HIMYM Season 8 Premiere: Farhampton

The premiere of 'How I Met Your Mother' once again disappointed. Craig Thomas and Carter Bays are well-known for dropping tantalizing hints only to snatch them away a moment later. Unfortunately, this time they may have led us on for an entire summer which, to mix my analogies, may be the last straw.

Eh, who am I kidding. Obviously I'm going to keep watching this season of 'HIMYM', but I was seriously frustrated by the premiere.

First things first, we once again began with a flash forward, and we were once again at Barney and Robin's wedding. It's in a little town called Farhampton (way to be obvious that this moment's far away
writers). Barney was freaking out, attempting to climb out the window while Lily and Marshall corralled him. This by itself wasn't that surprising, it's been a running gag on the show that guys always freak out right before their wedding (remember Marshall shaving his head? Punchy trying to abandon his bride?). I wasn't concerned. But then Ted went to see Robin, and she turned around and told him that she was seriously considering climbing out the window. Again, not that surprising, Robin has often been cast in the male role, and it would make sense that she and Barney would have the same reaction to their wedding. BUT then we cut to the a scene on a bench.

Ted sat on a bench in the rain, reading a book. His tux was disheveled. An elderly woman sat next to him and asked him if he'd just come from a wedding. And he said he hadn't really come from one! And that he didn't want to talk about it!

Ugh. Does this mean that Robin and Barney decided not to get married after all? Or maybe they decided to elope. I'd be okay with that. But I really want them together. For those of you who haven't been following my blog, the main reason I watch the show is because of the Barney and Robin relationship.

In other news, we cut to present day. Marshall and Lily are supremely sleep deprived because little Marvin is keeping them up at night. Of course, he soundly sleeps through 98% of this episode.

Their friends keep and trying to tell them things, but their sleep deprived brains just can't process it.

This unfortunately leads to them accidentally revealing to Quinn that Barney and Robin used to date. Apparently Barney took all the photos from his time with Robin and covered her with various animals. Robin is less than amused. Quinn is upset that Barney lied, but decides to take him back.

Despite the fact that she has recently begun a relationship with Nick (which seems to be a purely sexual one--she really only cares about his abs), Robin is obviously upset that Barney can so easily forget about their relationship.

Barney can always read Robin well, even when she's trying to hide her emotions, and he recognizes her pain. He hands her a key and tells her an address. When she gets there she discovers a storage unit with a single cardboard box in it. It's filled with mementos from their relationship, including lots of photos of them as a couple. Robin is clearly touched by this. So there's hope for them after all! I mean, clearly...they do get engaged this season and there's even an almost wedding. Just not a definite wedding.

Please, please, let there be a Barney/Robin wedding.

Thanks.

Oh. Wait. Totally forgot about Ted. Opps. Right, so Ted and Victoria are planning on driving off into the sunset, but then Ted asks Victoria what she said in her note to Klaus. And he's shocked to discover she didn't leave one. He stresses the importance of a note, referencing his own experience being left at the altar. Victoria writes a note, but she asks Ted to drop it off. During this (long) process he runs into Klaus. Klaus is leaving Victoria at the altar! And he left a note. So Ted decides to make Victoria the good guy, climbs into the window (it's the same church window that Robin is thinking about climbing out of!) and takes her note back.

Ted goes back to Victoria and asks her to wait a minute because he has something to do. He runs off and finds Klaus, and asks him why he left Victoria. And in a very lengthy, not very funny if you speak German (maybe it's funnier if you don't speak German? What did you guys think?) speech he explains that Victoria is wonderful, but not his soul mate. And wonderful isn't good enough.

Ted gets that thoughtful look, and it's clear that he is realizing that even though he thinks Victoria is wonderful, she's not his soulmate either.

My God, makes you feel pretty horrible for Victoria. Two relationships failing in one day? Maybe Ted leads her own for a bit and they'll date in the next few episodes? Still, I feel bad.