Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'How I Met Your Mother' - 'The Fortress': Adventures in solitude

Robin tries to sell Barney's apartment, while Lily spends too much time on her new job

By Alan Sepinwall Tuesday, Mar 19, 2013 9:33 AM

CBS didn't provide episodic art for last night's "How I Met Your Mother," which means you get the cast in suits again.

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'm a cricket player who secretly hates his life...

So here's my question: Was Barney always this disgusting, and we shrugged it off because the writing was better/fresher? Or has he gotten significantly worse over the years, in the way that so many sitcom characters become broader and more exaggerated to keep squeezing jokes out of them? I'd have to go back and rewatch a lot of episodes from seasons 1-3 to feel comfortable weighing in on exactly what's driving this. All I know is that I spent much of "The Fortress" wondering how, exactly, I ever found this side of the character funny. This wasn't Boys Will Be Boys humor; this was straight-up misogyny. And, like so many Robin/Barney stories this season, it became a kind of meta commentary on how the show doesn't want Barney to change, and therefore Robin has to accept him exactly as he is, repulsive or not. Once upon a time, I rooted for this couple to get together; now, I just feel bad that Robin's been turned into someone who puts up with all of this.

The Lily/Marshall/Ted subplot was better, not only because it captured the phenomenon of obsessing over the minutiae of "Downton Abbey," but because it felt like an actual conflict Lily and Marshall might get into now that she's the one with the glamorous job. But even in that subplot, the payoff was Ted becoming more like Barney, and conning a gullible woman into having sex with him. Sigh.

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 56 Comments

bmfc1

Did Ted really "con" the woman he met in Barney's apartment? I thought that he spoke to her without the British accent before they made out. He certainly had to tell her that he wasn't gay as she originally thought.
March 19, 2013 at 9:44AM EST Reply to Comment
- bryan-a yes - at the end she even said something about it being his first time with a woman - that's why Barney high fived him
  March 19, 2013 at 10:00AM EST
Jen T.

I'm so glad it just wasn't me. This episode had me questioning why I liked Barney all these years. He couldn't have always been this bad, right?
March 19, 2013 at 9:45AM EST Reply to Comment
- The Fat Film Guy What happened to all of the "progress" Barney made? He seems worse now than ever before and it makes the relationships with Robin simply impossible to believe in. It has moved past the "what does it say about Robin that she would want to be with someone like this?" to "it is impossible that ANY woman would ever be with a man like this." This has been one of the most bizarre character deconstructions I can ever remember seeing on TV
  March 19, 2013 at 7:32PM EST
- svetlana I really liked this episode and thought it was the funniest one in a long time. I knew before i even read the review that it would be negative and all of the comments would follow suit. Barney has always been like this..I dont get where all the outrage abour his misogyny is coming from? All the gadgets and devices in his apartment were so ridiculous and outrageously over the top that its hard to believe anyone taking it seriously. There have been many episodes in past similar to this whete they showed Barneys tricks and gadgets etc. The pc police seems to be extra outraged for no reason. If you dont think its funny fine, but to be surprised about barneys behavior after 8 seasons...come on!
  March 19, 2013 at 10:56PM EST
Chris Lee

One of the first lines in the series from Barney regarding Robin is You know she likes it dirty.
March 19, 2013 at 9:48AM EST Reply to Comment
Bgklein

I don't think he was that bad or if he was, it was all talk. I think back to Marshall figuring out his batting average if he was just then getting his 200th woman and it was less than Jim Abbott's or that he was competing with Ted for "the belt". Now it seems like he has Iron Man's money and does whatever he wants.

