Carrie Underwood guest stars as Tiffany, the pretty young thing currently stringing along Ted. The gang tries to warn Ted that Tiffany (who has a boyfriend) isn't into him. She just enjoys having Ted on the hook -- i.e. waiting in the wings, in case things go south with her beau. Barney nags Ted to walk away from Tiffany, at least until he finds out she is a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep, which he explains is the cutting-edge profession to which hot women are currently flocking. He then gives us the world history of hot girl professions, which I'll hit in tomorrow's weecap. Coincidentally, Ted has a woman on the hook -- Henrietta, the school librarian. He doesn't realize it until his friends point this out, but once he swears off Tiffany, he accidentally takes things too far with Henrietta, and has to break her heart to set her free.
Meanwhile, Marshall finds out that Lily's high school sweetheart, Scooter, is working in her school cafeteria. Lily still has Scooter on the hook. She keeps trying to free him, but when he looks at her with his puppy dog eyes, she can't bear to hurt him. Finally, Marshall brings home an adorable teacup pig (explanation in weecap) and tells Lily to practice letting it off the hook. Once she masters that, Lily does the same to Scooter, but he's so sweet and vulnerable, that every time Lily tells Scooter there can never be anything between them, Marshall ends up adding the hookish, "For now."
And for now, I'm sitting here wondering if HIMYM is just keeping me on the hook. They can't tell me who the mother is. Right now. Barney and Robin aren't meant to be together. Right now. Stunt casting is important for ratings. Right now. Yeah, well, overly broad writing is turning me off. Right now.
Check back tomorrow for the full weecap, the end tag. In the meantime, come on over to the forum, where you're always off the hook.
After hitting up the forums, add "hooked" to our HIMYM Dictionary!
Saget!Ted opens the show by narrating (to stock footage of his kids) that although in most of his stories he's the starry-eyed romantic, this time, he's just the jerk. Just this time? And don't worry, Ted, you're not the only one feeling like a jerk, but more on me, later. You ready? Okay.
MacLaren's: Ted's into this new girl Tiffany (Carrie Underwood), and he tells the gang that tonight's the night he is going to invite her up to his place to... see his antique camera collection. The guys discuss bait they've used (bait: that which a gentleman provides to a lady as an excuse to visit his place, so that they can both pretend they're not intending to have sex). Ted mentions vinyl records as a viable option. Marshall has used a "rap poster" (on Lily, who pleads youthful indiscretion; it was the first week of college and she was into the Wu-Tang Clan). Barney lectures that picking just the right bait is tricky. He has used a slot machine (too entertaining, per the flashback of his mark ignoring him), a trampoline (too dangerous, per the flashback of his mark getting carried out on a stretcher), but recently and most successfully, he's been using a teacup pig, whom we will henceforth call Teabagger. Ted's ready to scoff, but when Lily, Robin and even Marshall (so adorable) squeal in appreciation, he changes his scoff to a request to borrow Teabagger for his big night. Later, at Ted's Apartment, Tiffany squeals and swoons over Teabagger, but after Ted flirts with her and moves in for a kiss, she mentions someone else who would love the pig as well -- her boyfriend.
Tiffany dithers over whether or not the other guy (TOG) is actually her boyfriend or not. She then claims to really like Ted, and asks him to be patient. "I don't want to lose you, Big Brown Eyes." Ted might be swayed by that tripe, but it's no Teddy Westside (or T-Mos), if you ask me.
MacLaren's: When Ted fills the gang in on his evening with Tiffany, they laugh because she *so* has Ted on the hook. When Ted denies this, Robin says she's been on both sides -- hookee and... I don't have finish that, right? Marshall too has been on the hook, Lisa Walker's hook to be precise. Lily rolls her eyes and scowls as Marshall sets up his tale of woe. It was back in...
Ted and Henrietta cuddle. She feeds him chocolate cake. She gives him long, sensual foot rubs. Saget!Ted: "I'm not proud, kids."
