'How I Met Your Mother' recap: On matters of the heart

 
How do you add depth to a ladies' man like Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) on “How I Met Your Mother”? In this week's episode, “A Change of Heart,” we saw a different, confused side of Barney, who's struggling with his feelings for Nora (Nazanin Boniadi). In a lovely show of friendship, the gang all had their hearts checked out by a doctor, who made Barney wear a heart monitor for 24 hours. She noticed some spikes in his results, so he took her over the events of the previous day, which featured his second date with Nora. The heart monitor went crazy when Nora started talking about how she wants to get married and have children. It was straightforward, yes, but kind of skipping a few steps. This was only the second date. Barney lied and said he wanted the same things, including three kids --  “One of each,” he said -- in order to get in her good graces and her pants. On the walk home, he admitted to lie and said he only told her those things to get to sleep with her. She slapped him, and the next day at the doctor's, Lily (Alyson Hannigan) punched him in the gut for lying. But the lie was the lie. He wants those things, Lily insisted. At 8:30 p.m., the time of his date, his heart literally skipped a beat, the doctor said, when Nora walked into the restaurant. Barney went to meet Nora and her parents at a cafe and told her, “I want to be confused with you.” Except he was imagining himself telling her that. In reality, Barney stared through the glass door at Nora before walking away.

I've long wanted to see Barney grow and deepen as a character. I wanted to see him and Robin (Cobie Smulders) in a relationship, not the abbreviated, out-of-character hookup they had. But I'm having a few issues with this story line. First, Nora's very ill-defined as a character while at the same time being a lighter version of Robin. What do we know about Nora except the characteristics she shares with Robin? Not much. It's hard to get invested in Barney's feelings for her and believe in them when we barely know Nora. It also doesn't help that Nora taking care of a sick Barney immediately made me recall Robin taking care of a sick Barney in season 2's “How Lily Stole Christmas.”And if Nora works with Robin, shouldn't she know more about Barney and how the gang met him? Or are Robin and Nora not very social at work? She just seems like any other random girl Barney has met rather than someone Robin knows. My other major concern is how quickly this story is moving along. Two dates and Barney's falling for this girl already? It probably takes him longer to decide what suit to wear. In the end, while I like the idea of this story line, the execution and pacing just aren't working.

The other main story in the episode was decidedly less serious. Robin thought about getting a dog, but instead found herself a guy in the park nicknamed Scooby (Robbie Amell), who turned out to be a lot like a dog. He stuck his head out the cab window, ran after keys, chased his own butt when Marshall (Jason Segel) and Ted (Josh Radnor) pointed out his jeans still had a tag, and sniffed out food. The writers clearly had a lot of fun with this story, especially when the gang started using dog puns while talking to Scooby: “How did you meet? Tell us the tale.” “How did you whisk her off her feet?” “We hope our noisiness doesn't give you pause.” Even Robin unwittingly got in on the fun when she came to his defense. “Stop pounding him!” she exclaimed.

“We don't want your new guy to flee,” Marshall replied. When Scooby got out of the apartment, Marshall and Ted exclaimed how smart he was and that they should get him to do tricks on Letterman, which was a nice nod to “HIMYM” creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas' former job as writers on the late night program. “I know Paul Shaffer's sandwich guy. It could happen!” Marshall announced.

Other funny bits:
–- Marshall to Robin: “If you weren't so much stronger than me, I'd slap you.”
–- Barney's interesting blackmail on the gang. He had something on Lily involving the kindergarten guinea pig. Marshall revealed what Barney had on him to Ted: He continued eating a calzone after it fell on the sidewalk. When Barney got to Robin, she muttered, “Don't say the Mr. T dream,” over and over. But Ted claimed he was an open book with nothing to hide. He fessed up to going to a ballet class and a 'N Sync concert, but stopped short when Barney brought up the thermos.
-- Lily's punches and slaps as Barney kept lying.
-- The sandwiches make a return in the form of brownies!

Readers, what do you think of Barney developing feelings for Nora? Do you buy it? Do you like this new side of Barney, or would you rather he go back to being a ladies' man? And do you like Nora?

RELATED:
Complete “How I Met Your Mother” coverage on Showtracker

— Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)

Photo: Neil Patrick Harris as Barney on “How I Met Your Mother.” Credit: Eric McCandless / FOX.

Comments

[JB]

Um, I think you mean "stop hounding him!"

[Jen]

I agree that the pacing feels a bit off... but still, that last scene where he walks away was just beautifully heartbreaking. maybe after he meets his father he'll have some things sorted out and have the guts to go for it?
And I instantly thought of Robin nursing Barney as well! <3
Also, when Nora started talking about wanting a family I thought she would be perfect for Ted--which I took as a hint for the interesting theory that Nora would somehow end up being the mother. But then Ted met her at the bar, so he couldn't have met her for the first time at the wedding. Ah, well.

[Matt4dice]

I agree and disagree with some of your points. To be honest I love the fact they are giving the Barney Stintson character more depth and are actually allowing him to grow. It's one of the fun things I love about good sitcoms, like HIMYM, each character deals with their own personal growth and you get to watch as they grow and develop into what will be the final product.

In Barney's case the writers have given us hints of him actually growing and changing. We saw signs in Season 4 when he finally became Robin's b/f. Season 5 saw him deal with his break up with Robin and now in Season 6 we see Barney learning about his father, we see his friendship and relationship with Robin grow even more as Robin becomes one of Barney's best friends.