Remember when you're upset about this show just think of this: Jim Abbott
March 19, 2013 at 9:49AM EST Reply to Comment
Josh

Alan,

I think it was shrugged off b/c the writing was fresher...The Bracket was Season 3, and Barney narrows all the women who could be stalking him down to the 64 he has wronged the most
March 19, 2013 at 9:53AM EST Reply to Comment
- Josh If anything, the later seasons tried to humanize him a bit & the writers have taken the character back to his season 1-3 ways...I also thought last night's Barney stuff was funny
  March 19, 2013 at 9:57AM EST
MikeNJD

All I could think while watching the episode was, "This is going to make Sepinwall's head explode."
March 19, 2013 at 9:56AM EST Reply to Comment
- wade That's a sad way to watch any TV show.
  March 19, 2013 at 10:38AM EST
- Slam I'm way too concerned with reviews of shows/movies as opposed to watching shows/movies. Drives my wife crazy. It's just something I enjoy.
  March 19, 2013 at 12:53PM EST
- Mary HA! Slam, I'm the same way and I kind of hate it. I just wish I could watch something and only care what I think of it. This is why I plan on not reading ANY reviews of Breaking Bad's last season. I'm going to like it or hate it without any input
  March 19, 2013 at 6:29PM EST
PamelaSchuur

Everyone is growing up - Lily, Marshall, Marvin, Robin are all catching up with Ted's old soul. The sudience, too (me at least) is ready to grow up and move on. Only Barney - and the people who write Barney, apparently -- want to be frozen in fratboy time. It is only jarring because it is so out of place. Barney is a child, with adult friends. Barney needs an intervention, not a marriage to Robin. I need to stop watching. The show is consistently horrible now.
March 19, 2013 at 9:57AM EST Reply to Comment
Warren Robinson

Barney slept with 200 women to get back at a kid from junior high. He's always been disgusting.
March 19, 2013 at 9:58AM EST Reply to Comment
- Slam Barney's awefulness is just a running gag. And like all TV shows that last several seasons, the gag gets less funny every episode.
  
  Which is why the Downton Abbey schtick was funny, because it's new.
  March 19, 2013 at 12:56PM EST
tedmosbyisnotajerk

The most disheartening aspect of Barney's awfulness is that the writers give him repeated self-realization/growth moments, only to completely ignore those for full arcs immediately afterward.
March 19, 2013 at 10:03AM EST Reply to Comment
- Andy This applies to the show as a whole. Ted realized he couldn't be friends with Robin anymore if he wanted to find someone, and then it was ignored. The characters are on a constant maturation/immaturation cycle. One step forward, two steps back.
  March 19, 2013 at 12:10PM EST
Chris

I'm getting really sick of the whole "Barney's a skeevy perv and everyone wants him to change...but Robin comes around to realize she loves him because he's a skeevy perv" plot. I think it short-changes Robin, because it's making her into a weak, nonexistent character (her turn-around last night was horribly written) and it allows them to say "we're making Barney more human" without requiring any change.

Also, weird how the last time was saw Ted, he was saying "enough of this; I'm ready to settle down" and then it ends with him going off with a random girl of he week. Aside from a few chuckles each week, I'm only watching now to see how it all ends.
March 19, 2013 at 10:03AM EST Reply to Comment
Ted is lame

Barney's become so ridiculous that it makes no sense that Robin would be attracted to him and it has the effect of making Robin completely unlikable.
March 19, 2013 at 10:06AM EST Reply to Comment
chas

I guess the rest of the season all the barney/robin plots will center around him not wanting to let go of some aspect of his single life. She gets upset and pushes to force him to let go. But when he does she realizes that those are things that draw her to him in the first place. That gets old fast.
March 19, 2013 at 10:09AM EST Reply to Comment
- Darkdoug Indeed. I thought this was hilarious. Barney's behavior has only differed from Ted's and Robin's by quantity or degree, not type. The extreme prudery and judgmental behavior of the characters when they all behave immaturely and irresponsibly is extremely wearying. There was a season one episode where Ted wondered why they hung out with Barney, but Barney has consistently proven his chops as a devoted and loyal friend. The real question has always been, why is he hanging out with these hypocrites who mostly seem to use him as an standard of comparison to elevate their own self-worth by pretending they are so much better than him. Barney is simply carrying the logic of the sexual mores of the show to their logical conclusion in a caricature-like manner. The fact that Alan seems to have been in a bad mood when he watched a very ordinary (if more humorous than normal for this season) portrayal of Barney does not change the real problem of the episode being exactly what Chas refers to.
  
