How I Met Your Mother: Barney and... (Spoilers ahead...)

[Professor Zoom]

CorporalClegg wrote:

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That got my attention as well. It sort of stuck me as a "Manhattan elitist" kind of thing and seemed somewhat unnecessary.

It's one thing to peruse something you love, but to treat the most noble of professions with contempt is a bit silly.

Perhaps that "most noble" of professions doesn't look as noble after doing it as long as Lily did. And considering it wasn't what she was passionate about.

I'm a father of a 6 month old, parenting is a "noble" profession, but, man, there are some days, I am willing to trade it for digging ditches.

It's not elitist at all. You really think Lily is a Manhattan elitist?

[Gary Mitchell]

If she really liked that elephant painting she should stick with being a teacher.

[tighr]

Gary Mitchell wrote:

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If she really liked that elephant painting she should stick with being a teacher.

Doesn't matter whether the elephant picture is any good, what matters is that the Captain was able to sell it for $4 million to someone, and that Lily has an eye for artists who are going somewhere.

It sounds like the only appeal to the elephant picture is the artist who signed it.

[Scout101]

Perspective is also an issue. Ted's telling the story, not Lily. He was high on sandwiches when he saw the painting, and maybe only remembers Lily telling him it was of an elephant. Unless he looked it up later, Pretty good bet his recollection of that painting is fuzzy, if he remembers it at all. MAY not have been that bad...

[Finn]

Aldo wrote:

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As someone who's going to school to become a teacher, it did kind of bug me that Lily was upset she was "only" a Kindergarten teacher. As if only being a teacher is somehow a horrible thing.

Aside from that I loved seeing The Captain again, and seeing the story get retold as we find out both Ted and Robin were inebriated was hilarious.

I disagree. Lily didn't go on a tirade about how teaching sucks.

I'm a teacher myself and I do have one of those days. I sometimes think about being a field biology scientist. It happens in every profession. I had teachers who thought about doing things differently. Some of them did briefly.

It's normal to have feelings like that. Really, the ship has sailed for Lily as an artist. Her internship in San Francisco went awful. And she liked that elephant painting. I think it won't last.

[shivkala]

the Metlife Survey of the American Teacher shows that an increasing number of us are dissatisfied with the profession.

As for Lily, I kept wondering how she could continue to be successful as a kindergarten teacher when she was spending late nights in a bar. Just one of those sitcom contrivances though, I guess.

[Pavonis]

HIMYM can get away with those "sitcom contrivances" better than most because the whole thing is a story told in flashback by an unreliable narrator. I'm inclined to think that Future Ted isn't remembering most of the events correctly, nor is he accurately describing the amount of time they spent at MacLarens. When it comes down to it, I doubt his tale of Barney's sexual history, for one thing, or general awesomeness is anywhere near accurate. The reality of HIMYM is probably far different than what we, the audience, sees through Future Ted's tales.

And is this whole story of how he met their mother being told in one sitting?

[shivkala]

That's why I said earlier I'd love for the series finale to be from the mother's perspective and be told all in one episode (even if it's an hour long episode). It would be interesting to see her take on Barney, Robin, Marshall, Lily, and especially Ted.

[Carcazoid]

Pavonis wrote:

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HIMYM can get away with those "sitcom contrivances" better than most because the whole thing is a story told in flashback by an unreliable narrator. I'm inclined to think that Future Ted isn't remembering most of the events correctly, nor is he accurately describing the amount of time they spent at MacLarens. When it comes down to it, I doubt his tale of Barney's sexual history, for one thing, or general awesomeness is anywhere near accurate. The reality of HIMYM is probably far different than what we, the audience, sees through Future Ted's tales.

And is this whole story of how he met their mother being told in one sitting?

This.

[tighr]

Pavonis wrote:

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I'm inclined to think that Future Ted isn't remembering most of the events correctly, nor is he accurately describing the amount of time they spent at MacLarens. When it comes down to it, I doubt his tale of Barney's sexual history, for one thing, or general awesomeness is anywhere near accurate.

This week's episode is a perfect example, as we see the exact same event (even with the exact same dialogue) play out in three different ways from three different points of view.

On top of that, we see Barney attempt to insert himself into the story, when he wasn't even there. Chances are that has happened more than once in the past, and Barney's history is being exaggerated. We already know that Barney takes credit for things that don't exactly happen the way they appear.

[Mr Light]

The series finale will reveal...

that Barney doesn't exist. Ted made him up to make the story more interesting.

*mind fuck*

[JarodRussell]

Mr Light wrote:

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The series finale will reveal...

that Barney doesn't exist. Ted made him up to make the story more interesting.

*mind fuck*

Ted is Barney. It's just that he made up Barney because his kids shouldn't think of him as a male whore.

[Carcazoid]

Does Robin have a sister?

Just wondering ...

[Timelord_Victorious]

Mr Light wrote:

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The series finale will reveal...

that Barney doesn't exist. Ted made him up to make the story more interesting.

*mind fuck*

Then who's wedding did he meet the mother on?
And why didn't the kids go "Uncle Who?" the first time Ted mentions Uncle Ted?

[Pavonis]

All the characters exist, but not necessarily with the personalities they're depicted with; it's all biased by Ted's recollection, and the producers have demonstrated that the events we "see" aren't always the events that happened.