How I Met Your Mother - Season 9

Alfred Borden

This episode had so much potential especially on the back of two good episodes but it was terrible. Way too much Ted moping over Robin again, even if the story has progressed, sick of seeing them two in scenes together.

Killer_banana

If you're going to have a character pointlessly revisit a love interest we know he's not ending up with (even though though you did a wonderful job closing the book about three times) and then build it up and up and up deliver a good episode that makes the revisit worthwhile and gives the arc a worthy end.

Robin turning into a balloon, figuratively or not was atrociously awful and I cannot buy that the writers thought that was in any sense a good idea at any point. Even ignoring that the whole episode was a snooze. I normally like when the show does emotional stuff but nothing Robin and Ted said or did was in anyway interesting. I am really tired so I don't know if it's in my head or not but was something off about Cobie and Josh's performance? Normally I think they're pretty good actors.

The locket nonsense was stupid and made no sense since we know Ted found it in the pencil box (which makes me wonder what the locket Victoria sent actually was). Unless anything comes of wherever Lily was then the fight with her and Marshall was a waste as well (Segel has complained about playing the happy couple boring so thinking it might have just been put in to keep him happy). Nothing Barney has done has been interesting or funny for seasons so nothing new there.

As others have said the visuals were really low quality. As well as the crappy green screen, in the scene where Barney slapped the two guys you could see his hands went no where near the faces. So odd...

certifiedcrepe

I enjoyed this episode. I liked how Barney was passing on everything he knew to the two young guys.
And at the end when Ted asks Robin if on their first date if she had wanted him to kiss her and she says yes it was cute and emotional for me because at the end of the pilot episode Ted says he eventually found out that Robin did want him to kiss her.

But no matter how much I love HIMYM, the whole Robin flying away like a balloon thing was cringey.

Dman001

Was Robin actually present for all that conversation with Ted, or was it him hashing out the conversation in his head so he could let go?

Think it's only wishful thinking on my behalf that it was in his head, as the whole episode was so cringey in its writing and delivery (as well as the same old being redone) I'm hoping, for the sake of character development, they wouldn't put Ted through that once more. If this episode was to serve as the ultimate moment Ted moves on from Robin, it was very poorly executed.

Killer_banana

Dman001 wrote: »

Was Robin actually present for all that conversation with Ted, or was it him hashing out the conversation in his head so he could let go?

Think it's only wishful thinking on my behalf that it was in his head, as the whole episode was so cringey in its writing and delivery (as well as the same old being redone) I'm hoping, for the sake of character development, they wouldn't put Ted through that once more. If this episode was to serve as the ultimate moment Ted moves on from Robin, it was very poorly executed.

I took it up as it all happening except for the part where Robin flew off.

phasers

phasers wrote: »

TVline posted a description of the spinoff gang, and it sounds horrible.

OMG you're such a Juliet.

Just started the latest episode. Wow that's some bad greenscreening.

oxygen

I've only just realised from reading the last page that the last episode wasnt the back door spin off. I presumed it was because it was soo cringy, just awful. I assumed the two young guys were going to be in an American Pie\Play Book spin off. That's why I excused the awfulness of it, I watched it and decided I wasnt going to watch the spin off. Now I realise its a HIMYD thats not the HIMYD crew from 2 episodes ago.

At this stage Im only watching because of loyalty. This season hasnt been terrible, but that last episode was terrible. Also why not just film a scene in central park instead of badly green screening it.

Boom_Bap

oxygen_temp wrote: »

I've only just realised from reading the last page that the last episode wasnt the back door spin off. I presumed it was because it was soo cringy, just awful. I assumed the two young guys were going to be in an American Pie\Play Book spin off. That's why I excused the awfulness of it, I watched it and decided I wasnt going to watch the spin off. Now I realise its a HIMYD thats not the HIMYD crew from 2 episodes ago.

At this stage Im only watching because of loyalty. This season hasnt been terrible, but that last episode was terrible. Also why not just film a scene in central park instead of badly green screening it.

The green-screening of Barney meeting the 2 young lads was also pretty rough....come to think of it, the green-screening of Marshall's road trip was pretty bad as well.

I think that this is a difficult season for the writers, they know that we know the show is coming to an end, and they have to build up to that by tieing up loose ends. In the most recent one, it's all about how Ted got the pendant, and how Barney is to hand over the play book. Alos, how Lilly and Marsh resolved thier dilema.

I'm still enjoying it, but really just waiting for the big moment when the mother is met.

Killer_banana

Boom_Bap wrote: »

I think that this is a difficult season for the writers, they know that we know the show is coming to an end, and they have to build up to that by tieing up loose ends. In the most recent one, it's all about how Ted got the pendant, and how Barney is to hand over the play book. Alos, how Lilly and Marsh resolved thier dilema.

I'm still enjoying it, but really just waiting for the big moment when the mother is met.

But we saw how he got the pendant last season when Lily told him it was in the pencil box so don't see the point of adding all the scenes from last week except to fill time and awkwardly shoehorn in a monologue from Ted about not giving up on love.

I thought with it ending in March that there were no breaks but the next episode isn't until the 24th now.

Dman001

Killer_banana wrote: »

But we saw how he got the pendant last season when Lily told him it was in the pencil box so don't see the point of adding all the scenes from last week except to fill time and awkwardly shoehorn in a monologue from Ted about not giving up on love.

I thought with it ending in March that there were no breaks but the next episode isn't until the 24th now.

I kinda lost track on the whole pendant thing - If it was found in the Pencil Box, what did Ted's Ex throw into the river?

