Ted Dates A "Gossip Girl"

How I Met Your Mother, S08E14

Ted was dating a much younger girl that he couldn't seem to connect with, but Barney urged him to sleep with her anyway so he could live vicariously through Ted.  Robin realized that with her engagement ring on she lost the privilege of free stuff and attention from men.  Marshall continued to wear a leather bracelet that he was allergic to so he could dress according to Lily's fantasy.

I have to say that Ted dating a younger girl was much more interesting (or just interesting at all) because the actress playing her was from Gossip Girl.  Even though Ted looked pathetic and desperate dating someone he had nothing in common with, I just liked seeing her so into Ted.  I'm not sure why she would think he was like pushing 70 or 80, but it was sort of funny to think of someone as cute as her flirting with him.  It just seemed so unlikely even if she was into "hot grandpas" or something.   Her turning out to be Barney's half-sister was just a bonus, I guess.  Mostly because it made Ted's one night stand a little more significant.

It makes sense that Barney would want Ted to sleep with girls that he could never touch again, but it was still sort of creepy.  Luckily, after the first proxy bang turned out to be his sister, Barney was pretty much cured of that idea.  Otherwise, I could see this going on forever and Barney trying to convince Ted to do more and more depraved things like Barney was known for.  However, since Ted had suggested he was still seeing some other little girl in the end, I guess he didn't need Barney to keep him on that path at all.

Robin's "problem" was mildly entertaining.  After showing us this ridiculous song and dance number about how she receives free stuff all the time for being "beautiful," it was a nice contrast to see her being invisible.  Also, it was interesting that she was willing to learn to pay for everything as long as it wasn't alcohol.  Apparently that was taking it too far.  I liked that she accepted that it was far better to just have eyes for Barney than to get free stuff, especially when Barney could fetch her a drink any time she wanted.  The best thing about Robin's story was when Marshall was explaining her invisibility in Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter terms, and Robin wasn't getting it.  She respectively called the first explanation tailored for "nerds" and the second for "virgins."  I don't know why someone who was a cheesy Canadian pop star thinks she is so high on the cool scale.  Please.

I could have done without Marshall and Lily's little thing about the bracelet.  Although, it's sort of funny that Marshall was turned on by Lily being in mom jeans and the fantasy of her being a typical mom.  That's so Marshall.

I guess I liked this episode in terms of Barney and Robin getting used to the idea of being unavailable.  It's not the first time Barney's been engaged, but I suppose it's the first time he's felt like it's a sure thing, so I can see him needing to go through a process before becoming a married man.  Ted needs to stop wasting his time with little girls.  I say that, but he is less annoying when he's dating for fun than when he's moping around because he's failed to find his soul mate.  Still, since we know that anyone he's seeing up until the wedding is just a pitstop on the way to his wife, his dating life seems less appealing to watch.  Next time, I just wish they would skip ahead a few months to where the wedding is just around the corner.  I'm way too eager to get a glimpse of this mystery woman.

Nick From The Future

New Girl, S02E02

Jess embraced her freedom from employment by creating a few new identities that she used to hook up with a couple different guys.  Nick met a man who claimed to be him from the future.  Schmidt tried to get into the pants of Winston's sister while she and her mother were visiting.

This episode wasn't quite as funny as the first one, but it was still pretty good.  Schmidt and Winston's story was just as about entertaining as Jess pretending to be someone she wasn't all for the sake of what she thought were some no-strings attached hook-ups.  Those weren't horrible stories, but Nick thinking that a random man at his bar was Future Nick was the funniest of them all.

What I liked best about the Schmidt and Winston story was when Schmidt was bragging to Winston how he was going to do disgusting things to his sister and had no idea that Winston's mother was standing in the room.  But points to Schmidt for still being Schmidt and not letting it deter him in the least and hugging Mama Winston right there.  I loved her reaction to that.

[Winston's mother] You gonna take care of this?

[Winston] He's dead to me.

Thankfully, because I think it's creepy for Schmidt to go after Winston's sister, nothing really came out of his advances (so far, I guess).  As far as Jess' story went, all of her lies came crashing down when all of the guys interested in her came together in one bathroom (and you can kinda include Nick in that category as well).  I didn't mind her pretending for the sake of getting some, but what was annoying was that Nick thought that Jess was interested in Bearclaw.  Ugh!  Seriously, Nick??  But it was funny that Nick was so into Bearclaw, in a way, that he was trying to comfort the guy after he found Jess making out with another guy in a bathroom stall.  Nick is such a mess that it distracted me from the mess that Jess was currently in.  However, it was nice that the guy she pretended to meet online was still interested in at least sleeping with her.  A win is a win.  And with her being jobless at the moment, that's better than nothing.

Oh, but I did love at the beginning where Jess showed them a portrait she had done of the guys.  That was creepy in a humorous way, mostly because they guys looked so friendly and happy to be with each other in the picture.  I couldn't even imagine those guys posing for a picture like that unless they were all drunk or high.  It's too bad they all hated it because I think it adds to their apartment, which doesn't have that much style to begin with.

The best thing about the Nick story was simply that the old man was able to convince Nick (as stupid as he is in the first place) that he was really himself from the future.  I mean, what kind of person does that?  Who has the time to stalk someone and then claim to be an older version of them?  Obviously, since the man ran outside to a cardboard-made time machine, he was out of his mind, but the man had a clear understanding of Nick beyond what any stranger should have been able to have.  Then again, maybe it just suggests that Nick's personality is pretty close to one of a mentally disturbed homeless man.  If anything, I think it should make Nick take a hard look at himself and think about ways for improvement again.

I think it was also funny that even I was starting to believe that the guy was Nick from the future (even though it's not that kind of scifi show) when he was able to argue such compelling evidence:

[Future Nick] Well, I know you didn't shower this morning.
[Nick] Good guess--it's a Wednesday.

Then it was strange that Nick found felt like he could see why he wasn't the best conversationalist:

[Future Nick] Hey, tell her you’re sorry.
[Nick] What for?
[Future Nick] You’ll find out.
[Nick] I mean, I’m sure I did something stupid,but what did I do?
[Future Nick] You just tell her you’re sorry.
[Nick] What did I do?
[Future Nick] You did something stupid.  So tell her you’re sorry.
[Nick] Now I know why people get annoyed with me.  It’s hard to talk to us.

I'm almost a little disappointed that he didn't turn out to be Future Nick, but he was nonetheless wise in the case of dealing with Jess.  He might have been crazy, but I think his brand of crazy responded well to Nick's and that's why he was able to give him advice.  I wonder if he'll ever show up again?  I liked that he played with Nick's mind a little bit.

I liked this episode, but I'm about ready for Jess to get herself a new job already.  Realistically, it shouldn't happen with the snap of the fingers, but this is television, so I can expect things to move a little quicker than real life.  I'd love to see more things where Nick is being fooled by obvious lies like a future version of himself coming to see him.  It reinforces that sort of innocent side that Nick has despite his pretty cynical view of the world.  What I wouldn't like to see is Schmidt get anywhere with Winston's sister.  It was hard enough to stomach him doing Cece--I'd prefer his conquests to be more random girls I couldn't possibly care about one way or the other.