How I Met Not Your Mother, And Then How She Started Dating My Friend But Stopped Just As It Was Looking Like It Might Be Something Interesting

I still have notes sitting around from how i met your mother's two most recent episodes. I was going to throw them into a hilarious recap for you, but instead I think I might go more philosophical on himym. For instance:

Why on earth would himym insist for two years that Barney's hopelessly in love with Robin only to have them break up like it didn't matter at all? In other words, What was the point of Swarkles?

My thoughts: I mean, clearly they were trying to set up a plotline with story-changing consequences. Everyone's always tacitly wondered what's going to happen to Barney in his old age. Will he insist on staying the Wedding Singer Limo Driver Ladies' Man, or will he try to settle down with someone and figure out that there are other joys in life? And which option would Ted choose?

So finally, after planting the Barney & Robin Would Make Great Friends episode in season 1, and after having them "accidentally" sleep together, and after making every single solitary Barney joke about HOW MUCH HE LOVES ROBIN for a year and a half, those two lovebirds get together. They slip into it with the greatest of ease, even if they don't want to label it. Their honeymoon period ends, which signifies the beginning of the actual relationship. And now, eight episodes into their relationship, that's enough. Kill it.

I heard from a friend that Carter Bays et al said the writers had just simply ran out of Swarkles ideas, and Swarkles had just seemed like the thing to do at the time so it's no big deal to take it away. Either Bays has been trained to say this because the finale will bring them back together, or he's lazier than I ever picked up on.

With the end of Swarkles came a return of ladies' man Barney - i.e, the two-steps-back Barney. Who really loves to see Barney back the way he was? They've already shown us all the hilarity that ensues from his hijinx. Now we just get to see more slap carnage? (cut to Slapsgiving 2) Not a great payoff. And Robin, wow, don't get me started on that. She walks around like she's an actual character, even though the show has already made it perfectly clear that she's only really there for Ted or for Ted via Barney. Her own storylines are so lame - she dates Sandy Stormy or whatever, she goes to a Canadian bar (which WAS hilarious but was quickly followed up by not ONE but TWO greencard episodes AND a guess-the-canadian-sex-position episode)
- not interesting stuff here. Just be with Barney and stop shoving Canada in my face every time I open my mouth to eat!

So they got together, and then they got apart. Obviously there's still time for fall-out. All I'm saying is I was SO against Swarkles back when it was just Barney's one-sided pathetic obsession, but they got me to like it eventually (!), only to take it away before the end of November.

I guess I always knew Lily would end up with Barney, Marshall would end up with Ted, and Robin would end up alone, "just like she always wanted." I just didn't count on my heart getting caught up in the mess.