HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER is Back & Love is in the Air
September 23, 2008 by Kath Skerry
Please give a warm GMMR welcome to new Team GMMR member…Jen!! Jen will be covering HIMYM for us this season so show her the love!
And now I’ll turn it over to Jen…
Let me start off with saying with what really doesn’t need to be said but apparently Emmy Award voters need to hear – Neil Patrick Harris SHINES in this series and should have won the Emmy on Sunday night.Need an example? Look no further than last night’s season premiere of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. Neil was fantastic! Hr brought out all the stops. His comedy is broad but subtle when it needs to be. From the McLaren’s scene, where he forcefully laughs at Robin’s joke about being the Boogeyman with a teleprompter, to the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde argument with himself over telling Lily he has feelings for Robin, to (my favorite) when he is telling Lily that he doesn’t want to be Robin’s boyfriend (but describes in detail what Lily aptly calls a clingy relationship) – he was top notch! He is pure perfection!
But oh, I guess I should have first talked about Ted and Stella. After four months and about two minutes of waiting, we finally learn Stella’s answer: YES! She will marry Ted. Was this what everyone was expecting? Was anyone upset with this outcome?
With a little prompting from Marshall, we learn that there are a few things that Ted doesn’t yet know about Stella – like her favorite color, what her hobbies are, the colors of her eyes, and -unfortunately for Stella – the fact that she is allergic to peanuts. What I don’t understand is how Ted and Stella have been dating since March and Ted knows nothing about her. Ted learned so much about Robin on their first date, how has he not found out more about Stella over the course of 6 months? But no worries, Ted thinks Stella is the one and is determined to find out more about her.
As for my take on Stella? She is a charming and an adorable match for Ted. While I love Sarah Chalke and I love Stella, I don’t think she’s not the ONE. Way back in the pilot episode Marshall laid out for us Ted is looking for in a woman: Can she make obscure “Ghostbuster” references? Does she like scotch? And what about the olive theory? If Stella has to fake her love for “Star Wars” even if it was endearing that she’s willing to do that, she is obviously not perfect for our Ted. I’m not saying Ted’s perfect woman must have all those attributes or I disregard her completely, but according to mythos, that’s the kind of gal Ted has been telling Marshall he is looking for.
“I caught feelings. I caught feelings bad.” – Barney
While Ted learns more about his fiancé, Lily learns about Barney’s love for Robin. Barney does not want to let go of his womanizing ways yet needs to have Robin in his life. I love that Lily is Barney’s confidante. She’s the only one of the gang that has been inside his apartment that we know of. He shows Lily his true colors. He went all the way to San Francisco to get her back for Marshall, he let her spruce up his apartment and live with him and he seeks her advice regarding his Robin-dilemma. Lily did what she could to help him but Barney was right Robin wasn’t going to see him in the light he was trying to shine at her. He was charismatic, attentive and pushed her to apply to the new cable news position. She thought it was just dinner, so why would she think Barney had any romantic inclinations? But let’s hand it to Robin, she continues to honor the Bro-Code and pulls out all the stops – wing-woman style. While this doesn’t seem much of a step for a Robarn relationship, they are kindred spirits and I do hope to see Barney more and watch him take it up a notch.
Lily: Just show Robin the Barney I saw yesterday.
Barney: You mean the insecure, touchy feely, she-male who sounded alarmingly close to Ted.
Lily:Hey, Ted hit that for over a year
Barney: Wish me luck.
GMMR and I both agree it was a fantastic premiere. So glad to have the HIMYM kids back on the TV again.
What did you all think of last night’s season premiere? Are you on board with Ted & Stella? Do you think Barney & Robin have a chance? Share!
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Filed under How I Met Your Mother, TV News
I loved only the Barney parts. The Ted/Stella stuff fell kinda flat for me.
NPH so should have an Emmy!!!
Ted and Stella bore me. I wanted more Lily and Marshall, and Marshall needs a haircut in his not having a job time. The Barney/Robin story was tops. And how hot did Robin look in that dress?
I loved it! It was a great episode and NPH is a great actor. He played all the parts well. I like Stella and Ted – I think it can happen a lot when people fall head over heels in love but doesn’t mean you know every detail. I think it will lead towards them not working out in the end (there has to be a deal breaker for one of them we don’t know about yet) but I like it so far. And if it ends up working out, great. I agree though, Marshall needs to cut his hair! I like that he is looking out for Ted.
