How I Met Your Mother turns "The Final Page"

CBS's How I Met Your Mother has begun their wrap up, getting two major characters together in this week's hour-long installment, "The Final Page." Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) has been dating Patrice (Ellen D. Williams), and when he is ready to propose after only a few weeks, he tells only Ted (Josh Radnor). Ted can't stand to let Robin (Cobie Smulders) sit idly by, knowing she is still in love with Barney, and so drives her to the site of the proposal to interrupt. But when Robin gets there, she learns it has all been an elaborate scheme by Barney to win her, and she accepts his ring.

Robin is upset with Barney at first, and she should be. He lies and manipulates her. At the same time, after How I Met Your Mother has already played so much with the two of them as a couple, any engagement has to be big. Thus, such a master plan, or something like it, has to come about, lest fans be disappointed by too small a gesture. Plus, Barney's earnestness and sincerity is enough to win Robin over, and earn his forgiveness from her and the viewers. This is a gambit played for true love, pure and simple, not just for sex, and the makes it all right.

What is more interesting to me in the whole scenario is that Barney really sells his relationship with Patrice enough for Robin to believe it. We know that he is ready to be done with games and settle down; this has been obvious for awhile. But to see Barney with a woman like Patrice, so far against his type, and to actually have a character believe he's being authentic, without seeming dumb for thinking so, is a difficult thing to do. "The Over-Correction" stuff last week makes it feel plausible. Though there is always a nagging doubt that the whole thing is fake, considering the way in which it is presented, one can't blame Robin for being fooled.

That, and how well Barney knows his friends is sweet. There are steps in his scheme that allow for everyone else to be who they are, butting in where they shouldn't. He also gives Ted the opportunity not to give up on Robin, and to keep her for himself, a friend move, rather than entrapment, not wanting to spoil Ted's happiness if Robin is still who he wants. These additions add to the successful execution, and are vital to the overall genius of the writing.

Now, after a teary and brilliant roof scene, Barney and Robin are engaged. This fundamentally changes their characters going forward, and begins building towards their wedding, which we've been glimpsing for a couple of years, mostly at the beginning and ends of seasons. This is going to shift the dynamic of the group, and really give the series some steam as it heads into those last stories of them finally and fully becoming adults.

Will How I Met Your Mother end this spring or next? No official announcement has been made, but it's very likely to be one of those two possibilities. Does the show have another whole year left in it? Should they wind things down sooner? I guess that's something we'll have to wait to find out. If it is bowing out this May, we need to hurry up and get to the wedding, though, because the series cannot end the moment Ted meets the mother. After eight seasons of set up, there has to be at least a little more.

So How I Met Your Mother definitely gets the drama right, as it has been doing for awhile now, but the comedy is still uneven. "The Final Page" has both hilarious moments, and terrible ones. Back in the day, the jokes landed solid week after week. It's a shame that this is not the case anymore. It's a good thing they have the emotional heft to keep their fans engaged.

The best comedy part of "The Final Page" is the jinx. Setting up an elaborate back story that doesn't allow Barney to talk, his friends make him squirm, and then he gets revenge, is very funny. It's the type of classic stuff that attracted many viewers in the early days of the series. There are a number of scenes in this story that really work.

I only wish the plot would have extended into the second half, at least with some resolution to Barney jinxing Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall (Jason Segel). However, one cut scene could have adequately tied it up, so it's not completely necessary.

I also enjoy the recurring characters, like Ranjit (Marshall Manesh), Patrice, and Sandy (Alexis Denisof). I love that Hannigan's husband, Denisof, appears steadily on the series. I also really like seeing Hannigan reunited with her Buffy the Vampire Slayer character's beau, Seth Green, who plays Lily and Marshall's college friend. These are bits of nostalgia that play on the audience's emotions, and even if they are a bit gimmicky, we don't care.

Not so great is the other junk tossed in. The pit metaphor didn't work very well, and I loathed the Lily-and-Marshall-away-from-Marvin stuff. Them dropping down and crying in the middle of a fancy party is stupid and unacceptable. These characters, and the actors who play them, deserve better than this. We know that the writers can be smarter. Look at the jinx!

Overall, though, "The Final Page" is a special and memorable event in the larger arc of the show. I can't wait to see where the events of this episode will lead!

How I Met Your Mother returns to CBS Mondays at 8 p.m. ET in January.

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Article first posted on TheTVKing