  Firstly, at this point, the group has come too far to be outraged at Barney anymore. Robin dated him once, and it was serious. She has known him for far longer than that. To keep having these overreactions to his past and to have him keep backsliding is tiresome.
  
  There was a time and place to be indignant and repelled by Barney. Several seasons into the show that time has passed. THIS far along? It's just a ridiculous & desperate scramble for something new to say.
  
  Alan should be on his usual soapbox about selling out characters and stories to tell a joke today, given how the writers seem determined to ignore all the depth and complexity Barney has revealed in the past regarding his sexuality, as well as the character issues that if not justifying, at least explain the roots of his behavior. Yet, in their eagerness to regurgitate a "fiancee unhappy with reminders of her fiance's single days and man unwilling to give up trappings of bachelordom for commitment" paint-by-numbers episode, the writers decided to ignore all the ways and times Barney has shown his sincerity about wanting a real relationship and Robin has been portrayed as atypical for a sitcom female. That final gag about their mutual desire for the escape hatch (and Robin breaking her wrist to highlight the cartoonish aspects of some of Barney's schemes) was just a reminder of what worked about her character and their relationship (also the adoption/crossword gag was very much in keeping with the first iteration of their relationship), and what they've abandoned in favor of the lazy relationship tropes they are handing Robin and Barney this season.
  
  The thing with Ted and his pickup was also annoying, because how often is Barney going to be proud of Ted following his teachings? Like getting indignant about Barney's womanizing, it is something that has been going on far too long to get excited about it. Ted has spent nine years alternatively using women and discarding them for shallow, trivial excuses and then proclaiming his readiness and determination to settle down, like he's God's gift and the women of the world have just been WAITING for him to choose one lucky girl to breed this narcissist a captive audience.
  
  The difference between Ted & Barney is that Ted is in love with himself, while Barney affects a self-enthusiasm to counter his innate self-loathing. That latter trait is far more interesting. Unfortunately, Ted is a Mary-Sue of one of the co-creators, from which we can extrapolate that same self-love on the part of Bays and/or Thomas that prevents him from realizing his alter ego is neither a wonderful person, nor the main reason the audience has been tuning in all these years. Hell, compare the film roles & Q ratings garnered by each star since the show started. Josh Radnor is far and away the least popular cast member, and that is mostly because no one knows him as anything other than Ted Mosby, and the world does not like Ted Mosby.
  
  Bring back the Barnman of old, and stop giving us these hackneyed relationship cliche episodes proving you only think of his current relationship as a mere framing device for Ted's narrative climax.
  March 19, 2013 at 11:39AM EST
POST A NEW COMMENT

The two episodes I hate the most and never watch in syndication concern (1) Barney's 200th and (2) Barney attempting a "perfect week." The character has almost always been this disgusting, with occasional glimpses of younger, vulnerable Barney that attempt to gin up sympathy for his current gross attitude. But as the writers have grown less interested in creating a three-dimensional character (or compelling plots), Barney has gotten more distasteful.
March 19, 2013 at 10:10AM EST Reply to Comment
s

Barney has always been this bad but we never thought much of it because he was doing it to the bimbos we don't care about. But now he's doing it someone we care about, Robin, and that's why we find it disgusting.

