Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'How I Met Your Mother' - 'The Autumn of Break-Ups': It's me or the dog

Victoria gives Ted an ultimatum, Barney gets a canine wingman, and Nick needs a catchphrase

By Alan Sepinwall Tuesday, Nov 6, 2012 10:40 AM

Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) gets to know the local dog population on "How I Met Your Mother."

Credit: CBS

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Before we get to the reviewing, a bit of housekeeping — as in, my house finally got power, heat, cable, etc. last night, which meant we could return from our post-Sandy exile to the lovely, well-powered streets of West Hartford. There will be a podcast sometime later today (Dan and I were interrupted yesterday by the news that I could return home), and hopefully everything else will return to schedule (give or take a Nor'easter later in the week).

And now a few thoughts on last night's "How I Met Your Mother" coming up just as soon as I channel my inner goddess...

Last Monday, CBS decided mid-day that they might be better off airing repeats of all their Monday shows because much of the East Coast was being battered by Sandy and losing power. Because they wound up airing the same episodes with the same listings last night, my DVR (like many others, based on the Twitter reaction) assumed "The Autumn of Break-Ups" was a repeat and didn't record it. When I tweeted about this last night, several people told me my DVR had done me a favor, and that even by the standards of "HIMYM" season 8, this one was, well... a dog.

Sometimes, when I get this many warnings about a show, my expectations lower to the point where I wind up not hating it. This was, unfortunately, not one of those times.

The Ted and Victoria plot was a pretty straight-up copy of why Ross and Emily broke up on "Friends" — the only difference being, we know the end-game here isn't for Ted and Robin to get together. And all the talk about how the clock didn't reset, and this is the same relationship that went on pause years ago, played (intentionally or not) like some kind of meta excuse for why the writers hadn't bothered to do anything with Victoria this season, perhaps assuming that our memories from season 1 were all we needed to make Victoria a relevant character in season 8. And that just hasn't been the case. Victoria 2.0 became like Don, Stella, and almost every other outside love interest in the show's history: someone to be mentioned in passing, but rarely seen except for when one of our heroes is in a fight with them. This Victoria wasn't a character at all, and even with my memory of how and why they broke up the first time, I didn't buy into her ultimatum about Robin because we'd seen virtually no interaction between her and the gang, or her and Robin, since she came back. Victoria was just here to mark time for part of the season, and not because anyone had any interesting ideas about one of the best non-regular characters the show has ever had.

Speaking of running gags unintentionally playing out as a metaphor for the show, we have Nick's desperate attempt to come up with a catchphrase. I don't know that the Barney-isms have ever been my favorite part of "HIMYM" (I remember watching the pilot and thinking the writers and NPH were trying way too hard to make various catchphrases happen), but a lot of that stuff feels incredibly forced of late, and giving Barney a canine sidekick did not open a brilliant new vein of clever.

Nor, for that matter, did the attempt to turn Marshall into a sassy, advice-giving black woman. There's at least some precedence for that, in that we learned from the "Sandcastles in the Sand" episode that Lily has a tendency to adopt an urban patois whenever she's around her friend Michelle. But despite Jason Segel's best efforts, it didn't work.

There have been some occasionally promising moments this season, but it was hard to find them last night, I'm afraid.

What did everybody else think?

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, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan

Next 76 Comments

Col Bat Guano

The reference by Victoria that they had dated six years before just reinforced how little forward motion the show has made.
November 6, 2012 at 11:50AM EST Reply to Comment
- jenfullmoon As for the "pause," we were suddenly supposed to assume that Ted and Victoria had SIX years worth of relationship going on? I mean, come on, if you're going by actual dating time, they couldn't have dated for more than a year, tops. Probably more like nine months. That doesn't guarantee "wedding bells" unless, well, you're over 30. I guess.
  November 6, 2012 at 1:54PM EST
- Anthony Foglia Yes, but Marshall and Lily pointed out that Victoria is over 30 (I think 32), so she is definitely hoping to hear wedding bells. Nine months, or even six months seems like a reasonable amount of time for a woman that age to ask if they are headed in that direction.
  November 6, 2012 at 5:19PM EST
- Lisa Yep, because all women are the same. All us women be wanting the babies and husbands.
  November 6, 2012 at 7:06PM EST
- Anthony Foglia Lisa, that's not just my opinion (in general, there's always exceptions, like my friend who never wants to get married or have kids), but more importantly, it was stated that was the case in the episode, either by Marshall and/or Future Ted. Nor is it that surprising when Victoria, just five months ago, was about to get married.
  