HIMYM is beginning to experience the Urkel phenomenon. What originated as a secondary character is now the standout performer in the cast. NPH rocks. LOVE it.
Robin and Lily have the cutest finds in their closets. The only look of Robin’s I didn’t really like was when she came back from Argentina. Her hair would look fine then at certain angles it was like, “Eeeek!”
I know they don’t need Lucy around but where the hey is she when Stella is at Ted’s all the time making out and watching Star Wars? Stella must have really nice parents who are willing to take their granddaughter often because that would be a lot of money to spend on a babysitter.
I think the Barney/Robin thing is interesting, though I somehow doubt he’d really freak out and act on it like he did in this episode. I thought there’d be a portion of denying the fact in this season and then maybe some acceptance…
As for Stella, I think we all can tell that this probably won’t last, and as much as I like Sarah Chalke, I only think she’ll be the mother if there’s immediate cancellation.
I agree with every point you made Jen! Last night was such a great start to what is going to be another fantastic (I use this word way too much to be sane) season! I loved that Barney still slept with anything that moved, even though he discovered he was in love with Robin. I also loved the moment when Barney revealed that there were cameras everywhere in his apartment (haha, so disgusting). I loved unemployed Marshall (although he really needs to get a job fast).
I can keep talking about this premiere for hours. Can’t wait for next week’s already!!!
Ted doesn’t usually do it for me, but this was a pretty funny line reading from Josh Radnor: http://tinyurl.com/43bf8x
Jen, great review/recap. Love the Urkel phenomenon, Lynzee, made me smile! Barney being my favorite character I found the premier terrific. NPH = robbed on Emmy night even if I could watch Entourage I wouldn’t.
Stella is not the mother and even if the show were to end tomorrow they’d show Ted running into a stranger whose face we don’t see carrying a yellow umbrella and the voiceover of Bob Saget saying “and that’s how I met your mother.” Actually that is how I hope it ends many moons from now. I don’t think I want it ever to be about the mother, only how Ted gets there.
I’m hoping down the road we have a scenario like this (and I’ll use my name because it’s so popular):
Older Ted: “And that’s how I met Jen.”
Kids: “FINALLY! Can we go now?”
Older Ted: “Uh, no, you can’t. This is a different Jen.”
That way we learn something about the mother, like her name and we’ll be on the look-out for something else. Before it was the yellow umbrella but that’s in Ted’s possession now. So we have nothing to really look behind Ted’s shoulder for. At the St. Patty’s party the viewers were looking for the mom, we knew she was there, that at any moment she could literally bump into Ted. Someone did, but she isn’t the mother. But it’s fun looking out for something and learning more about her before we get to meet her. It’d be sort of sad to see her but not know her at the end if we don’t meet her sooner than the series finale.
Nice thoughts, Jen…. I guess to refine my scenario and play with it a bit, we end up not having known the mother (well) but somehow we know all about her. Maybe they leave hints and breadcrumbs for us that don’t scream at us at the time (I’d forgotten that the umbrella is gone) but all building up over time until in the final reveal, we all go “OMG, how blind could I be.”
I thought the premire was fantastic! NPH knocked it out of the park. I think I like the Barney/ Robin dynamic . I don’t care for Stella and Ted because I don’t think she is the mother so it is hard to get behind. I am curious about Robin moving into Ted’s apartment. Does anyone remember that reference from Ted’s 30th birthday episode?
[…] case you missed them, here’s Team GMMR’s take last night’s season premieres of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER and […]
Karen: Yep, I remember we have another goat episode. We also have Stella’s sister’s wedding (November sweeps!) and Barney’s brother’s wedding. There is a lot of things they have to get to this season, which I can’t wait for, of course!
This was such a great start to the season! NPH shone in this episode, as everyone seems to agree. I love sincere, confident and kind Barney. Of course crass and crude Barney is always much appreciated!
I do really like Stella and Ted – they are so natural together. I’d love it if she were the mother, but it would seem weird to go through a couple of seasons of stories and then have Bob Saget say, “and that’s the story of how I met your mother”. An extremely delayed reveal, no?
Also, Marshall kicks ass! Creepy/funny Jason Segal is the best. He really should reconsider the hair though – I agree. I can’t wait for next week!
I enjoyed the premier i hope to see more of Robin and Barney. I was not as a big fan of Stella and Ted i didn’t like that they didnt know that much about each other.