How I Met Your Mother: Phoning it in

I feel very conflicted about last night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother. On the one hand, I am an evidenced Katy Perry fan.On the other hand, I have never liked Zoey. So I was thrilled that Katy Perry guest starred as her hot cousin (and she was funny!) but I am decidedly not thrilled about the fact that Zoey is now officially a romantic interest for Ted.

I’ve made it no secret that I’m ready to meet The Mother. And even though Zoey and The Captain have split, I don’t see her as The Mother at all. So how is Ted supposed to meet his soul mate if he’s in a long term relationship with Zoey? We’ve already done this storyline with Robin, Victoria and Stella. One of the major problems with the later seasons of HIMYM is that Ted can be kind of a douche when he’s single, but anyone he dates has to be a possible mother. Is Zoey possible? At this point, I’ve lost track of the clues. Is Ted supposed to meet The Mother at that wedding? If so, it’s not Zoey and we’re wasting our time.

That said, I actually thought this episode was well-executed. If you take away the fact that I hate Ted and Zoey together, I liked it. I liked everyone telling Marshall a different version of the story over the phone, I liked everyone trying to cover for Ted by telling Zoey that a different member of the gang hates her, and I liked Marshall playing matchmaker from his childhood bedroom back home.

Here’s some other highlights from “Oh, Honey”:

  • Robin ruining dinner and saying “I thought the oven was in Celsius.”
  • Honey telling everyone that her building is super safe because her landlord even put a security camera in her shower.
  • “I just had a great TV audition, behind the KFC where the producer works on the weekends. Long story short, I’m going to be on LOST.” – Honey (Oh, honey…)
  • Marshall is too polite to not answer a call waiting beep
  • “It was actually pretty noble of him. He fell on his sword, so that she could fall on mine.” – Barney, on how Ted backed off from Honey for him
  • Barney has four Nobel prizes, and his dad only has three
  • Barney pouring his heart out to Honey about his quest to find his father
  • Barney went all The Wire and switched to disposable cell phones to avoid clingy chicks, but is that why he hasn’t heard from his dad? 
  • “He’s gay!” – Marshall’s mom, eavesdropping on the phone (also his brother)
  • Zoey filling Ted’s fridge with ketchup. (One likable moment does not make her a likable character, though.)


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