Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'How I Met Your Mother' - 'Field Trip': Pollstered!

Robin starts dating her therapist, and Martin Short returns as Marshall's boss

By Alan Sepinwall Tuesday, Oct 11, 2011 9:30 AM

Martin Short and Jason Segel on "How I Met Your Mother."

Credit: CBS

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A quick review of last night's "How I Met Your Mother" coming up just as soon as I click past the slide on Ewok anatomy...

There were a few amusing moments in "Field Trip," particularly Barney and Ted turning the disastrous field trip into an impromptu focus group to settle arguments about Olmos, Ewoks(*) and more, and I like the idea of Marshall and Garrison Cootes teaming up to save the planet for the sake of Baby Eriksen, Future Ted's unnamed children, and other future generations. (As we saw last year, it's very hard for the show to step wrong when it's telling emotional Marshall stories.) Overall, though, it was a fairly forgettable episode, with one story I want us to discuss a bit.

(*) Gotta quibble with Barney's math on his Ewok theory. I was born in 1973, but several months after his dividing line between Ewok lovers and haters, and I couldn't stand the furry little things even when "Return of the Jedi" first came out. (As do many of my friends who were born well after me.) To this day, I'm annoyed that Lucas didn't stick to the original plan of having it be a planet full of Wookies.

Specifically, how does everyone feel about Kevin(**) and Robin making the leap from therapist and patient to boyfriend and girlfriend? I appreciate that the show acknowledged, repeatedly, that this is a horrible, fairly icky idea - not only were Ted and Barney (former boyfriends who each still carry something of a torch for Robin) grossed out by it, but so were the field trippers and the Germans - but at the same time, the show clearly wants us to see everything as okay by episode's end. I know that "HIMYM" doesn't aspire to the level of realism or drama of something like "In Treatment" (which spent a lot of time on the dangers of therapist-patient transference), but there are still some things that seem like a place even a broad sitcom shouldn't go if it doesn't want us to keep thinking and complaining about it. The idea that Robin getting to grill him on his innermost thoughts for a couple of hours to equalize things didn't really fly, and I just don't see the point to it. If they wanted Robin to get into a relationship with a character who knew far more about her emotional life than the average new boyfriend(***) would, there were other ways to accomplish that without building the whole thing on such a squirm-inducing foundation. Make him the lawyer trying to get her acquitted on the assault charge. Make him some random guy she's stuck in an elevator with for a whole day. Pick any number of stock sitcom situations in which characters will open up to total strangers - just don't start here. Because he'll never not be Robin's former therapist, and that's just self-destructive for both Robin and for the show.

(**) Whom I'm trying very hard to not call Kumar every time. Just because his real name and his most famous role both start with K doesn't mean the whole world has to keep casting him to play guys with K names (Kevin, Kutner, etc.). He was pretty great as a character named Gogol in "The Namesake," after all.

(***) By the way, I really hope they bother to actually have Kevin/Kumar/Kutner/Kal/Gogol interact with the rest of the gang, and often, for as long as he's around. One of the show's most consistent failings with relationships involving people outside the group - with the notable exception of Victoria back in the day and, very briefly, Stella - is that we virtually never see the newbies involved with regular characters other than the ones they're dating, and that makes it very hard to invest in them. Even Nora seems to show up at the very start or end of any bull session at the bar, and I have no idea who she is or why I should care about Barney dating her.

What did everybody else think? Are you willing to let the therapy thing slide? Are there other TV story arcs where the beginning was so problematic that it overwhelmed whatever good things came later? Are you enjoying Martin Short? And how do you feel about Ted's new facial scruff?

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: How I Met Your Mother, Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Alan Sepinwall

Next 83 Comments

KJ

What!?? No mention of the infamous S2 of FNL?!!?
October 11, 2011 at 9:35AM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall Ah, yes. That. Like Fienberg, I disagree with Marshall, in that if you don't watch s2 of FNL, you don't get to make the many, many, many jokes we all make about s2 of FNL. And ultimately, I would say the jokes are worth suffering through the serial killer story, the trip to Mexico, Lyla as Christian radio DJ, and all the other stupid things.
  
  (Also, there are a handful of good episodes and/or subplots in s2. "Leave No One Behind" alone is worth a whole lotta crap.
  October 11, 2011 at 9:39AM EST
- BenS As I'm about to start FNL season 2 for the first time, I have actually been excited to see what all the nonsense was. One of my friends said that there was even more insanity than just murderin'. All of the things Alan just described now make me wonder if I should watch FNL S2 before The Wire S4.
  October 11, 2011 at 10:11AM EST
- Mike To be fair, you shouldn't do anything before watching season 4 of the Wire. You should get off the internet right now and watch it. If you're performing open heart surgery, just get a TV into the theater and put it on there.
  In all seriousness, to me, the worst thing about season 2 is the uncomfortable relationship Coach and Mrs. Coach seem to have, everything else is at least fodder for jokes as Alan describes, but the way they screw up the best TV marriage in television history that season annoys me to this day, even if they got everything back in track from S3 to S5.
  October 11, 2011 at 10:33AM EST
- HeavyRaines17 Mike wins the internet for his S4 Wire comment.
  
  There's some good to S2 of FNL. There's...well...ummm...they are all very pretty people.
  October 11, 2011 at 8:33PM EST
- Mark The Coach-Saracen shower scene is one of my favorite FNL scenes. It's so powerful, and seeing the look on Coach's face because he doesn't know what to say or how to answer shows the realism that FNL could always pull off.
  October 11, 2011 at 9:14PM EST
chairthrower

Barney's date was somewhat arbitrary. He picked the midpoint of the steep upward slope from Ewok-hating to Ewok-loving. There were a few months on either side of the line (maybe six?) where people could be one or the other, and clearly, Alan, you fall within that range.
October 11, 2011 at 9:43AM EST Reply to Comment
Shannon

I didn't like the new Robin story with the therapist. There's no way around it: it's icky. And I didn't think Cobie Smulders and Kal Penn had very good chemistry.

Then again, I haven't really liked anything they've done with Robin in recent years. What happened to the confident career woman who put her goals for herself above men? Now they have her being wishy-washy about her career, constantly chasing losers and defining herself based on male attention. Deciding she wants to date her therapist after he abandons her is just a new low in an already disturbing pattern.

October 11, 2011 at 9:44AM EST Reply to Comment
- Russ Cosign.
  October 11, 2011 at 10:46AM EST
- thedoctor i wonder what would happen if a woman on tv were actually successful and confident for once?
  
  oh right. leslie knope would happen.
  October 11, 2011 at 10:51PM EST
- the minister "Then again, I haven't really liked anything they've done with Robin in recent years."
  
  Her hair looks pretty good. Other than that, um, yeah.
  October 12, 2011 at 7:39AM EST
- the minister Also, you pretty much had me at "done".
  October 12, 2011 at 7:40AM EST
moses_massena

How about Robin's ex Don...she interacted with the group as well, actually a couple of times
October 11, 2011 at 9:44AM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall They did that a few times, but not often enough. And Don actually had two problems, in that we also very rarely saw him hanging out with Robin. That was a relationship that existed almost entirely off-camera, and who cares about that?
  October 11, 2011 at 9:46AM EST
Brian

So now we're waiting on:

-the identity of the mother
-why Marshall isn't present at the birth
-who Barney is marrying
-when the last slap comes

and

-how Marshall and Cootes saved the planet

I'm sure I missed some, but I'm just trying to keep track of all the info they can tease us with because it's getting a little silly.
October 11, 2011 at 9:45AM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall Don't forget Ted in the green dress and Marshall and Barney at the casino.
  October 11, 2011 at 9:47AM EST
- MDK I think it's pretty obvious that Marshall and Barney are at the casino while Lily is giving birth. I don't think they tried to put "how they saved the planet" as a tease, I think it's just an exaggeration on their part.
  October 11, 2011 at 9:58AM EST
- Katie That just reminds me of how much they stretched the whole yellow umbrella thing and got nothing out of it. Or is it still not over yet?
  October 11, 2011 at 10:19AM EST
- TB I think the part about saving the planet was just to state the obvious - that the world clearly didn't end in ten years because Ted is telling this story in 2030.
  October 11, 2011 at 11:18AM EST
- Chrissy Well, the yellow umbrella belongs to the mother, but I don't know what you do with that other than have it appear on camera occasionally. I mean, it's not like Ted can go all CSI on the yellow umbrella and track her down.
  October 11, 2011 at 12:56PM EST
- Loretta_ We're also waiting for the return of BSG crush guy.
  October 11, 2011 at 2:13PM EST
- Jeff R And how Marshall manages to get a functional lightsaber by Thanksgiving after next...
  October 11, 2011 at 4:04PM EST
- Pippa Well, about Barney's marriage: for now it looks like it's not going to be Nora. There's too little attention for their relationship and how it has evolved into this. I mean, last season I could see why Barney likes Nora: she saw through him right from the start, she actually likes his insane jokes and theories, she's into lasertag and ofcourse beautiful. But I liked to have seen a bit more of Barneys road to full commitment. But maybe he's just head over heels for indefinable reasons, like love works. So unless their doing an episode where they shed a light on their relationship, and get her really involved with the gang over the next couple of episodes, she's not the one.
  October 12, 2011 at 9:41AM EST
- cyborg.ninja24 As for the yellow umbrella, Ted returned the umbrella when he was dating Rachel Bilson's character (who was roommates with the future mother). He forgot to grab the umbrella when he was hurried out after the break-up.
  October 12, 2011 at 6:07PM EST
DL

I never thought I would type this, but Penn's rigidity is painful at best and may make him the worst of the three non-group characters that we have seen in the past few seasons (i.e., Zooey, Nora). I just see no chemistry between the two of them that would lead me to believe that this is the guy who Robin for whom would abandon her abandonment issues after two hours (just like I don't know what Nora brings to the table that gets Barney over the whole "being Barney/sleazeball" part of his character, and how Zooey apparently was so likable by Ted when the two of them together were wholly unlikable).
October 11, 2011 at 9:47AM EST Reply to Comment
- zooeystinks.com Nothing is worse than Zooey. Nothing.
  October 11, 2011 at 10:49AM EST
- ken sly I would take Zooey many times over Penn's character. I am with you DL, and for the first time in my HIMYM viewing I am ffwrd thru scenes -- his.
  October 12, 2011 at 9:28AM EST
Teproc

Yeah, I don't really care about the problem of dating your therapist : you're right, but this is HIMYM, i.e a light comedy, and at this point I'm ready to accept it if Kumar, sorry Kevin, has good chemistry with the gang. Of course that implies that he actually interacts with them, which I hope he will.

Other than that, not a very good episode, but it did have its moments, most of which were about Ewoks.

I was surprised by Ted's beard and amazed by the lack of explaining that went with it... I'm fully expecting an episode where Ted explains where that cae from.
October 11, 2011 at 9:49AM EST Reply to Comment
klg19

The notion that Robin is dating her therapist IS creepy. I think they did what they could to de-creep it--the series of breakfasts was a smart touch--but there's no denying it's creepy. It was unclear how long Robin had been in therapy, though; her 2-hour session with Kevin at the end seemed to imply only 2 sessions, which isn't THAT deep an involvement. And damn I love Kal Penn, and I'm so happy to see him after his political interlude.

So I confess I'm torn. But I agree--there were at least a dozen other ways to get Robin and Kevin together.
October 11, 2011 at 9:50AM EST Reply to Comment
- Chrissy It's sort of interesting that Ted also dated his doctor (Stella). I'm surprised that didn't come up in this episode. (Granted, there is definitely a difference between the levels of intimacy shared with a therapist and a plastic surgeon, but it still blurs ethical lines).
  October 11, 2011 at 12:58PM EST
Scott Rosenberg

I thought the episode was solid (compared to most of the past two seasons), but as you said, forgettable. I thought there were a few funny moments and also a few very sweet ones.

I don't agree with you about the therapist situation, and thought a couple of those scenes were the best of the episode. In reality, this would never happen, but if you can believe Barney is stupid enough to try some of the wacky scams he does, you can believe that. Bear in mind, Robin was court-ordered to see Kevin, she spent the majority of her first session telling an unrelated story to avoid the issue, Kevin was always way more chummy than therapist-y, and he booted her after the second session. Given there's only 40 minutes of genuine opening up in there, it doesn't seem that far fetched. The bigger question is why Kevin would want to go out with someone he knew was in love with someone else, but then, that wasn't a question I was asking during the episode.
October 11, 2011 at 9:50AM EST Reply to Comment
- Watts So, yeah, what he said while I was typing.
  October 11, 2011 at 9:55AM EST
Watts

The therapist thing doesn't bother me that much because they established that she only had two sessions with him before he ended the therapy. And one of those sessions was last week's episode where she spent A LOT of it telling stories about her friends rather than revealing deep dark secrets. Also, there's the fact that it was court-ordered therapy - so she didn't voluntarily go to him seeking a therapeutic remedy to emotional issues. I feel like last night's initial acknowledgment of its surface ickiness was enough and I'm not planning to dwell on it anymore. From here on out, it gets judged on how good the actors' chemistry is and how well the writers might integrate him into the overall show.
October 11, 2011 at 9:54AM EST Reply to Comment
MDK

I guess I don't really see the problem with him being her old therapist since it was only a few sessions at most, and I doubt they got into any real gritty stuff. This same topic is addressed in the movie 50/50 and I don't think that was much of a problem either. If it was a gynocologist, then yes that'd be much worse. He's just a guy who gets paid to listen to people, I don't see the issue.

October 11, 2011 at 9:55AM EST Reply to Comment
RP

I thought this episode was awful. I love HIMYM because of the smart jokes it makes, and they stuff in this episode was way too hammy. And I love Kal Penn, but his delivery/lines are awful. I know only half of that is his fault, but still... ugh. I think I may have to drop this show.
October 11, 2011 at 9:56AM EST Reply to Comment
Dan

Barney's Ewok theory was funny but also ridiculous. We knew Nora to be 29, so at best she was 1y.o. when Ep VI was originally in the theaters. It's more than reasonable to assume that she didn't see the film in 1983... and given her accent, that she might not have seen it until many years later. It was such an obvious "yeah but" to his theory that I never bought the notion that Ted (Mr. Correcter himself) wouldn't have pointed it out to Barney.
October 11, 2011 at 10:03AM EST Reply to Comment
pottsman85

Yub yub!
October 11, 2011 at 10:13AM EST Reply to Comment
- Neil Yes! How has no one commented that the background music during the party at Marshall's law firm was the "Yub Yub" song from the end of ROTJ (original flavor)!
  October 11, 2011 at 10:47AM EST
- JedyKnight not going to lie.. marshall's co-workers dancing on the background to the Yub Yub song made me laugh a lot. :)
  October 11, 2011 at 5:59PM EST
- brakewater Came here just to point out the Ewok dance and song...well done. I was born in 1969, and I love the ewoks :)
  October 11, 2011 at 8:50PM EST
pamelajaye

could someone explain what happened with him leaving the House for the Obama admin and suddenly he's back to acting? At least Cameron left flat out and not to change career paths. Yes I will go to wikipedia, but last i was there I didn't see a good answer.
He also looks significan't older. Is it the hair or the weight?
October 11, 2011 at 10:13AM EST Reply to Comment
- jcpdiesel21 Perhaps his tenure with the Obama administration is over?
  October 11, 2011 at 10:29AM EST
- Lewah He realized what politics is really like.
  October 11, 2011 at 7:29PM EST
Loretta_

