A few reasons "Twin Beds" is less effective than it could have been: If the show wants to do a story where Barney wants to get back with Robin, they really shouldn't try to squeeze it into one episode after devoting the better part of a season to getting them together, and another half of a season with them dating. Additionally, if the show wants to do a story where Ted decides he wants the love of his life (so far) back, they damn well better dedicate at least a few episodes to the emotions that would go along with that. Finally, if the show wants to do a story where Robin leaves the group, they should give her a plausible reason for doing so. It doesn't make any sense that after years of successfully being just friends with Ted and after months of being just friends with Barney, she would suddenly decide they couldn't make it work. Plus, because her departure didn't really make story sense, it didn't pack the emotional punch it was clearly intended to (and don't get me started on the blue french horn, which I'll address down in notes).
All of that aside, this episode wasn't offensively bad or even terribly unfunny. It was pretty unassuming if not for the obvious story flaws, and there were some laughs. The B-Plot in which Marshall and Lily decide to try separate beds because of their annoying sleeping habits was a total throw away, and was also problematic in that they were somehow not at all involved (or potentially upset) by Robin's decision to leave the group, but I assume Robin's exit will actually continue into next week, so Marshall and Lily will have time to respond then. Their plotline wasn't at all memorable, but it was chuckle worthy, and passed the time pretty easily.
In sum, this episode is a moderate failure, in that it condenses potentially effective arcs into twenty two minutes and then just dispenses with all of the emotional resonance those stories could have developed by episode's end, but it didn't make me mad like How I Met Your Mother has a few times this season. It isn't saying much that my praise for an episode is so tenuous as to basically amount to an "I didn't hate it," but with the season this show is having, that sometimes feels like an accomplishment.
Grade: C+
Notes:
-Don thinks Ted is gay because he takes calligraphy, records Project Runway, asks about football uniforms, and can't make creme brulee because his browning torch is "on the fritz."
-"Yes! Mini Fridge! And separate beds..."
-"We'll have two sleep beds, a sex bed, and a beanbag chair for birthday stuff."
-Barney shoving his face full of Wasabi in an attempt to one up Don was awesome.
-"We've got to get rid of that guy...figuratively." "Or literally! Oh god, Ted, this is how it starts!"
-"Can we at least push them together?" "Sure! Oh you meant the beds."
-How did Ted suddenly get the Blue French Horn back? They had to return it at the end of Season Two, and it would really HAVE to be a plot point that he suddenly has it back. Clearly the writers just trotted it out as easy shorthand for Ted and Robin's broken connection...which sucks.
-"In my defense, how great are boobs?"
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