Also, the writing is a lot worse.
March 19, 2013 at 10:13AM EST Reply to Comment
- j I totally agree we didn't care because we didn't care about those women but they are kind of making Robin look so desperate she is willing to overlook all of Barneys flaws no matter how disgusting they are and the writing this season is just not as good it really feels like they are reverting the characters after 8 seasons of growth
  March 19, 2013 at 10:42AM EST
- Ashley I agree with you that Barney has always been this bad and the fact that Robin is the one putting up with his sh** is a reason why we're put off by it. But I also think it's more jarring because it used to be that when they went REALLY over-the-top with Barney frat boy stuff, it would be in the context of flashbacks set to jaunty music, so you could shrug it off as either Barney exaggerating in the present, or FutureTed telling a good story. But when they set it inside his apartment, surrounded by the other characters reacting to the floating Oz head, or Robin joining him in the escape tube, and there's no way to pretend that it didn't happen, well... it just becomes disgusting.
  March 19, 2013 at 10:22PM EST
bryan-a

Barney's always been this bad - the problem is we now have Robin and Ted are now also boorish, (there's probably a better word but that's the best I could think of to cover all three) and add Lilly's ridiculous behavior last night and you've got a really unlikeable set of characters.

HIMYM is now running neck and neck with Girls at having the "comedy" with the most unlikeable characters. Maybe if Robin were more like Lena Dunham, and shed more clothing...
March 19, 2013 at 10:16AM EST Reply to Comment
amyc

These were my exact thoughts last night. I know Barney always got around, but there is a difference between that and having a bed that rolls women away to the unknown and a doormat scale to keep overweight women out, etc.

But perhaps I missed it all in the beginning. I also used to think Ted wanted a wife all along and the writers seem to have forgotten that...

March 19, 2013 at 10:18AM EST Reply to Comment
nic919

I thought the Jor-El cam was funny, but all the other stuff in Barney's apartment was disgusting. The tipping point was the scale at his apartment entrance. It also confirms that the whole Patrice thing was supposed to taken by the audience as "of course Barney would never be with a fat girl".

The rest of the episode was basically ruined for me after that, even though the Lily and Marshall story with the fake Downton Abbey was actually not that bad.

I guess misogyny is funny for Hollywood writers, but right now I don't see much difference between HIMYM and Two and Half Men. This show did not start off this way or else I would never have bothered with it. When they have to resort to fat jokes, they have run out of material, so why this show is being dragged out another year is beyond me. There seemed to be some progress with Barney a few years back, but right now Robin is engaged to the sexist asshole from the early seasons. For her to be okay with that is sad.
March 19, 2013 at 10:27AM EST Reply to Comment
- Darkdoug I thought the Jor-El head was funny, but what typified the later-seasons struggles with this show was Ted over-explaining it a second later. The show did the narrative equivalent of telling a joke, following it up with an explanation and asking your audience "Get it, get it?" If you have to explain what the floating head represents, the joke has failed. The writers plainly don't have any respect for the audience anymore, which is why the plot was so trite, substituting all of Barney's character growth over the years for a bunch of one-liners about shallow commitment-phobes.
  March 19, 2013 at 11:47AM EST
Meg

Barney has always been a sociopathic, misogynist, borderline rapist (I'm pretty sure the pretending to be a doctor in order to touch women's boobs during "breast exams" would get you sent to prison), but we did overlook it in the past because the show was better. Now, it's just pathetic and gross and not even based in reality. The thing with the bed made me groan out loud and want to change the channel.
March 19, 2013 at 10:29AM EST Reply to Comment
floretbroccoli

THANK you, Alan. The misogyny last night was killing me.

I the first time I remember this bothering me in earlier seasons was when Lily referred to a former, perfectly ordinary, girlfriend of Marshall's as a whore. And last night we also had Robin talking about Barney's "ho's."

My theory is that it was around the time when using the word "vagina" or "vag" on sitcoms became de rigueur that the floodgates of misogyny opened.

March 19, 2013 at 10:40AM EST Reply to Comment
- bryan-a oh come on - lighten up. You know what would've been really funny? If Robin would've crawled out of the bed dungeon with bones and skulls and stuff from all the dead ho's. Or, get this, what if Barney had combined his weight detector at the front door with the bed dungeon and then with the kitchen chute. Then if they were over weight they could go into the bed dungeon until they lost the suitable amount of weight then Barney could do what he wants with them and then when he's finished he could put them down the chute and into the garbage.
  
