Saturday, October 19, 2013

My thoughts on the Current State of How I Met Your Mother

Okay, this is kind of mainstream for me, but I felt like writing about it.  And hey, it is my blog, so I can write about whatever the heck I want to write about.  It may not always be interesting to you, my awesome readers (seriously, anyone who bothers to read this little obscure blog written by a teen who's clearly not as good a writer as he thinks he is is awesome), but it's my blog, my rules.  Rule 1: Don't Panic.  Rule 2: Bring a towel.  Rule 3: I'll write whatever I want, regardless of its quality.  Anyways, HIMYM!

I was introduced to the show by a German exchange student we were housing 2 summers ago.  All it took to hook me was Neil Patrick Harris, who I had loved in Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  Alyson Hannigan helped too, as by that point I was a converted Whedonite, and loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  For the next three weeks of his stay, we were binge-watching it all the way to season five.  After he left, I kept watching the show with my sister, and eventually got bored after the mess of the Arcadian arc in Season 6.  It didn't help that Netflix didn't go past that season at the time, so I had no way to catch up (legally, but I wasn't willing, and still am not, to explore illegal means of watching a show).  So, I watched the show on-and-off for over a year, and eventually my sister showed me that Season 8 was finally up.  When I learned that the Mother had finally been shown in the Season 8 finale, I decided to get back in the game, and we watched seasons 7 and 8, and got caught up with the current season through the CBS website.  After watching all that, I've come to a conclusion: the show may not be as funny as it once was, but it's definitely still worth watching.

There are a number of factors that led me to this conclusion.  First, it's the final season, and we're so close to the end, pulling out just doesn't seem worth it to me.  Second, I've seen the Mother, and I think the payoff will be worth it.  Third, when HIMYM does have a funny scene, it's every bit as funny as some of the best of the earlier stuff, particularly any scene the Mother is in.  Fourth: the emotional beats are as good as they've ever been.  Seriously, look at any scene where Barney is honest about his feelings to Robin, and tell me he hasn't matured.  It's really great to see him come so far.  And it's not just Barney, all of the characters have matured.  Robin, who abhorred the idea of marriage, is now going through with this wedding, if the scene of her at the reception in 'Band or DJ' meant what I though it meant.  Everyone on the show has grown from the first episode, which is part of the point of the show.  Barney and Robin had to grow up to get to the point where they could get married, Marshall and Lily had to grow into their role as parents, and Ted has to mature to be ready for meeting the Mother.  This at least, is one thing that hasn't changed at all about the show.  My problem with most sitcoms is that when they stop being funny and start focusing on the characters, the characters are written so poorly, it ceases to be worth watching for any reason.  HIMYM has, amazingly, avoided this.  Sure, it's not as consistently funny as it used to be, but it definitely has its moments, and the character bits do actually work (at least for me).

So, overall, I'd say that HIMYM is a show worth watching, even now.  It's got great characters, great stories, and some good jokes.  They don't hit dead-center like they used to, but they are still funny, nevertheless.  It's a show that's changed and grown with its characters, and it's still definitely worth a look if you have the time.

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