  I'll admit "definitely" was too strong a word to use. "Very likely" would have been better. But the point is this was mentioned within the show itself.
  November 7, 2012 at 3:47AM EST
- Mahmoud Fayed "Yep, because all women are the same. All us women be wanting the babies and husbands."
  
  What a potshot... That clearly wasn't what he was trying to imply at all. You're being childish.
  November 9, 2012 at 10:57AM EST
LJ

Brutal. Just brutal. And I've been one hanging tight. What they've done to Jason Segal's character is terrible.
November 6, 2012 at 11:51AM EST Reply to Comment
- oliver It's almost as if Segal mailed in his role last night.
  
  Maybe the new formula for extending a comedy series shouldn't be to try what Up All Night is doing (going from single to multi-camera), but instead after five or six seasons have the show become animated. After all, it's pretty obvious at this point the HIMYM gang have all become cartoon characters anyway.
  November 6, 2012 at 12:37PM EST
Dan

Personally, I liked this episode better than the Godparent episode. I thought there were some decent laughs w/ Marshall and Barney (even if it may have been a little forced).

I'm willing to buy Victoria wanting Ted to stop being friends with Robin b/c of their history. And they kind of dug themselves into a corner with Victoria, and needed to get a way out of it.
November 6, 2012 at 11:51AM EST Reply to Comment
- Ted Schmoesby I'm with you. first of all, just because stupid "friends" did a storyline 10 freaking years ago doesn't wipe it off the map for all TV shows for decades to come. get over Friends people, its wildly overrated anyway and would be getting killed on these same blogs for how awful their last few seasons were. ("Oh you know, Joey has never dated anyone from the group...let's put him and Rachel together!" = BARF)
  
  also wildly overrated? Victoria. not cute, and much less cuter now than when she was first introduced. only Robin's hair has gotten any worse than Victoria's over the course of the show. and how bland is she in general? Ugh. I mean, say what you will about the Zoey storylines, but at least there was genuine passion and back-and-forth that came through
  November 7, 2012 at 12:58PM EST
- Matt_H I agree. Some of us are barely old enough to remember Friends, much less specific plots from it. Just because its happened before doesn't make it off limits for every sitcom forever... I always like Victoria, and I thought that was the best way to resolve her arc (once they made the unfortunate decision to bring her back).
  
  And I did laugh at some of the Barney stuff as well, if not the Marshall stuff. I'm pretty sure I preferred this episode to the Godparents one.
  November 7, 2012 at 2:27PM EST
- emma That Friends plot was at the height of that show and is well known by the millions of people who watched. It's the first thing that jumped into my mind, and it was immediately a disappointment that the writers went there. (And as a side note, no one is saying Friends was great for nine seasons..it was pretty bad for the last few.
  AND Ted Schomesby, it's really tacky to mention that you don't think Victoria is "cute." Nothin' too do with anything.
  November 9, 2012 at 1:27AM EST
Mike

Victoria was the last thread I was holding onto for this show. The writing was so bad, the characterization was so awful, and the recycled plot from Friends was so lame. I no longer care for any of these characters. This show is dead to me.
November 6, 2012 at 11:54AM EST Reply to Comment
- oliver The biggest challenge this show has ahead of them is to somehow create a 'mother' for Ted that will be embraced by its most loyal fans. At this point, I'm not even sure that's possible any longer.
  November 6, 2012 at 12:39PM EST
- Meg Oliver, that's probably why they're clinging to the idea of introducing her only in the last minutes of the last episode. I personally think if this train wreck actually goes to season 9 the ONLY way to do it is to have the Mother be a character, but the writers seem to know they have zero creativity and ability to create a good character we'll love left in their tanks, so they want to avoid having to do it at all. It's probably for the best. Here's hoping the show ends in 2013 so we can be put out of our misery.
  November 6, 2012 at 1:36PM EST
- Ted Schmoesby I personally pray that the show fades to black as the mother reveals her face from under the umbrella at the train station, sopranos style. its an "eff you" that is truly deserved to the people who continue to berate a show of such quality compared to the current sitcom landscape, both in original idea and execution as well as quality over time. this show has GAINED in the ratings as years have gone by. how many shows can say that? Lost? ER?
  
  continue on, HIMYM. the trolls and comment section ubercritics-in-their-own-minds will unfavorably compare other shows to you for years after you're gone
  November 7, 2012 at 1:06PM EST
- ed w I think where they are headed with Ted and Robin is that the story to the kids ends up being the story of why he's divorcing their mother to marry Robin, in the future. And we already have the reason, his relationships don't work out because underneath it all he's still in love with Robin.
  
