How I Met Your Mother: Now We're Even

     I'm not sure exactly when HIMYM became more about hitting you with an emotional punch then a comedic one, probably last season when they tried to deal with Marshal losing his dad and Barney trying to find his, but it could go back a little further, either way it's made the show almost unwatchable.  Instead of enjoying all the jokes about Barney trying to make each night legendary, stuff that should have been making me laugh, all I kept doing was wait for the inevitable reveal of WHY Barney was suddenly acting this way.  After each night's title page, instead of laughing or even chuckling, all I could think was, "What lame reason are they going to come up with Barney doing this."  In the old days of HIMYM, the reason would have been presented up front; there wouldn't have been a weak attempt at a big reveal, just a focus on making the viewer laugh.  The HIMYM writers have gotten to clever for their own good.  Every episode needs to have a big ending, some emotional punch to the stomach, but all they are delivering is a slap to the face.
     That being said, there was a lot of funny stuff in this episode.  I wish we could push the drama to the side so we could be left to enjoy what sitcoms are supposed to be all about, comedy.  I loved the idea of Ted finally enjoying the freedom of having his own place.  And hopefully we aren't done with that joke because there is a lot to mine there.  The reveal that Lily's sex dream was about Ranjit was the first time I've laughed out loud while watching HIMYM in a long time.  And like I mentioned before, Barney's attempts to make each night legendary were great.  They were sometimes silly, sometimes call backs, and each one had at least a small chuckle that would have been attached if I wasn't worried about what laid behind each joke.
     Let's be honest, Marshal being OK with Lily's sex dreams because he realizes that each man was a great father was stupid and Barney's behavior being caused by the fact he was dating a stripper was obvious.  If the writers could just stick to what makes this show worth watching, comedy, things could still be saved, but until then the losses will just keep adding up.  5-14-2.