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How I Met Your Mother: Season 7 Premiere

By Michelle Wilson · September 20, 2011

I stumbled across this comedy gem late last season and constantly wondered why it was called How I Met Your Mother if there was no ‘mother’ and what’s up with all the narration? Watching the double episode Season 7 Premiere, it suddenly dawned on me the relevance of the title and narration. In every episode, these flawed characters teach us something about hope.

We try, we fail, some resolve never to try again, while others rev their optimistic engine and do it all over, hoping for success. It’s easy to offer this “try, fail, hope” home spun wisdom to our friends who lament over their shortcomings, but of course we cringe if it’s told to us after yet another defeat. “Success,” as Winston Churchill put it, “is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” And that enthusiasm is hope. Without hope, there is no chance for self-improvement. Hence, the point of How I Met Your Mother.

In the Season 7 opener, which centers around Barney’s (Neil Patrick Harris) impending marriage and his sudden confession to Ted (Josh Radnor) about his fear of making the wrong decision, I wonder if all the stuff ever written about hope is true. These characters seem to think so as they reminisce about bad but memorable wedding moments they’ve shared, all to make the point that hoping is never futile. One such moment is delivered via flashbacks, as Ted and Barney wax nostalgic about “how Marshall ruined their friend Punchy’s wedding.”

While some may argue that in a comedic sitcom, the comedy is first and character second, this show seems to switch it around with laughter and style. Woven with themes of loneliness, loyalty, and friendship, these five characters are all searching and hoping for the same thing: love. But hilarity and some harsh lessons ensue as they each try to navigate life’s unconventional path. In the first flashback, for example, when Ted is charged with toasting the bride and groom, he begins by mentioning he’d recently lost his job and as someone tries to take away the microphone, he rebels by saying “No! The happy couple needs to hear this. Things end.”

The lesson here, well, lets just say it’s at the most inopportune times where we seem to think clearly and Ted is no exception. Does hope really spring eternal? Or do things just end as Ted so un-eloquently explains?

The first episode raises a great question: Why is it when one of the guy friend’s we’ve always had a crush on decides to get married, women inevitably feel as if they’ve got to make a last ditch effort to get the guy or rekindle lost passion? Mind you, this is the same guy they’ve known for years, flirted with the idea of dating, but for one irrational reason or another, never made a first attempt to make it work.

Two answers immediately come to mind. The first, is that we don’t want to be alone and if he gets married, then we’ll somehow never manage to find anyone who’ll love or accept us just as we are. Really? Sometimes this hope eternal thing feels more like a croc.

The second is that when the light bulb finally turns on, we realize the one we’ve been searching for has been right in front of us all along. Most of us have a penchant for learning the hard way. This brings me to Robin (Cobie Smulders), who on the surface is a lovely, albeit naive at times, ambitious reporter who yearns for love and Barney. She’s a robust character whose extensive knowledge of off beat things such as cigars and guns adds to her charm, but who falters horribly at the intense ritual of love and its many branches. In the end, what Lily (Alyson Hannigan) deems as Robin’s “truth voice,” ultimately gives away her true feelings for a past relationship and is highlighted even more by a sensual dance. Maybe there is truth in this hope thing after all.

The second half hour of the two-part premiere is a continuation, thankfully, of the first, and moves smoothly to a topic not easily discussed. In this day and age when computers and social media have all but taken over our lives, the one thing we all potentially fear is not getting a job based on our past actions that have nothing to do with how well we can perform said job.

Lovable, quirky Marshall (Jason Segel) suffering from a hangover, is mortified as his friends describe how he ruined Punchy’s wedding. Embarrassed, he makes a sweeping declaration: “I’m never getting drunk again as long as I live.” But you knew this wouldn’t be the end of it, right? Each character discusses their challenge and hopeful outcome. Barney works out a new lie to impress a girl, Ted has decided to go on two dates in the hopes of finding ‘the one,’ and Marshall receives the coveted phone call he’s been waiting for.            

Now this is where the fun albeit mayhem begins as Barney, who still hasn’t learned his lesson about lying to get the girl, pins his hope on a frail lie; Ted’s hope is renewed after going on two simultaneous dates; but Marshall’s hope is dampened by his fear of finding anything online that would deter him from getting the job he desperately wants.

In the end, while all the anecdotes about hope may be true, these five friends make us realize that no matter what, we all have to work hard if we hope to achieve what we deem as our success.