Back at MacLaren's, Robin explains the psychology of keeping someone on the hook, for people new to this planet. "It's a nice little ego boost." Ted reminds her that she's keeping her cameraman, Mike (Don Nicolosi), on the hook, too. Robin denies it. We flash back to...
The Apartment: Robin is eating chocolate cake while Mike massages her feet. When he suggests taking it to the level, Robin says, "Well, if you're talking about doing my laundry, I'm on board." Mike says she's got herself a deal. Ted, who is sitting at his desk, rolls his eyes, in the background. Meanwhile, Scott and I give serious consideration to bringing Mike on as a third partner.
MacLaren's: When Robin won't accept the idea that she's keeping Mike on the hook., Ted tells her she is Captain Hook. I keep waiting for them to reference season one, but they don't. Instead, Robin says, "Dude, I'm a girl, okay? Our girl parts are like a spider web. Sometimes you're going to catch stuff you don't want." Marshall cringes. Lily shakes Robin off. I gag. Ted ignores the unfortunately worded comparison and tries to hammer home his point, but Robin brings the conversation back to Henrietta. Ted declares he's going to call her up and hang out with her tonight. "As friends!"
Henrietta's Home: Henrietta (Catherine Reitman) opens the door and when Ted gives her a casual, "Hey," she replies, "I love you." She quickly covers. Well, sort of. She offers him a foot rub and tries to tempt him by explaining she's been practicing on herself. Oy, I almost need to watch this from the hall. Henrietta mentions she "threw together" a few things to eat. Her "few things" include a fricking ice sculpture, people. Enough said.
Saget!Ted admits he should have known Henrietta was madly in love with him. But then, current-day Ted's phone rings. It's Tiffany, who wants to know if he'll be her date for a wedding this weekend. Ted asks her what she's doing right now. Henrietta says, "Oh, God," but Ted doesn't notice, on account of the huge hook obscuring his vision. Since Tiffany is free, Ted leaves Henrietta, her ice sculpture, her crudités, her cheese plate and other hors d'œuvre. With a "Take a rain check, pal?" and a punch on the arm, he's gone. As Henrietta rubs her sore arm, Saget!Ted opines: "What a jerk!" Once he's gone, Henrietta's adorable parents come out, hoping to meet Ted. Henrietta snips, "Yeah, something came up, okay, Mom?" After she stomps off to her room, Dad (Garrett Nichols) says, "I told you there was no Ted." Mom (Roz Witt) shakes her head. Off screen, Henrietta yells, "I heard that." Mom elbows Dad. Heh.
MacLaren's: Barney tells Robin, "Last night, I was with this Pharma-Girl who was so hot, you should call the doctor if you don't have an erection for more than four hours." To no one in particular he adds, "AM I RIGHT, PEOPLE?" If he doesn't watch it, I'm going to put in a big time-out, again. Robin feels me feeling her pain (or, at least, disgust). "Yeah, there's no people -- just the girl you most recently dated." Barney raises his drink, winks at her and clicks his tongue. Before anything more can come of this, beautiful Pharma-Girl Diana (Tiara Parker) brings the newest Pharma- Girl, Gladys (Valorie Hubbard) over to the booth to meet Barney. But Gladys, as her name suggests, isn't a pretty young thing. She's fair, fat and 40, or maybe even 50. Barney recoils in horror as he gets an eyeful of Gladys, who is telling him she represents "statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs." That would have worked better if Barney hadn't already mentioned his cholesterol, don't you think?
After Gladys and Diana go to get their "drink on," Barney cries to Robin about the fact that Pharma-Girls are no longer exclusively hot chicks. "It's the end of an era." When Robin tells Barney he's being overly dramatic, he says, "Am I? It starts out with a Gladys. thing you know, a couple of not-so-fabulous gay guys enter the ranks. And before you know it, Pharma-Girls look like the crew on a Southwest flight from Albuquerque to Little Rock." He slams his hand down on the pretzel bowl. "IT'S OVER!" Meanwhile, over at...