All of this progression is fantastic. I agree the whole Nora character is hard to accept because all of the other characters are so defined, so more complex, it's hard to relate to her when nothing is really known about her except: She's from England, she's pretty, she likes laser tag, she's friends with Robin, and did I mention she's pretty?

However I do not believe they are moving to fast with the character because I see Nora as a stepping stone to something much much bigger. Nora is going to be the obstacle for Barney to finally break through and really go after the thing he wants most. I honestly still believe it's Robin. How will this play out? Not sure but I bet it's going to consist of a particular someone coming back into Robin's life, Don.

The writers at HIMYM are very good with weaving in the story lines for each of these characters, giving them time to grow and achieve their desires.

We all want Ted to find his future wife, but we also want Marshall to save the planet, Lilly to become a mother, and Barney and Robin to really be together.

[leo]

I sort of agree at least about the pacing being a little quick, and the scene where Nora takes care of Barney when he's sick is reminiscent of Robin taking care of him. It would have been nicer for it not to happen so quickly, but I don't necessarily disbelieve he'd start to like her so quickly. I also don't really see her as a light version of Robin. Robin was fairly vocal about not wanting to get married or have kids, especially not so soon. If anything Nora reminds me of Ted actually. Who else says that on the 2nd date? Anyway, I don't really know what to think of her, but I do enjoy seeing this side of Barney as entertained as I am by the ladies' man as well, so I don't really have many complaints.

[Vlada]

Jen & Leo -- There are some interesting parallels between Nora and Ted. They'd probably make a better match than Nora and Barney, but like Jen commented, she can't be the mother now that Ted has already met her. There goes that wedding theory.

But I still think Nora and Robin share some traits, at least on the surface. They're both beautiful, intelligent, driven women working in the field of journalism. Maybe Barney has a little bit of a type?

Matt4dice -- I don't object to them giving Barney depth. Like I said, I like the idea of deepening Barney and seeing him grow. But the pacing and execution with Nora is off. I wish they'd done something like this with the Robin/Barney story.

[Dave]

Personally, I am finished watching this show. The characters aren't changing and the focus of the show has never recovered from being lost last season. The mystery of the mother has gone on too long (the whole Zoey thing was pointless - we've seen Ted fall in love so many times before), the baby issue is just a tired sitcom standard, and Barney's sayings and behavior are now just obnoxious and repetitive. I would feel differently if he had gone into the cafe, but I think the writers are stuck in a rut. Even Marshall, after having lost his father, has regressed as a character to whining about his job. Aren't those the same lines from Seasons 1 & 2? The romance and camaraderie that made the show unique is gone. So, I'm not going to watch anymore. Too many other good,creative, fresh shows to watch.

[tarylelizabeth]

I agree and disagree about the pacing of the storyline of Nora. On one hand, I too want to know more about her. Like, why does Barney feel that he could love her after only two dates? One of the best things about the show is that it shows why each person is AMAZING! Sometimes, even the guest stars or medicore characters. Which in the end, plays into the whole purpose of the show, showing the significance of the people Ted meets. I just haven't seen that significance about Nora yet. That's where I think it's good they are moving fast b/c she is just a stepping stone to Barney becoming a better man.

I love that everyone is on the same mind set about Barney getting sick and reminding you of when Robin took care of him. I actually feel like Barney hasn't even been sick since that episode. I don't see a comparison between Nora and Robin..except maybe in the fact that they both know what they want and don't want.

OMG the sandwiches made a comeback!!! I really loved the 30 year old Ted, Marshall and Lily enjoying a good old sandwich! and @Matt4Dice you having a really good point about how Robin needs someone to comeback into her life. I always wondered if they would bring Don back or not. That really made me think =) I am interested to see who comes into Robin's life as as stepping stone leading her back to Barney

[JW]

I know I'm going to be in the minority here but I never wanted nor liked Barney and Robin together. The way their characters have been set up clash way too much for it to ever seem real. Nora on the otherhand, although not too deep of a character yet, seems a good fit for Barney and a mesh for his personality.

[Laine]

The parallels between Nora and Robin are certainly there, but Nora just seems very underdeveloped. This was the problem I had with the Don character. The writers TOLD us about Robin's relationship with him, but we never really saw it. We didn't connect with the character because we hardly ever saw him. While I like the idea of Barney meeting a sweet, Robin-esque girl for character growth, this just felt too forced.

The storyline of Robin and Barney's relationship was also handled badly, at least in my perspective. It was very unrealistic that two characters as strong as Robin and Barney could digress into what they became. I think if the writers gave them another chance, and not a half-there chance, they could have a very special, very unique relationship. Obviously they wouldn't jump into marriage and have kids; they just aren't that kind of people. Perhaps, over time, if the pacing is spaced out, they could contemplate it, but for the time being, I'd like to see Robin and Barney really give the idea of a committed relationship a chance (with or without each other, but preferably with).

[Robert]

I like Nora a lot, but personally - I prefer single and suited-up Barney, the one that runs like hell when serious relationship and marriage are even mentioned. So, I guess (since they've prolonged the show now for another two seasons) that it will just be another short-termed relationship for Barney as it was with Robin. At least I hope so :) If the show gets two couples again, it's gonna go down and only down! But I would still watch it :)