  So in that sense Victoria is key, she lays out the fundamental issue about Ted and the series as a whole.
  
  Personally I'd rather Ted have ended up with Victoria but I've given up on this show having the same taste as me.
  November 7, 2012 at 8:55PM EST
JB

There was very little in this Victoria that reminded me of the season 1 charmer. Victoria 2.0 was just a tool of the script, as they pretty much all are at this point. Most sitcoms decline naturally as they age but they usually don't crash and burn like this one has.
November 6, 2012 at 11:54AM EST Reply to Comment
dezbot

I totally disagree with you about Barney and Brover. The only thing I didn't like about that storyline was Barney casually going out to jump off the balcony. Seems like that would alarm Robin and the gang much more than it did.

I'm bummed that Victoria's gone without having really been there, but I get why she'd want Ted to ditch Robin. No doubt he told her that he'd gone to Robin earlier that year to profess his love again, which I'm sure bothered her.
November 6, 2012 at 11:57AM EST Reply to Comment
- Ted Schmoesby Brover was as solid a side-story as they've done in a while, I agree it was quite funny. also, Robin is the Mother, and the guitar case contains a hockey stick given to her by her father. thank me later!
  November 7, 2012 at 1:11PM EST
- Dezbot Robin can't have kids now, though...
  November 7, 2012 at 7:54PM EST
- emma @Ted- Robin isn't the mother, future Ted calls her Aunt Robin to his kids.
  
  November 9, 2012 at 1:31AM EST
Luke

HELP! My DVR passed on this episode. CBS/Comcast don't put HIMYM on-demand. There's on re-airs, to the best of my knowledge. How can I catchup on this episode before, say, the DVDs come out?
November 6, 2012 at 11:59AM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall Do like I did and watch it on CBS.com
  November 6, 2012 at 12:09PM EST
- oliver Or Luke, you can shoot this episode into the Death Star and spare yourself.
  November 6, 2012 at 12:40PM EST
Joyeful

When Victoria gave Ted the "Robin ultimatum", I actually said out loud - What is this, Friends?!?
November 6, 2012 at 12:04PM EST Reply to Comment
- sonia I thought the same thing. I didn't say it out loud, but I did facepalm.
  November 6, 2012 at 7:16PM EST
- Ted Schmoesby it can't be Friends because all the male characters haven't been emasculated. in fact, one is a supreme alpha male and another is called a "douche" by legions of those who watch the show. if all the guys behaved like Marshall did in this episode, THEN it would be Friends
  November 7, 2012 at 1:17PM EST
SP

The hurricanes win if get less than 30 minutes of Homeland discussion.
November 6, 2012 at 12:13PM EST Reply to Comment
John

Last night's episode felt really really "CBS-y", if that makes sense. It's like the show has deteriorated completely into the kind of creatively empty, formula multi-cam that CBS seems to love so much. I don't know if that points to executive meddling as the show gets more and more popular, or if the broader audience is a result of the lower quality (which this cynic will also believe).

Just...ugh. Very sad night for this show. And what a waste of Ashley Williams. 1st degree character assassination with this return arc.
November 6, 2012 at 12:21PM EST Reply to Comment
Tom

Why oh why do they keep dropping hints that Ted is still hung up on Robin? I thought it was all put to rest last season, but this episode they just dropped a bucket load of hints on us. We all know Robin isn't the mother so why are they doing it?
Is it just that the writers can't help themselves and they are messing with us? Are they building up for a mammoth-retcon? Are they planting seeds to make future Ted and future Robin be together?

p.s.
Alan, could you discuss this on the podcast
November 6, 2012 at 12:21PM EST Reply to Comment
- MC I've always been in the "Even though Robin's not the mother, she can still end up with Ted" camp, but I don't even care anymore after this episode.
  November 6, 2012 at 12:51PM EST
- BigTed I agree entirely. They made it sound as if the only reason Ted isn't with Robin is that she'll never marry him. So when he meets the Mother, which is supposed to happen soon, how are we supposed to believe he's unreservedly in love with her?
  