  That would be funny don't you think.
  March 19, 2013 at 10:49AM EST
eakawie

This may have been my least favorite episode yet.

The writers seem to have forgotten that early-season Barney had enthusiasm for lots of things other than sleeping with easy young women - he could make a night Legendary without any sex involved at all. And we rooted for Robin and Barney to get together, because she could meet him right there, and be as tough, and funny and fun as he was.

Now, Barney's been reduced to a caricature of a caricature, and Robin's reduced to a nagging shrew who's justified in her nagging because Barney's so disgusting.

And the Downton Abbey parody would have been funnier a year ago. It's kind of late.
March 19, 2013 at 10:42AM EST Reply to Comment
Shannon

I think there were always hints at Barney's horrible behavior, but it was never as blatant and over the top as it has been since he and Robin got engaged. And I think you're right that the jokes have gone from bad-in-a-way-that-makes-you-laugh-despite-yourself to straight up offensive. It's like they're trying to reassure themselves/the people who like player Barney (do those people still exist?) that he's still in there. As someone who used to love the Barney/Robin relationship, it is extremely hard to watch.
March 19, 2013 at 10:48AM EST Reply to Comment
ed w

"Was Barney always this disgusting, and we shrugged it off because the writing was better"

Barney in Season 3 episode 14: I mean, at one point I'm pretty sure I sold a woman. I didn't speak the language, but I shook a guy's hands, he gave me the keys to a Mercedes, and I left her there

March 19, 2013 at 10:53AM EST Reply to Comment
- Josh I think this is from the Bracket...the people here who do not think Barney has always been this way need to watch that episode & some others from the early seasons
  March 19, 2013 at 11:18AM EST
Brendan

I think Barney was easier to take because they contrasted his behavior with Ted and Marshall. You were meant to find Barney cartoonish and kind of pathetic. For whatever reason, the writers have shifted perspective where they're actually celebrating the worst aspects of his personality. There's a longing for his lifestyle that wasn't present in the early goings.
March 19, 2013 at 10:59AM EST Reply to Comment
- Robin Kind of an interesting and sad commentary on the writers themselves then.
  March 19, 2013 at 11:41AM EST
justsomegal

At the end of last nights episode I felt sad for my 2 fav chars.

Robin - what happ to her? No woman in her right sense would accept or appreciate or love such a sociopath. can I wish for season 1 & 2 Robin to make a comeback and slap the hell out of season 7 & 8 robin.

Ted - what happ to him?once the blue eyed boy who was looking for love,commitment and relationship is now turned into a loser who is okay with 1 night stands.I agree the obsession of the creators to not let Ted find love until the last episode but u dont gave to turn him into Barney.make him focus on his career.I really felt sad when he said "when I am gonna find somebody like u guys".

I am not interested in br anymore.
Can we fast forward their crap and get to the mother already.
March 19, 2013 at 11:06AM EST Reply to Comment
Josh

More importanly, it is a comedy...the idea of the Jor-El thing was hilarious, the scale & the CGI view were perfectly in line w/the character & the schute was awesome...as well, when Barney sent Robin away on the bed, that was hilarious
March 19, 2013 at 11:20AM EST Reply to Comment
eclex

I think Barney's always been this bad. The difference is that initially he was just a cartoon character that we laughed at. Now, we are expected to think of him as a well-rounded character and someone worthy of Robin's love. It's not working for me. I keep watching and wondering why anyone would marry him.
March 19, 2013 at 11:27AM EST Reply to Comment
justsomegal

Yes Barney have always been this bad, but nobody accepted or glorified or loved his character but robin does now.
Also Ted is sub consciously turning into Barney after robin rejected him and chose Barney.
March 19, 2013 at 11:31AM EST Reply to Comment
spoiled milf

