Last night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother was called Rebound Bro, and had two main storylines. One focused on Barney trying to find a replacement wingman for Ted, and the other focused on Ted and Stella moving their relationship forward. Personally, I was far more interested in the Barney storyline, but still didn’t think it was anything great. I think I only smiled a couple of times during the entire 30 minutes, so this was pretty much a letdown for me.
Barney/Randy: Ted is holding firm to his resolve not to be friends with Barney anymore (though he still answers Barney’s phone calls), so Barney is forced to search for a new bro/wingman. He calls up a bunch of guys he hasn’t talked to in a long time, only to learn that they’re either married or already bros with someone else. So he ends up taking on a loser from work named Randy (played by Will Forte).
They go to MacLaren’s, but it’s clear that Randy has next to no experience in talking to women. He freezes up, doesn’t know what to say, hides under tables, and even gets nosebleeds (signaling his, um, excitement). He seems like a lost cause until Barney calls Robin in for help. Through their interaction, Barney learns that Randy used to be a cop with the NYPD, so he convinces Randy to use that as his angle. Randy soon hooks up with a girl, and leaves, but Robin points out that it’s not as satisfying for Barney as when he helped hook Ted up.
Ted/Stella: Ted and Stella have hit the two-month mark in their relationship, and things are going great. Ted seems genuinely happy, so he wants to take things to the next level. In other words, they haven’t had sex yet, and he’s going crazy!
Stella reveals that she hasn’t been with a man in 5 years, which Ted has trouble wrapping his mind around. They arrange for a special night at a hotel, and leave it at that. Ted then goes to Marshall and Lily for help, but they don’t know what to say since they still have sex all the time.
When the big day arrives, Stella drops by the apartment where she runs into Lily and Marshall. They make a few comments about her drought, which understandably embarrasses her. She gets mad at Ted, calls the date off, and leaves. A few days later, however, she comes back, apologizes, and says that she is ready for more. Stella then takes Ted to meet her daughter. Later that night, Stella and Ted have sex for the first time.
My Reaction: I’m sorry, but I’m just not feeling any chemistry between Ted and Stella. I’ve read a lot of message forums where most other fans seem to think that Stella is the best thing since sliced bread, but I don’t see it. Maybe it’s just that I’ve kind of started actively disliking Ted this season, so I’m no longer interested in anything the character does.
Oh, and am I the only one who thinks it’s incredibly creepy that FutureTed talks to his kids about all of his past sexual exploits? I know I’ve mentioned this before, but that element was again present in this episode, so I started thinking about it again. Way, way too much information for parents and their teenage kids.
The Barney storyline was just ok. I thought Randy was annoying, not funny at all. I only smiled at the way Barney acted or reacted to Randy, not to anything Randy said or did. Hopefully that character won’t be back anytime soon. I do have to say that it was good to see Robin not completely shunning Barney like Ted is doing, but again, I wish they would talk about their one-night stand a bit more or, hell, just do it again already!
I’ve heard the season finale is supposed to be awesome, so I can’t wait. Has this show been renewed for another year??