What a Week on HIMYM

The Perfect Week

How I Met Your Mother: Season 5, Episode 14

When the gang has the makings for an incredibly lousy week, they take joy in Barney's latest conquest: sleeping with seven women in seven days, aka the Perfect Week.

So, what makes a bad week in HIMYM land?

Ted

He's got a whole new set of students this semester, meaning none of them have heard his MAGGIE acronym yet. When rattling off names on his student roster, he starts berating the class for adding a fake name that lacks in cleverness. Unfortunately for him, and his student, there actually is a girl named 'Cook Pu.' Commence the jokes now.

Robin

After going on a horrible date with a random Dale, she doesn't understand why he won't call her back for a second date. Enough with the Robin-is-hotter-than-everyone jokes. Enough.

Marshall & Lily

What's with Marshall and Lily not sharing a burger like they usually do at McLaren's? Since Barney and Robin are no longer together, as well as Ted and Stella, Ted and Robin, Ted and Victoria, the two have been on the hunt for new couple friends. When their latest couple date found out that Marshmellow and Lilypad share a toothbrush, they think that it's, well, gross. As does everyone else. And it only makes it worse when they learn that they shared a toothbrush with Ted for 8 years and even Robin, on occasion, when she dated Ted. Oops.

But the main event of the night was Barney, who got to tell the story of his seven nights, to his imaginary interviewer, sportscaster Jim Nantz.

At first, I thought this storyline would be too reminiscent of "The Playbook" episode. In ways it was overdone, but at least this time Barney had a bit more character depth than he's had as of late.

According to Marshall, Barney is being blamed for a merger falling through at work, and he'll find out on Friday if he'll be kicked to the curb. As is usual for Barney, he isn't dealing with what might happen, rather, he's scouting out women so that he can overcome the odds and have a perfect week--just like a perfect game in baseball.

Of course, Lily doesn't think sleeping with women will solve any of Barney's problems. Their friendship dynamic is one of the best on the show, with Lily acting as the hellish angel on Barney's shoulder. She elaborates on the worst-case scenario, that if he lost his apartment he could come live with her and Marshall (that plot would be nothing less than awesome, in my opinion).

But by the end of the episode Lily realizes why they need Barney to succeed: just like in sports, they need a winner after the week they've all been having. Lily dives to the ground of McLaren's, effectively stopping Barney's seventh girl from walking away and joining NY Yankee's Nick Swisher at the corner table.

And then Nantz disintegrates in a poof of smoke and Barney has to deal with reality. Lucky for him, he gets to keep his job.

Yet another Barney-centric episode, and while we saw hints of feeling in Barney's exterior at the thought of becoming unemployed, what else did we get? It feels like the writers are stalling, biding time... but for what? The Mother reveal? I've been fine with not knowing who she is yet, but the storylines need to get a move on in other ways. Robin's jokes about everyone wanting her? Old. More stories about how close Marshall and Lily are? Been there, done that. Ted just being around for random bodily function jokes? Not usual for him, but c'mon. Let's have some more episodes that aren't all about Barney and his women.

Again, despite my criticisms, HIMYM still manages to pull off a few good laughs, especially when Present Ted says that he would never tell the story of Barney's 'perfect week' to his kids; fast-forward to Future Ted with his kids on the couch, listening to that very story.

What did you think of the latest installment of HIMYM? What sorts of storylines do you want to see for the characters? Share your thoughts below!

Photo: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2010/02/how_i_met_your_mother_the_perf.html

What I'm Up To

Writing on this blog seems to be inversely proportional to writing my novel as of late. I'm working on balancing this out some - as a goal mind you, not as a New Year's Resolution that I'm not good at keeping. I've got a lot on my plate lately, though, it seems. Between working more hours at my day job; working on my novel, hot dog articles, and other food pieces, as well as trying to keep some semblance of a social life, it's a difficult juggling act.

That said, I'm making some great progress on my novel. I'm still about 1/4 through the rewrite (which is what I told my twitter followers a couple weeks ago), but that's only because a week ago, I realized that some of my timeline didn't land right. I moved an important scene earlier, and that changed the build-up to it. Earlier this week, I finished those tweaks and I now feel that I can continuing pushing ahead and making more gains.

I'm not on track as I'd like to be to meet my 'finish draft 3.5 before I leave for Paris' deadline, but I still think I can meet my next goal of having a complete - almost final! - draft by April 21, 2010.

