How I Met Your Mother: Platonish (9x09)

Alright, so we've got a flashback episode this week, and I have to say I think it came just in time. I really do like the idea that the entire season takes place over one weekend, but I'll admit I was growing a bit tired of the condensed story. Here, we flash back to Fall, 2012.

But first of all, as our framing device we see Robin crying because her mother isn't coming to the wedding. She says nothing will be able to cheer her up, and Barney announces: "challenge accepted!" Barney and Ted both have stories in this flashback episode, and both center around their feelings for Robin. Let's look at each in turn.

Ted's plot was basically Marshall calling him out on the fact that he still has feelings for Robin. Ted tries to deny it, but eventually he concedes that it's true, but that he knows nothing will ever happen between them, so why bother putting his heart on the line again? Marshall continually insists that Ted belongs with Robin, but Ted eventually decides that if it's meant to be, it'll happen on its own. There's no need to rush in - again - and possibly ruin things with Robin forever. Meanwhile, Ted gets a call from Hammond Druthers (yay! Bryan Cranston!) who offers him a job in Chicago. Ted says no, but as we know from earlier in the season, Ted plans to move to Chicago after the wedding. So that's certainly interesting.

Pros - the comedy here was pretty good. I liked the insults that Ted and Marshall were throwing at the ref of the basketball game they were at. I also loved seeing Cranston reprise his role. He's one of those actors that always brings 110% to everything he's in. After Breaking Bad, he could easily just ride the waves of his former successes and give half-baked performances, but he doesn't. The conversations between Ted and Druthers on the phone were probably the funniest parts of the episode. Also, I like that we now have another piece of the puzzle solved: Ted got a job offer from Druthers, and that seems to be why he's chosen Chicago as his new destination.

Cons - Oh for the love of God, they need to drop the Ted and Robin thing. I know they're building it up for some epic confrontation later in the season, but I'm getting freakin' sick of it. What's particularly uncomfortable about this is how recently it was all happening. Less than a year before Barney and Robin's wedding, Ted was still thinking he had a chance with Robin. Marshall, in fact, thought the two of them belonged together. Honestly, I can't imagine how that's ever going to be okay. I find myself really wondering how they're going to swing this when it's all said and done. When Ted meets the Mother, is it just going to be an instantaneous thing? Like, now I love her, and I've forgotten all about Robin? With time running very short, I'm worried they won't be able to adequately tackle all of these tricky problems.

Then there's Barney's flashback plot. Lily and Robin accuse him of only accepting challenges he comes up with himself, so he starts accepting their challenges. All of them involve picking up girls in really weird ways, such as not using the letter "e," wearing a garbage bag, and speaking in dolphin. In the end, Lily and Robin start using the challenges to ask him to run errands, and he is tasked with picking up diapers for Marvin while picking up a girl. While in the store, he attempts to hit on someone, and it's revealed to be... The Mother! So, apparently Barney met her even before Lily did. The Mother says she has a boyfriend and she doesn't fall for Barney's charms. Instead, she tells him that it's going to be okay, and that he isn't going to be sad forever. When Barney, annoyed, asks her what she's talking about, she says she thinks Barney fell in love but then messed it up. After talking with The Mother, Barney decides that there's only one challenge left to complete: make Robin fall in love with him. As we go back to the weekend of the wedding, Robin tells him that the challenge has been completed.

Pros - Some of the humor was pretty great. I liked watching Barney struggle to speak without the letter "e" particularly. I'm also happy to see the return of The Mother. It's a really great idea to have The Mother be the one to set Barney on his path to be with Robin.

Cons - As much as I did like the way that The Mother was involved in the story, is anyone else getting worried that she might be just a little too perfect? We've now seen her skillfully handle breakdowns from both Lily and Barney, and her sense of what was wrong with Barney was just a little too spot-on. I just worry that The Mother will turn into a two-dimensional character, because we only ever see her in a really positive light, as she helps other characters. If we still had seasons left of this show, I'd be less worried. But since were closing in on the halfway mark of the last season, I really think things need to speed up with her character development. Again, this plot also emphasized the relatively recent activities of Barney - while he was running around getting girls' phone numbers, Ted was pining over Robin. I just can't see how this ends well.

In all, I thought the comedy worked well in this one, and it's always lovely to see The Mother. Also, Bryan Cranston was fantastic, as is to be expected. However, as someone who is genuinely rooting for Robin and Barney, this episode set me on edge, and not in a way that's beneficial to the narrative. I think if they're not careful, the emphasis of the love triangle is going to come at the expense of developing The Mother as a viable character, separate from the fact that she's seemingly perfect for Ted.

7/10