How I Met Your Mother: the final return

In recent weeks How I Met Your Mother has returned to E4 for the ninth and final season. Of course, it has been on the American channels for months but for those who have managed to resist the temptation to watch it online, this has been the first chance to see how the 24 episode season will play out.

When I heard that the series would be back for a ninth season I was a little anxious, especially since the identity of the Mother was revealed at the end of the eighth season. There was always the chance that the series would drag on for too long and that the writers would finally run out of ideas. I mean, Robin and Barney (Cobie Smulders and Neil Patrick Harris) were getting married and Lily and Marshall (Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel had a baby; was there really much more they could do with these characters?

However, I am extremely impressed with how the new series is looking so far. It appears to be focussing on the few days leading up to the wedding of Barney and Robin. While the other guys make it to the hotel by the end of the first episode, there is the ongoing story of how Marshall couldn’t get his flight from Minnesota and is as such on a road trip against the clock to make it there. There is no need to worry if you are a Marshall fan though; you still get to see him interact with the group via ‘Marshpillow’ which has a tablet attached so he can communicate through Skype. Each episode has brought new drama to the gang which succeeds in keeping the audience gripped. This includes Barney and Robin thinking they may actually be related in episode one; Barney’s brother James announcing that he was getting divorced in episode two and the revelation that Barney saw Ted and Robin holding hands after looking for her locket (in season eight) playing across episode three and four.

Is there really much more they can do with these characters?

The stories of the new season are great, but the way that the characters portray them is even better.  Neil Patrick Harris is as always absolutely fantastic as Barney, with the usual hilarious comments and one-liners.  Cobie Smulders also manages to successfully portray a more vulnerable side to the usually ice cold Robin. As well as the classic line up, the Mother’s character, as portrayed by Cristin Milioti, has begun to be properly introduced. The first episode saw her on a train comforting a very distressed Lily, consequentially depicting how these two became friends. There has also been the return of some of the favourite reoccurring characters including Marshall Manesh as Ranjit and Wayne Brady as James Stinson. The new season has also seen the introduction of Sherri Shepherd as Daphne, the perfect sparring partner for Jason Segal.

The only part of the new season that I currently feel let down by are the futuristic portrayals of Ted and the Mother. Episode two saw a flash forward to Ted and the Mother sat at a table in the hotel bar reflecting over what Ted was doing exactly a year ago. It added little to the episode as a whole and was quite frankly a little exaggerated and made me cringe. If this continues throughout the season, hopefully it will be slightly more understated.

The final few episodes are set out to be emotional, with Lily’s actress, Alyson Hannigan, having recently tweeted a picture of tissues that she needed for the final read through. Hopefully, the series will continue to progress at its current high standards and E4 viewers will finally get the answer to the question they have been wondering since 2009.