‘How I Met Your Mother’ Breakdown: ‘Platonish’

HIMYM Platonish

(SPOILERS AHEAD, so proceed with caution, you Mother lovers!)

Season Nine, Episode Nine: “Platonish”

Written by: George Sloan; Directed by: Pamela Fryman

Other than brief opening and closing scenes, this week’s episode takes place wholly in the past. It’s hard to imagine that we need another episode dealing with Ted’s feelings for Robin, but the writers sneak in enough inside jokes and a momentous Mother meeting to make it worth your time.

Quick Breakdown

Saturday 11 a.m., 31 hours before the wedding.

Robin is crying because her mother is no longer coming to her wedding. Barney accepts the challenge of getting her to stop. Lily, who holds a grudge better than most, remembers that there’s still one challenge that Barney hasn’t completed: diapers and samosas.

In the fall of 2012, Ted was still dealing with his intense feelings for Robin. He tells Lily and Barney that they’re completely platonic, but Barney says that no one is ever completely platonic (except Marshall and Robin — cue funny gag involving a bomb).

Ted runs off to a basketball game with Marshall, continuing this discussion of platonic feelings (or “platonish” as he later calls it). Marshall thinks Ted’s being an idiot and wants him to run home and confess his love to Robin (partially because he has a five dollar bet with Lily). Ted says he has it all planned out — naturally it involves the blue French horn — but he would not attempt it because he’s tried before and failed. And Robin doesn’t change her mind.

Back at the bar, Lily and Robin challenge Barney to accept a challenge of their choosing, noting that he only picks ones he knows he can achieve. What follows are a series of increasing pick-up challenges involving a dolphin voice, the inability to use the letter “e,” and competition with Ryan Gosling. The girls get restless with his success and end up just sending him out on an errand to pick up diapers and samosas (while picking up a chick).

While discussing his nonstarter feelings for Robin, Ted has been fielding calls from an unknown number. In a moment of frustration, he finally answers. It’s his former boss Hammond Druthers (Bryan Cranston) desperately offering him a job in Chicago. Ted firmly says no, but Druthers weakens him to a maybe.

The boys get back to the apartment, and Ted catches Robin eating olives. In the pilot, she told him she hated olives, but Robin says now that she must’ve just changed her mind. Ted is hopeful once again, but instead of rashly confessing his feelings (as Marshall advises), he decides to bide his time (and turns down Druthers’ offer).

While picking up diapers at the drugstore, Barney hits on the Mother. She sees right through him, and tells him he just looks sad and needs to deal with his feelings. Barney is thrown off and has a little heart-to-heart with the Mother. She asks, “Do you wanna keep playing, or do you wanna win?” It’s the Mother who convinces Barney to go all-out to win the love of Robin, which we saw extensively last season.

Back in the present, a less tearful Robin is so moved by Barney’s story. The final shot focuses on a regretful Ted watching the couple.

Rating

B+

While it seems like nothing new really happens in this episode, it’s still a breath of fresh air to not deal with wedding drama. They jam-packed the episode with so many inside jokes and classic HIMYM gags that it felt like a walk down memory lane. While it was great seeing the Mother in a different setting, it seems like she’s a bit of a Debbie Downer — can we see her do something incredibly funny? It’s also somewhat disconcerting that the writers continue to think the audience doesn’t believe that Ted has or ever will move on from Robin (or maybe they just can’t accept it themselves).

Now for some random thoughts and my favorite moments of the night…

My favorite reemerging inside joke was the salute to “majors” and “privates.” — Major Craving for a Mojito

Marshall calls out Ted on being such a treacly romantic and calls him Nicholas Sparks.

The flashback to Robin in the pilot really shows you how much better Cobie Smulders looks now.

Between Ted’s antics in the season premiere and his regretful ponderings at the end of this episode, I’m nervous about what huge declaration of love he’s going to foist onto Robin.

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter