it's never too late to "do"

Three episodes into How I Met Your Mother and I have no complaints yet. Sure, I didn't shed a tear at this one, like I did with the other two, but I still have no complaints. No matter what kind of episode it is-- a hint to the mysterious mother, or simply a filler--I always leave it with a smile on my face. Let's get on with it, shall we?

A while back, as HIMYM's loyal viewers know, Barney gave Ted the opportunity to design the new sky rise for Gotham National Bank (GNP). That is a BIG DEAL for any architect. But the plan fell through, and with it, Ted's opportunity. So he went with the whole, "those who can't do, teach" philosophy and became a professor. Cut to now, and Barney is offering him that same opportunity. And Ted refuses, professing (as a professor would) that he is quite happy in the job he has now. We know that Barney is never one to take "no" for an answer, so as Marshall observes, Barney begins to woo Ted as he would any a girl he meets at the bar. Over the course of the next few days, Barney gives Ted a gift, ignores him, pays him a backhanded compliment, brags about himself in a complaining manner, gives Ted bizarre yet committed eye contact, and establishes intimacy through physical contact. And he even concocted an elaborate plan involving Barney (and Marshall, desperately making every effort to be a good wingman) informing Ted that the position's been filled. I believed it. Ted believed it. But in the end, the position was free, and even thought Ted had proclaimed how much he loved to teach, he took the job.

And what was happening with the ladies of How I Met Your Mother? Well, as much as Robin wanted to be, she had yet to be completely over Don. May I just take this moment to say how much I love Cobie Smulders? It seems that the Canadian actress does nothing else. She has this regular gig and you know what? If I was her, I would be more than okay with that. She's been a regular on this show from the beginning, and she absolutely shines in the role of Robin Scherbatsky. And her amazing performance is not just limited to her lovely alter ego, Robin Sparkles. The flashbacks of Robin calling Don's cell phone and leaving life-threatening messages while inebriated were pretty amazing. Lily tried to help her by having her delete Don's number from her phone, but even that didn't work because Robin had memorized it--as any girl in a long-term relationship would do with her boyfriend's number, yes? But in the end, as we saw in a flash forward, narrated by Bob Saget's older Ted, Robin did one day forget Don's number, and that chapter in her life, could finally come to a close.

So will Ted actually get to design the GNB building? Will Lily and Marshall get pregnant? Will we get another Robin Sparkles flashback? Will Robin and Barney ever rekindle that bizarre yet strangely adorable flame? Let's hope at least one of these things happen sometime soon. Onto next week!

Bonus: The cutaways of Marshall struggling to be an awesome wingman for Barney, perfection.