the straw that stirred the HIMYM drink, and he showed it again this week.
After getting into a “Who’s got more game” battle with the newly single Ted (Josh Radnor), Barney concocts a devious scheme where he claims to have already slept with the object of the boys’ desire, convincing Ted how he has already conquered this Mount Everest. When the thought of going where Barney has already gone is too much for Ted to handle, he breaks up with her – allowing the conniving genius to swoop in and look like the nice guy. Brilliant!
Of course, the young lass has the last laugh, as she decides it’s best to take it slow after the bad break-up with Ted, and instead makes him listen to her play bass in a reggae band. Leave it to a chick to screw up a perfectly devious plan.
Speaking of chicks screwing things up, Robin (Cobie Smulders) dates a guy with a kid, but can’t handle the pressure and decides to break up with the kid. But the little 6-year-old Casanova has already found a “new mommy” and breaks it off with her.
I would go more into this plot line – as it was definitely intended as the focal point of the episode – but I find I’m caring less and less about what happens to the girls in this show. At least when Ted and Robin were together, there was some above-average couples humor. Now it’s just a lame married couple wishing they weren’t lame. Case in point: Marshall (Jason Segel) tries to prove he’s still relevant with the other game-spitters, crunching the numbers about how many times he’s had sex with his wife over the past 10 years (somewhere in the thousands). The boys quickly correct his math and tell him he’s had one – one chick equals one time. Ahh, the perils of getting hitched.
In the end, there’s a narrated montage about how the kids still spent time with “Aunt Robin,” insinuating that she’s still friends with Ted, even in the future world that the show is told in. Yeah guys, at this point you’re probably just confusing people with these flash-forwards to the year 2030. Let’s just nip this one in the bud and live in the present, shall we? So lame.
What I’m trying to to say is, thank you Barney. Thank you for your snarky jokes and inane attempts at getting laid. You’re possibly the only thing that’s keeping this show from becoming just like a married couple – irrelevant.