How I Met Your Mother - Recap: The Giver

The stories feel pretty evenly divided this week, but if there's an A-story here, it's in the Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) side of things. During a high-stakes poker game, Robin gets sick and tired of hearing Barney's brother James (Wayne Brady) dissing the institution of marriage (“What’s the difference between a Journey song and a husband? A Journey song has a climax!”), so she coaxes him into putting his money where his mouth is. She wagers her wedding ring against his...and wins. Naturally, this draws the ire of James and Barney's mother, Loretta (Frances Conroy), who challenges Robin to a poker game to win back her son's ring...and loses. This is all fairly amusing stuff, but it's mostly just a means of getting Barney and Robin pitted against each other, as Robin feels Barney is siding with his family against her. Barney's mother has always been a weak spot for him, so it's natural that there would be a clash the minute another woman threatened to take her place. However, Robin has never been intent on taking Barney away from Loretta. This is simply an instance of Robin's inherent defensiveness when she feels she isn't being backed by the people who are supposed to be in her corner.

And, ultimately, that's what the main point of the storyline ends up being: Robin feels that Barney doesn't have her back, and it's an accusation that prompts Barney to recognize, thanks to Lily's (Alyson Hannigan) advice, that he didn't sign up for marriage simply to be a loner like James. He got engaged because he wanted to be a part of a team. It's a poignant realization from Barney that ends up leading to one of the funniest moments of the episode, as he tells off James and Loretta in ridiculous fashion, telling them he doesn't need them anymore now that he has Robin. He then blames the entire outburst on Robin, since being a part of a team doesn't preclude Barney from having loyalty to his family. This was actually a fairly weird tonal shift for the storyline, but hey, it was funny, and I rarely ask for anything more than that. Neil Patrick Harris was on point, as always, with his fantastic line readings. He can take a line like "I’m not cheating! Don’t tell anyone! I’ll cut you in half!" and deliver it one long, breathless take that makes it much funnier than it probably was on the page. Nine seasons in, and NPH is still the show's MVP (which, of course, is not to say that the other performers on the show aren't equally talented. Radnor and Segel, in particular, had some stellar moments this week).

That's why I found myself really enjoying the B-story of the episode, in which Ted (Josh Radnor) bickers back and forth with Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily. Marshall and Lily are angry because they believe Ted forgot to get them a wedding gift six years ago, and are offended that he now has the time and energy to get Robin and Barney three. Meanwhile, Ted is furious because he believes Marshall and Lily neglected to send him a "thank you" not for the gift he'd gotten them six years ago, a coffee maker. It's a deceptively simple comedy routine, as we continually learn that the parties involved are completely misremembering the situation. Ted had gotten them a gift, and Marshall and Lily had written a note, but their wires were crossed by Stuart (Matt Boren), their mutual friend, who took credit for the gift-giving in order to save his relationship with his wife, Claudia (Virginia Williams). It's a great series of bits, particularly the flashbacks with Ted and Marshall dropping hints to one another about the forgotten gifts, or the throwback to the old Halloween party on the roof of the apartment (with the Slutty Pumpkin in the background!). The entendre-laced Mosby/Eriksen family mottos are also fantastic ("Wrap it before you tap it" / "Lick it before you stick it"). There's also a terrific bit at the beginning of the episode, as Marshall describes to Daphne (Sherri Shepherd) the perfect slice of pizza from a now-defunct pizza joint, and it's a story that ends up coming back by the end, as Ted manages to get a pizza out to him in the middle of the road. It's the kind of elaborate, long-form gag that the show continues to do well, even nine seasons in.

"The Poker Game" is a straightforward episode, but those are often the best kind. The majority of the jokes work, and the character growth feels earned. It's not even that troubling that we're in our second week now with no sign of The Mother (Cristin Milioti). There's a certain care and patience to the plotting that makes this season feel far more purposeful and rewarding than past seasons, which were occasionally characterized by aimlessness. How I Met Your Mother feels like a stronger show now, at the end, than it has in several seasons.

Thanks for reading my recap and review of How I Met Your Mother - Season 9 Episode 5, "The Poker Game"!