Henrietta's Place: Ted, still in his tuxedo, arrives at Henrietta's, to let her off the hook. The only problem is, he's not wearing his tuxedo jacket. On the way out of the hotel room, he grabbed TOG's. And TOG? He was serving as best man at the wedding Ted will never attend. And so, well, how to put it? The best man not only stands up with the groom, he often holds the ring for him, too. So wouldn't you know it? Right after Ted knocks on Henrietta's door, the ring magically jumps up and out of his jacket pocket and falls to the floor. Ted bends down on one knee to retrieve it. And of course, just then, Henrietta opens the door. She opens the door to find the object of her desire down on bended knee, holding out a huge, diamond engagement ring, and cries, "Yes!" before Ted can explain. Screeeeeeeeeeeeeech. Take the needle off the record.
I don't know what set me off. I mean, regardless of my note to the writers, I think the on-the-hook story is a workable idea for a HIMYM episode, but the execution did not sit well with me. Maybe it's because this season has already made me hyper-conscious of the hook in my mouth, so I can't help but feel like the episode is taking a shot at the fans. Aside from that, isn't hookedness a lesson people learn by the time they're in college or shortly thereafter? Aside from that, am I the only one who thought characterization was sacrificed at the altar of plot -- and sacrificed at the altar of plot for the sake of jokey-moments that weren't worth it? The cherry on top is, of course, the continuing and unbearable undoing of Barney. Must he morph into a shadow of the Fonz? Right after Barney found out Tiffany was a Pharma-Girl and Ted declared Pharma-Girl is "just a job," Barney's verbal gymnastics took me right out of the episode, and back to the Happy Days when Fonzie couldn't say he was wr-wr-wrong. That's pathetic. This show isn't Happy Days, and lately, it's not even feeling like it's HIMYM.
Regardless, I'll see you week for "Of Course," guest-starring J. Lo as the self-help author to whom Robin turns when she finds herself still angry with Barney. In the meantime, come on over to the forum, where you're always off the hook, but you may encounter some locker room talk.
In addition to HIMYM, Cindy McLennan covers The Vampire Diaries and Lost (talk about hooks) for TWoP. If you want to do her laundry, please email her at CynthiaMcLennan[at]gmail.com, or hook up with her on Twitter.
After hitting up the forums, add "hooked" to our HIMYM Dictionary.
St. Cloud, Minnesota; 1994: It's the sight gag that makes this scene work, so bear with me. Picture A Licky Boom Boom Down-era Marshall (without his overalls, and yet in dire need of a dermatologist). He tugs on his rattail and the awkward oozes like pus from his every pore as he giggles, blushes, stammers and asks Lisa (Brooke MacKenzie) to go out with him. She's seeing a guy who has a LeBaron convertible and an "in" at the roller rink, so she'd "hate to burn that bridge." Who wouldn't? Then, however, Lisa says Marshall can totally be her "secret boyfriend" -- who does all her homework for her. His head rocks back and forth. For dignity's sake, I hope he's having a seizure, but no. He's just getting his gleeful geek on. "A'ight!" Oh, Marshall. Before we cut away, he asks Lisa if she wants to see his rap poster.
MacLaren's: Lily denounces Marshall as a "poster whore," because this week, apparently, she is the reacher -- a reacher who is reaching so far that she's jealous of a moment that happened 15 years prior -- a moment in which Marshall was a romantic failure, no less. Marshall says Lisa strung him along until one...
Snowy Night; St. Cloud, Minnesota; 1994: Marshall goes to tell Lisa how much he loves her. In song. Lisa's not home, though. Marshall eventually falls asleep while waiting on her front porch. When he wakes, he and his guitar are covered with snow. The footprints tell him that Lisa walked right over him and into her house.