  On the other hand, it's still possible for the writers to pull a fake-out and have Ted end up with Robin. (I'm sure they've covered this, but do we even know that the kids he's telling the story to are his?) But if that happened, it seems unlikely that he would still be future friends with Barney.
  November 6, 2012 at 2:58PM EST
- Ted Schmoesby Robin is the Mother. The guitar case contains a hockey stick. she is standing in the rain after running out on Barney. I'm not sure how this is so hard for people to see (although we are talking about mostly americans here, so...), but I'm truly looking forward to it causing mass hysteria on comment blogs next year
  November 7, 2012 at 1:21PM EST
- BigTed Ted S., wasn't it already established that the Mother was Rachel Bilson's roommate, plays bass guitar, likes poetry and was in the economics class he walked into by mistake? Unless that was all blatant lying, it's hard to see how Robin meets any of those conditions.
  November 7, 2012 at 8:35PM EST
- goofus this is easy to figure out. Ted hires a donor mother to donote eggs and makes some kids using invitro
  November 9, 2012 at 12:17AM EST
EAS

One of Bob Saget's actual lines tonight was "I forgot to mention Nick hosted a cooking show". In other words, we've done absolutely nothing to develop this character, but this week we decided that "meat in my mouth" is funny, so we're going to find a way to put it in the episode.

I'm one of many in the camp that is just sticking it out to the end because they once loved this show, but last night was the closest I ever came to actually turning off an episode midway through.

Ted proposed to Victoria. In the year 2012. That really happened.
November 6, 2012 at 12:25PM EST Reply to Comment
- oliver Y'know, what would be hilarious is someone parody this show by showing Ted's future children getting up, telling their dad they're sick of the stories and leave the room (either that or show the kids asleep in their seats).
  
  Get on this SNL, ACME Comedy, Second City, et al.
  November 6, 2012 at 12:43PM EST
bryan-a

So we sit down at 845 to watch it and see its not been tivoed. There's 4 of us that have watched from the beginning, not even a HINT of dissappointment, not a sigh or groan, nothing. I'm curious to see if this dvr thing will affect ratings now that people know they really don't care.
November 6, 2012 at 12:27PM EST Reply to Comment
mikerwilson

I watched the premiere this season, hated it and cancelled my HIMYM season pass (after having watched religiously since the beginning). I checked in for the godparent game show episode, because Jason Segel + game shows usually equals hilarious and found the episode to be tolerable but not enough to get me back. And then I tuned in last night because I saw an ad with Barney getting a dog as a wingman and though that had the potential to be hilarious. Instead, we were treated to an excruciating episode. The Ted/Victoria stuff was completely useless and downright annoying.

The Robin storyline was frustrating too - now that we know she's going to end up with Barney, any suspense is gone. There's absolutely no reason to watch. Of course she's going to ditch Nick - she's doesn't give a s--- about him!

And Barney having a dog as his wingman just turned into a bunch of not too clever dog puns.

Ugh...guess I'll go back to not watching this show.
November 6, 2012 at 12:45PM EST Reply to Comment
- mikerwilson Oh, and if I hear another "but we'll get to that", it's possible that I'll throw my DVD's of the first 5 seasons out my window...
  November 6, 2012 at 12:47PM EST
- emma Ha! I said the same thing in my comment about being so sick of Bob Saget saying that at the end of the episodes. I wonder if the writers realize how bad this season is.
  November 9, 2012 at 1:53AM EST
John

It stinks!
November 6, 2012 at 1:02PM EST Reply to Comment
- grif hachi machi!
  November 6, 2012 at 2:04PM EST
John

This was the worst episode ever. The characters are being written so poorly these days that even good plots wouldn't save the show. I wish I could just quit, but darn it, I can't. I know how smokers feel.
November 6, 2012 at 1:04PM EST Reply to Comment
Ken Scott (The Ei Test)

