How I Met Your Mother: Duel Citizenship

How I Met Your Mother has been solid this season, especially with the whole Barney-Robin arch, and this week's episode was a good one. In this story, Robin is conflicted about either being Canadian or becoming and American citizen, while Ted and Marshall (with Lilly) head out to visit an old pizza place the visited in college.

The whole Canadian angle of Robin has been good for many laughs since the show started, and again it was funny here. Barney's constant belittling of Canada was very funny, especially the scene in the Tim Horton's in Toronto, and I'll get to that. I liked how Barney was teaching Robin to be an ignorant American, and I thought the description of curling was hilarious. This sequence really amplified Barney's ability to not really care about anything beyond himself and occasionally his few close friends. It makes me wonder if Robin will be able to handle Barney's personality for that long, or if Barney will change in the future (I sure as hell hope not, Barney's the man). The scene in the Tim Horton's in Toronto was great. Robin being confused about her identity was a pivotal part in the story. We have always seen Robin act very Canadian in the show, but In Canada she's viewed as American. It was a nice conflict, and it was nice to see Barney literally "stand up" for Robin. Barney's mockery of Canada and their money in this scene was fantastic as well. I thought the way this story wrapped up was nice as well, with Robin getting duel citizenship. However, I wondered why she didn't do this in the beginning? Seemed like the logical choice to me.

The other story line in this episode was Ted and Marshall living their college days again when they go on a road trip to Chicago. It was nice to see Marshall and Ted interacting again because they haven't had a story together in awhile. In typical Marshal fashion, he bring Lilly along since they have become a single entity in recent episodes (Marshy or Lillall I call it). Marshall really hasn't been as crazy or as standout as he used to be, so I was hoping to get more from him than I did. Also, Lilly on this road trip made me really want to haaate her, with the constant bathroom trips and the audio book. I liked the way how Ted Marshall made up after their fight, using the audio book as an illustration of their problems. Ted really has become the fifth wheel in this season now that Robin and Barney are together, so it was nice to see that being pointed out. Lastly, the parts involving the Tantrum drink were classic HIMYM and were all very funny.

This was a good episode and fits in a long line of classics. I give it a 9.2

I'm going to go do some push ups now. TANTRUM!!!