MacLaren's: Marshall says that was the lesson he needed to learn, in order to get off the hook. Ted insists that's not the deal with him and Tiffany. We flash back to the apartment, where Tiff, who is still holding Teabagger, tells Ted she's really into him, but she can't be with him... "right now." Back in the present, the gang tells Ted that "right now" is the on-the-hook catchphrase.
Lily says she thinks her old high school boyfriend, Scooter, is still on the hook for her. Marshall agrees, since Scooter (David Burtka; NPH's partner) showed up at their wedding and tried to win her back. It's then that Lily reveals Scooter is now working at her school cafeteria. In a flashback, Scooter, wearing a hairnet (with the knot in front) compliments Lily's dress, offers her some tater-tots and then mouths, "I love you." Back at MacLaren's, Marshall is upset that Lily never told him that Scooter was now working at her school. Lily says, "I've mentioned it tons of times: Lunch Lady Scooter." Marshall: "I thought that you were referring to some sort of long overdue device that carries around those poor, under-appreciated lunch ladies." Lily says that explains a lot. We flash back to...
DOWISETREPLA: Lily tells Marshall: "Lunch Lady Scooter was there, today." Marshall asks if she jumped on that thing and gave it a ride. Horrified, Lily says, "No!" Marshall: "Really? If it were me, I'd be riding that scooter all day long, until I broke that thang in half." We leave Lily to shudder and cringe and return to...
MacLaren's: Marshall says, "So those poor women still have to walk everywhere?" This would not be getting quoted were it not for JS's delivery, by the by. He then realizes he's lost the plot. "Wait! Scooter is working at your school?" He's not jealous, but he feels badly for Scooter, and tells Lily she has to make it clear that there's no chance for him... "So he can move on, and a real lunch lady can get her job back. Dayum." Lily has tried, but when she looks at Scooter's heartbroken face and puppy dog eyes, she feels so sorry for him, she always throws in the "Right now." Marshall can't believe she "right now-ed" Scooter and tells her it's time to set him free. She will, the day after tomorrow (tomorrow is Tijuana Tuesday in the caf, and Lily can't ruin it for Scooter).
Another Night at MacLaren's: Barney can't believe Ted is sitting around, hoping Tiffany will show up at the bar, when all she had said is that she would try to stop by. Ted says, "I'm not giving up on her." Saget!Ted narrates: "I should have given up on her." Ted: "This girl is special." Saget!Ted: "She was the devil." Ted: "Things are going to work out with Tiffany." Saget!Ted: "No they're not, dumbass." Barney thinks Ted should cut this poison out of his life...at least until she and all her hot, female co-workers stroll in, wheeling their wares behind them. At that point, Barney leans in toward his friend. "Hang onto this girl, Ted. Hang on and never let go!" Commercial.
After the break, Barney realizes that Tiffany and Co. are pharmaceutical sales reps. He tells Ted that it is the current cutting-edge profession to which hot girls are flocking. "Hot Pharma-Girl" was funny seven and a half years ago, when Heather Locklear played one on on Scrubs. But anyhow, Barney then gives Ted an abridged history of Hot Girl Jobs, starting 2.5 million years ago. Cutting-Edge Gatherer Girl (Underwood) approaches Hunter Barney. He grunts, "Homo Erectus," to her, and then turns to the camera with wink (and an audible twink). , Barney tells Ted, "As man mastered technology, the hottest profession of the day evolved." Sexy Nurse Underwood approaches the hospital bed of Wounded Soldier Barney. He says, "I'm pretty sure it's a hernia." He lifts his covers to give her an NC-17 peek. "Can you check again?" She gives him a Marilyn Monroe-esque smile and shrug. Barney twinks. "And then man took to the skies." , Mad Men Barney is a plane passenger. "And so hot women put on high heels and became stewardesses." Flight Attendant Underwood brings Mad Men Barney a martini. He says, "I am in the upright and locked position." She brings her hand to her chest as she laughs. Barney twinks before he drinks. Back in the bar, current-day Barney tells Ted: "And then man said, 'Life is hard. I should start taking lots of prescription drugs,' and so hot girls rolled into doctor's offices, looking sexy enough to render the very erection pills they peddle ironically redundant." So now, Pharma-Girls are today's hottest profession."
Tiffany saunters over to the booth, boops Ted on the nose and calls him Big Brown Eyes. In her presence, he has about as much couth as 1994 Marshall. When she reveals she still hasn't ditched her boyfriend, all Ted can think about is that she touched his nose. Once she struts off, Barney tells Ted he must ditch her and join him in the Pharma-Girl free-for-all. "Side effects may include loss of clothing; rug burn; shortness of breath; and sore abdominals the morning...what in the WORLD is up?" He raises his hand but Ted leaves him hanging as we cut to...
DOWISETREPLA: When Lily gets home, Marshall surprises her with Teabagger. After Lily squees and coos, Marshall makes her practice her cutting-loose speech on the pig, in order to harden her heart enough that she'll be able to set poor Scooter free. Lily tries her damnedest. She even dons Willow's Resolve-Face, but she can't do it. The pig is ridiculously cute, but I am Major Lee Annoyed by this episode, so I refuse to be manipulated. Right now. Marshall tells Lily to grow a pair. She apologizes to her husband; the pig is just so cute that she wants to cuddle him all day long. Marshall: "That's funny, I remember when you used to say the same thing about me." Lily insists she still does. Marshall: "Not as much, Lily. Not as much." Nothing gold can stay.
MacLaren's: Barney dances up to Ted. "Ain't no party like a Pharma-Girl party, 'cause a Pharma-Girl party don't stop!" And that one was barely funny when Michael Scott did it three and a half years ago. Barney has already hooked up with three of the women. "My cholesterol is down; my restless leg syndrome is cured; I've never felt more alive."
After Barney scurries off toward a new mark, Ted joins Robin, Marshall and Lily and shares his "great news." "Tiffany broke up with her boyfriend -- proof that I'm not on the hook." When Robin disagrees, he offers last night up as evidence. "First, we cuddled." In the flashback, Ted's all into it, while Tiffany is into the TV and the popcorn. "Then, we shared chocolate cake." Ted feeds it to Tiffany. "Then, well, I don't usually join in on 'locker-room talk,' but I gave her a pretty sensual foot rub." Robin correctly surmises that it went no further. Lily nails Ted as having made the chocolate cake for Tiff. Ted downplays it. "It was a mix." Lily says everyone has been on the hook and kept someone on the hook. Everyone nods, but I think Marshall is fronting on the kept part. Ted says he's never kept someone on the hook. Robin reminds him about Henrietta, from the university library, who's currently falling for Ted, hook, line and sinker. Ted argues that they're just friends. Robin laughs. "She is so on your hook." Ted says, "Absolutely not." Saget!Ted says, "She totally was." We flash back.
Ted and Henrietta cuddle. She feeds him chocolate cake. She gives him long, sensual foot rubs. Saget!Ted: "I'm not proud, kids."
Back at MacLaren's, Robin explains the psychology of keeping someone on the hook, for people new to this planet. "It's a nice little ego boost." Ted reminds her that she's keeping her cameraman, Mike (Don Nicolosi), on the hook, too. Robin denies it. We flash back to...
The Apartment: Robin is eating chocolate cake while Mike massages her feet. When he suggests taking it to the level, Robin says, "Well, if you're talking about doing my laundry, I'm on board." Mike says she's got herself a deal. Ted, who is sitting at his desk, rolls his eyes, in the background. Meanwhile, Scott and I give serious consideration to bringing Mike on as a third partner.
MacLaren's: When Robin won't accept the idea that she's keeping Mike on the hook., Ted tells her she is Captain Hook. I keep waiting for them to reference season one, but they don't. Instead, Robin says, "Dude, I'm a girl, okay? Our girl parts are like a spider web. Sometimes you're going to catch stuff you don't want." Marshall cringes. Lily shakes Robin off. I gag. Ted ignores the unfortunately worded comparison and tries to hammer home his point, but Robin brings the conversation back to Henrietta. Ted declares he's going to call her up and hang out with her tonight. "As friends!"
Henrietta's Home: Henrietta (Catherine Reitman) opens the door and when Ted gives her a casual, "Hey," she replies, "I love you." She quickly covers. Well, sort of. She offers him a foot rub and tries to tempt him by explaining she's been practicing on herself. Oy, I almost need to watch this from the hall. Henrietta mentions she "threw together" a few things to eat. Her "few things" include a fricking ice sculpture, people. Enough said.
Saget!Ted admits he should have known Henrietta was madly in love with him. But then, current-day Ted's phone rings. It's Tiffany, who wants to know if he'll be her date for a wedding this weekend. Ted asks her what she's doing right now. Henrietta says, "Oh, God," but Ted doesn't notice, on account of the huge hook obscuring his vision. Since Tiffany is free, Ted leaves Henrietta, her ice sculpture, her crudités, her cheese plate and other hors d'œuvre. With a "Take a rain check, pal?" and a punch on the arm, he's gone. As Henrietta rubs her sore arm, Saget!Ted opines: "What a jerk!" Once he's gone, Henrietta's adorable parents come out, hoping to meet Ted. Henrietta snips, "Yeah, something came up, okay, Mom?" After she stomps off to her room, Dad (Garrett Nichols) says, "I told you there was no Ted." Mom (Roz Witt) shakes her head. Off screen, Henrietta yells, "I heard that." Mom elbows Dad. Heh.
Out-of-Town Wedding Hotel Room: Ted, in a tuxedo, is pouring champagne (over strawberries) into crystal flutes, and hoping to take it to the level. When did this show become The Bachelor? Just then, Tiffany enters. Make that Tiffany and TOG. TOG (Jack: Jeff Leaf) is the best man, and Tiffany's ex. They've just gotten back together. Tiffany forget to tell Ted. TOG is not without pity. "You're Ted? Ouch... But I hear you make a mean chocolate cake." Ted fumes. Tiffany smiles, cluelessly. TOG sneers and lays his tuxedo jacket on the bed, to Ted's. Tiffany takes the two champagne flutes from Ted's still outstretched arms, squees about how great TOG is ("And, he's in a band...") drinks one, and hands the other to TOG.
DOWISETREPLA: Marshall encourages Lily to cut Teabagger loose, again. She fails at first, but when Marshall tells her to man up, she goes nose to snout with the pig, and does. "I don't want to be with you... ever." Marshall smiles. "Finish him!" Lily cringes. "We will never be together in any sort of sexual way, ever again." (Look for a reveal, coming to you in the future.) Marshall smiles. "Nice!" They nod at each other, and then their smiles fade. Marshall says, "Sort of a weird thing to say to a pig." Lily grimaces and nods. "Oh, really wrong." Amen.
Out-of-Town Wedding Hotel Room: Tiffany massages TOG's feet as she tells Ted, "I don't think you and I are going to work... right now." That's when Ted realizes he must free himself, and that Tiffany is on TOG's hook, Henrietta was on his (Ted's) hook, and years later, he learns some other guy was on Henrietta's hook. Ted turns to Tiffany. "You know what? We're not going to work -- ever. I'm done." He grabs a jacket off the bed, opens the door to leave and then turns back. "And it's really better for the circulation if you knead the arches with your thumbs.... Now I'm done." Don't it make my brown eyes blue?
Lily's School Cafeteria: Marshall looks on as Lily, finally having grown a pair (of ovaries, I presume), cuts Scooter loose, but he's so sweet, pitiful and vulnerable, that every time she tells him there can never be anything between them, Marshall ends up adding the hookish, "Right now." At one point he adds, "Hang in there, Scoots. I'm not going to live forever." Hee.
