And That's The Way The Cookie Crumbles
May. 20th, 2011 09:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taluminWe just watched the final three episodes of How I Met Your Mother for this season. I don't have a great deal of thoughts on the episodes per se, but I do have some on the show in general and the way I am 80% certain the ultimate scene will go (that being, when Ted finally meets the kids' mother).
I'll admit I wasn't on board with this show from the beginning. I figured it was a basic sitcom with a gimmick and Alyson Hannigan. The Girl was addicted and soon enough I got hooked too. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing and the setting and basically everything about it, down to the unreliable narrator and somewhat whimsical nature. It now has one of my stand out OT3s, but more on that in a later post.
This season was really great. The episode where Marshall's dad died? Outstanding. I remember watching it and picking up on the countdown to the news when it got to nine. I've been told that the countdown began much, much earlier, but that's when I got this chill when I noticed the numbers decreasing. I sat straight up and started pawing at the Girl's arm saying, "Something's happening, something's going on oh my god what is happening what is this I don't even?" Any show that can get that reaction out of me gets a thumbs up.
Let's talk about Barney for a little bit. This season saw him discover who his father was, and try to form some sort of bond with him. This show has a lot about fathers, you know. I was talking to the Girl about this last night, so she's already heard all of this (and I'll steal some of what she said and claim it for my own, because that's what couples do), but I think one of the strengths of How I Met Your Mother is that they've established very clear characters and put them in recognisable situations, rather than having cookie cutter characters who get put in stock situations. Anyway, about Barney; I was reading 'The Ethical Slut' and there is a section on 'unethical sluts' - that is, people who lie and manipulate people to get sex, who treat partners as trophies and play relationships as a game they need to win, and it struck me that this is exactly who Barney is. He keeps score of how many women he sleeps with and constantly tries to one-up himself, in the bedroom and in life. Once he's successful, he doesn't care any more, and moves onto the next target.
Why? Because he has deep abandonment issues. Not just from his father leaving but also from his girlfriend leaving him for the suit guy. That's the turning point for him. That's when he makes the decision that no one is ever going to hurt him again. He creates lies to tell people so that they don't get close to him, he stages elaborate ruses and shows so he beats them before they can 'beat' him. He's rejecting them first, making it about him being too good for them. What's Barney's gimmick? Magic, the art of misdirection. Look over there, don't look at me. He really doesn't want people to see who he is. That's where all his lies and stories and things come into play. He makes these things up so it doesn't matter if people reject him - it's not really him. If he tells a woman his name is Ted Mosby, Architect and she shoots him down, who cares? She didn't reject Barney, she rejected Ted Mosby, Architect. And if his elegant plan with phases to get a woman in bed go sour, well, who cares, it was a just a game he was playing. By pretending to be someone else, he doesn't have to be Barney anymore. He's safe in being somebody else and the core 'Barney' is safe from pain.
This can be seen a few times through the series, that Barney has some emotional depth. What I love is that the writers are clearly aware of this, rather than having Barney be some generic guy who sleeps around (ie, Joey on Friends). He embodies the traits and fits the stereotype of the guy who likes to have random, casual sex and use a fake name to avoid awkwardness, but there's a very clear reason WHY he's like this, that isn't always there in other sitcoms, or if it is, is dealt with somewhat half-heartedly. Barney's issues are occasionally given focus, but dealt with directly, rather than looking at the symptoms. He sleeps with numerous women because he's unhappy, but that's not what we see. We see why he's unhappy without the connection to the lifestyle being made apparent.
In addition to the awesome subtlety that the show has in spades, I love the emphasis on continuity it has, something that is lacking in many sitcoms. Whether it's planned or whether it's something the writers liked and decided to bring back, it makes me feel warm and glowy inside. And now, that being said, I'm going to put into text exactly how I think the final scene of the grand finale will go.
INT: Barney and Robin's wedding
They've hooked up, however that happened, and have gotten married. It's the reception, and Barney's there with his family, doing the greeting thing. His mother's there, James, James's husband, their kid, Barney's dad and step mother, their kids - Barney's half brother and sister. Ted comes up to congratulate Barney and Robin.
Ted
Congratulations *insert Ted rambling here*
Barney
Thanks, man, that means a lot to us.
Robin
Thanks, Ted.
There's a moment between them, because let's face it, there always will be. Then Barney looks around at everyone.
Barney
I think you know everyone, right? My Mom, James, *James's husband*, my Dad, my other brother from another mother, and-
He taps his half-sister on her shoulder and she turns to face them. The camera does a slow zoom on Ted and then cuts to a slow zoom on Barney's half-sister as their eyes meet.
Barney
Hey, have you met Ted?
Ted (V.O.)
And that kids, is how I met your mother.
AM I RIGHT???
When Barney goes to meet his Dad and his family, we're told that his Dad has a daughter, but we don't meet her - because she's away at college. A college aged woman, like say, the woman who was in Ted's first lecture (the one he thought was architecture but was really economics, I think), and lived with Rachel Bilson while Ted was dating her! Why else have a character with so much potential and not use her?
