HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: Sorry Bro & Front Porch

Everyone ready to talk about the whirlwind past two episodes of HIMYM? They both contained everything I personally need in my dosage of HIMYM (minus the Slap Bet slaps) to leave me completely satisfied: the past; the faux future; the core mythology; and each of the characters being their quintessential selves, who we love dearly.

“Sorry, Bro”

Starting off with last week’s episode we were introduced to Ted’s high school and some of college girlfriend Karen, portrayed by Laura Prepon. While Ted is trying to nonchalantly tell everyone what has happening with reconnecting with Karen, Robin was trying to catch up with the gang on her way to work and Barney was trying to get Marshall to tell Robin about the pants incident.

There were so many disruptions in the storytelling of the anecdotes due to everyone trying to talk all at once about that it was sort of hard to concentrate on which story you wanted to hear and who you were supposed to be listening to. But for me that worked. When you gather more than three people together at a time, not every one of them is involved in listening to the same story. Lily was occupied with listening to Ted talk about Karen, a vile being in the trio’s history, while Barney was more interested in hearing Marshall’s hilarious and embarrassing story.

I loved watching Lily get mad every time Ted had something more to add to his narrative. Especially since Ted was fiddling with his storytelling, which I thought was a great and unexpected twist to what could have been just a regular tale. Lily, Marshall and Ted have been friends for 12 years. They are fully invested in each other’s well being and more specific to this episode and series, Ted’s love life. Lily has no qualms telling Ted that she thinks Karen is snooty and a douche. Gotta love that Lily. I’ve really felt a connection with her, the way she tries to protect and help her friends but also backhandedly slaps them across the head. While I love me some Barnana, Lily has risen in the ranks and has quickly become a favorite, rivaling Barney’s antics with her pure realism and moxie. OK, maybe not complete contender, but I think it is a great supposition of having someone grounded while another character is being spastic.

Seeing Ted and Karen’s relationship made me understand Ted a bit more. He’s always been a bit know-it-all but I think that’s due to his need of connecting. She was so pretentious that when he was around her he took on that persona and now he can’t really shake it off.

But poor Marshall can’t get a break. He absentmindedly leaves his pants at home and calls the wife to drop them off for him. But he put his trust in Barney with receiving his pants and that was just a big no-no. Barney, ever the prank-master, manically cut off Marshall’s pants, thus making Marshall look like Bon Scot from AC/DC. Barney constantly interrupting Ted’s story to talk about Marshall’s pants incident was beyond funny. The pants incident may have not been the funniest part of the episode but Barney’s enthusiasm for the story and his incessant declaration that it was the funniest thing ever hooked you in. Plus Segel’s mannerisms played like he was uncomfortable telling the story and every time I would get just a taste of what was next, it was like Bays and Thomas were dangling a carrot and then pulling it back from me. I especially liked the part when he wanted Marshall to tell the story then wanted to tell it, flip-flopping back and forth with the visuals and voice-overs matching.

Robin is great when she is reacting to everyone else or is slightly in her own world. I was reminded of Robin going through the garbage for food earlier this season when she was on the floor eating ribs in her sleep. Poor girl and her wackadoo schedule.

Laura Prepon easily slid into the role of snooty Karen. It was interesting to see how Karen affected Ted in the past but I’ll admit that I didn’t think she made the role her own. I thought nearly anyone could have played Karen.

The biggest laugh-out-loud moment for me was Lily in her wrestling costume. Maybe I’m getting desensitized to all the Segel nudity. I mean, his outfit was ridiculously funny but Lily running in with a wood plank just caught me off guard and I was highly amused.

“The Front Porch”

Last night’s episode was the end of the Karen arc. Thank gawd! Like Ted’s friends, I was not happy to learn that he was still dating Karen when the episode started. She’s a douche. I don’t know when this became appropriate to say at 8:30 or maybe because “bag” isn’t directly proceeding it, but I’m fine with the assessment that Karen is a douche. Luckily for the gang, and me Karen was done with Ted by the end of the week. Can I get a “whoot whoot”?

Meanwhile, Robin has come to the realization that her friends are not supporting her new morning program. I’m more surprised that Barney isn’t TiVo’ing it and watching it on his 80” screen. He watched her on the news; he created her video resume, found this position and got her more money than they were originally going to offer her. I’m a little let down with the Robarney 2 minutes in. But I love Lily’s idea of everyone gather at her and Marshall’s place in their pajamas to watch her. No matter how old you are, you still enjoy a good pajama jammy jam.

When everyone meets at Lily and Marshall’s to watch Robin’s morning show, we learn why Karen broke up with Ted: she found an earring in Ted’s bed! While Karen was the ever-consummate cheater, even up to a few weeks ago with Ted, she could not put up with that herself and was gone. But, alas, Ted did not cheat but framed! By Lily!

While we are learning about the revelation that Lily has broken up many of Ted’s relationships, Marshall and Barney are arguing about night attire. Marshall swears in the comfiness of a nightshirt but Barney likes to be prepared for unexpected guests and wears a suitjama. I’m loving the interactions between these two characters lately. With last week’s pants incident and this week’s unveiling of the nightshirt, these two have a lot of back and forth regarding men’s clothes.

Ted was beyond mad at Lily, and rightfully so. She’s been undermining his relationships since college. But I did see Lily’s point with “The Front Porch” test. She saw a future with her, Marshall and Ted and she wanted to make sure that it was a bright and fun future, with misplayed bridge and great conversation. How she went about it was wrong, but it felt so right when you were watching it.

What was even cleverer was while you were engaged in Ted and Lily’s fight, in the background was Robin, on mute, doing her morning program. It brought down the tension seeing Robin show a picture of her best friends, crying, being caught on fire, delivering a baby, you name it, Robin did it all in this one episode. And her friends STILL missed it!

The biggest shocker was learning that Lily was instrumental in Ted and Robin’s break-up at the restaurant. Again, Lily was right in trying to protect those two but she needed to be more upfront about it, rather then seeping into their subconscious. They practically said what she said line for line! It was so great to understand fully something that happened two years ago. While it was nice to see Lily try to fix the problem she created with Karen, I’m glad that Ted learned for himself that Karen was not the one for him when she admitted her disdain for his friends. I wish Lily had there when Karen said that because the bitch would have gone DOWN!

Lily’s apology led us to what I like to call “The ‘Friends’ moment”. Ted and Robin agreed to marry each other if they didn’t find someone by the age of 40. Monica and Chandler had the same agreement, but eventually found love with each other. Granted, we know this marriage won’t happen, Ted will find his future children’s mother soon, but I was more concerned that Ted and Robin were finding common ground again and that would jeopardize Robarney. We saw how hard Barney took it when Ted and Robin were sleeping together (several TVs were injured during that tryst), so seeing these two get closer again is going to send him on the brink.

Now I’m handing it over to you guys in the comments. What did you think of Lily’s over-protectiveness in the past two episodes? Downright cruel or her just supporting her friends? Did you enjoy Prepon’s casting as Karen? Are Marshall and Barney the newest incarnation of Laurel and Hardy? Speak up!

Jen is our resident HIMYM aficionado. When not delving into the history of her favorite five-some she’s trying to watch 40+ hours of TV in a short amount of time. She is extremely excited to be going to a preview screening of “I Love You, Man” to watch her two main loves Rudd and Segel get their bromance on.