And let me tell you, I'm so glad I have this deadline. My writing partner and me set this deadline just before Christmas, and we're both trying really hard to meet it. But there's been other developments there, too. Our writing partnership has turned into a club! That's right, another writer has joined us. She's a newbie to the writing world, but she is incredibly inspiring. An idea struck her a couple weeks ago and she's been powering through the first draft of her novel. After a week of outlining, and then about two weeks worth of writing, she's officially about 17,000 words in already. See? Told ya so. Inspiring.

So, my Wednesday night Writing Club (which actually met Tuesday instead of Wednesday for this week only) is now officially a 'club' with three people. It's small, great group, and I know I wouldn't be as far along as I am now without them. And now I'm getting all cheesy, so I'll wrap things up.

I'm finishing up some revisions on Chapter 8 tonight, then it's back to Chapter 12 and continuing on to the rest of the novel this weekend.

What about you? What are your writing goals? Have you set any self-imposed deadlines?

Marshall tries to make Lily jealous

Jenkins
How I Met Your Mother, Episode 13

Lily and Marshall's relationship has always been strong. Even when they broke off their engagement in Season 1, Lily moved to and back from San Francisco, and Marshall dated the coffee-shop girl in Season 2, I could never, ever see Lily or Marshall with anyone else. As quirky characters, Lilypad and Marshall work. But their relationship got tested in Episode 13, Jenkins, when Marshall befriends a female co-worker.

(Sorry for the delay in posting; I wasn't able to watch earlier this week due to house/dog/cat-sitting... and no access to CBS).

But, I didn't buy the impetus for the storyline. Just last week when a new hot bartender showed up at McLaren's, Marshall proved to Lily that she was absolutely the only one for him. So, why did Marshall expect Lily to get jealous when he learns that all of Marshall's stories about a new co-worker - in which he never uses he/she pronouns - are about a female named Jenkins?

With Lily's lack of response, Marshall becomes determined to make her jealous, to the point that Lily didn't buy it when Marshall (truthfully) tells her that Jenkins kissed him - WITH tongue! Lily's reaction, I could buy, considering how much she trusts Marshall and how strong their relationship is, but the whole storyline ended up 'meh' for me.

That's not to say that this episode wasn't a total waste. With Lily and Marshall's plot, we gained some new relationship phrases (without the help of Barney, thank you very much). In every relationship, Robin and Ted explain, there's a Reacher and a Settler. As the names imply, the Settler is someone who could do better, while the Reacher won't get any better than who they've landed. Who's who in the pairing of Marshmellow and Lilypad? After a heated debate - with Marshall's screaming turning into a request for split-pea soup - Lily finally concedes that IF they were really to fit this theory, then she'd be the Settler.

While the Marshall/Lily Plot A storyline was lackluster, Plot B provided some laughs. Robin gets a tad-bit full of herself when she learns that Ted's class enjoys watching her crack of dawn show. But why do they tune in? The 'But, um...' drinking game all the college kids play. Every time she says 'but, um' during an interview, everyone takes a shot. Could it be? Does Robin, the woman who aspires to be on national TV, really say 'but, um' THAT often?

Apparently, she does. When Ted and Barney put it to the test, they end up finishing an entire bottle of Grey Goose. Not to mention, Ted's tie ends up around his head.

What did you think of the episode and NPH's directorial debut? Did it bother you that Barney barely had a storyline? (Unless you count him continually making jokes about attempting to sleep with Jenkins. Apparently, that's what Barney has been relegated back to... nothing more than a womanizing player. So much for character development for him).

What'd you think of Robin's lack of professionalism with the 'but, um's and running away an interviewee just to get back at the college kids? And, how much did you love Lily punching out Jenkins at the end? Because I totally did. Share your thoughts below!

Photo: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/how-i-met-your-mother/how-i-met-your-mother-jenkins-33874.aspx

Nothing Suits Barney Like A Suit

Girls vs Suits
How I Met Your Mother: Season 5, Episode 12 (aka Episode 100!!!)

In Girls vs Suits, Ted sees the ankle of his future wife, and Barney gives up suits. Hah. Like the second part of that would ever happen.

HIMYM started 2010 with a bang. Everyone in the gang had a bit of a story - even if it was Lily's 'hot for girls' talk that she's been doing a lot this season, Marshall reassuring Lily that she is the hottest woman, and Robin not liking the fact that the new bartender makes her the number 2 hot girl in McLaren's.

