How I Met Your Mother resumed its run with the 5th season premiere “Definitions,” in which Robin and Barney are reluctant to have “the talk” about their relationship and Ted begins teaching architecture.
Recap of “Definitions”
At the end of last season, Barney declared his love for Robin and she reciprocated. The audience learns that they have spent the summer hooking up, but not talking about their relationship, as they are both commitment-phobes who would rather not have the conversation. They have disappointed Lily with their lack of commitment and throughout the episode she pushes them to have the talk in hopes that it will lead to a relationship.
After many attempts to convince them to talk, Lily removes the doorknob to Robin’s room and locks Barney and Robin in. A comedic scene unfolds in which Marshall and Lily are outside the room communicating with the non-couple via notes, steadfastly holding their ground until they have the talk. However, Robin and Barney decide to lie in order to get out of the room. They agree that they are best at lying, not relationships or even being friends, and tell Marshall and Lily that they are dating so they will be set free.
After Robin and Barney leave, Ted asks Lily if she knew that they were lying, she suggests that she did, and tells Ted that Barney and Robin don’t know that they weren’t really lying. The Barney/Robin episode arc concludes when they go to brunch; a violation of one of Barney’s rules to keep a girl from becoming your girlfriend, and alluding to the audience that they are well on their way to becoming a couple.
Ted has spent the summer eagerly awaiting the start of his new job teaching architecture, however as the start of term draws closer, he gets more and more nervous. The main question Ted struggles with is what kind of professor he would like to be – serious or laid back and cool. The comedic high point of Ted’s storyline is when he realizes that he has been making a fool of himself in front of an economics class, mistakenly thinking that he is in the right room. He would have known that he was in the wrong classroom if he had allowed questions from students, but he does not, in an effort to cultivate an air of seriousness and strictness in front of his new students. Eventually, Ted makes it to his classroom – 20 minutes late – and finds his groove.
A Viewer’s Reaction to “Definitions”
How I Met Your Mother has returned with the same humour and writing style that we have come to expect from the show, however it is not without its flaws.
Towards the end of last season, and so far during this season, Marshall and Lily are chronically underused. Although all the characters have high and low points in terms of their relevance each season, HIMYM’s resident couple have not had a substantive plotline for some time, instead serving as the comedic foils for the other three characters. Off the top of the head, the last noteworthy plotline the writers explored with Marshall and Lily was their wedding. It would be nice to see further developments in their personal and professional lives.
Thus far, the romantic tension between Robin and Barney has not been very believable – it is easy to still think of them as friends. Although they seem to have much more in common than Ted and Robin, the latter were more believable and complicated as a partnership. However, it is still the early days for Robin and Barney, hopefully the writers will figure out a way to craft their story to give it a more believable and nuanced direction.
Ted’s teaching storyline has the potential to be very well done, but they should focus a little less on the goofy jokes and more on what happens with his new career. Although the show is known and loved for its humour, more could have been done with our first look at Ted’s first day. The story seemed a bit eclipsed by the Barney/Robin plotline and one too many jokes about Ted trying to decide what kind of professor he wants to be. Clearly an important move in Ted’s professional and personal life, fans will be anxious to see his storyline fully fleshed out.
How I Met Your Mother airs on Monday nights at 8/7c on CBS.
Allison McNeely - Allison McNeely is a Toronto based freelance writer. A recent graduate of McGill University, Allison is a political junkie and avid ...
