How I Met Your Mother: The Slutty Pumpkin Returns

3-4-1.  Here's the funny thing about comedy, things become funnier when you share them with others.  I'm not sure why this is, but I have numerous examples of it happening.  I didn't think Austin Powers was that funny at all and then I sat around with some friends rehashing the movie and realized it was side-splitting.  I liked Borat a lot, but once I talked about it's great moments with co-workers, I loved it.  "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns" was an OK episode that was funny but flawed and then I spent some time with friends and it became hilarious.  I was probably going to put it in the tie column, but given a little time to share the experience I had a change of heart.
     That's not to say I'm still not critical of the episode, just more forgiving then usual.  I don't buy the whole slutty pumpkin plot.  If Katty Holmes was so eager to meet back up with Ted, why did she never return to the party like he did?  And, man was I disappointed with how the slutty pumpkin costume actually looked!  Why show the costume?  Wouldn't it have played better if you left to our imagination like they did in the first episode?  Also, as funny as the concept as pregnancy brain may be, the Lilly/Marshal story-line, like many of the Lilly/Marshal story-lines this season, just fell flat.
     But this was a win, not a loss, so let's focus on the good.  The "Barney is a quarter Canadian" plot line carried the episode and over shadowed many of episodes flaws.  It shows the power of one well written and set up joke.  Every aspect of the joke had me laughing starting with the idea that everyone would be friends with Barney's real dad on Facebook.  Marshal's line that Jerome has gotten pretty good at Bejewled Blitz was great.  This show seems to be at it's comedic best when it makes fun of Barney and at this point in the show's run, nothing would cause more humiliation then him having a little Canadian blood.  Yes, it was one joke and a fairly easy one once Barney's heritage was established, but talking about it with friends had me in stitches, which is all I should be asking from HIMYM in the first place.  And of course, the one thing that may have been more responsible for this ending up in the win column, at least for this season... No Kal Penn!!