Ted... TED!... has a big storyline this time around, with tons of reveals about who the 'Mother' is. He meets Cindy at Columbia, after confiscating some frat guys' beer (except for the Hard Lemonade), and they instantly hit it off. We learn that she's a PhD student, knows Ted already because she was in that Econ class he accidentally 'taught' on the first day (!!!), and she always goes for cute idiots, like Ted.

But on their first date, as Future Ted talks about how you sometimes just know you're in the right place, we learn that Cindy is not the Mother... but her awesome roommate, who all Cindy's dates fall for, is. Ted claims he won't be like the other guys. Oops. But that mis-step soon doesn't matter. Cindy calls it off, worried about losing her scholarship if she dates a professor. But we know Ted. He can't just leave it at that.

He returns to Cindy's apartment, where her roommate is just about to get out of the shower. Ted ends up saying he likes the three things in Cindy's bedroom that belong to her roommate - and so it's vamoose for him, but not before he forgets the yellow umbrella he brought with him. And not before he sees his future's wife ankle as she goes into her bedroom.

Where was Barney in all this? Trying to land the hot bartender, of course, since he's amazingly not slept with one yet. Problem is? She doesn't go for guys in suits. So, he (gasp!) gives up suits. He seems to do this pretty easily, coming to the bar the next day in just a t-shirt and jeans. But, alas, his affair with suits is still, expectedly, not over. In a moment of weakness, he goes to the bathroom, where he's stashed a secret suit in the door. He puts it on, and RIPPP!

He cradles the suit as he runs to his tailor, played by none other than Tim Gunn. Unfortunately, the suit is dead, but it's buttons can be used for another. But what a perfect play for Barney! He brings an urn of the suit's ashes to the bar, where he's finally able to snag the bartender out of pity. Back at his place, though, she accidently walks into his suit closet. She then demands he choose: her... or the suits?

Cue one amazing dance number, created by the choreographers from the TV show Glee. Everyone in the gang participates in "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit", with NPH, of course, at the center. It's big, it's awesome, and it's totally HIMYM.

But Barney still ends up sleeping with the bartender, claiming that he'll get rid of his suits the next day. Yeah. Right.

I loved the hints about the mother, and I, for one, don't mind if they don't give her a face quite yet. With this storyline, Ted finally entertained and showed why he's the main character of the show... but then there's Barney and his musical number. Which, don't get me wrong, was laugh-out-loud funny, but we've lost the tiny bit of sensitiveness we once had from Barney.

What happened to character progress on HIMYM? Lily seems stuck on the same note. Robin is stuck at her job, even while she's convinced of her hotness. Marshall, well, Marshall just hung around. Barney is always going for the girl. While Ted is back on track, I hope the writers keep up with the character development, get them doing new things but still keeping the characters true to what they've developed for them over the years.

What did you think about all the hints? Or are you just ready to find out who the Mother is and be done with it? Did you ever believe Barney would give up his suits? Do you want to see more from Marshall and Lily? Share your thoughts below!

Photo: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2010/01/how_i_met_your_mother_100th_ep.html

The HIMYM gang smokes?!?

Last Cigarette Ever
How I Met Your Mother: Season 5, Episode 11

The premise of "Last Cigarette Ever" was lackluster at best. Since when does everyone in the HIMYM smoke? I can see Robin as a smoker. (Just see Season 2, Episode 18, "Moving Day," in which Robin enjoys a cigarette in the bathtub while her new live-in boyfriend Ted hangs out with Barney). I can even understand Lily as a smoker, too. (Season 2, Episode 21, "Something Borrowed," when Lily smokes to calm herself after all the disasters at her wedding). But Ted, Marshall, AND Barney as smokers?!!? No way.

I get that the writers expected viewers to be shocked, just like Future Ted's kids are as he reveals that each. and. every. one. of his friends - and himself - used to be part-time smokers. But it just felt like the writers were grasping at straws, just trying to find something to fill in an episode. We've had filler episodes before - like Season 4, Episode 2, "The Best Burger in New York" - but they were more entertaining (and believable and in line with who the characters were).

This a very, very, very far fall since last week's episode, The Window, which I thought was the best of the season so far. So, what's up Carter and Bays?!? Where's the creativity? Where's the crazy shenanigans that I've loved throughout pretty much every season? (Including this season, even when I haven't always agreed with the way the characters have been portrayed?)

For the most part, the writers have been consistent in the portrayal of the HIMYM gang. But, over the course of five seasons, it's not surprising that they occasionally need to change to characters over time - like Lily keeping Barney's secret love for Robin under wraps for months. But the premise and majority of last night's episode just left me annoyed. It seemed so out of the blue - and not in HIMYM's usual funny way.

