How I Was Bored For Half An Hour

How I Met Your Mother, S07E18

Hard to say what I liked about this week's episode.  There were a lot of disappointing things that happened.  The most disheartening was that Quinn turned out to be a stripper at a bar that Barney and Ted frequented.  I didn't want it to be really easy for him to get the only non-Robin girl he's seemed to like since Nora, but come on--a stripper??  Really??  I guess I have a soft spot for Barney ever since Robin stepped on his heart and wiped it off like a piece of gum against a sidewalk edge.  Quinn was so charming when she wasn't working; in this episode she was just a manipulative tease.  They have to show us her better side next week.  Even if it was Barney being tricked out of 100s of dollars, you couldn't be that hard-skinned to cheer Quinn on.

The next disappointing issue was that Ted was lamenting Robin's disappearance.  I know Ted, and I know he's not really the type to get over things as quickly as he should, but this was ridiculous.  Barbecuing and doing pottery in Robin's empty room?? And seeing visions of her that he talked to??  Ted is a mess.  Maybe this show should be called "How I Met My Therapist" and he should get a little help.  However, that might just lead him to start dating his therapist like a certain Canadian we know.  The best thing that came about Ted's insanity was that he moved out of that horrible apartment and gave it back to Lily and Marshall.  Not only does that leave the possibility of Ted truly starting anew with some interesting consequences, but it brings Lily and Marshall back in the city.  As much as I understand their need to raise their child in an environment that's suburban, for the sake of the show, they need to not be so separated from the others!  They really haven't had any grin-glued-to-your-face moments since they moved to that house.

That leads me to my final disappointment that Lily and Marshall's version of the "suburban cult" wasn't that funny at all.  You would think with a couple as crazy as them holding one of their best friends captive that it would be creepily amusing.  It had very faint moments of "oh, that's kinda good," but nothing to really report about.  I'm glad that Lily and Marshall revealed that they didn't like it out there as they made it seem.  The house was nice and all, but like I said before, we need them in the city if the show is going to have some of their trademark off-the-wall nuttiness.  

I suppose next week, I'm anticipating what "adventure" Ted may have started now that he isn't haunting his old apartment.  I won't expect much from the Quinn and Barney love story.  I'm a little less enthused about their coupling, so they are going to have to win me over again with some scenes that prove their chemistry.  And lastly, Marshall and Lily better have reclaimed their spot in the middle of the HIMYM madness.  The show, after all, works best when it's a story that ties them all together.