How I Met Your Mother: Season 5 Review

Last week we said farewell to Season 5 of How I Met Your Mother. It was a season of ups and downs, with a handful of fantastic standalone episodes sandwiched within so-so storylines (and one that didn't work at all). The concept of "doppelgangers" became not just a running gag, but the theme of the season as well, as the group matured and changed and considered the possibilities of becoming different people. At the end of the day viewers got an inconsistent season, but also one that hit the "reset" button by ending all relationships except for the mainstay that is Marshall and Lily, giving us no reason not to expect a return to form next season.

Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have clearly realized that as long as How I Met Your Mother's ratings remain stable and its future remains solid, they can only tease us with the question of "when will Ted meet the Mother?" every so often. So that wasn't a big focus of this season, aside from a brief episode-long arc in which Rachel Bilson guest-starred as the Mother's roommate. In fact, this wasn't a Ted-centric season at all, and that's a good thing. Last season we were subjected to a lot of whiny soul-searching as Ted pursued and was eventually broken-hearted by Stella; this season was content to make fun of that guy in episodes like "Robots Vs. Wrestlers" and the excellently written "The Wedding Bride." Overall, this season did a good job of making us like Ted more, now that he doesn't seem to take himself as seriously as he used to and can joke about his own self-admitted douchey-ness.

Stunt-casting was used to very good effect this season. In general, the episodes that utilized big-name actors were some of the strongest of the season, including "Hooked" (in which Carrie Underwood played the gorgeous woman stringing Ted along), "The Wedding Bride" (featuring Chris Kattan, Judy Greer, Malin Akerman and Jason Lewis), and most memorably "Of Course," starring Jennifer Lopez as Anita, author of the best-selling self-help book Of Course You're Still Single, Take a Look at Yourself, You Dumb Slut. The award for Most Random Stunt-Casting in an Episode goes to "The Perfect Week," which had Barney interviewed by CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz as he detailed his quest to get laid by a different woman for seven straight days. Stunt-casting is so often used as a band-aid, a way for the network to hide the fact that a show is out of fresh ideas, that's always a nice surprise when big-name talent makes already solid material even stronger.

This season will probably best be remembered as The One With Robin and Barney. Most of us heaved a sigh of relief when this ill-advised relationship ended -- the writers never seemed sure what to do with these two when they got together, leading to the season's most inconsistent writing and unfunniest moments. Episodes like "The Sexless Innkeeper" and "The Rough Patch" focused on crises in Barney and Robin's relationship rather than on making us laugh, and frankly, we didn't want to see it. After the break-up we were treated to yet more inconsistency, as Barney immediately returned to his player ways while Robin seemingly didn't care despite the fact she'd been in love with him a few episodes earlier. Fortunately the writers wrapped things up nicely for us with the episode "Of Course," which allowed Robin to confess her hurt feelings about the way the relationship ended and gave Barney the opportunity for a long overdue apology. Once Robin moved on to dating Don and Barney went back to…well…being Barney, we were able to put this whole messy incident far, far behind us. Let's hope that's where it stays.

So maybe this season didn't have the funniest jokes or the freshest material to work with. On the whole, it's not one that's going to stand out in our minds as one of the best seasons in the How I Met Your Mother canon; most of us are eager to forget Robin and Barney ever happened, Robin's co-anchor Don was switched up from funny guy to boring straight man and eventually discarded; nobody made significant strides in their career or their love life. Yet at the end of the day, a few loose ends suggest tantalizing possibilities for next season: Ted is now in possession of a house, while Marshall and Lily have decided to get pregnant. Our group is back together, unfettered by relationships inside or outside the inner circle, and we're happy to have it that way.