How I Met Your Mother: Robin 101 Review
The Third Episode Brought the Show Back to Full Form Last Monday.
Oct 13, 2009
What do you do with all the knowledge of your ex-girlfriend? If you’re Ted and your best friend is Barney, you teach a class of all you know about your ex to the new boyfriend - cue hilarity.
A Course Worth Taking
The premise was original, albeit a little creepy if you think about it, but as a sitcom idea it worked. It showed that Barney was willing to do anything to keep Robin around even taking advice from Ted, just as Ted said to Robin at the end, and it helped Ted become a better teacher.
The slides of Robin were hilarious, especially the angry face and the one laughing at the parking meter, as were the lists and fun facts about her. It showed that Ted really knew Robin well. The misplaced building photo made the tag predictable though.
One highlight of those scene was the very clever re-enactment of The Dead Poets Society’s “Oh Captain, my captain” scene. Where most other sitcoms would have dragged the parody on, HIMYM kept it short and ended with Ted simply exclaiming how awesome that movie was.
The other was Barney acting like a teenager with ADD and hilariously asking to have the class outside every couple of minutes.
Mabel the Barrel
Once again Marshall was short-changed in favour of Barney, Robin and Ted this week. The same thing happened in the season premiere. Jason Segal is on par with Neil Patrick Harris in the comedy department, yet he was saddled with this unconnected B-plot about giving away a huge barrel.
Marshall geeking over something that only he would care about is what makes the character so endearing, and while it did gave us two funnies; Lilly’s pretend resin allergy and Segal’s perfect delivery of “He doesn’t know that Lilly my god”, it had no relation to the main plot.
I hope the writers come up with a Marshall-centric episode soon; the last time a satisfying Marshall storyline happened was probably “Arrivederci Fiero” in season 2 (“The Best Burger in New York” doesn’t count because it was less than satisfying).
Barney Gets an “A” in Robin
Understandably, Barney’s perfect boyfriend behaviour prompted Robin to think he was cheating on her. When Robin noticed Barney left his suitcase at the apartment, she opened with Lilly’s help to find proof of Barney’s affair.
Of course she confronted Barney and wondered why they were even trying to be a couple at this point. They patched things up on the front steps (where Marshall and Lilly reunited way back in season two). Neil Patrick Harris is as comfortable pouring his heart out to the woman he loves as he is doing comedy, and he and Cobie have so much chemistry together it gives you hope those two crazy kids can make it.
After the OOC-ness from Barney and Robin last week, it was nice to see the characters back to being themselves, and catching a glimpse into their relationship. It makes perfect sense that after years of not having a real girlfriend; Barney would be out of practice.
One another thing that is part of what makes this show such a joy to watch is the closeness and level of friendship these people have. A few times in the episode we could truly see why these guys are friends and don’t shy away from saying they love each other.
Love How I Met Your Mother? Missed a review? Read How I Met Your Mother: "Double Date" review.
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