There was one good thing I think that came out of this episode. Barney's line about the Wingman, when he met the owner, he was clearly talking about Robin, so hopefully that was a catalyst to get that story moving. I know it wasn't the first time he has done something like that, but I think we may have reached the point where Barney and Robin finally re-happen.
November 6, 2012 at 1:08PM EST Reply to Comment
- Ray Yes, because so many great romances have been launched when one prospective partner helped the other score a one-night stand with a stranger.
  November 6, 2012 at 4:06PM EST
Marquan

That was a pretty tough episode. I don't think I've ever not thought that Jason Segel was at least kind of funny, but he was painful to watch here. When Victoria gave her ultimatum, I actually groaned. However, I was pleasantly surprised that they actually had Ted chose not to accept it. That saved us at least two terrible "Ted tries not to see Robin" episodes. And I kind of liked the dog, and the dog's hot owner.
November 6, 2012 at 1:12PM EST Reply to Comment
Meg

This episode was a travesty and I was embarrassed for all involved (especially NPH and Jason Segel). Aside from all the many valid Victoria issues, I think what bugged me the most was another use of "we'll get to that later" regarding when Robin finds out Ted broke up with Victoria because of her. WHO GIVES A CRAP about Ted and Robin right now? We know she's not the mother, we know she marries Barney. What is the point of any of this?

Ted proposing to Victoria also made absolutely no sense. 1) We learned that Robin was the last woman he said "I love you" to before their mother. Was that some sort of b.s.ing because he and Victoria had been "in love" from way before? Because how do you propose to someone you haven't even said I Love You to yet? 2) Ted proposing to someone else so soon before meeting the mother is gross to me and sort of cheapens this whole show. So The Mother is the love of Ted's life...except he proposed marriage to two other women before he met her? Jeez.

I'm a Robin/Barney shipper and I was still totally grossed out by the bit with her pretending to be gay so he could get with the dog's owner. GROSS. Why are we supposed to root for them as a couple when Barney is still such a pathetic, pushing-40 womanizer enabled by the woman we know he eventually marries?

The dog was very cute.
November 6, 2012 at 1:30PM EST Reply to Comment
- Robinson We don't know that Robin marries Barney, we know that she has a wedding with Barney (we don't know that they go through with it). Indeed, there are some implications that it goes wrong.
  
  (We do know she is not the mother).
  November 6, 2012 at 2:03PM EST
- LJ We know they go through with it, the writers said so after last season's finale.
  November 6, 2012 at 4:12PM EST
- Robinson Thanks LJ: I hadn't seen that but just found it now!
  November 6, 2012 at 11:52PM EST
belinda

I think Victoria 2.0 was much worse than Stella. Stella was short, but at least I felt that her story as short as it was in the show did genuinely say something about Ted's ongoing love life at the time (and gave the show a somewhat reason for Ted to be floundering in his love life after being left at the altar.) Victoria 2.0 was entirely a useless prop they based last season's finale on they did absolutely nothing with in the 4 episodes she was in this season, and it didn't say anything new about Ted's relationship with Robin that wasn't already said last season when he declared he wanted her after all that would presumbaly fuel the predictable love triangle of Barney/Ted/Robin where we already know that a. Robin isn't the mother and b. Robin and Barney gets married.
November 6, 2012 at 1:56PM EST Reply to Comment
C

I had actually though the whole "Ditch Robin or we can't be together" ultimatum had already been done on this show (by Stella or Zoe maybe), but yeah, I guess it was familiar because of the Ross/Rachel/Emily parallel.

Awful episode. None of these characters feel like human beings anymore.
November 6, 2012 at 2:02PM EST Reply to Comment
- amyc Am I crazy or did Victoria herself appear last year to tell Ted that he wasn't over Robin, which led to the whole I love you non-sense?
  
  Doesn't it seem (if I remember that correctly) that Ted and Victoria (even off-screen) would have resolved that issue if she specifically confronted him on it last year?
  
  Also in previous episodes this season Victoria and Robin were seen hanging out....another chance for this "issue" to come up.
  
  I can believe that this would be a problem for Victoria, but I can't believe she would ever have gotten back together with him without discussing it up front.
  
