Okay, not really, but she was pretty funny in this episode.
We pick this episode up right where the last episode ended, with Ted having just told Robin he loved her in a romantic way for the first time since they broke up five years ago. Remember that? Well, back then they broke up because they wanted different things out of their lives, but in this episode five years have passed and the two are no longer that different in what they want. So the question boils down to whether or not Robin loves Ted back.
At first glance it seems that she does. We start this episode with a pretty sweet kiss and hope that this might lead to them resuming their relationship.Then Robin has to leave, and instead we are left with Ted trying to figure out both whether he really wants to be with Robin, and why they haven't gotten together before this.
I loved the bets Marshall and Lily have going, and it was a nice way to give both of them a perspective on this issue. Marshall believes in Ted and Robin, and like at Ted and Robin fans won't let logic or reason prevail in letting go of his faith. To be fair though, Marshall hasn't been told for the last seven years that Ted has kids who refer to Robin as their "aunt" but whatever.
Lily was at the best I've seen her in quite a while as she tries to sabotage Ted by encouraging him to pull out one of his patented "grand romantic gesture" that in reality is quite creepy. And of course Ted takes the bait, and starts to go off and write some sonnets, until he's presented with the Barney issue.
Barney's part in this episode was to serve as the comic relief, and the distraction away from the big heavy issue of Ted and Robin. He's just looking for a Lily/Marshall sex tape, and he somehow finds it? Luckily, he ends up not watching it, and instead destroys Ted's ridiculous VCR. I was actually pleased with this, as I was expecting to see that the tape was a fake, since I didn't believe Lily would actually be encouraging Barney to watch it even if she did win a bet.
The other important part Barney plays is acting as if he is okay with Robin not being with him, and even with the possibility of her moving on with Ted. Is it true? I don't think so, and I think Ted is right in accusing Robin of rejecting him for Barney later on in this episode, but that really isn't the point. The point is that Barney gives Ted his permission, so that Ted can pursue Robin for real.
Then Robin turns Ted down, and she does it in the most final way possible. She tells him she doesn't love him. So finally the story of Ted and Robin is over.
I love that Marshall comes to Ted's aide and tells Robin she has to move out.
Barney was clearly getting a call or text from Robin at the end of the episode.
Ted can finally move on!
"Not yet."
I think those two words might be the single greatest moment for Ted/Robin fans in the last five years of the series. Everything about the episode was built on completely and absolutely destroying the possibility of Ted and Robin forever. There's no way they can end up together. It isn't possible. It's time for the Red shippers to stop and just give up.
Then they hear those words, and they realize deep down that its not over.
I've spent years trying to figure out how Ted and Robin could end up together, but as a Barney and Robin shipper I built up a case against any possibility. I'm out of ideas. I don't think it can be done. Ted is NOT going to end up with Robin.
And yet I feel like that's the only way the series can end. I want Barney and Robin to be together, but at this point I feel like the writers would be settling for that ending. Their challenge is to find a way to get Ted and Robin together that MAKES SENSE. It's impossible, but if they can do it, my mind will be blown, and the series will get the ending it deserves.
Rating: 9 out of 10
I think that when I finally talk about this show as a whole, I will say that the last four seasons should have been condensed into two. I also believe that I will still want this episode in those condensed hypothetical seasons, because I think it's one of the most important episodes to the series that I've seen so far. It was also funny, so I give it really high marks.
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