To date, this is - by far - my worst review of HIMYM. Usually I show the love, and tons of it. But despite my vast criticisms (and groans while watching) there were a few glimmers of funny throughout the episode:
* Robin's storyline - yes, a storyline belonging to Robin and only Robin! - about an annoying co-anchor, Don, who pays no heed to the teleprompter and loves wearing tighty-whities around the set.
* Lily's manly smoker voice c/o Harvey Fierstein
* Marshall trying to get his old boss - remember Season 3, Episode 15 "Chain of Screaming"? - to remember him so he doesn't get fired, even if it means smoking.
* Marshall having a hard time dealing with the loss of McRib.
* The gang tuning in to Robin's show, finally, and calling in.
* Robin having a new love interest in Don. Yeah, yeah, I've always supported the Barney/Robin thing, but I'm interested to see this new dynamic play out. Here's hoping Don isn't as big of a jerk as he was portrayed last night.
* Marshall going back in time to beat-up on his 13-year-old self for lighting that first cigarette.
* In the last scene before the tag, Ted giving some hints as to what's in the gang's future by saying when they'll finally have their 'last cigarette.' (The only useful thing in the whole 'cigarette' storyline debacle, if you ask me).

Despite the overall lackluster episode, last night's HIMYM garned its highest ratings yet. For those of you who watched for the first time and wondered what all the hype is about after seeing this poor performance, I say STICK WITH IT. This is my first overall negative review of this show, and I'm hoping that the new year will bring plenty more legen-wait for it-dary episodes. There will be some more info about the Mother (I'm almost positive of it), and what's not to love about an upcoming musical number?

What did you think of "Last Cigarette Ever"? Was I too harsh in my assessment of the episode? What was your reaction when you found out they were all long-time smokers? Did you believe it? And what'd you think of Robin's new love interest, Don? Share your thoughts below!

Photo: cbs.com

Ted and the "perfect" girl

The Window

How I Met Your Mother: Season 5, Episode 10

Ted finally finds a window of opportunity, and the gang tries to help him catch the "perfect" girl. Meanwhile, Barney takes a bet, and Marshall (again) tries to come to terms with the corporate life he's created for himself.

At the beginning of "The Window," Ted dashes out the door of McLaren's after receiving a phone call from an older woman saying the window is open. According to Ted (and Marshall & Lily), Maggie is the perfect girl - which is a problem because every guy who meets her thinks so, too. When she's finally single for a minute - in the 12 years Ted has known her, our hero races over to her apartment and asks her on a date before she can run into any other guy, postmen included.

The problem? When Ted arrives early for his date, Robins reminds him about the class he's supposed to teach that night. Maggie refuses to sit in, so Ted charges Marshall & Lily with watching over her to make sure that no guy comes in contact with her, even if it's just on the walk from the bathroom to the booth.

But Marshall and Lily don't stay long. Marshall has been sorting through some things his mother sent him. He pulls out a pair of denim overalls, which, naturally, leads to Barney challenging himself to get laid while wearing them. Marshall also pulls out a letter his 15-year-old self wrote his 30-year-old self. Despite some ridiculous goals - including growing out his rat-tail and legally changing his name to 'Vanilla Thunder' - his teenage goals affect him, and he runs away from the table, claiming he needs to take care of something at work.

Lily leaves Maggie in the care of Robin. Her turn babysitting is immediately threatened when Maggie's co-worker, Jim, starts chatting her up. Trying absolutely everything to get Jim's attention, Robin manages to make herself Jim's date to a erotic canine art gallery - which means Robin can leave Maggie with only one person... Barney.

Naturally, this frightens Ted. He had been trying to wrap up his class early, but to his dismay (and to his delight) everyone wanted to hear what he had to say about bridges. When he accidentally writes what's on his mind - MAGGIE - on the board, he tries to play it off as an acronym, but the classroom doesn't buy it. They start asking questions of his love life, focusing on: are you really ready for a serious relationship?

With no time to answer the question, he runs back to the bar. After Maggie calls Barney's overalls cute, Barney informs Ted that he has 10-minutes before the window closes again. Running down the street, Ted yells, "I hate Barney Stinson!" to which an unseen female yells, "Me too!" Classic.

Ted arrives at the bar just in time to run into Jim, who managed to escape Robin's clutches. Barney, too, throws his name into the hat, telling them that after he gets Maggie, the window will open again in 10 minutes. The guys fight about how long they've loved her, until they notice she's disappeared.

