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How I Met Your Mother Review: “The Autumn Of Break-Ups” (Season 8, Episode 5)

After a two week hiatus, the second of which was an unexpected delay due to Hurricane Sandy, How I Met Your Mother was back tonight as the group continued The Autumn Of Break-Ups.

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It was a bit of an off-week for Lily and Marshall, as they really only came into play to give Ted advice. While Marshall searching for his inner goddess in hopes of one day receiving a “testify!” was amusing, there wasn’t much to really laugh at out of these two until the bit where Marshall goes rogue, giving horrible advice to tons of women at the bar. Because of course, if you slept together on spring break three and a half years ago, it certainly means something, and the guy who loves to shop and never pesters for sex has to be a keeper.

That being said, hopefully that couple will take a more dominant role in the upcoming weeks. Maybe it’s just because past seasons have set the bar so high, but so far, Lily and Marshall with a kid has been a huge downer for the show. Maybe that’s another intentional commentary on what happens when friends have kids, but regardless, we need to have an episode focused on them, proving yet again that they’re TV’s most awesome couple.

Nick and Robin were also relatively missing from this episode. We finally got a small bit of information about Nick in that he hosts a public access cooking show, but other than the few short moments of him searching for his catch-phrase (“Who’s popping a chub for some grub?”) they were absent.

In the time we did see Nick, he grew on me quite a bit. He seems like a really good guy for Robin, and he was actually understanding of her having close guy friends, which historically her boyfriends have not been. Even with his growth this episode, I predict the third break-up of the fall happens next week.

This week How I Met Your Mother did a much better job at balancing humor and plot, providing a step closer to meeting the mother, yet not being bogged down by purely emotional scenes lacking any laughs. However, for any episodes to hit the next level in the coming weeks, Lily and Marshall have to be more involved.

Other Random Notes

  • Yes, you saw that right. Barney had some tongue on tongue action with a dog.
  • The best pretentious Ted line we’ve had in a long time came tonight when Victoria asked if it was ridiculous that she was offered a job offer in Denver. Ted replies that of course it is since “The high altitude would affect the density of the pastries.”
  • The name of the guy Marshall says is a keeper is Clifford. Another dog reference for the episode or mere coincidence?
  • Robin’s epiphany about her lesbian aunt was great.
  • I’m interested in those Mosby Brothers novels, but only if the focus is Squirrelock Holmes.
  • Hopefully next week we get another one of Ted’s awesome break-up beards.

Check back next week for my thoughts on the next episode in the eighth season of How I Met Your Mother.