How I Met Your Mother - Part 2

[O'Haire]

Best episode the series has had in a long ass time.

That ending better mean they are shifting the focus back to Ted. The show was always best when it was about him trying to find the one.

 

[SpideyVille]

This season I began to loose faith in this show. Thought it jumped the shark with the Patrice thing. I should have known it was all part of the plan. Won't be making the same mistake again.

I knew they were doing something with the Patrice thing, but I had no idea it was all a part of Barney's elaborate plan. I think the crazy part is that it actually made me root for Barney and Robin, which is the first time I've ever wanted to see them together.

Best episode the series has had in a long ass time.

That ending better mean they are shifting the focus back to Ted. The show was always best when it was about him trying to find the one.

Yes, the ending of the first half alone had everything I thought the series had been missing this season. What made me fall in love with the show was Future Ted's reflective side, where he talks about the mistakes he made and the moment where he had learned from them. We haven't really heard much from him since the premiere, which is when the focus started to move away from him.

But I hope my belief is true, which is that the show was running non stop on fillers for Ted in order to progress the Barney and Robin story. Now that that is seemingly over, I think they will start to get back to talking about Ted and his search for the one.

Speaking of which, I'm glad that they addressed the idea of Ted moving on from Robin without turning into another Ted is rejected storyline. It's a great sign of character development and growth that he decided to tell her to go after Barney, as opposed to hiding it from her.

 

[MadVillainy]

Really good episode. Great performances all around. Im not gonna lie when Barney was saying "Throw away the playbook and actually burn it...you won't need it any more" (or something along those lines) I teared up a little. It's really great how they took this character and brought him to that point.

I think the only thing that wouldve made it better is if I didnt know that Robin was Barney's bride.

I also like the last shot of Ted. It was really bittersweet because they had Barney and Robin; Marshall, Lilly, and Marvin; then Ted who may of had his building but still looked kinda sad.

Really hope they keep this positive momentum going

 

[Sawyer]

Best episode the series has had in a long ass time.

That ending better mean they are shifting the focus back to Ted. The show was always best when it was about him trying to find the one.

Hey, they had a great premiere this year!

 

[John Locke]

As Ted said to Robin. It's just a building. I think he's been focused more on his career than his love life since season 6. Now that he's got it but not the wife.

 

[SpideyVille]

Yeah I read a recent interview with one of the producers who said Ted's story with the building symbolizes a chapter closing in his life, and I think with his decision to let Robin go, and now with his building being completed, its about time we see Ted move forward toward something new. I think once he learns about the proposal, he will once again start to think about his love life.

 

[O'Haire]

Hey, they had a great premiere this year!

I liked that. But that was mostly for the last few minutes. Got me excited and hoping they were back on Ted and his story. But next episode they tossed him into the background again until tonight.

 

[Scarecrow_King]

I knew they were doing something with the Patrice thing, but I had no idea it was all a part of Barney's elaborate plan. I think the crazy part is that it actually made me root for Barney and Robin, which is the first time I've ever wanted to see them together.

This. By the end of the episode, I sat back actually wanted them to be together. I've hated the idea of them being together since it was first introduced, but this episode somehow sort of turned it around for me.

 

[SpideyVille]

I liked that. But that was mostly for the last few minutes. Got me excited and hoping they were back on Ted and his story. But next episode they tossed him into the background again until tonight.

That was the case for me as well. I thought the premiere was okay, but only for those last few minutes. And aside from that one instance, Ted was pretty much a non factor in the episodes after. I loved these last two because it seemed like he was near the center of it all.

This. By the end of the episode, I sat back actually wanted them to be together. I've hated the idea of them being together since it was first introduced, but this episode somehow sort of turned it around for me.

Yeah, I kind of wonder if its because most pepole looked at Robin as Ted's ex. I mean, we all knew from the pilot that she wasn't the mother, but with the way that it stated, with Barney sleeping with her knowing how much Ted still had feelings for her, it seemed very wrong. Even with her rejection last season, there still seemed to be that little piece of history there.
But I guess with Ted giving her the okay to go after Barney, it made it easier to root for them.

Also, I'm surprised they didn't mention the bet. I'm pretty sure that was the only reason why Marshall was telling Ted to go after her.

 

[John Locke]

No I think he does want them together. Or at least thought so. It would be good to close the best though.

 

[Sawyer]

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/12/18/how-i-met-your-mother-midseason-finale-post-mortem/

'How I Met Your Mother' boss on the next step for Barney and

Spoiler

. Plus, scoop on a big return!

Spoiler

by Sandra Gonzalez

Monday night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother was not short on memorable moments, and in fact, the episode, which saw Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) getting engaged, is being dubbed by some as one of the best episode of the series.

But even before the episode had hit television screens, executive producer/co-creator Craig Thomas knew it was something special.

“I was on set for [the limo scene with Ted and Robin], and it was just one of those moments where you feel really lucky to work with these actors — and everybody,” he says. “It was just one of those moments where you’re like, ‘Well, you know, the show isn’t going to last forever. So let’s just take a moment while filming this to appreciate the depth of this cast and how much we care about these characters eight years in.’”

