In
light of the final season of How I Met Your Mother just starting, now would be
the perfect time to catch up anyone who hasn’t seen the show. I don’t want you
guys getting lost in future posts! How I Met Your Mother is a wonderful sitcom
quite comparable to Friends, a series that dominated the lives of so many
so-called “90’s kids”. The story line is set to revolve around the series
absurd anecdotes a father named Ted Mosby chronicles and enlivens, for his
children, describing how he met their mother. These anecdotes revolve around
Ted’s group of friends throughout his adult life. The group itself changes as
some of its members acquire new significant others, but mainly consists of
Robin, Barney, Lily, and Marshall. I guess the best way to catch someone up on
the seemingly infinite 8 seasons of this show is to individually describe each
character and their contributions to the show.
I’ll
start with the main character, Ted Mosby. Ted’s most prominent characteristics,
pointed out by the show itself, are brought forth by his love of aristocratic
lifestyle. He has fancy tastes, although he can’t afford to truly display this
personality. He is brought down from the fantasy of an aristocratic lifestyle
and character by the reality of middle class society. For example, he has the
need (note: not the desire, the need) to correct grammar and word usage in real
life. When Ted is in a typical party on the streets of New York, he is just
another person in the crowd, but almost needs to be black-out drunk just to
have a “good time”. When he is placed in the middle of an aristocratic party,
where the dress code seems to be black tuxedos, handlebar mustaches, and
monocles, Ted Mosby is literally the life of the party. Despite this seemingly
pompous and narcissistic disposition, Ted deeply cares for his friends and will
always try his best to help them. You might expect someone who has this
disposition to be extremely scheduled and up tight. On the contrary, Ted is
typically portrayed as an impulsive individual, led by his desire to find the
woman he will fall in love with and elope with. One minute he will promise his
friend that he’s broken up and done with a girl, because that was the logical
thing to do, and the next he’s sleeping with that person in a storm trooper
outfit. Perhaps this personality is simply prominent due to the nature of the
anecdotes, which promotes a hopeless romantic, bent on the conquest for the
holy grail of love.
Marshall
Eriksen, unlike Ted, is basically a big teddy bear. If you needed a comparison
to actually depict a character, think Chandler from friends, but sillier. He’s
the most level-headed, yet hysterical one of the group. The humor in his
character lies within his outrageous antics, such as channeling his inner
southern woman to give advice. The fact that he is the most level-headed of the
group makes his advice the most logical to follow, but because of his antics,
he’s not taken seriously. He also usually doesn’t but into other people’s
problems because he’s has more of a laid back personality. He’s from Minnesota,
and holds his upbringing very close to him. He’s Ted’s best friend and roommate
from college, so they have a very tight bromance, as the kids call it these
days. His character is hard to pinpoint and explain because it’s so dynamic. He
can embody any type of personality because he has such a laid back and logical
complex. Currently in the show, he’s married to Lily Aldrin.
Lily is
the voice of reason in the group, which is why she and Marshall make a great
couple. Whenever Ted decides to follow his love-impulses, Lily is the one who
attempts to set him on the right path. Her outspoken and assertive personality
easily makes her the most volatile of the group. As soon as anyone steps out of
line, she becomes agitated and over exerts her emotions in a comedic manner.
Again, if you were looking for someone to compare to, think Monica from
friends. She has known both Marshall and Ted since their freshman year of
college, when she began dating Marshall. She’s the glue that holds the group
together as the judge, jury and executioner, but does it for her love of
everyone.
Barney
is literally the easiest person to describe. He likes women, and will do
anything to sleep with one. I always find this extremely ironic because he’s
played by Neil Patrick Harris. If you don’t know he has a husband and in real
life and is generally known to be a great family man. If you’re looking for
another comparison, think Joey from friends with much more antics. He always
wears a suit to look good and never takes a bad picture. Ever. Barney’s antics
usually rely on his various ploys to sleep with women at the local bar
McLaren’s. The man is an emotional wreck if you didn’t get it by this point. I
mean, who wouldn’t be with a fatherless childhood, bad relationships, and
continuous disrespect for women. Actually, it’s not until he is able to put his
inner demons to rest by meeting his father that he is finally able to settle
down with Robin and get married.
Robin
Scherbatsky is the newest member of the group, and the weirdest by far. She’s
basically a man, and is bought into the friendship circle in the pilot episode.
In this episode she’s asked out by Ted, where he tells her he loves her on the
first date. That alone is pretty much the best example to summarize the whole
show, but that’s completely off topic. Robin has a very man-like aspect to her,
as she smokes cigars and drinks beers and whiskey with the guys. Her and Ted
constantly have an on and off relationship throughout the show. That is, until
she begins to date Barney (bro-code violation). The only problem is she’s
pretty much just of an emotional wreck as Barney. Her father always wanted a
boy, and treated her just like one. She, thus, has a terrible relationship with
her father. She’s originally from Canada which is the cause of many of the
jokes on the show.
That’s
pretty much every character of How I Met Your Mother summed up as best as I can
do in one post. I hope it helps to aid in future posts for those who haven’t
seen it!
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