How I Met Your Mother jumped into its fourth season quickly, not spending much time on past events, and propelled the plot forward rather than re-hashing events from season three.  Anyone tuning into How I Met Your Mother for the first time was likely lost (although, there was a lightning-fast summation of where each character was in life). Most of all, the premiere laid out two of the major plot lines that will permeate the fourth season – 1) Stella and Ted's evolving relationship and, 2) Barney's love-crush on Robin.  Since we're all friends here, and honesty is always the best policy, I'll lay it on the line – I like one of these story lines a whole lot more than the other.

Ted and Stella are just fine – who doesn't like Sarah Chalke – but, every time a Ted and Stella scene came up, I found myself missing Barney and Robin.  Maybe it was just last night.  The Star Wars test, or whatever you want to call it, felt forced to me.  First, any rational human being, even a huge Star Wars fan, can admit that the original Star Wars isn't that great of a movie.  I love it, I'm a big Star Wars fan (I even defend the prequels), and even I can admit that the original isn't the greatest thing ever.  The second film, Empire Strikes Back, is the one that should have been Ted's favorite. 

OK, that was rambling and nerdy.  The other part of the Star Wars stuff that bothered me was that How I Met Your Mother already used this movie test in season one with Field of Dreams.  I hope the writers aren't running out of material.  On the flip side, the Robin and Barney story felt fresh.  Barney is changing, but he's resisting the change.  Being himself is easy.  The womanizing, unfeeling player persona that he's been cultivating for years is second nature at this point, and is proving to be difficult to shake.  And, as much as his behavior is often irredeemable and indefensible, he actually did make a go of it during his dinner with Robin last night, only to get the behavior thrown back into his face.

This was a big deal for Barney as a character – he tried to be a different person, a person that Robin would like, but either Robin didn't like that person or Robin didn't buy the act.  When I say “like,” I of course mean romantically – Robin did enjoy the company at dinner.  The conundrum for Barney is this: Robin likes the player Barney, the guy who picks up floozies, the inappropriate one.  W. saw it last year – Robin is good at being one of the guys.  But Barney can't be that guy if he's going to have a relationship with Robin.  So, what kind of Barney can Barney be to woo Robin? 

The premiere wasn't a laugh riot, but there were a fair share of hilarious moments.  Special mention needs to go to Barney's “Bimbo Speech,” which was not only funny on the surface, but had deeper, insecure meaning given what happened in the meat of the episode. 

It's good to have How I Met Your Mother back.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)