The How I Met Your Mother Blog

Just so new viewers don’t think this is some politically motivated website, here’s an animated gif of Robin doing a victory dance. Thanks to Blarg for sending this in. It’s like 5mb so it might take a second.

While I was patiently waiting my turn to meet and chat with the cast, I watched them give interviews last week. I didn’t realize those interviews were for TV Guide. Check them out:

Neil Patrick Harris:
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Josh Radnor:
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Alyson Hannigan:
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Cobie Smulders:
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Carter Bays and Pam Fryman:
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Read more about that night, from TV Guide’s point of view and see all their How I Met Your Mother coverage.

The invitation came without solicitation. Well, that’s not entirely true. I had added Carter Bays and Charlene Amoia as friends on Facebook and, to my surprise, they not only confirmed but Charlene sent me a nice note thanking me for the site. I wrote her back and in a fit of confidence offered to buy her a beer the next time she was in New York. Proving how legendary she really is she did me one better: “How would you like to attend a party in New York tomorrow with Carter Bays, Pam Fryman, and the cast?” I would like that very much I told her.

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First, you guys are awesome for holding back about this in the main episode recap. I really wanted to know everyone’s opinions on the finale in general so I appreciate it. I’ll have to watch it again tonight but all your positivity has made me realize I was perhaps too harsh. That being said…

What was up with the long lingering stare from Barney to Robin? I know they’ve made little references here and there, but that was a big, flashing-light signal. I have to say, I loved it.

All season Robin’s been in the background. She really only dated three guys that we saw, and none of them were anything serious. She’s been relegated to the occasional goofy Canada joke and laying down the razor’s edge wit that makes her so damn hot. But look again: slowly all season she’s been looking better and better (I’m amazed each week they trump the previous episode.) It’s almost as if we the viewers are falling for her in real time as Barney does. She’s the girl in the group that was always one of the guys until you realize you’re comparing every other woman to her. This slow burn has earned the creators the right to use this plot shift. And I thought it was all build up to the end of Sandcastles in the Sand. I think RoBarn has only just begun.

I’ve said many times before that I wouldn’t like to see Barney in a relationship; that the best part about his character is the balance of a despicable Lothario with a heart of gold. Seeing him as a foil for both Marshall and Ted made each character richer. For all those reasons I felt like anything between him and another girl would seem awkward and something between him and Robin might seem forced, something for her to do since she’s no longer with Ted. In short, I wasn’t a fan.

Now I’m coming around. Consider the following:

• Neil Patrick Harris kicks ass. We know that in real life NPH is not Barney. I think the sly wit is there, as well as the charm, but he’s much more of a kinder, gentler person. He’s also a phenomenal actor. I have utter faith in him as a performer that any new development would serve only to add depth and breadth to the character, not to cheapen it. In dramatic shows, characters are expected to change and grow. HIMYM has already proved a sitcom can be much more than the stereotype, why wouldn’t it also prove that real character growth is possible in the half-hour format?
• The writers love Cobie Smulders as much as we do. When was the show firing on all its cylinders the best? Whenever they were writing a story that had Ted and Robin falling in love. Smulders seems to be their muse, and all of the best moments have involved her and Ted. If it’s her and Barney, that gives the writers an opportunity to do it all again, but this time with wit and sarcasm where once there was sappy romance. In other words, we could possibly see another long courtship that is as awesome as the night of broing out in Zip, Zip, Zip.
• Robin is a different person. We’ve seen her character change the most from the beginning of the series. She’s now more sensitive, forthcoming with her feelings, and she seems to have gotten over a lot of her issues in the past that held her back. I think she’s ready for this plot just as much as Barney is.

All that being said, I don’t expect Barney and Robin to turn into LAME. I think they’ll have their own hilarious issues and if they do date, they’ll be the couple that always seems to make the most jokes at the other’s expense.

On the other hand, they could not get together at all. They could have a really casual on-again, off-again thing happening. I think it’s safe to assume the only thing we won’t see is a repeat of season one where Barney suddenly turns into Ted trying to win Robin’s heart. All the other possibilites seem plausible, and awesome.

What do you think?

Cobie Smulders, the youngest cast member and fellow ’82er, turns 26 today. As a teenager, Cobie caught the eye of a modeling agency, which led to several years of world travel to places such as France, Japan, Italy, Greece, and Germany. Yet even as Cobie’s modeling career was on the rise, she still managed to attend school, graduating from high school in 2000 with honors.

In Cobie’s honor, here is a short bio:

Date of Birth

April 3, 1982, Vancouver, British Columbia

Birth Name

Jacoba Fransisca Maria Smulders (Editor’s note: WTF!?!?!)

Height

5′ 9″ (1.75 m)

Trivia

• Former model.
• Was voted “Most Respected” by her classmates her senior year in high school.
• Participated in various sports as a teenager including tennis, swimming and soccer. (Editor’s note: not field hockey)
• While announcing his departure from the long-awaited Wonder Woman feature, Joss Whedon joked that she was his choice to play Princess Diana of Themiscyra (Wonder Woman herself)