HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Reaches "The End of the Aisle"

Article first published as HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Reaches "The End of the Aisle" on TheTVKing.

CBS's How I Met Your Mother finally gets us up to, and through, Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin's (Cobie Smulders) wedding this week in "The End of the Aisle." When it was announced that this last season of the show would take place entirely on the wedding weekend, I assumed a great many episodes would occur at the reception after the wedding. This turns out not to be the case, with only next week's hour-long series finale left, an installment that has to focus on so much more than a party. But after watching this episode, it seems the perfect way to end the regular season before going into the big conclusion.

Half an hour before the ceremony, Robin begins to have serious doubts. She knows Barney, with his initials B.S., is a big liar, and how can she trust someone like that? Besides, he didn't do the big romantic gesture of finding her missing locket. Does he really care?

Robin confides these things to her buddy, Ted (Josh Radnor), someone she has a very strong bond with, then, after some locket-resolving scenes, says that she and Ted should run away together. This is the moment Ted wanted going into this weekend, and for fans who have held a torch for the couple all these years, despite being told right at the beginning that they wouldn't end up together, this turn validates those feelings.

Of course Ted refuses. It's taken this long weekend, but he now knows he isn't in love with Robin any more, nor is she in love with him. Sure, they could be happy for awhile, but they aren't meant to be together, and it would eventually fall apart. With Barney, on the other hand, Robin has a future, a partner in crime, and someone who will make her life great. Ted is wise enough to advise this and take a step back, thus ending a major story arc in the perfect way.

This isn't enough to assuage Robin's doubts, however, and she flees, only to bump into The Mother (Cristin Milioti), then Barney. It's with her fiance that she finally calms down, seeing the love in his eyes and words, and assuring herself that she's making the right decision.

Barney, meanwhile, has been having his own crisis. Fretting over his vows, he points out to a would-be-helpful Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) that they are the best couple he knows, and even they can't keep the promises they made on their wedding day. If they cannot, how can he be expected to?

But that's just it. Despite breaking their words, they are still the best couple he knows. The only major trouble they run into is when Marshall lies to Lily. Lying may be a major part of Barney's character up 'til now, but he will gratefully give it up for Robin. She's worth everything to him. When he bumps into her, he tells her this (and soon after about the ring bear), and this fixes them. Though, minor gripe, he does lie about the flower gorilla, even if Robin may never know.

Then we're up on the altar, Marshall delivering the final slap bet slap, Robin walking down the aisle to strains of "Sandcastles in the Sand," and a final dig at Patrice (Ellen D. Williams). It's a wonderfully crafted moment, all five main characters having been given their due in "The End of the Aisle," reaffirming not only who they are, but who they will be. While next week will likely jump around, showing us what happens after this point, the ceremony itself feels like the official tie up of the show's threads, and it does it very effectively, redeeming many of the bad years of story when the series floundered.

The only real complaint I have about the entire episode involves the shots of the guests smiling up at the happy couple during the wedding. It's not that not enough characters are included; many familiar faces are likely seen for the last time, as they should be. But it's very clear in the wide shots that none of these people are in the room. I understand that, with so many actors, it would be nearly impossible to schedule such a shoot. However, it does feel hollow to realize that all the cameos are added in later, not part of the wedding scene itself, and it's obvious this is the case. How disappointing.

Overall, though, "The End of the Aisle" is a terrific entry, serving the purpose it needs to serve beautifully, and setting up a heck of a series finale. If next week is as good as this one, viewers should be left very satisfied.

How I Met Your Mother's series finale airs next Monday at 8 p.m. ET.

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