HIMYM: The Return of Robin Sparkles

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Guys, Tim Horton's really is amazing. If you haven't had their coffee and donuts, I truly feel bad for you. I first had their delicious coffee and donuts when I visited Niagara Falls, and make sure to get some delicious goodness every time I'm in New York! Anyway, I digress. The main thing to come out of this episode is the fact that it stands to reason that the woman after Jeanette will be "the mother."Makes perfect sense if the series was going to be wrapping up in another five or six episodes. Instead, it was recently renewed for a ninth season, so the writers will either need to keep Jeanette around for a while, keep Ted single for a while, or do something crazy with the timeline, which is not outrageous for this comedy. And, speaking of comedy, this episode was very odd. I thought that the transformation of Robin Sparkles into Robin Daggers was amusing, but I was so distracted by the craziness that is Jeanette that the new song, "P.S. I Love You" was rather overshadowed. Agree?

Also, I don't know what I think of Lily's "explanation" that it was a coincidence that she met Marshall... she currently claims that she purposely broke her stereo and knocked on every door until she found Marshall. I didn't go digging, but haven't we previously learned that she was actually looking for Ted at the time?

How I Met Your Mother "P.S. I Love You" (S08E16): Ted is trying to find a woman he saw on the subway, reading the same book that he was. But, despite as hard as he tries, she tries harder, showing up at the University. See, she pulled the fire alarm to get him to come out of the building lit a fire to set off the fire alarm and empty the building, forcing a "coincidence." The gang warns Ted that the girl could be a crazy stalker, and she soon admits that she has been following him followed him into a bookstore and bought the same book he did. In fact, she's been following him since he was on the cover of New York magazine. [...wow! and that Dobler-Dahmer thing was amusing.]

This whole thing beings up some ghosts in Robin's closet... she once stalked a guy to the point that a restraining order was put in place. [yikes!] When she won't tell Barney who it is, he breaks into her apartment, reads a notebook, and flies to Canada to hunt him down. [I love how far the characters take things on this show!] He treats a few guys to Tim Horton's before he learns that there was a Canadian version of "VH1 Behind the Music," called "Underneath the Tunes," that did a special about Robin Sparkles. Barney gets his hands on it and he watches it with Ted, Marshall, and Lily. [HAHAHA! the records going "maple" and "double maple."] Well, they uncover a "lost" music video that Robin's record label refused to release because it was "too dark." See, at a Grey Cup (Canada's Superbowl) performance, she tried to pull off Robin Daggers and began a grunge movement.

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Barney hunts down Alan Thicke, believing he's the one Robin was singing about. [I had to pause the episode I was laughing so hard at Bob Saget's voice liking Dave Coulier's "cut it out" joke. yay, Full House!] Barney gets beat up pretty badly, admits that anyone can become obsessed, and Robin admits that the song was really about Paul Shaffer, who was in the front row at the Grey Cup. [so odd!]