I wonder if CBS is going to make that Ewok slide show available somewhere...
October 11, 2011 at 10:26AM EST Reply to Comment
- Brian http://www.cbs.com/shows/how_i_met_your_mother/video/2150684675/how-i-met-your-mother-the-ewok-line-presentation
  October 11, 2011 at 10:48AM EST
- Neil I sooo want to see that slide show.
  October 11, 2011 at 10:48AM EST
- Neil Thanks, Brian! beat me to it by seconds.
  October 11, 2011 at 10:49AM EST
- Loretta_ @ Brian: Awesome. Thanks. :)
  October 11, 2011 at 2:08PM EST
LJA

Meh, two sessions is a little different than two years. I'm fine with it. Of course Kumar is going to meet the group. Isn't everyone else seeing the larger setup here?

As much as I like Jason Segel, Marshall at work is NOT working for me. It was easily, the worst part of the episode. I hope they don't go to that well often.
October 11, 2011 at 10:50AM EST Reply to Comment
PNeville85

I did enjoy the call back to Marshall's stand up career featuring jokes about fish names.
October 11, 2011 at 10:58AM EST Reply to Comment
Fastbak

I was born in '77 and didn't see the Star Wars movies until I was 10. I had actually seen the two Ewok TV movies and the Saturday morning cartoon show. So I was already used to the idea of them and their place in Star Wars by the time I saw the actual movies on VHS. I don't love Ewoks but I don't HATE them either. Older fans also forget that it was really Chewbacca taking control of the scout walker that turns the tide of the forest battle. Up til then the Ewoks were getting their asses kicked.
October 11, 2011 at 11:06AM EST Reply to Comment
TB

I felt the same way you did, Alan, that there doesn't seem to be any real reason why they had to make Kevin Robin's therapist. If what they wanted was for Robin to learn how to open up to someone, there are plenty of other ways they could've gone about it, leaving out the whole therapist plotline altogether.

I liked the Ted/Barney parts, but everything else felt weird to me because everyone was kind of off doing their own thing for most of the episode. Robin and Kevin, Marshall and his boss, and then Lily was barely in the episode.
October 11, 2011 at 11:24AM EST Reply to Comment
Dan

What does everyone think about Marshall clearly being a terrible lawyer.
October 11, 2011 at 11:32AM EST Reply to Comment
- Mike I was thinking the same thing. Dude's got a prominent job within a prestigious law firm, and he looked like a middle school student giving a presentation.
  October 11, 2011 at 12:18PM EST
- Loretta_ I noticed that, too. He's also like 4 years out of law school by now, so he should be a hell of a lot better than that.
  October 11, 2011 at 2:11PM EST
filaphresh

Alan, not really on topic, but what do you think of Lucas's justification that he wanted the empire brought down by a primitive society, and Wookiees were already shown to be technologically advanced?
October 11, 2011 at 11:36AM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall It's crap. He wanted to sell cute toys to little kids. Which he did. Everything he did with the prequels confirms this.
  October 11, 2011 at 12:09PM EST
- filaphresh Good point. I like the idea of ROTJ taking place on the Wookiee home world, but unfortunately, right now I'm having a hard time getting past my image of that planet from the Holiday Special. Were you not so busy, I'd love to see your thoughts on the Prequels, especially in a dialogue with Drew from Motion Captured, who I think was a bit too forgiving of them (not that I'm of the "they ruined my childhood!" school, I just think they're not good. I'm OK with Sith though). Granted, it's way too late for that, but I always appreciate your criticism.
  October 11, 2011 at 12:32PM EST
srpad

My birthday is on the "Hates Ewoks" side of the line and I like'em so that theory clearly has holes! D

id you notice the snippet of the Ewok song from the end of the original RotJ during one of the Cake Parties? (yub! yub!). Please let those slides be extras on the DVD!
October 11, 2011 at 11:42AM EST Reply to Comment
amyc

The only reason I can recall that we are supposed to be invested in Nora is she played laser tag... But so did Robin and we know enough about her to root with her being with Barney.
October 11, 2011 at 11:48AM EST Reply to Comment
andrew_s._lee

So three of something would be a trend right? So I'd like the next former doctor from House M.D., who has absolutely horrible chemistry with a cast member of HIMYM to be Taub or Chase. The popular choice would be 13 as she would bring in the important demo but I'd just like to pretend substance is more important than ratings.