IMO, HIMYM is about three seasons past it's expiration date. It's frustrating that superior sitcoms (Again, IMO) fall by the wayside while this one keeps chugging on with high ratings.
March 19, 2013 at 11:51AM EST Reply to Comment
- Slam AGREE. Keep regurgitating the same 7 jokes. Just like The Office.
  March 19, 2013 at 2:30PM EST
Jesse James

Also Alan you can tell the actors are feeling the strain too. I remember watching Chuck season 3 and the actors just for a little while lost that spark that made their characters chemistry palpable. This is happening now, we know that Cobie and Neil did it before and thus we rooted for them, but the material is so poor and so stale and so disheartening and disrespectful to women, fans and themselves that their heart is not in it at all.

Whenever I look at Barneys apartment I think back to season 2 when Lily stayed there and he gave her a tour. She noted that it was a cold and heartless place to live in....do the writers really want us to believe that Robin would want to live in a place that cold and detached? Where everything is grey and dark? Like Barneys soul?

Why oh why would any girl want that? Especially since we know Robin so well. The thing is Barney can change and still have stories to tell but the show is now a hacky CBS sitcom that had one good season.

Actually CBS used to have smart comedies like MASH, Murphy Brown and MTMS among others....CBS has gone to the toilet with this and Two and a Half Men.

Ok I am done, with this show and most of CBS comedies. Credit where credit is due, I do not mind Person of Interest or NCIS but that is it, oh and the Good Wife, but as far as comedies....UGH!
March 19, 2013 at 12:18PM EST Reply to Comment
srpad

The real that is funny and not so skivvy is still in there. That was the Barney who was begging Ted to just play along with his Jor El thing
March 19, 2013 at 1:37PM EST Reply to Comment
- srpad Oops, I meant "The real Barney"...
  March 19, 2013 at 1:37PM EST

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Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

bmfc1 Did Ted really "con" the woman he met in Barney's apartment? I thought that he spoke to her without the British accent before they made out. He certainly had to tell her that he wasn't gay as she originally thought.

bryan-a yes - at the end she even said something about it being his first time with a woman - that's why Barney high fived him

Jen T. I'm so glad it just wasn't me. This episode had me questioning why I liked Barney all these years. He couldn't have always been this bad, right?

Chris Lee One of the first lines in the series from Barney regarding Robin is You know she likes it dirty.

Josh Alan, I think it was shrugged off b/c the writing was fresher...The Bracket was Season 3, and Barney narrows all the women who could be stalking him down to the 64 he has wronged the most

Josh If anything, the later seasons tried to humanize him a bit & the writers have taken the character back to his season 1-3 ways...I also thought last night's Barney stuff was funny

MikeNJD All I could think while watching the episode was, "This is going to make Sepinwall's head explode."

wade That's a sad way to watch any TV show.

Slam I'm way too concerned with reviews of shows/movies as opposed to watching shows/movies. Drives my wife crazy. It's just something I enjoy.

Mary HA! Slam, I'm the same way and I kind of hate it. I just wish I could watch something and only care what I think of it. This is why I plan on not reading ANY reviews of Breaking Bad's last season. I'm going to like it or hate it without any input

Warren Robinson Barney slept with 200 women to get back at a kid from junior high. He's always been disgusting.

Slam Barney's awefulness is just a running gag. And like all TV shows that last several seasons, the gag gets less funny every episode. Which is why the Downton Abbey schtick was funny, because it's new.

tedmosbyisnotajerk The most disheartening aspect of Barney's awfulness is that the writers give him repeated self-realization/growth moments, only to completely ignore those for full arcs immediately afterward.

Andy This applies to the show as a whole. Ted realized he couldn't be friends with Robin anymore if he wanted to find someone, and then it was ignored. The characters are on a constant maturation/immaturation cycle. One step forward, two steps back.

