How I Met Your Mother is a show that has its off-nights. All shows do, really, but I’ve found with How I Met Your Mother a weird phenomenon, maybe exclusive to the show: there’s not much of a consensus regarding which episodes are the bad ones. Over this season, the episodes I’ve found to be sub-par have been the favorites of others. I’m not sure what this means. Maybe How I Met Your Mother’s type of humor lends itself to different, more specific reactions to it by the audience. Anyway, I’m really only saying this so nobody gets mad at me when I admit that tonight’s episode (“Rebound Bro”) just didn’t do it for me.
So, Stella (the lovely Sarah Chalke) was back tonight. She and Ted have now been going out for a couple months and every thing’s going great, except for one thing: they haven’t had sex. Ted eventually finds out that Stella has been abstinent for five years. It’s a big decision for her, whether she wants to do the deed with Ted, but eventually decides Ted won’t be someone she’ll regret. They plan a big night, but Stella finds out Ted told Marshall and Lilly about the five-year thing and gets cold feet. The next day, Stella admits that she might have trust issues and takes Ted to meet her daughter for the first time. Then, they have sex.
The B story involved Barney. He’s in shambles after losing his wingman in Ted, and goes looking for a new one. He finds no one suitable, so he settles for a nerdy co-worker played by Saturday Night Live’s Will Forte. Then, they hit the bar and try to pick up ladies. The plot only served to show how Barney is dealing poorly with his break-up from Ted.
There was funny stuff, but nothing really worked for me. The “no sex for five years” story felt like something taken out of the stock sitcom plot line bag. It felt below How I Met Your Mother, which just goes to show how high my standards have become for the series. Will Forte is someone I usually enjoy, but the role was just a bit broad tonight. A few moments in the bar were good, especially his “subtle putdown.” Ted and Stella’s relationship was less natural than it was in Chalke’s first episode, and there were too many overly cutesy moments for my liking.
But, I love whenever Marshall and Lilly show how horny they are, and Barney’s office scenes are always my favorites. Marshall, Lilly and Robin didn’t have much to do, as Barney and Ted/Stella took over most of the action. The How I Met Your Mother team, I think, is going just far enough with Stella to where, if CBS opted not to renew the series, that they could surprise us in the finale with the knowledge that Stella is the titular mother. If the show goes for another season, I think we can count Stella out as the mother. Just a theory.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