But seriously though, I know no one is worse than Zooey but Kevin/Kumar/Kutner/Kal/Gogol was getting pretty close last night from becoming the new champion.
October 11, 2011 at 12:17PM EST Reply to Comment
tina

My kids LOVE the Cat & The Hat on PBS--voiced by Martin Short. I realized last night that has ruined him for me. I just kind of cringed every time he was talking.
October 11, 2011 at 12:24PM EST Reply to Comment
NewcastleTom

If I were in that class, I would consider being an Architect. Not only does Ted not work long hours apparently, but he's still teaching while he is the architect for a skyscraper?
October 11, 2011 at 12:38PM EST Reply to Comment
- klg19 If I were in that class I would NOT consider becoming an architect, because my architect professor could not come up with a decent field trip to look at architecture in one of the freakin' architectural capitals of the WORLD. Seriously, that was pissing me off so badly. There are a million places he could have taken them just in the NYU neighborhood alone. He is a dreadful, dreadful teacher.
  October 11, 2011 at 4:32PM EST
- NewcastleTom Yeah you are right - I was trying to get at the point -why is he not busy being an architect? How can he still be teaching when he has a skyscraper going up. They must have a million questions and changes that need to be discussed with the engineers and contractors, etc..
  October 11, 2011 at 6:36PM EST
Chrissy

I don't know, maybe it's because I've never been in therapy, but it didn't bug me that much. It was two hours, and it was court-appointed (rather than something Robin sought out).

I did think it was very inappropriate for Kevin to lie to her about moving to Alaska. Robin's a pretty girl; she should be able to get therapy without her therapist ditching her over what cannot possibly be more than a mild crush.

Anyway, I don't think Kevin is the *one* or anything, so I think this is meant to be a bit self-destructive. Robin feels like a basket case, so she's pleased to find someone who likes her despite that (and deals with much crazier people all the time). But is that really enough to build a lasting connection on?
October 11, 2011 at 12:54PM EST Reply to Comment
BigTed

The therapy story line was beyond gross. If a psychologist can't treat a woman if he thinks she's "cute," he shouldn't be treating women at all. And I'm pretty sure there are rules for ending therapy if you're attracted to a patient, and they don't involve claiming that you're moving to Alaska.

For that matter, who is he to decide Robin doesn't need therapy after two sessions, when he clearly has a personal interest in her being okay?

In real life, a male therapist who makes moves on a female patient -- even after quitting as her doctor -- is likely a predator who's done it many times before. He's taking advantage of her vulnerability, and the very real issue of transference (where a patient projects feelings she has for important people in her life onto the doctor).

While there's probably nothing seriously wrong with Robin, she probably could use some therapy. Her two major relationships have been with ultra-clingy Ted and ultra-commitment-phobe Barney. Her career is on a downward slope (even if that's probably temporary), and she's nowhere near realizing her stated dreams of traveling the world as a journalist.

So, yes, this story line sucks. Although it's still not as bad as the one on "Free Agents," where the therapist started dating a woman still grieving over her fiance. But at least that was supposed to be relatively dark humor -- and the show's been canceled anyway.
October 11, 2011 at 2:07PM EST Reply to Comment
davd

The people in the law office were singing, I think, the original 'ewok song' in the background during the party...made the episode for me.
October 11, 2011 at 2:42PM EST Reply to Comment

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Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

KJ What!?? No mention of the infamous S2 of FNL?!!?

HeavyRaines17 Mike wins the internet for his S4 Wire comment.There's some good to S2 of FNL. There's...well...ummm...they are all very pretty people.