Ted is lame Barney's become so ridiculous that it makes no sense that Robin would be attracted to him and it has the effect of making Robin completely unlikable.

s Barney has always been this bad but we never thought much of it because he was doing it to the bimbos we don't care about. But now he's doing it someone we care about, Robin, and that's why we find it disgusting.Also, the writing is a lot worse.

ed w "Was Barney always this disgusting, and we shrugged it off because the writing was better"Barney in Season 3 episode 14: I mean, at one point I'm pretty sure I sold a woman. I didn't speak the language, but I shook a guy's hands, he gave me the keys to a Mercedes, and I left her there

Josh I think this is from the Bracket...the people here who do not think Barney has always been this way need to watch that episode & some others from the early seasons

Robin Kind of an interesting and sad commentary on the writers themselves then.

Josh More importanly, it is a comedy...the idea of the Jor-El thing was hilarious, the scale & the CGI view were perfectly in line w/the character & the schute was awesome...as well, when Barney sent Robin away on the bed, that was hilarious

justsomegal Yes Barney have always been this bad, but nobody accepted or glorified or loved his character but robin does now. Also Ted is sub consciously turning into Barney after robin rejected him and chose Barney.

spoiled milf IMO, HIMYM is about three seasons past it's expiration date. It's frustrating that superior sitcoms (Again, IMO) fall by the wayside while this one keeps chugging on with high ratings.

Slam AGREE. Keep regurgitating the same 7 jokes. Just like The Office.

srpad The real that is funny and not so skivvy is still in there. That was the Barney who was begging Ted to just play along with his Jor El thing

srpad Oops, I meant "The real Barney"...

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How I Met Your Mother is updated

bmfc1

Did Ted really "con" the woman he met in Barney's apartment? I thought that he spoke to her without the British accent before they made out. He certainly had to tell her that he wasn't gay as she originally thought.

Jen T.

I'm so glad it just wasn't me. This episode had me questioning why I liked Barney all these years. He couldn't have always been this bad, right?

Chris Lee

One of the first lines in the series from Barney regarding Robin is You know she likes it dirty.

Josh

Alan,

I think it was shrugged off b/c the writing was fresher...The Bracket was Season 3, and Barney narrows all the women who could be stalking him down to the 64 he has wronged the most

MikeNJD

All I could think while watching the episode was, "This is going to make Sepinwall's head explode."

Warren Robinson

Barney slept with 200 women to get back at a kid from junior high. He's always been disgusting.

Slam Barney's awefulness is just a running gag. And like all TV shows that last several seasons, the gag gets less funny every episode.

Which is why the Downton Abbey schtick was funny, because it's new.

tedmosbyisnotajerk

The most disheartening aspect of Barney's awfulness is that the writers give him repeated self-realization/growth moments, only to completely ignore those for full arcs immediately afterward.

Ted is lame

Barney's become so ridiculous that it makes no sense that Robin would be attracted to him and it has the effect of making Robin completely unlikable.

s

Barney has always been this bad but we never thought much of it because he was doing it to the bimbos we don't care about. But now he's doing it someone we care about, Robin, and that's why we find it disgusting.

Also, the writing is a lot worse.

ed w

"Was Barney always this disgusting, and we shrugged it off because the writing was better"

Barney in Season 3 episode 14: I mean, at one point I'm pretty sure I sold a woman. I didn't speak the language, but I shook a guy's hands, he gave me the keys to a Mercedes, and I left her there

Josh

More importanly, it is a comedy...the idea of the Jor-El thing was hilarious, the scale & the CGI view were perfectly in line w/the character & the schute was awesome...as well, when Barney sent Robin away on the bed, that was hilarious

justsomegal

Yes Barney have always been this bad, but nobody accepted or glorified or loved his character but robin does now.
Also Ted is sub consciously turning into Barney after robin rejected him and chose Barney.

spoiled milf

IMO, HIMYM is about three seasons past it's expiration date. It's frustrating that superior sitcoms (Again, IMO) fall by the wayside while this one keeps chugging on with high ratings.

srpad

The real that is funny and not so skivvy is still in there. That was the Barney who was begging Ted to just play along with his Jor El thing

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