HIMYM: Luck be to Some

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Some people have all the luck. In this episode, Marshall and Lily have the luck, while Ted and Barney do not. I mean, how many homes do you need to be "given" before you realize how blessed you are? And if Lily and Marshall have not yet sold their place in DoWiSeTrePla, why do they even need another Manhattan home? Of course, something similar could be said about Ted, who owns a house that we see about once a season. I'm at a loss to explain where Robin will end up, though part of me wonders if she's not just going to go straight back to Barney... Speaking of Barney, leave it to him to spend thousands of dollars to realize that his love interest in a stripper will never be reciprocated. Poor guy... though I don't want him to end up with Robin, either. And, back on Robin, who can believe how messed up Ted's head was after she moved out?? Wheel-throwing was the most believable hobby he tried to create for himself, but even that didn't work out. I think we can all agree that it is difficult to escape memories, so living in a place that breathes them can't be good... but moving? Maybe this will turn out to be a lucky decision after all...

How I Met Your Mother "Karma" (S07E18): Because Robin moved out, Ted is filled with a sense of boredom. So, aside from hanging out with Barney, he tries to use her old room to start a new hobby. [sounds all well and good in theory...] Well, smoking meat doesn't work out so well, and Ted's craftmanship doesn't lead to sturdy furniture, either. He seems to take up wheel-throwing purely because his junky china cabinet fell apart, ruining all of his dishes. But, Ted realizes in the end that he can't escape the memories of Robin in that room, so he decides to move out, giving the place to Marshall and Lily. [if Ted saw each of his pieces of furniture crumble, why would he think it was safe to leave his friends a crib that he built? Also, I guess he doesn't paint or stain his pieces? The unfinished look got old.]

While Ted jumps from hobby to hobby, Robin spends the week with Marshall and Lily on Long Island, only to learn that they have become boring... a bowling league, tabletop shuffleboard, and macrame classes aren't exactly thirtysomething activities in Manhattan! [loved the writing of Robin's journal though... the whole "strange, foreign island" thing was great.] When Robin wants to leave (to go stay with Patrice, of all people), Lily and Marshall stall her in every way they can before admitting that they hate Long Island. [Snug-it instead of Snuggie? really? also, having a the booth in the kitchen is odd, yes?] Marshall and Lily don't want to move back to the city "because the suburbs are better for the baby," but Ted's offer seems too good to refuse.

Photo: Richard Cartwright/FOX

Also during this same week, Barney realizes that Quinn, his crush, is the stripper, "Karma." While Barney is immediately worried that it could never work, Ted encourages him, since he did find her in the sea that is New York. Karma tells him that she doesn't date customers, and in order for Barney to learn anything else, he begins paying her for lap dances and the like, since she's technically on-the-clock. [what, she can't call him outside of work or something?] A few nights and quite a bit of money later, Ted tries to break it to Barney that Quinn is "playing him." He goes down to figure that out for himself, and the truth is confirmed when he witnesses Karma using the same lines on another guy. The next day, he runs into her at a coffeeshop, and she buys his drink. [as disappointed as he was, I was surprised that he stayed instead of just going to another coffee place!]