From the get-go, "How I Met Your Mother" — or "HIMYM" ("him-yim"), as it's affectionately called by fans — didn't seem like it would be able to last more than a few episodes. Despite its thin plot device (a man tells his children the story of how he met their mother), the show has gained a sizeable viewership since its premiere in 2005. Now, as it returns for its fifth season, "HIMYM" is back to all of its old tricks.
As has always been the case, the show is narrated from the year 2030 by Ted (2030 Ted is voiced by Bob Saget, current-day Ted is played by Josh Radnor). The first two episodes deal with — you guessed it — how Ted met his children's mother. This season's premiere focuses on Ted's first day as an architecture teacher at Columbia University. As usual, the adventure begins after Ted and his best friends, Lily (Alyson Hannigan), Marshall (Jason Segel), Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) spend some time in their usual booth in their usual bar, MacLaren's.
It is not hard to pick up on the show's pattern. That's the problem with "HIMYM": It's completely set in its ways. All jokes tie in with jokes made in previous episodes in previous seasons. While the self-referential humor could bring the show down as it did in the horrifyingly short-lived "Arrested Development" (2003-2006), it never does so with "HIMYM" because narrator Ted always explains the references so as to not frighten away new viewers. In the end, what could be annoying becomes endearing, tying viewers to the show's characters through their history.
As far as the premiere's A-plot goes, Ted's first day is, as expected, eventful, but not in a good way. The B-plot focuses on Barney and Robin's budding relationship, and that's where the meat of the episode is — literally: Marshall uses bacon as a leveraging device to get what he wants from the couple.
Barney and Robin demonstrate how "HIMYM" both adheres to sitcom norms and uses them to break new ground. Barney, free spirit that he is, will, according to the show's logic, end up with that special someone who will make him happy for the rest of his life. Similarly, Robin must always date a member of the group. This brings writers to the obvious conclusion: a Robin/Barney romance.
This introduces serious issues for the show, breaking stereotypes and pigeonholes right and left. The same-old-same-old can get tiring, so this terrible relationship is actually terrible-cum-awe- ("wait for it," as Barney says) some!
The second episode of the season isn't as inventive as the first. Neither the A-plot (Ted goes on a blind date with a girl he once had the same date with seven years previously) nor the B-plot (Barney and Marshall find a stripper doppelganger for Lily) capture the audience, and it's quite clear how the episode will end.
While this season is off to an uneven start, it's par for the course for "HIMYM." Overall, it is a great show with hilarious situations and characters that strictly adhere to and simultaneously shatter sitcom conventions, but sometimes it can be hard to get through an episode without feeling foolish. The show is an avid (and sometimes insipid) believer in true love. Some episodes find a balance between the love and the hilarity, but the constantly idealized romance can get grating.
Those who can suspend cynicism and wholeheartedly embrace love, romance, hope and happiness might for half an hour want to avoid "How I Met Your Mother." This should be obvious: The entire premise of the show is that the main character finds his soul mate and loves her so much that he feels he must narrate his entire early adult life to his children to prove his feelings. It can be dizzying, silly and surprisingly depressing.
But fret not. "How I Met Your Mother" is still one of the best shows that network television has to offer. Old and new fans alike will find something to love in the fifth season of "HIMYM," as they join the gang for their weekly zany adventures that are sure to continue throughout the season.