Killer_banana

Dman001 wrote: »

I kinda lost track on the whole pendant thing - If it was found in the Pencil Box, what did Ted's Ex throw into the river?

We don't know. Some other locket? We weren't told, we were just shown a version of events slightly different to last season (if I remember correctly the stuff with Stella we knew about already but not the rest). I'm guessing it'll get explained at some point...possibly when Ted decides actually he hasn't let go of Robin this time either. :rolleyes:

allym

Dman001 wrote: »

I kinda lost track on the whole pendant thing - If it was found in the Pencil Box, what did Ted's Ex throw into the river?

It was that pendant. Victoria ended up with it and sent it back to Ted, and crazy Janine opened his mail and found it.

Killer_banana

allym wrote: »

It was that pendant. Victoria ended up with it and sent it back to Ted, and crazy Janine opened his mail and found it.

Except last season we saw Ted find the pendant in the race car pencil box after Lily told him Robin dug it up drunk before moving to Japan and he's planning on giving it to Robin as a wedding present.

phasers

Killer_banana wrote: »

Except last season we saw Ted find the pendant in the race car pencil box after Lily told him Robin dug it up drunk before moving to Japan and he's planning on giving it to Robin as a wedding present.

I just saw the first episode of the new season on E4 yesterday and the box was empty when Ted looked, and it turns out Stella had it from when they lived together or something.

To be honest the explanation was complete toss, but long story short; Stella had the locket, not Ted.

That locket that went in the river was indeed the locket Robin was looking for.

The bit I don't get is that Robin still wants her locket, it belonged to her and some random woman threw it in a river because of Ted...

Really, Ted should tell her about the whole locket thing and get her some sort of replacement.

Killer_banana

phasers wrote: »

I just saw the first episode of the new season on E4 yesterday and the box was empty when Ted looked, and it turns out Stella had it from when they lived together or something.

To be honest the explanation was complete toss, but long story short; Stella had the locket, not Ted.

That locket that went in the river was indeed the locket Robin was looking for.

The bit I don't get is that Robin still wants her locket, it belonged to her and some random woman threw it in a river because of Ted...

Really, Ted should tell her about the whole locket thing and get her some sort of replacement.

I actually got the episode where Lily tells him and the first episode with him flying all over the place jumbled up in my memory into one episode so thank you. And you're right, that locket was important to Robin and she'll never see it again. Also having Ted flying all over the place to get it to have it thrown in the river at the end makes the whole thing pointless. They could have done the stupid balloon thing without the locket anyway.

iguana

Or just have made one of the other times that Ted let Robin go, have been the time he actually let her go instead of him being such a whiney sad sack for years. Christ, when he was about to marry Stella, Robin opened the door for him and he rejected her. He was clearly over her at that point, just because Stella left him doesn't mean he has never stopped loving Robin. It means he is fixated on an ex that he knows isn't right for him. It's not romantic it's boring and pathetic.

Killer_banana

iguana wrote: »

Or just have made one of the other times that Ted let Robin go, have been the time he actually let her go instead of him being such a whiney sad sack for years. Christ, when he was about to marry Stella, Robin opened the door for him and he rejected her. He was clearly over her at that point, just because Stella left him doesn't mean he has never stopped loving Robin. It means he is fixated on an ex that he knows isn't right for him. It's not romantic it's boring and pathetic.

Well yes I'd have preferred if they stopped rehashing the same thing I just meant adding the locket added nothing to it.

I never really felt any of the revisits were justified since we knew he was never going to marry her but I thought the one after she broke up with Kevin was done well. Ted deciding they couldn't keep the deal to get married if they were still single in years to come was great because Ted said it and he chose to move on. To have him still fixating on her years later devalues that completely (and all the other times the writers seemed to close the book on it).

FreudianSlippers

If he really gave a toss he'd get in there and swim around for it. That river isn't that deep or fast moving tbh. Of course, it's Central Park so it is full of piss and needles, so there is that...

iguana

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

If he really gave a toss he'd get in there and swim around for it. That river isn't that deep or fast moving tbh. Of course, it's Central Park so it is full of piss and needles, so there is that...

I'm sure we'll find out he did as he hadn't given up on his love for Robin at that point.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

The new episode this week was great.
Weekend at Barney's

Hope the last 6 episodes will be as good.

phasers

why didn't they just go ask James or Loretta about the hangover thing, since barney called it a family recipe?

Aside from that niggle it was a good episode, loved the flash forwards and the tantrum references

Wellyd

Fingers crossed that the last few episodes will be great. I saw the Symphony of Illumination episode on e4 the other day and it reminded me how much I'm going to miss this when it's gone!

Alfred Borden

really good episode, going out on a high it seems

Callanutd

Best epsiode of the season for me. Really funny and smart, just like the first few seasons.

iguana

So was that the first time it's been confirmed that Robin and Barney do actually get married? Past episodes that flash forward have been cagey about that, like in Trilogy Time Barney's left hand is in his pocket for the whole 2015 scene to hide whether or not he is wearing a wedding ring.

I guess now that Ted turned Robin into his old balloon, we're free to see her end up with Barney.

pickarooney

I thought this was a very poor episode, even by recent standards.

celica00

Really liked the las 2 episodes, im getting really sad about the ending now ha

Rob30888

I thought it was yet another weak episode. The flash forward scenes were so inconsistent - Lily and Marshall look to have aged about 30 years by 2020, but Ted and the Mother look the same in 2022?

Killer_banana

Was an okay episode. Felt like they had some good ideas but was executed poorly. Still better than most of the season...which says something about just how bad this show has become.