This Time For Real

How I Met Your Mother, S08E18

Barney couldn't let go of his old lifestyle with women while he kept getting new ideas for his "destroyed" playbook in his dreams.  Once again, Barney used Ted as his proxy and made Ted use some of his tricks to get a new girl now that he had broken up with Jeanette.  Jeanette showed up again, however, while Ted was in the middle of one of Barney's schemes.  Marshall accompanied Lily to an art gallery as part of her new job and tried his best to charm people there with his jokes, but soon found that he was making a nuisance of himself.

Turns out that Barney hadn't destroyed his real playbook.  That was far from a surprise.  I just knew that he had another copy somewhere else.  If he was going to keep another around when he knew full well that the destruction of that book symbolized his commitment to Robin, he should have been smarter about leaving it around and using it even if it was for Ted.  I mean, Robin could have easily found out about it without ever have save seen it.  Ted would have slipped up somewhere and Robin would have found out.

Anyway, I was a little disappointed at the mention of Weekend at Bernie's because I thought they were going to do some kind of parody.  Instead, it was used as a really bad scheme to pick up chicks.  It made absolutely no sense, as Barney would play a dead guy, but then again none of Barney's ideas really do.  They're all just horrible setups that lead to offering one's penis.  I don't know how Barney got laid at all sometimes.  He had to be dealing with the stupidest women on the planet.  Back to the point, I was expecting more from the title and from the promo I saw where Barney was dressed as Bernie.  If I had known that it was just another of his plays, I would have been less excited.

Concerning Ted, I guess he just needed a few more bad ideas in his system before he was cleansed.  I mean, he finally got freed of Jeanette, and then he goes and takes Barney's advice on who he should date next?  Or rather, he uses Barney's methods to find a new girl.  I guess you could look at it like Ted being a good friend to Barney who so desperately wanted to be doing his old tricks again, but it still was a stupid move.  After two times of knowing that the "punchline" to many of Barney's plays are "my penis," Ted should have thrown in the towel there.  Barney doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt.  Worse than humiliating himself and angering some girls, Ted's plays led him right back to Jeanette for a second.  I knew that girl wouldn't go down so easily.  But I was glad that her and Ted's reconciliation didn't last for long.

I sort of liked seeing Ted sitting outside of his apartment while all of his things were thrown out from above.  Like a cement block to the head, it really hit him that he was done dating for real.  Barney too had his moment of finality where his playbook was concerned after Jeanette exploded it with fireworks.  It was a nice end to the era of terrible pickup schemes and dating psycho girls.  Both Barney and Ted have closed the book on that chapter.  Thank goodness.

The best part of Marshall's story was when all of the skittles fell from him during the moment of silence.  I wondered how he could make himself less useful to Lily after all of his failed jokes, but I didn't expect his candy would rain out around him, making him look like the least popular guy there.

Speaking of that, I loved when Marshall recalled bitterly how in his junior year this other kid tied with him as the most outgoing that year. They showed a picture of Marshall's rival grinning widely and beside him was Marshall with the same expression.  It was funny because they didn't look like they disliked each other at all.

I also liked that Marshall's goofy interests ended up being crucial to Lily meeting the artist that she couldn't get near all night.  I couldn't stand, knowing how likeable and friendly of a guy Marshall is, if he ended up just being a loser who snuck food into a gallery and spoiled a moment of silence for the deceased.  It was great how he and the artist got along, recalling things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Small world.  Of all people there, it was Marshall that he could relate to best.

This episode was okay.  I did like that Barney and Ted put a stop to some of their bad habits.  Barney finally said goodbye to his playbook for real, and Ted ended things with Jeanette and made a vow to stop dating.  I can't wait now to see how much longer it will be until the wedding begins, aka when Ted first sees the woman of his dreams.  I know it's not going to be the next episode, but I'm still wishing they could skip over all those other "adventures" that happen in between that point.  I'm sure there will be some decent ones, but none of the stories will be as great as when Robin and Barney tie the knot.  I feel like I'm just now watching this show just for that moment and can't be bothered with anything else in the meantime.