MacLaren's: Barney tells Robin, "Last night, I was with this Pharma-Girl who was so hot, you should call the doctor if you don't have an erection for more than four hours." To no one in particular he adds, "AM I RIGHT, PEOPLE?" If he doesn't watch it, I'm going to put in a big time-out, again. Robin feels me feeling her pain (or, at least, disgust). "Yeah, there's no people -- just the girl you most recently dated." Barney raises his drink, winks at her and clicks his tongue. Before anything more can come of this, beautiful Pharma-Girl Diana (Tiara Parker) brings the newest Pharma- Girl, Gladys (Valorie Hubbard) over to the booth to meet Barney. But Gladys, as her name suggests, isn't a pretty young thing. She's fair, fat and 40, or maybe even 50. Barney recoils in horror as he gets an eyeful of Gladys, who is telling him she represents "statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs." That would have worked better if Barney hadn't already mentioned his cholesterol, don't you think?
After Gladys and Diana go to get their "drink on," Barney cries to Robin about the fact that Pharma-Girls are no longer exclusively hot chicks. "It's the end of an era." When Robin tells Barney he's being overly dramatic, he says, "Am I? It starts out with a Gladys. thing you know, a couple of not-so-fabulous gay guys enter the ranks. And before you know it, Pharma-Girls look like the crew on a Southwest flight from Albuquerque to Little Rock." He slams his hand down on the pretzel bowl. "IT'S OVER!" Meanwhile, over at...
Henrietta's Place: Ted, still in his tuxedo, arrives at Henrietta's, to let her off the hook. The only problem is, he's not wearing his tuxedo jacket. On the way out of the hotel room, he grabbed TOG's. And TOG? He was serving as best man at the wedding Ted will never attend. And so, well, how to put it? The best man not only stands up with the groom, he often holds the ring for him, too. So wouldn't you know it? Right after Ted knocks on Henrietta's door, the ring magically jumps up and out of his jacket pocket and falls to the floor. Ted bends down on one knee to retrieve it. And of course, just then, Henrietta opens the door. She opens the door to find the object of her desire down on bended knee, holding out a huge, diamond engagement ring, and cries, "Yes!" before Ted can explain. Screeeeeeeeeeeeeech. Take the needle off the record.
I don't know what set me off. I mean, regardless of my note to the writers, I think the on-the-hook story is a workable idea for a HIMYM episode, but the execution did not sit well with me. Maybe it's because this season has already made me hyper-conscious of the hook in my mouth, so I can't help but feel like the episode is taking a shot at the fans. Aside from that, isn't hookedness a lesson people learn by the time they're in college or shortly thereafter? Aside from that, am I the only one who thought characterization was sacrificed at the altar of plot -- and sacrificed at the altar of plot for the sake of jokey-moments that weren't worth it? The cherry on top is, of course, the continuing and unbearable undoing of Barney. Must he morph into a shadow of the Fonz? Right after Barney found out Tiffany was a Pharma-Girl and Ted declared Pharma-Girl is "just a job," Barney's verbal gymnastics took me right out of the episode, and back to the Happy Days when Fonzie couldn't say he was wr-wr-wrong. That's pathetic. This show isn't Happy Days, and lately, it's not even feeling like it's HIMYM.
Regardless, I'll see you week for "Of Course," guest-starring J. Lo as the self-help author to whom Robin turns when she finds herself still angry with Barney. In the meantime, come on over to the forum, where you're always off the hook, but you may encounter some locker room talk.
In addition to HIMYM, Cindy McLennan covers The Vampire Diaries and Lost (talk about hooks) for TWoP. If you want to do her laundry, please email her at CynthiaMcLennan[at]gmail.com, or hook up with her on Twitter.
After hitting up the forums, add "hooked" to our HIMYM Dictionary.