Mark The Coach-Saracen shower scene is one of my favorite FNL scenes. It's so powerful, and seeing the look on Coach's face because he doesn't know what to say or how to answer shows the realism that FNL could always pull off.

chairthrower Barney's date was somewhat arbitrary. He picked the midpoint of the steep upward slope from Ewok-hating to Ewok-loving. There were a few months on either side of the line (maybe six?) where people could be one or the other, and clearly, Alan, you fall within that range.

Russ Cosign.

thedoctor i wonder what would happen if a woman on tv were actually successful and confident for once?oh right. leslie knope would happen.

the minister "Then again, I haven't really liked anything they've done with Robin in recent years."Her hair looks pretty good. Other than that, um, yeah.

the minister Also, you pretty much had me at "done".

moses_massena How about Robin's ex Don...she interacted with the group as well, actually a couple of times

sepinwall They did that a few times, but not often enough. And Don actually had two problems, in that we also very rarely saw him hanging out with Robin. That was a relationship that existed almost entirely off-camera, and who cares about that?

sepinwall Don't forget Ted in the green dress and Marshall and Barney at the casino.

MDK I think it's pretty obvious that Marshall and Barney are at the casino while Lily is giving birth. I don't think they tried to put "how they saved the planet" as a tease, I think it's just an exaggeration on their part.

Katie That just reminds me of how much they stretched the whole yellow umbrella thing and got nothing out of it. Or is it still not over yet?

TB I think the part about saving the planet was just to state the obvious - that the world clearly didn't end in ten years because Ted is telling this story in 2030.

Chrissy Well, the yellow umbrella belongs to the mother, but I don't know what you do with that other than have it appear on camera occasionally. I mean, it's not like Ted can go all CSI on the yellow umbrella and track her down.

Loretta_ We're also waiting for the return of BSG crush guy.

Jeff R And how Marshall manages to get a functional lightsaber by Thanksgiving after next...

cyborg.ninja24 As for the yellow umbrella, Ted returned the umbrella when he was dating Rachel Bilson's character (who was roommates with the future mother). He forgot to grab the umbrella when he was hurried out after the break-up.

zooeystinks.com Nothing is worse than Zooey. Nothing.

ken sly I would take Zooey many times over Penn's character. I am with you DL, and for the first time in my HIMYM viewing I am ffwrd thru scenes -- his.

Chrissy It's sort of interesting that Ted also dated his doctor (Stella). I'm surprised that didn't come up in this episode. (Granted, there is definitely a difference between the levels of intimacy shared with a therapist and a plastic surgeon, but it still blurs ethical lines).

Watts So, yeah, what he said while I was typing.

RP I thought this episode was awful. I love HIMYM because of the smart jokes it makes, and they stuff in this episode was way too hammy. And I love Kal Penn, but his delivery/lines are awful. I know only half of that is his fault, but still... ugh. I think I may have to drop this show.

pottsman85 Yub yub!

Neil Yes! How has no one commented that the background music during the party at Marshall's law firm was the "Yub Yub" song from the end of ROTJ (original flavor)!

JedyKnight not going to lie.. marshall's co-workers dancing on the background to the Yub Yub song made me laugh a lot. :)

brakewater Came here just to point out the Ewok dance and song...well done. I was born in 1969, and I love the ewoks :)

jcpdiesel21 Perhaps his tenure with the Obama administration is over?

Lewah He realized what politics is really like.

Loretta_ I wonder if CBS is going to make that Ewok slide show available somewhere...

Brian http://www.cbs.com/shows/how_i_met_your_mother/video/2150684675/how-i-met-your-mother-the-ewok-line-presentation

Neil I sooo want to see that slide show.

Neil Thanks, Brian! beat me to it by seconds.

Loretta_ @ Brian: Awesome. Thanks. :)

PNeville85 I did enjoy the call back to Marshall's stand up career featuring jokes about fish names.

Dan What does everyone think about Marshall clearly being a terrible lawyer.