  I really feel like I am being used by the writers while the negotiate w/ CBS on the end date of this show.
  November 6, 2012 at 2:24PM EST
- Greg @AMYC Yes, Ted ran into Victoria at an Architect's Ball (Robin was his date) in S7. Later, he sees her at a bakery, helps her wash dishes and then walks her to a bus stop. There, she tells him that none of his relations ever work out because he is friends with Robin.
  November 6, 2012 at 5:51PM EST
S

I've always hated Lily and Alyson Hannigan's acting no less but this season they've really dragged down Jason Segel to their level. I still give Jason Segel the benefit of the doubt but the material he's given is just terrible. All they are now is an annoying couple who tell others what to do yet they have no couple exeperience! They've only been with each other.
November 6, 2012 at 2:04PM EST Reply to Comment
- mikerwilson Agree completely.
  November 6, 2012 at 2:31PM EST
- Col Bat Guano I can't begin to describe how much I hated the stuff they made Segal do in this episode.
  November 6, 2012 at 9:35PM EST
brian_shea

I made the same Friends connection almost immediately and assumed you would too. My only disagreement with this is that I thought Segal managed to pull off the bit because he's a hell of an actor. It wasn't awesome and maybe only entertained me because the rest of the show sucked, but it was clear that HIMYM sometimes is tolerable because the actors are eons ahead of the writers/showrunners in quality.
November 6, 2012 at 2:08PM EST Reply to Comment
Mike.G

It was a bad episode, but the Victoria stuff was what really was like a punch to the gut for HIMYM fans that loved Ted/Victoria as a couple. I think everyone's hope was that if they were going to bring Victoria back that it was going to set the stage for WHY the mother > Victoria. In the timeline of the show, either Victoria or Robin is the one that got away...and at this point we pretty much know why Robin/Ted wasn't going to work. But - as Alan points out - Victoria has been a wasted asset all season long. She has been window dressing to most of the plots, with only oblique hints of the fact that she has some annoying/irritating quirks.

This is really the story the writers should have written: that the girl that might have been perfect for you in your 20s isn't necessarily the girl that is perfect for you in your 30s. Ashley Williams was around for more than one or two episodes. They could have really done a fitting coda for her character...and perhaps more importantly pushed the viewer into believing that as strong as the ties to the past are, it's the present and the future that are what Ted wants. Instead, this crap.

Worse than the episode is the fact that this season doesn't make me look forward to the episode where Ted meets the mother. This season is making the Zoey season look strong be comparison...and that's a huge problem.
November 6, 2012 at 2:11PM EST Reply to Comment
- mikerwilson Yes, great idea! How hard would it have been to tell that story - that perfect in your 20s isn't perfect in your 30s? Not very, in my estimation. It would have been a perfect opportunity to show Ted's growth...but this show hasn't been about growth for a while. It's about stagnation.
  November 6, 2012 at 2:33PM EST
Mike

Normally, I'm one to really not buy into conspiracy theories, but whoever came up with the theory that they only brought Victoria back so they could turn the fans against her, and thus have no one to compare "The Mother" against deserves some kind of award for this one, because I don't know how anyone can really justify Victoria returning if not for that exact reason.
November 6, 2012 at 3:20PM EST Reply to Comment
- courtney I think it was Alan ...
  November 6, 2012 at 4:30PM EST
Jason

My wife and I have been huge fans of this show since the very first episode, but this season has been horrible. My wife even brought up the "Ross and Rachel" thing as we were watching the show last night.
November 6, 2012 at 3:25PM EST Reply to Comment
Jeb

WORST EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES
November 6, 2012 at 3:57PM EST Reply to Comment
Elias

It would have been a good plot twist if Barney started seriously dating the dog's owner.
November 6, 2012 at 4:03PM EST Reply to Comment
courtney

It was terrible episode, and to make matters worst, This guy from work just started watching HIMYM this week and he is in love with season 1 already. I miss the days when this was the best comedy on tv. That award goes to "The New Girl" now.. RIP HIMYM you had a great run
November 6, 2012 at 4:28PM EST Reply to Comment
Greg

It sure feels like the writers are doing their best to drive these characters all into the ground. Barney used to save episodes with his antics and banter, and now he is even circling the drain. A dog wingman? A Friends plot ripoff? Who is pumping out these scripts? The monkey who stole Marshall's wallet?
November 6, 2012 at 5:42PM EST Reply to Comment

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Review: 'How I Met Your Mother' - 'The Autumn of Break-Ups': It's me or the dog

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Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Col Bat Guano The reference by Victoria that they had dated six years before just reinforced how little forward motion the show has made.

