Good riddance!

I’d heard that Ted and Zoey would finally be splitting up on Monday night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother, but as excited as that news made me I was still disappointed in the episode.

Ted’s storyline with Zoey and The Arcadian has been the weakest point of this whole season, by far. Had Ted had a good storyline, I think this would have been one of HIMYM‘s strongest seasons – both Marshall and Barney’s storylines with their dads have been great, and while Lily and Robin haven’t had storylines quite so meaty they’ve also had great moments throughout the season.

But Ted? He’s been all wrapped up in a romance with a character he has zero chemistry with. I’m sure Jennifer Morrison is a good actress – she was fine on House, though never one of my favorites – but she was not the right fit for this character, and Zoey never really gelled right with the rest of the gang. At the very least, the women Ted have dated have always seemed like real girlfriends. I understood him with Victoria, with Robin, with Stella. But Zoey just doesn’t jive. I hate the contrast of her upper-crust history with her wide-eyed, funky hat-wearing persona. I hate how she seems like she’s trying so hard to be quirky and charming, but just comes across as annoying. She’s the manic pixie dream girl gone horribly awry.

But we knew the relationship wasn’t going to end well so I thought, well, at least we’ll get a really ugly (and therefore entertaining) breakup scene out of it. And did we? No. We did not.

The episode seemed to revolve around various betrayals. Barney felt betrayed because both Marshall and Ted had joined sides with Zoey, against GNB. Then Ted betrayed Zoey by going against his word and telling the committee making the decision about The Arcadian that no, it should not be a New York landmark. Zoey looked like a deer who’d been shot for all of three seconds, but that was fake – she’d clearly been anticipating his betrayal. She’d happened to tape him telling her that the building is a New York landmark back at that museum party at the beginning of the season, and she’d just happened to bring that tape with her to the hearing. Oh yeah, and the tape also featured Ted insulting his bosses at GNB. Nice touch, ruining his career.

After that, all bets were off. Even Marshall helped out, since the alternative was seeing his two friends lose their jobs. Yes, if Ted got fired so would Barney, since he’d vouched for him in order to get Ted the gig in the first place. Lily went to work on a plan, and came up with a good one. In the middle of the night, a crew went to The Arcadian and removed the lions head stonework that made it so distinct. Ted and Barney got to keep their jobs and Zoey lost. There were no tears when Ted and Zoey parted ways – they just split up, simple as that. Since they were never good together, it was hard to feel anything but relieved.

I was expecting Ted to either give the sculpture to Zoey or incorporate it into the new building, but I guess mounting it above Barney’s bed is…another option. I hope they mounted it correctly.

We haven’t seen the last of Zoey – word is she’ll appear in the wedding scene during the season finale next week. That means I really have no idea who’s getting married – besides The Captain, who would invite both Ted and Zoey to a wedding? Or maybe I’ve misunderstood.

What did you think of “Landmarks”? There were a few moments from the episode that I enjoyed, so check ’em out:

• All of Marshall’s rhymes. Man, I had no idea that’s all it took to make a good argument. I should’ve gone to law school!
• Robin’s Angry Birds story had me chuckling. 
• “I don’t know, homegirl is pretty diabolical.” – Marshall, talking about Lily

Oh, I guess that was it. Three things. Not a great episode, so hopefully next week’s finale makes up for it. Until next time!

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