But even eight years in, there’s still quite a bit of story to tell. For scoop on tonight’s developments and a look ahead, read more from Entertainment Weekly’s chat with Thomas below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s start off with this limo scene.
CRAIG THOMAS: Josh [Radnor] and Cobie’s limo scene was one of those where it so much more powerful than you thought it’d be. That moment with Cobie and Josh, in a sense, was Ted was saying goodbye to Robin and saying goodbye to the possibility of getting her. He makes that sacrifice and supports her so she can go make one last Hail Mary pass for Barney. It’s almost saying goodbye to a whole future possibility that, in the back of his head, he always imagined. He knows it and she knows it. It’s like eight years of history sitting there between those two characters in that limo, and it was just really heartbreaking. It really hit them; they both started to cry. We weren’t pushing them to cry. It wasn’t written, ‘Now they cry!’ It just really hit them. So what you’re seeing there is them feeling that for their characters. It was just a real reaction that no one asked for and surprised everybody.

But it was an important moment for Ted to finally get there.
Then, Ted was an amazing friend to both Barney and Robin in that moment, but then seeing Ted standing alone there by that window looking out at the world and looking ahead, it’s definitely bittersweet. There’s a wistful feeling about it at the end. There are about five different moments in the episode where we all started crying. We’ve seen it 100 times now, and it keeps getting us. So hopefully everyone will like it.

Speaking of the window moment, I love how you ended on that moment. We’ve closed this big Barney and Robin chapter, and ending on Ted after all that seems symbolic.
Yeah. Definitely there’s a feeling at the end of the episode [that] there’s still an odd man out here. There’s still Ted Mosby, who is just the best friend in the world to Robin and to Barney, and he’s still out there searching. There’s definitely a “to be continued” feeling. If Barney and Robin have gotten to the place we’ve always promised and are heading toward a wedding potentially, what’s in store for Ted? It’s a nice moment to end on. It sort of feels like a mini season finale even though it’s just a midseason finale. It feels like, “Alright now, let’s see what the next — and possibly last — chapter is for Ted.” How does he move into his future if we are watching Barney and Robin move into theirs? In the way that Christmas is sort of great and a little bit sad and nostalgic and wistful — that’s definitely how I feel at the end of the episode. And hopefully people will feel a feeling of resolution, in terms of waiting for Barney and Robin to reunite, but also a question left unanswered. Stay tuned for what either will be the final 10 episodes ever of the show or possibly that plus one more final season. We don’t know yet.

Now, you said “potential wedding,” but there is a wedding right? I never know what to believe.
Right. They’re heading for a wedding that will have its own twists and surprises when we get there. But yeah, we’ve been waiting for them to get engaged, so hopefully that will feel satisyfing to people. It certainly has been a long time coming.

Let’s talk about this proposal. Why the trick?
To me it feels like a really appropriate way for Barney to propose to someone. We could have gone much straighter at it and had just had him propose in episode 3 of this season, but there’s something really fun, elaborate, playbook-y, and very “evil genius” about the way Barney put it together. [Laughs] He’s an evil but very sweet genius, I suppose. It’s very heartfelt and wonderful. The moment where he’s on bended knee and puts a ring on her finger is just super sweet. I hope people will be as moved by it as we were making it.

How did the idea come up?
We loved the idea of the secret last page of the playbook. Barney Stinson is Barney Stinson, and he wouldn’t propose in some predictable way. We also liked indicating that there’s one last great play for Barney Stnson to execute, and it sends him into this whole next chapter of his life — a new, more evolved part of his life. But I still like that the thing that catapults him into the next phase of his life is a play from the playbook — the secret final page. It’s the last play he’ll ever run, and it’s the last play he’ll ever need to run because it’s going to get him the love of his life. It felt like a good way for Barney to be Barney and still get engaged, which is a pretty high degree of difficulty. We’ve also seen these two characters come together and pull apart a few times, so the challenge we tried to set for ourselves was how to get them back together in way that felt unlike what we’ve done before.

It was also a tall order considering Barney proposed to Quinn, too, just a few episodes ago.
Exactly. We’ve been tell the story of how Barney is imagining this future and imagining being able to do this. It just wasn’t the right girl. Robin was the right girl for him, and we needed to connect the dots.

Was this arc, in a way, one of your last plays? It felt very much like this great trick you’ve been waiting to play.
It does feel that way. The series could end this year, and Barney will be engaged. You’re not going to see [another] episode where Barney Stinson is single and out there and running plays from the playbook and finding elaborate ways to have meaningless one-night stands. So we like the idea that Barney would use his superpowers and his Barney-ness for good instead of evil and see that his Barney-ness is what gets him the love of his life in the end. It felt poignant in terms of the journey we’ve seen Barney go on throughout the series.