Anthony Foglia Yes, but Marshall and Lily pointed out that Victoria is over 30 (I think 32), so she is definitely hoping to hear wedding bells. Nine months, or even six months seems like a reasonable amount of time for a woman that age to ask if they are headed in that direction.

Lisa Yep, because all women are the same. All us women be wanting the babies and husbands.

Mahmoud Fayed "Yep, because all women are the same. All us women be wanting the babies and husbands."What a potshot... That clearly wasn't what he was trying to imply at all. You're being childish.

LJ Brutal. Just brutal. And I've been one hanging tight. What they've done to Jason Segal's character is terrible.

Mike Victoria was the last thread I was holding onto for this show. The writing was so bad, the characterization was so awful, and the recycled plot from Friends was so lame. I no longer care for any of these characters. This show is dead to me.

oliver The biggest challenge this show has ahead of them is to somehow create a 'mother' for Ted that will be embraced by its most loyal fans. At this point, I'm not even sure that's possible any longer.

JB There was very little in this Victoria that reminded me of the season 1 charmer. Victoria 2.0 was just a tool of the script, as they pretty much all are at this point. Most sitcoms decline naturally as they age but they usually don't crash and burn like this one has.

Ted Schmoesby Brover was as solid a side-story as they've done in a while, I agree it was quite funny. also, Robin is the Mother, and the guitar case contains a hockey stick given to her by her father. thank me later!

Dezbot Robin can't have kids now, though...

emma @Ted- Robin isn't the mother, future Ted calls her Aunt Robin to his kids.

Luke HELP! My DVR passed on this episode. CBS/Comcast don't put HIMYM on-demand. There's on re-airs, to the best of my knowledge. How can I catchup on this episode before, say, the DVDs come out?

sepinwall Do like I did and watch it on CBS.com

oliver Or Luke, you can shoot this episode into the Death Star and spare yourself.

Joyeful When Victoria gave Ted the "Robin ultimatum", I actually said out loud - What is this, Friends?!?

sonia I thought the same thing. I didn't say it out loud, but I did facepalm.

Ted Schmoesby it can't be Friends because all the male characters haven't been emasculated. in fact, one is a supreme alpha male and another is called a "douche" by legions of those who watch the show. if all the guys behaved like Marshall did in this episode, THEN it would be Friends

SP The hurricanes win if get less than 30 minutes of Homeland discussion.

MC I've always been in the "Even though Robin's not the mother, she can still end up with Ted" camp, but I don't even care anymore after this episode.

BigTed Ted S., wasn't it already established that the Mother was Rachel Bilson's roommate, plays bass guitar, likes poetry and was in the economics class he walked into by mistake? Unless that was all blatant lying, it's hard to see how Robin meets any of those conditions.

goofus this is easy to figure out. Ted hires a donor mother to donote eggs and makes some kids using invitro

oliver Y'know, what would be hilarious is someone parody this show by showing Ted's future children getting up, telling their dad they're sick of the stories and leave the room (either that or show the kids asleep in their seats). Get on this SNL, ACME Comedy, Second City, et al.

bryan-a So we sit down at 845 to watch it and see its not been tivoed. There's 4 of us that have watched from the beginning, not even a HINT of dissappointment, not a sigh or groan, nothing. I'm curious to see if this dvr thing will affect ratings now that people know they really don't care.

mikerwilson Oh, and if I hear another "but we'll get to that", it's possible that I'll throw my DVD's of the first 5 seasons out my window...

emma Ha! I said the same thing in my comment about being so sick of Bob Saget saying that at the end of the episodes. I wonder if the writers realize how bad this season is.

John It stinks!

grif hachi machi!

John This was the worst episode ever. The characters are being written so poorly these days that even good plots wouldn't save the show. I wish I could just quit, but darn it, I can't. I know how smokers feel.

Ray Yes, because so many great romances have been launched when one prospective partner helped the other score a one-night stand with a stranger.

Robinson We don't know that Robin marries Barney, we know that she has a wedding with Barney (we don't know that they go through with it). Indeed, there are some implications that it goes wrong.(We do know she is not the mother).

LJ We know they go through with it, the writers said so after last season's finale.

Robinson Thanks LJ: I hadn't seen that but just found it now!

