Five Drinks Into Monday Night Television: Where Do We Go From Here? (I)

Tom Reviews How I Met Your Mother: Season 7 Episode 16 "The Drunk Train"

That girl's name was Quinn, not Karma. Wasn't it? Wasn't it?

Okay let's talk about this episode by breaking down what happened to the four main characters. (Marshall and Lily count as one person until one of them has an interesting story that doesn't involve the other.)


Marshall and Lily:  I don't like pregnancy stories on TV, and I really don't care for the fact that Lily is basically out of the show for nine months. At least, that's how the writers are making me feel about this. There have been some surprisingly funny pregnancy stories told, like Knocked Up, but in general they suck; I hated every episode of Friends that involved one of the characters giving birth.

So in this episode Marshall and Lily agree not to keep score, only to have a flashforward where they are and Lily is ahead by a lot. Yeah, this was weak.

Robin and Kevin: What the hell was Kevin doing proposing this soon? And what the hell was Robin doing considering it? I'm glad they ended this relationship though, and they found a legitimate reason for it to end. Although breaking up over the whole kids issue sounds familiar...

Ted: I loved seeing how far Ted has fallen from the optimism he had in the Pilot. This episode he said "Screw the One!" I love the worst date he's been on was because the girl's favorite band was "Glee." Ugh. Anyways, five years after they've broken up, Ted has realized that he just continues to reach new lows and is tired of looking elsewhere. He loves Robin, and if being with her means not having children, then that's fine. I would have given his confession of love to her a bonus point if it hadn't been marred by an awkward pullback where Ted and Robin are standing awkwardly. That was weird filming. Anyways, here's the thing about Ted and Robin. I'm not going to lie; I want it to be Barney and Robin in the end, and at this point I would be shocked if that's not what ended up happening, but I feel like we never got the true end of the Ted and Robin love story. There are still people who think Robin will be The One, and the fact is that the writers supported this by having Ted and Robin break up over the children issue. The real reason that they SHOULD NOT end up together is because they're not right for each other. Robin is meant for Barney, and the only way that the story can be truly resolved is by seeing the Ted/Robin/Barney love triangle play out for real. I'm actually pretty excited to see it, so let it come. This is it HIMYM. This is the story that's worth telling.

Barney: His doing the math, and Ted realizing the answer was to get drunk was very funny.

Rating: 7 out of 10 Onion Circles.

This episode had a couple of funny moments, but it wasn't great. I'm most excited about the plot moving forward, and wanting to see where they go from here.