Mike I was thinking the same thing. Dude's got a prominent job within a prestigious law firm, and he looked like a middle school student giving a presentation.

Loretta_ I noticed that, too. He's also like 4 years out of law school by now, so he should be a hell of a lot better than that.

filaphresh Alan, not really on topic, but what do you think of Lucas's justification that he wanted the empire brought down by a primitive society, and Wookiees were already shown to be technologically advanced?

sepinwall It's crap. He wanted to sell cute toys to little kids. Which he did. Everything he did with the prequels confirms this.

srpad My birthday is on the "Hates Ewoks" side of the line and I like'em so that theory clearly has holes! Did you notice the snippet of the Ewok song from the end of the original RotJ during one of the Cake Parties? (yub! yub!). Please let those slides be extras on the DVD!

amyc The only reason I can recall that we are supposed to be invested in Nora is she played laser tag... But so did Robin and we know enough about her to root with her being with Barney.

tina My kids LOVE the Cat & The Hat on PBS--voiced by Martin Short. I realized last night that has ruined him for me. I just kind of cringed every time he was talking.

NewcastleTom If I were in that class, I would consider being an Architect. Not only does Ted not work long hours apparently, but he's still teaching while he is the architect for a skyscraper?

NewcastleTom Yeah you are right - I was trying to get at the point -why is he not busy being an architect? How can he still be teaching when he has a skyscraper going up. They must have a million questions and changes that need to be discussed with the engineers and contractors, etc..

davd The people in the law office were singing, I think, the original 'ewok song' in the background during the party...made the episode for me.

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How I Met Your Mother is updated

KJ

What!?? No mention of the infamous S2 of FNL?!!?

HeavyRaines17 Mike wins the internet for his S4 Wire comment.

There's some good to S2 of FNL. There's...well...ummm...they are all very pretty people.

chairthrower

Barney's date was somewhat arbitrary. He picked the midpoint of the steep upward slope from Ewok-hating to Ewok-loving. There were a few months on either side of the line (maybe six?) where people could be one or the other, and clearly, Alan, you fall within that range.

thedoctor i wonder what would happen if a woman on tv were actually successful and confident for once?

oh right. leslie knope would happen.

the minister "Then again, I haven't really liked anything they've done with Robin in recent years."

Her hair looks pretty good. Other than that, um, yeah.

moses_massena

How about Robin's ex Don...she interacted with the group as well, actually a couple of times

RP

I thought this episode was awful. I love HIMYM because of the smart jokes it makes, and they stuff in this episode was way too hammy. And I love Kal Penn, but his delivery/lines are awful. I know only half of that is his fault, but still... ugh. I think I may have to drop this show.

pottsman85

Yub yub!

Loretta_

I wonder if CBS is going to make that Ewok slide show available somewhere...

PNeville85

I did enjoy the call back to Marshall's stand up career featuring jokes about fish names.

Dan

What does everyone think about Marshall clearly being a terrible lawyer.

filaphresh

Alan, not really on topic, but what do you think of Lucas's justification that he wanted the empire brought down by a primitive society, and Wookiees were already shown to be technologically advanced?

srpad

My birthday is on the "Hates Ewoks" side of the line and I like'em so that theory clearly has holes! D

id you notice the snippet of the Ewok song from the end of the original RotJ during one of the Cake Parties? (yub! yub!). Please let those slides be extras on the DVD!

amyc

The only reason I can recall that we are supposed to be invested in Nora is she played laser tag... But so did Robin and we know enough about her to root with her being with Barney.

tina

My kids LOVE the Cat & The Hat on PBS--voiced by Martin Short. I realized last night that has ruined him for me. I just kind of cringed every time he was talking.

NewcastleTom

If I were in that class, I would consider being an Architect. Not only does Ted not work long hours apparently, but he's still teaching while he is the architect for a skyscraper?

davd

The people in the law office were singing, I think, the original 'ewok song' in the background during the party...made the episode for me.

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What's Alan Watching is updated