C I had actually though the whole "Ditch Robin or we can't be together" ultimatum had already been done on this show (by Stella or Zoe maybe), but yeah, I guess it was familiar because of the Ross/Rachel/Emily parallel. Awful episode. None of these characters feel like human beings anymore.

Greg @AMYC Yes, Ted ran into Victoria at an Architect's Ball (Robin was his date) in S7. Later, he sees her at a bakery, helps her wash dishes and then walks her to a bus stop. There, she tells him that none of his relations ever work out because he is friends with Robin.

mikerwilson Agree completely.

Col Bat Guano I can't begin to describe how much I hated the stuff they made Segal do in this episode.

mikerwilson Yes, great idea! How hard would it have been to tell that story - that perfect in your 20s isn't perfect in your 30s? Not very, in my estimation. It would have been a perfect opportunity to show Ted's growth...but this show hasn't been about growth for a while. It's about stagnation.

courtney I think it was Alan ...

Jason My wife and I have been huge fans of this show since the very first episode, but this season has been horrible. My wife even brought up the "Ross and Rachel" thing as we were watching the show last night.

Jeb WORST EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES

Elias It would have been a good plot twist if Barney started seriously dating the dog's owner.

courtney It was terrible episode, and to make matters worst, This guy from work just started watching HIMYM this week and he is in love with season 1 already. I miss the days when this was the best comedy on tv. That award goes to "The New Girl" now.. RIP HIMYM you had a great run

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How I Met Your Mother is updated

Col Bat Guano

The reference by Victoria that they had dated six years before just reinforced how little forward motion the show has made.

Mahmoud Fayed "Yep, because all women are the same. All us women be wanting the babies and husbands."

What a potshot... That clearly wasn't what he was trying to imply at all. You're being childish.

LJ

Brutal. Just brutal. And I've been one hanging tight. What they've done to Jason Segal's character is terrible.

Mike

Victoria was the last thread I was holding onto for this show. The writing was so bad, the characterization was so awful, and the recycled plot from Friends was so lame. I no longer care for any of these characters. This show is dead to me.

JB

There was very little in this Victoria that reminded me of the season 1 charmer. Victoria 2.0 was just a tool of the script, as they pretty much all are at this point. Most sitcoms decline naturally as they age but they usually don't crash and burn like this one has.

Luke

HELP! My DVR passed on this episode. CBS/Comcast don't put HIMYM on-demand. There's on re-airs, to the best of my knowledge. How can I catchup on this episode before, say, the DVDs come out?

Joyeful

When Victoria gave Ted the "Robin ultimatum", I actually said out loud - What is this, Friends?!?

SP

The hurricanes win if get less than 30 minutes of Homeland discussion.

oliver Y'know, what would be hilarious is someone parody this show by showing Ted's future children getting up, telling their dad they're sick of the stories and leave the room (either that or show the kids asleep in their seats).

Get on this SNL, ACME Comedy, Second City, et al.

bryan-a

So we sit down at 845 to watch it and see its not been tivoed. There's 4 of us that have watched from the beginning, not even a HINT of dissappointment, not a sigh or groan, nothing. I'm curious to see if this dvr thing will affect ratings now that people know they really don't care.

John

It stinks!

John

This was the worst episode ever. The characters are being written so poorly these days that even good plots wouldn't save the show. I wish I could just quit, but darn it, I can't. I know how smokers feel.

Robinson We don't know that Robin marries Barney, we know that she has a wedding with Barney (we don't know that they go through with it). Indeed, there are some implications that it goes wrong.

(We do know she is not the mother).

C

I had actually though the whole "Ditch Robin or we can't be together" ultimatum had already been done on this show (by Stella or Zoe maybe), but yeah, I guess it was familiar because of the Ross/Rachel/Emily parallel.

Awful episode. None of these characters feel like human beings anymore.

Jason

My wife and I have been huge fans of this show since the very first episode, but this season has been horrible. My wife even brought up the "Ross and Rachel" thing as we were watching the show last night.

Jeb

WORST EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES

Elias

It would have been a good plot twist if Barney started seriously dating the dog's owner.

courtney

It was terrible episode, and to make matters worst, This guy from work just started watching HIMYM this week and he is in love with season 1 already. I miss the days when this was the best comedy on tv. That award goes to "The New Girl" now.. RIP HIMYM you had a great run

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