Another week, another somber HIMYM episode. Barney’s relationship with Nora gets to be too much for him and he pushes her away, just before realizing that he actually has deep feelings for her. As usual, the episode starts at the end, with Barney subsequently retelling the events of the previous day to his cardiologist to explain some irregular heart rhythms. While this technique was fun and original five episodes ago, it is starting to make me yearn for some classic storytelling, at least by HIMYM standards.
I’m really torn on how I feel about these two as a couple. On one hand, I applaud the writers for letting Barney grow after six seasons, possibly sacrificing their easy outlet for the misogynistic humor they do so well. What bothers me is that they never developed Nora’s character enough to make her a convincing match for Barney.
When he fell for Robin, it was something that had been building from almost the very beginning. Remember when he tried to sleep with her while she was still in love with Ted back in season one? Nora appears barely to be a character at all. When they first meet, it seems that Barney falls for her because she doesn’t buy any of his bullshit about his being a romantic. But this time around, she readily nods her head to his fantasies of a wife and four kids?
It doesn’t look like Nora will be sticking around this season, so perhaps her lack of character development is meant to be a time-saver. I just hope that the next woman who captures Barney’s heart is a bit more interesting.
Robin, meanwhile, starts dating Scooby, the man-dog, instead of getting an actual dog because Ted doesn’t want to get stuck taking care of it. Scooby, a less humanized canine than the one from the movies, breaks loose after eating too many “special” brownies and runs off in search of adventure in the big city. The gang catches up with him just in time to see him peeing on a fire hydrant. A fun subplot to the otherwise melancholy episode that ends with Barney wishing he had the courage to tell Nora the truth.