Monsters of Television

“Okay, if you were new in town and just ingested an eighth of sandwich, where would you go?”

Scooby-Doo references abound.

I know. You’re all pretty confused because this review totally has a picture. “Where’s Noel?” you cry. “Who is this Philistine? What else does he review? Chuck? What does he know about quality television? He’s not even a GRAD student.”

First of all, calm down. Second, quality television is a very problematic phrase (see, that totally made you feel more comfortable, didn’t it?). Third, we’ll take it slow-like. I’ll try not to let my verbosity interfere with Noel’s succinct style. Also, I could’ve been a pretty awesome grad student if Bazin and Barthes didn’t make me so sleepy.

This week on How I Met Your Mother, we go to the well over and over again.

“A Change of Heart” might have felt very familiar to you because we kind of already did this. Remember when Barney got sick and Robin had to take care of him? Or when Barney fell in love with Robin? Or how Lilly is his only confidante? Yeah, that’s all here again with Nora. It’s like the same thing except not as ill-advised as the first time.

We’re also starting to come out of the shadow of Mr Erikson’s death (though it sparks the whole heart theme) and we get a Barney-dominated episode where instead of cracking wise, NPH gets a chance to flex his deeply-flawed and -damaged character, even if we’ve already seen it before.

Though maybe we shouldn’t look at it like it’s tread territory and look at it like a do-over. Right?

The problem with Barney and Robin was that they were friends and ingrained in their all-important, never-to-be-divided group. Barney couldn’t be a jackass to Robin because just being part of that clique encourages him to do the “right thing” at any given time (lest we upset the delicate balance like Ted was wont to do). To me, that was kind of a cop-out. Barney is too deeply flawed to be a white knight. That’s kind of why this stuff with Nora is a triumph for the story. With the lack of familiarity, Barney can lie (or not lie?) and be tormented. His being emotionally-stunted would not be allowed with Robin in the group-dynamic but with Nora, he’s allowed to explore the depths of his intimacy issues.

The single best part of the episode is Barney not being able to go inside the brunch spot. He has the plan, he has the confidence, he has the perfect thing to say, and, yet, he can’t pull himself together enough to execute (something else Barney is probably not used to). Way to pull back. They show us his plan and the perfect execution, where he explains his epiphany and comes clean about how he feels, even if how he feels is muddled. It’s not until we realize that’s all in his mind’s eye that we understand that that’s just not Barney. Sorry, guys. He’s into winning. And settling down with a beautiful, intelligent, nuanced young woman is not winning. Or at least that’s what the old boy has to contend with.

Meanwhile, the B-story involves everyone else and a boy named Scooby. Since Robin isn’t getting any (19 weeks now?), she subs in a guy that kind of acts like a dog. And he brings sandwiches. And pees on hydrants. Lots of dog references, including one of their infamous riffing scenes (where the group, in turn, spits every imaginable punchline to a certain situation). That the guy’s name is Scooby and everyone (but Robin) gets high on “sandwiches” (which, despite the claims of the animators, has to be the Mystery Machine’s euphemism for weed, too, with how often Shaggy and Scooby wander off and find the world’s largest stockpiles of lunch meat) pounds a correlation that should not be lost on you. All in all, this is a pretty nothing episode outside of Barney’s “left outside” scene.

What you can/might take from this episode:

• Nora is not the Mother. Probably. I thought for a brief moment that she might since it took a while for Nora to meet Ted (they finally did this episode) and her heavy discussion of marriage would really sync up with Ted’s ideal wife. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. And she doesn’t look like the woman Ted bumps into at the bar in “No Tomorrow” so I’m still holding out for that.
• Robin’s dry spell is probably based on something other than guys not asking her out. Because it’s Robin. And, if I could, I would make myself two-dimensional and enter my television to help her out with the dry spell. I would do the same thing with Cobie Smulders but I’m trying not to be a home-wrecker here. I have some class.
• Anytime anyone talks about there being an odd-number wheel (Robin is the 7th Wheel here), you should consider The Legend.

Some questions:

• Do you think Barney gets over his intimacy issues by the end of the season and escalates it so quickly (to compensate) that it’s his wedding at the end of the season? Or does everyone still think it’s Robin’s (given that they had that whole best man talk)?
• Also, are we in agreement that Ted’s buddy, Punchy, is a total red herring?

And a tangentially-related thought:

• Ted as a character is making me sad lately. I’m not sure why. Maybe he’s just lacked the oomph he used to have, taking a back seat to the rest of the cast. I don’t know. I think I’m going to go see Josh Radnor’s movie (Happythankyoumoreplease) out of Ted solidarity.