10.15.2012

The "How I Met Your Mother" Paradox (SPOILERS)



By Spence Blazak

            How I Met Your Mother viewership has hit a sudden surge over the past year, making it the most popular it has ever been in its 8 season run. Part of HIMYM’s draw is its unconventional narrative timeline that frequently jumps between different points in the story and points of view, its episodes that are satirizing Friends, and its compelling story. Since the beginning of season 7, the dynamic of the show changed into something I like to call “The HIMYM Paradox.”
            There was always a realm of mystery to the show. The setup was too good to resist: 2005’s Ted Moseby has a terrible love life, but the tale of how he meets “the one” is told to his children many years in the future. No one except him knows the how, when, where, or even what parts of his story are real. One of the most interesting dynamics of the show is how Ted falls in love with a woman named Robyn in the pilot, before immediately blowing it with her and guaranteeing to the audience that she is not the mother. As seasons go by, the viewers can’t help but wonder….is Ted lying?
            Not anymore. At the end of season 6, it is revealed that Ted meets the mother at the loveable character Barney’s wedding, and at the end of season 7, it is revealed that Barney is marrying Robyn. While it was a natural plot progression to move towards a point where the series can end, the problem is that this put every single character into limbo. Too much is known about the end game to keep it going for a satisfying 8th (and possibly 9th) season.
            At the beginning of season 8, Barney is engaged to the stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold Quinn, and by the second episode they have broken up. This leaves all of the viewers saying “…so?” You know he winds up with Robyn so…in the words of Peter Griffin, “Who the hell cares?” It was known from the beginning of the season that the relationship was headed for disaster. It doesn’t really work poetically either, but just serves as a moment to spur a looking at of one’s watch, waiting for the two Ted chronologies to catch up with one another.
            Another problem is that the characters of Marshall, Lily, and Ted are in a dramatic stand still. You know that everything Ted does is doomed in everything he pursues until he goes to Barney’s wedding, and Marshall and Lily have achieved all of their goals, are happy, and…don’t really have much a purpose anymore. Jason Segel (who portrays Marshall) has been achieving huge big screen success and has made it to the A-List, causing him to look like the quarterback that got a full ride to Alabama that is just waiting out his senior year of high school in a bunch of electives.
            The way that How I Met Your Mother can save itself is to make this its last season, break it off between Ted and Victoria in an interesting fashion that furthers his character, and keep Barney from dating Robyn again for awhile, instead throwing him into an existential crisis of some sort that matures his character. But the most important thing that the show can do, all fans can agree on….the bringing back of Ranjit the cab driver to be a regular for the last season.
Ted has gone from mild mannered architect to beacon of hope for a generation of lovelorn single men, so for his and everyone’s sake, let’s hope he meets the mother soon.

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