"HIMYM": Symphony of Illumination Summary

I feel like this entire episode built my hopes up only to rip my heart out. First, 'Rebound Girl' gave us hope that Robin and Barney might get back together, or at the very least that Barney might be the baby's father. After which we discovered that if Robin is pregnant Barney is definitely the baby's father. Plus, we learn via apparent flash-forward that even if Robin is not pregnant now, she and Barney have not one, but two children someday. At which point we unfortunately reach the downward spiral half of the episode. We learn that Robin is not pregnant. She and Barney show no signs of getting back together. And if that isn't bad enough we get to watch Robin being told that she can never have a baby. She tells no one, so we watch her suffer alone. We still hold onto the hope that she has children someday with Barney, because we have seen the flash-forward scenes.  But no, finally, at the end of the episode we discover that all of the flash-forward scenes are figments of present day Robin's imagination. And not only that, we hear from future Ted's voiceover that Robin never has children. So, basically, this episode initially gave us a future with a happy Robin and Barney with two children, and then snatched it all back and left us exactly where we were before. Robin is with Kevin, and Barney is single (for now).

The other side-story, which involved Marshall and Lily, really wasn't much better. It certainly wasn't less depressing. Unless you think that a cruel teenage boy trapping Marshall on a roof and trashing the new Long Island house is funny. Or that pregnant Lily repeatedly talking about all the gross side-effects of pregnancy (while a depressed Robin hovered nearby) is funny. Yeah, me either.

Did you like the episode? Persuade me that I'm wrong!