So what’s next for Robin and Barney?
Barney is still Barney. So we’ll see what it’s like for Barney Stinson to really be engaged and really know that “This is the last woman I want to be with.” We’ll see Barney struggle with reconciling those two parts of himself– the playboy manipulator and the guy who’s got the girl. How does he behave and make sure it all goes well? Ultimately, it’s not going to be Barney constantly looking at other women and asking, “Did I make a mistake?” and angst and all that. It’s not that. We want these two characters to be together, and we know they’re heading toward a wedding day. So far it’s actually been fun; Barney is still fun. The challenge is that it forces you to tell new kinds of Barney stories and so far, episode 13 and 14 are really fun Barney episodes. In episode 13 we see Barney have to deal with Robin’s super scary father, who they forgot to ask permission from to get engaged. So we see them go through that process.

With Ted, since we do end on him, tell me what’s next. We know that Rachel Bilson is coming back in the second half of the season. So…
Yeah. There’s going to be an appearance from Rachel Bilson, who we know is a very direct, one-degree of separation from The Mother. I don’t want to say too much more about that, but she will reappear. Make of that what you will.

Ashely Benson is coming on the show too. Care to share more?
I literally can’t tell you much about that either because it’s a little bit of a twist. But she’s really funny, and the one thing I can tell you is that she will play a much younger woman who Ted is attracted to but he ends up asking the question, “Am I just way the hell too old to be up this late at a club with this girl?” It definitely forces Ted to ask the question, “Am I getting too old for this?” — for lack of a better term. But she’s going to be great. We’re shooting that as we speak. That’s episode 14.

That was my next questions. So you’re on 14?
Yeah. So if this turns out to be our last year, we’ll come back in the new year and shoot just 10 more and that will be it.

You’re making me nervous.
You and me both!

One more tease about the second half.
I can tell you this, we’re going to do the final installment of Robin Sparkles. The fourth and final installment — witnessing a chapter in the Robin Sparkles saga that we’ve never seen. It’s sort of the ending chapter in what was the Robin Sparkles career.

 

[Marvolo]

This episode put a big smile on my face. One of my favorites.

 

[Paradox1]

That episode was beautiful and made the setup worth it.

 

[ImWithTeamConan]

WOW. Had the work Christmas party tonight, gotta wake up super early tomorrow but I am really glad I stayed up to watch it because tonight was an amazing episode.

I think at this point Robin and Barney have to get married. That's where Barney is heading, IMO, to break them up would be just to leave that character development unfinished. Playbook's gone, he's admitted this is what he wants, he can't go back now.

But then the producers keep talking about twists and turns and that worries me. Also, they have Benson's character meeting Ted in a club so that probably rules her out from being the mother, still could be Barney's little half-sister (and if she is, I'm going to my backup theory that the mother is the woman Ted bumps into accidentally at that one bar on St. Patty's Day).

 

[ravn0s]

great couple of eps. at the end of the first episode i was hoping the whole patrice thing was just one of barney's elaborate plans. glad it was.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

given that Barneys plan Heavily relayed on Ted breaking his jinked pinky swear by telling Robin, I wonder if he'll still hold him to the swifter-ball bat to the nuts thing...

what am I saying of course he will

 

[LostSon88]

Good episode. Finally glad to see all the issues I've had with the show the past few weeks was in fact, all part of the plan.

Loved the ending with Ted and now it seems we may finally get to the biggest and DEFINING arc of the entire series...the mother.

The only issue with me was how Marshall and Lily came off a lil too over the top. Again.

 

[Visceral]

it will be ithe mother of all story arcs

 

[dark_b]

 

[Darkness Falls]

was so happy with the latest episodes
loved how barney did it,must admit it made me tear up a bit

barney's character has come so far since season 1
great performance from cobie and neil in that scene too

 

[runawayboulder]

Robin was lookin' fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine in that red dress!

Taran Killam is one lucky mo'fo.

 

[HighFivingMF]

Robin was lookin' fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine in that red dress!

Taran Killam is one lucky mo'fo.

 

[Dark Raven]

HIMYM was definitely better this week, and I was glad to see that it was all part of Barney's ploy. Actually part of why I was glad is that they didn't end up going a more long-winded route to get Barney off Patrice and then for him to get back on the Robin bandwagon and for them to take even more weeks before he ever proposed. This speeded things up nicely. I was also happy to see Ted finally let go of Robin.

I'm hoping this will get the series back on track and have Ted as the protagonist again. It seemed ot shift the focus back onto him.

 

[LostSon88]

It definitely looks as if they have no choice but to finally move on to Ted and the mother.

Hell, they pretty much spent the past month to wrap up Robin and Barney. That story is pretty much over as we already know how it ends with them getting married. Just gotta go through the motions now.

With Ted...we still have no idea how his story with the mother comes together aside from a detail here and there.

It's time.

 

[Chewy]

Coming back

http://www.deadline.com/2012/12/exc...d-show-was-given-up-for-dead-until-11th-hour/

Hopefully this doesn't mean the mother reveal is put off for another year