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HIMYM Watch: Ménage à Quatre

By James Poniewozik | @poniewozik | October 13, 2009 | +

Spoilers for How I Met Your Mother coming up after the jump:

HIMYM is a comedy that often does so much time-jumping and cross-cutting and other such fancy dancing that it’s nice to see an episode like “The Sexless Innkeeper,” which simply takes one extended joke—how a too-needy couple can be like a too-needy single—and plays it out successfully for the whole half-hour.

The story of boy-and-girl meet boy-and-girl, boy-and-girl lose boy-and-girl, boy-and-girl get boy-and-girl back seemed like it should run out of steam, but each doubling of an old romance trope, like Barney and Robin sadly eating ice cream in bed, paid off. Add Marshall’s music-and-photo-montage masterpieces and I was roundly satisfied. (By the way, you’ve guessed, I assume, that itwasthebestnightever.com is a working website.) My one quibble: the inexcusably screwed-up calendar in the montage, which included “Oct. 15 14 13 14 15.” That and the fact that the show isn’t finding more ways to feature Lily and Marshall lately.

Oh, and Barney’s “What have I done?” at the end: throwaway line, or foreshadowing of his regretting committing to Robin?

Related Topics: how i met your mother, Uncategorized

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  • Matt

    Wow, they’ve really gone all-out in making Ted a minor character in his own story. One the one hand, I’m fine with it because he is the least fun of all the characters, but on the other hand, it’s kinda sad.

    How much does that happen? I know West Wing was originally supposed to focus on Rob Lowe more than the rest of the ensemble, but have there been other shows that have been successful while sidelining the “protagonist”?

  • http://tomcamfield.wordpress.com/ Tom

    I’ll be happy if Barney becomes single again, I may be the only one who feels this way, but Barney-in-love is far more insipid than I want Barney to be, and I feel the show has lost some of it’s spark since he started mooning after Robin.

    Also, the realism that used to ground the show seems to have shifted. I remember Marshall having financial trouble and so, unable to live his dream, he had to work for the evil mega-corporation. Now Ted walks in to a lecturing gig and I don’t recall whether the show showed him earning a teaching certification.

    Great songs though.

    @ Matt — I never really followed Happy Days, but the Cunninghams seemed to be sidelined by the Fonz, or if not that, how about Ross and Rachel by Chandler and Monica.

  • leprekan

    I think the show has just adjusted to the fact that it’s supporting staff is so essential to the story that they have all become “main” characters together. This episode’s using of break-up cliches was funny as all get out, it was great.
    Also, you don’t need teaching certification to become a college professor, some places may require a doctorate, but it is up to the college.

  • oderal

    I found it weird that Ted and Barney in my view kind switch places in that single and couple thing…that whole professor jacket plot felt Barneyish

  • alalia

    I’m assuming Ted’s lecturing gig is an adjunct position, which means, at most, places, all he needs is MA to teach. Colleges don’t require you to have a teaching license. Plus an adjunct position is the only kind of university level teaching job that Ted would be qualified for. It depends on the field, but most universities require “terminal” degrees to be full time faculty. In English, you have to have your doctorate. (And the application process for jobs is involved; every time I explain it to someone from the business world, they look at me like I’m an insane person.)

    But I do agree with the slight lack of realism here. I mean, Ted getting laid off was realistic. The adjunct job, not so much. And I do want to see more of Ted, just not him teaching again. Shudder.

  • guillo28

    Wasn’t it great to see Nuno from Extreme again in the video?

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