B+Does How I Met Your Mother’s finale ruin it for all time?Todd VanDerWerff4/01/14 9:20amSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalink[Warning: Major spoilers for the complete run of How I Met Your Mother follow.]
B+Season 9How I Met Your Mother: “Last Forever”Donna Bowman3/31/14 9:08pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkIf you’ve come this far with How I Met Your Mother, I bet you consider these characters your friends. I certainly do.…
BSeason 9How I Met Your Mother: “The End Of The Aisle”Donna Bowman3/24/14 8:24pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkOf all the supporting characters on this show, the one whose developmental arc means the most to me is Barney. I’m…
ASeason 9How I Met Your Mother: “Gary Blauman”Donna Bowman3/17/14 8:43pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkBack when the three-days-in-Farhampton gimmick of this season was announced, one of the reasons I got excited was the…
B+Season 9How I Met Your Mother: “Daisy”Donna Bowman3/10/14 8:39pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkWith four half-hours of HIMYM remaining, it’s time to start paring down the season’s conflicts. This week is devoted to…
BSeason 9How I Met Your Mother, “Vesuvius”Donna Bowman3/03/14 8:32pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkStorytelling has always served as the gimmick of HIMYM’s premise. “Kids, let me tell you …” the narrator begins, and…
ASeason 9How I Met Your Mother: “Rally”Donna Bowman2/24/14 8:35pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkDo you think the HIMYM writers have a giant notebook—heck, a whole shelf of ‘em—filled with loose ends and character…
ASeason 9How I Met Your Mother, “Sunrise”Donna Bowman2/03/14 8:30pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkI always knew that this last season of How I Met Your Mother would be an emotional gut-punch. Years of anticipation,…
A-Season 9How I Met Your Mother: “How Your Mother Met Me”Donna Bowman1/27/14 8:55pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkTime flies when you’re connecting all the dots, doesn’t it? That felt like the fastest episode of this season, zipping…
B+Season 9How I Met Your Mother, "Unpause"Donna Bowman1/20/14 8:25pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkWhen a show gets canceled in between seasons, fans tend to bemoan the fact that its creators didn’t get a chance to…
A-Season 9How I Met Your Mother: “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment At Slapmarra”Donna Bowman1/13/14 9:00pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkThe slap bet that began in the episode “Slap Bet” (aka “Robin Sparkles”) may be the most inspired overarching…
CSeason 9How I Met Your Mother: "Bass Player Wanted"Donna Bowman12/16/13 8:35pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkWe’ve had a good long run of weekly episodes in this last season of How I Met Your Mother. They haven’t all been gems,…
A-Season 9How I Met Your Mother: "The Rehearsal Dinner" Donna Bowman12/02/13 8:40pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkThe magician Teller has said that one of the secrets to fooling the audience is to “make the secret a lot more trouble…
A-Season 9How I Met Your Mother: "Bedtime Stories" Donna Bowman11/25/13 8:40pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkEight seasons in, with the episodes rapidly flying by on our way to the finale, we’d all be surprised if the creative…
B+Season 9How I Met Your Mother: "Mom And Dad"Donna Bowman11/18/13 8:35pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkFrom the very beginning, How I Met Your Mother has been a sitcom where style shares top billing with characters and…
ASeason 9How I Met Your Mother: “Platonish”Donna Bowman11/11/13 9:05pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkLast season I wrote about the biggest challenge HIMYM’s creative team had to overcome in bringing Barney and Robin…
ASeason 9How I Met Your Mother: "The Lighthouse"Donna Bowman11/04/13 8:40pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkI take it all back.
BSeason 9How I Met Your Mother: "No Questions Asked"Donna Bowman10/28/13 8:40pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkAt the end of last week’s episode, Daphne forced the issue of Marshall’s secret judgeship by texting the news to Lily.…
A-Season 9How I Met Your Mother: "Knight Vision"Donna Bowman10/21/13 8:40pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkEarlier this week on another site, in the comments of a review of the recent Carrie remake, someone finally asked a…
B+Season 9How I Met Your Mother: "The Poker Game"Donna Bowman10/14/13 8:55pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkWeddings make such reliable sitcom fodder because at weddings, the minutiae of etiquette and custom collides head-on…
