How I Met Your Mother "The Rebound Girl" Review

There's an old cliché about putting your best foot forward. Usually, the cliché is used in business, during courtships, and in creative pursuits. The most common advice an aspiring screenwriter receives follows along with that boring cliché about putting one's best foot forward. Write what you know and make it compelling. I wonder if the old cliché makes the rounds in the television industry. TV shows always take a break following the sweeps period. I would think it'd be in the best interest of the writers and the network to put their best foot forward before a long break. Now, I'm sure HIMYM has, at least, two episodes to air before it leaves the airwaves until mid-to-late January 2012. Still, "The Rebound Girl" sucked alot. I knew some sort of surprise awaited the audience in the final scene of the episode. I just wasn't sure what the surprise would be. A cliff-hanger wasn't enough to save "The Rebound Girl" from a paragraph or two of criticism, though. No, the episode did not put its best foot forward (in case anyone wanted a complete paragraph).

Ted and Barney were feeling mopey and miserable because their respective love lives have been less than successful. Ted's reunion with Victoria lasted long enough for her to tell him that the friendship between he, Barney and Robin won't work in the long-term. The slutty pumpkin didn't meet his expectations. Barney, meanwhile, broke up with Nora to be with Robin; however, that didn't happen. Robin chose Kevin. So, Barney and Ted drank plenty of alcohol together in the bar. They shared in their misery and agreed to find something other than a woman to make them happy. The bros contemplated a homosexual lifestyle until an attractive woman walked past the booth and reminded them of their heterosexuality. Somehow, Barney and Ted mutually agreed to adopt a child and help the other raise said child.

I wouldn't be surprised if Carter Bays and Craig Thomas admitted that story isn't the most important aspect of How I Met Your Mother. Their actors and actresses are incredibly talented people. Radnor and Segal could probably write a better series than their show runners. Neil Patrick Harris could run Broadway if he wanted to. When the writers broke the Barney-Ted story for "The Rebound Girl," I doubt the writers asked themselves why Barney and Ted would want to raise a child together. I know, I know...both men discussed how they thought they'd be married with children by now (I don't buy it from Barney but whatever). Naturally, their thought process led them to adopting a baby. I'll write more about the kid angle in a bit. First, I'll argue that Bays and Thomas wrote this story because they wanted to see NPH and Josh Radnor adopt a different kind of gender role, thought it'd be delightful place the characters in domestic squabbles, etc. Both actors played their roles well. Ted eventually realized the impossibility of their adoption plan. The whole story fizzled out, never to be spoke of again (I hope).

Barney learned that Robin's with child just before the episode faded to black. I ranted in the past about the roundabout way of storytelling in HIMYM. Instead of Barney simply opening up to Ted about what he wants and how he feels, especially after Robin completely burned him, the writers chose the annoying route. The cartoon-like hijinx between Barney and Ted existed to hit the same beats that would've been hit in a heart-to-heart conversation between two friends whose friendship will inevitably change before season's end. Robin acted like a mad woman throughout the episode because she didn't want her friends to move to Long Island. Marshall tried to figure out why, but she wouldn't say. Instead, she complimented the cheese spread, and Marshall asked her if he made a mistake by opting against a career in ghostbusting. Robin saved the truth for the father of the baby-to-be, and they sat in silence. After all of that nonsense, it turns out that Barney will get what he wants after all--a wife and a child. No doubt the path towards that inevitable moment will be annoying, as everything involving Barney and Robin has been.

Lily and Marshall were going to sell the home in Long Island until they realized how nice and spacious the home is. I enjoyed the jokes about Long Island. My family and I almost moved to Long Island when I was 3 or 4 (I can't imagine a life in which I actively root for the Islanders, Mets, Knicks, and Jets). I don't know why I wrote that last sentence. Anyway, Lily and Marshall decided to buy the home. The actual purchase of the house hasn't happened, which suggests the couple won't move into a spacious home. The writers would have to brainstorm different ways to bring the gang together. The geography wouldn't make their jobs easy. The story barely differed from the very same house story we witnessed a couple of episodes ago.

HIMYM seems poised to make significant progress in its narrative. A baby's coming; another baby is coming; a marriage will happen; Ted will meet the mother at the wedding. I'm sure more nonsense will happen between then and now. The series still needs to tell the story of how Ted wound up in a dress at a casino. "The Rebound Girl" did suck, but the future's promising for this veteran sitcom.

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