Here, have a mop to clean up YOUR BLOWN MIND!! Come this time next year, all you guys are going to be like, "woah, dude, are a fucking psychic or something?" and I'll be like "nah, bro, I just see shit sometime, ya know?" And then we'll high five.
I'll admit I wasn't on board with this show from the beginning. I figured it was a basic sitcom with a gimmick and Alyson Hannigan. The Girl was addicted and soon enough I got hooked too. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing and the setting and basically everything about it, down to the unreliable narrator and somewhat whimsical nature. It now has one of my stand out OT3s, but more on that in a later post.
This season was really great. The episode where Marshall's dad died? Outstanding. I remember watching it and picking up on the countdown to the news when it got to nine. I've been told that the countdown began much, much earlier, but that's when I got this chill when I noticed the numbers decreasing. I sat straight up and started pawing at the Girl's arm saying, "Something's happening, something's going on oh my god what is happening what is this I don't even?" Any show that can get that reaction out of me gets a thumbs up.
Let's talk about Barney for a little bit. This season saw him discover who his father was, and try to form some sort of bond with him. This show has a lot about fathers, you know. I was talking to the Girl about this last night, so she's already heard all of this (and I'll steal some of what she said and claim it for my own, because that's what couples do), but I think one of the strengths of How I Met Your Mother is that they've established very clear characters and put them in recognisable situations, rather than having cookie cutter characters who get put in stock situations. Anyway, about Barney; I was reading 'The Ethical Slut' and there is a section on 'unethical sluts' - that is, people who lie and manipulate people to get sex, who treat partners as trophies and play relationships as a game they need to win, and it struck me that this is exactly who Barney is. He keeps score of how many women he sleeps with and constantly tries to one-up himself, in the bedroom and in life. Once he's successful, he doesn't care any more, and moves onto the next target.
Why? Because he has deep abandonment issues. Not just from his father leaving but also from his girlfriend leaving him for the suit guy. That's the turning point for him. That's when he makes the decision that no one is ever going to hurt him again. He creates lies to tell people so that they don't get close to him, he stages elaborate ruses and shows so he beats them before they can 'beat' him. He's rejecting them first, making it about him being too good for them. What's Barney's gimmick? Magic, the art of misdirection. Look over there, don't look at me. He really doesn't want people to see who he is. That's where all his lies and stories and things come into play. He makes these things up so it doesn't matter if people reject him - it's not really him. If he tells a woman his name is Ted Mosby, Architect and she shoots him down, who cares? She didn't reject Barney, she rejected Ted Mosby, Architect. And if his elegant plan with phases to get a woman in bed go sour, well, who cares, it was a just a game he was playing. By pretending to be someone else, he doesn't have to be Barney anymore. He's safe in being somebody else and the core 'Barney' is safe from pain.
This can be seen a few times through the series, that Barney has some emotional depth. What I love is that the writers are clearly aware of this, rather than having Barney be some generic guy who sleeps around (ie, Joey on Friends). He embodies the traits and fits the stereotype of the guy who likes to have random, casual sex and use a fake name to avoid awkwardness, but there's a very clear reason WHY he's like this, that isn't always there in other sitcoms, or if it is, is dealt with somewhat half-heartedly. Barney's issues are occasionally given focus, but dealt with directly, rather than looking at the symptoms. He sleeps with numerous women because he's unhappy, but that's not what we see. We see why he's unhappy without the connection to the lifestyle being made apparent.
In addition to the awesome subtlety that the show has in spades, I love the emphasis on continuity it has, something that is lacking in many sitcoms. Whether it's planned or whether it's something the writers liked and decided to bring back, it makes me feel warm and glowy inside. And now, that being said, I'm going to put into text exactly how I think the final scene of the grand finale will go.
INT: Barney and Robin's wedding
They've hooked up, however that happened, and have gotten married. It's the reception, and Barney's there with his family, doing the greeting thing. His mother's there, James, James's husband, their kid, Barney's dad and step mother, their kids - Barney's half brother and sister. Ted comes up to congratulate Barney and Robin.
Congratulations *insert Ted rambling here*
Barney
Thanks, man, that means a lot to us.
Robin
Thanks, Ted.
There's a moment between them, because let's face it, there always will be. Then Barney looks around at everyone.
I think you know everyone, right? My Mom, James, *James's husband*, my Dad, my other brother from another mother, and-
He taps his half-sister on her shoulder and she turns to face them. The camera does a slow zoom on Ted and then cuts to a slow zoom on Barney's half-sister as their eyes meet.
Hey, have you met Ted?
Ted (V.O.)
And that kids, is how I met your mother.
AM I RIGHT???
When Barney goes to meet his Dad and his family, we're told that his Dad has a daughter, but we don't meet her - because she's away at college. A college aged woman, like say, the woman who was in Ted's first lecture (the one he thought was architecture but was really economics, I think), and lived with Rachel Bilson while Ted was dating her! Why else have a character with so much potential and not use her?
Here, have a mop to clean up YOUR BLOWN MIND!! Come this time next year, all you guys are going to be like, "woah, dude, are a fucking psychic or something?" and I'll be like "nah, bro, I just see shit sometime, ya know?" And then we'll high five.
