HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER “The Rebound Girl” Season 7, Episode 11 – I don’t remember How I Met Your Mother having so many crazy, life changing, cliff hanger plot twists like the ones we’ve been hit with recently. There have always been jaw dropping episodes and emotional tear-jerking episodes peppered throughout the seasons of How I Met Your Mother, but the weekly cliffhangers we’ve been getting in the last few weeks have been stressing me out a little – and I think I like it.
With Barney and Ted in a “bad place” with the broken, disenchanted hearts of single men looking for a happily ever after, they decide that they should swear off girls and start a family as bro-parents. Ted’s narration which constantly reminded us that they were in a really bad place, helped set this plot line up because otherwise their whole scheme would seem too outlandish even for How I Met Your Mother. In terms of relationships, these two have pretty much hit bottom and when you’re at the bottom, even the most absurd ideas make sense.
Ted and Barney in spousal roles was absolutely hilarious and I loved seeing the two of them fight about the parental roles they would take for their soon-to-be-adopted child. When Barney’s new “adopted daughter,” Hurricane Stinson appears strapped to his chest, I never would have suspected that it was his niece, Sadie. Barney offered no explanation and let Ted and the others think that Hurricane was a child he got from a baby guy, when the reality was nowhere near as sinister. Seeing Barney and Ted being responsible for an actual human child made it pretty clear those two are not quite ready for parenthood.
Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily have suddenly been struck by how small their place in the city is compared to the home they were given in Long Island. I think most of us can relate to outgrowing a place and suddenly feeling like there is no space for anything. The exaggerated portrayal of their shrunken living space was brilliant and I was cracking up at Marshall’s frustrated attempts to move from the kitchen to the living room with a Thanksgiving feast.
Although Marshall and Lily are convinced that the Universe is urging them to move to Long Island, Robin is determined to make sure they never leave the city. After she locks herself up in one of their three Long Island bathrooms, Marshall suspects that there’s more to Robin’s panic than she’s letting on.
Barney is so sweet to Robin. Even after everything that happened last week, he sought her out and asked her if they were still friends. He would have every reason to hold a grudge or be angry (actually, I think I’m still angry for him) but Robin is obviously special to him. Whether Robin admits it or not, Barney is special to her and where she might have confided in Lily, Ted or Marshall for advice, the first person in their group that she tells about her pregnancy is Barney. I wonder if she’s told Kevin since I assume either one of them could be the father.
Despite How I Met Your Mother being a sitcom, there have been a lot of difficult dramatic situations in the last couple seasons. As much as I love the crazy laugh out loud comedy, the real life issues that these characters deal with as a group of adult friends is what makes this series so special. The outcome of this cliffhanger will change everything in the How I Met Your Mother world and there’s always a risk that a huge change like that could push a show to jump the shark. How I Met Your Mother has handled things well so far by setting roots for major plot twists like this into earlier parts of the show so we can look back and see how everything fell into place without us ever suspecting a thing. I expect that we’ll get the same out of this doozy of a development.
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