Robin sent her off in a cab, so she could escape the greedy guy vultures. Ted gives a lofty speech, so in character for him, and concedes that Maggie deserves to be single for a little while.... and then, as expected with his character, too, he bolts out the door, racing to Maggie's apartment, pushing Jim and Barney away in the process.

But they're too late. She ran into her childhood sweetheart and old next door neighbor, which prompts Ted to say that it was the second best romantic story he's ever heard. Despite the window with Maggie closing forever, Ted finally realizes he really is ready for a serious relationship... which begs the question, when has he not be? Yeah, he's gone through some rough patches in the past year, but he was always, always, always on the lookout for a serious relationship. If he hadn't been, why didn't he just throw in the relationship towel like Robin did, which is one of those things people do "Before They Meet the Love of Their Lives"'?

I understand why the writers let Ted have this realization... we're about to get a lot more of Ted's story... but it's disappointing that his conclusion is something that he's wanted all along.

As for Marshall, his story ended with attempting to prove to himself that he could still accomplish something on his list: slam dunk a basketball. Fail. Even after Lily lowers the hoop a foot. But, luckily for Marshall, Lily is there to remind him that he's successful and he's done things his 15-year-old self never dreamed of.

While I love seeing this side of Marshall and Lily - rather than Lily and her 'you're dead to me' stare, this storyline has somewhat been done before. Marshall's unhappiness with selling-out even led him to quitting his job in a previous episode. At least, he's learned not to do that again, I suppose.

Before wrapping up, let's not forget the tag: Marshall sits in McLaren's and writes a letter to his 60-year-old self. In it, he asks for proof of time travel on December 7th at exactly 8:29pm. Marshall looks around the bar, nothing happens, and then... Lily brings over a plate of free hot wings that someone returned because they were too hot. Miracle!

The camera pans over and we're treated to an older Marshall who is being served by Wendy the waitress, who's apparently returned as part of the supporting cast.

Despite my critiques of the storyline, this was by far my favorite of the season so far. The whole gang had a role to play. Barney's plot was simple and classic Barney - even with the shudder-inducing moment that he goes to sleep with the old lady, Maggie's neighbor who had earlier called Ted, just so he can get out of the overalls.

Overall (hah, you know they cover everything), "The Window" led to plenty of laughs, and here's hoping that HIMYM is back on track for the rest of the season.

What did you think of Ted's pursuit of Maggie? Do you think Marshall will ever 'save the world'? What happened to Robin and her totally horrible - but funny - tactics of getting Jim's attention? And, will Barney ever change? Share your comments below!

Why I Love Outlining

I know not everyone is going to agree with me on this, but I abso-friggin-lutley love outlining my novel... but only at a certain time in the novel-writing process.

I didn't outline my novel before I wrote my first draft. Sure, I made a timeline of important events - since I need to get the chronology straight since I based a lot of things I wrote on actual events - but I do NOT outline as a first step, ever. Otherwise, I'd feel too constrained, and I'd feel that the story wouldn't naturally unfold.

That said, on draft 3.5, I got stuck. I knew what I wanted to add, I knew I needed to move some scenes around, and I knew I needed to delete a few scenes (as much as it hurt to do), but I didn't know where to start.

So, I started my outline to get the big picture of my whole novel on just a few pages. In the end, I organized this outline based on what I learned over at Paperback Writer.

But first, I started simple with the barest of the bare Chapter descriptions followed by a few hits of 'enter' to give myself some room to make handwritten notes. I then cut all the chapters into slips of paper and took two hours of sitting on the dining room floor to reorganize the pieces of the novel puzzle. It was so cathartic. I finally started to see how certain scenes worked together - or not - and made sure that the two timelines were both given the word and page space they needed.

I added, moved things around, and, gasp, threw out a couple chapters (the hardest to get rid of being the first two), and then I taped the slips of paper together.

Then it was back to the computer. I rearranged the outline and then filled out the outline with specific scenes, all the while making notes of what I needed to add or to work out when I went back to rewriting the novel. And boy oh boy do I have a ton of stuff I still need to rewrite.

But here's the thing. While I had some ideas of how I wanted the novel to change and grow before I sat down to outline, I never expected most of what I realized when I actually did the work. The novel is going to be so much better now and that much closer to being done, all because I took a break from writing (kind of) and outlined.

Do you outline? Or, how do you go about making drastic changes to your work? If you outline, when do you: before starting the novel or sometime after? How do you use outlines? Or do you absolutely hate them?