How I Met Your Mother Review- "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns"/"Disaster Averted"

The Slutty Pumpkin Returns (7x08)

Directed by Pam Fryman

Written by Tami Sagher

One Paragraph Synopsis: Ten years later, and Ted finally does it- he tracks down the Slutty Pumpkin, whose real name is Naomi (played by Katie Holmes). As great as this seems though, there's one problem; they don't connect. At all. Ted is going along with it because he thinks that Naomi is into him, but at the end of the day, it's more equal than either realize. Also, it turns out that Barney is a quarter Canadian, a fact that Robin won't let him forget after digging it up.

Disaster Averted (7x09)

Directed by Michael Shea

Written by Robia Rashid

One Paragraph Synopsis: One night at MacLarens, Kevin notices a "no boogey boarding" sign, and wants to know how it came to be. It turns out that this happened during the height of Hurricane Irene, all of which Ted reveals in traditionally extended fashion. Add in plenty of breaks for Barney's plead to remove his ducky tie, and a twist ending along the way, and you got your standard, classic HIMYM.

I won't lie, the first time that I saw the ending of "Disaster Averted", I cheered. And even though I have the context of what occurs after the series since, I still cheer whenever I hit that point when I watch the episode.

It was around this point 2 years ago that the two split up, and neither seemed happy when they did. The spark was gone, and they weren't connecting anymore. What has happened in the past two years for me to root for them, even when they're both perfectly content in their separate relationships?

Time. Time, understanding, and chemistry. When Robin and Barney were previously together, neither were at their best point in life. Barney wasn't ready to retire his womanizing self (in some ways he still fully isn't, as evident by warning signals in these episodes, but he's at least aiming to get there), while Robin only seemed to want to feel something to make up her inadequacies at work. When Barney didn't seem able to reciprocate that for her in the way she wanted, that was it.

But in the past two years, Robin found herself a better job, while embracing her self worth as a single woman in between relationships that offer different things than what Barney has. Meanwhile, Barney is starting to realize just how sadistic he can be with women, and is working his ways to fix this. He's still a bro, but he's perfectly able to listen to Nora, Robin, and even Lily without sexualizing or grossing them out. And despite how polygamous he can seem, Barney has yet to come close to cheating on either of his relationships.

Until tonight. But Barney wasn't about to ditch Nora for some random fling. While he and Nora are shown to be cute together, there hasn't been much of a connection between them in the way that he shares with Robin at any given point. The way that he's either tried to find ways out of their relationship, such as the Ewok theory, or that fate seems to be messing with them, like everything that happened in "Noretta", only proves this.

Robin and Kevin seem a little stronger together, though. Maybe Kal Penn just flows with the cast better than Nazanin Boniadi does, but he seems to fit in just fine with the gang, Robin most of all. Kevin uses his therapy (I'm not sure if he's even given an official title, so saying "therapist" is easier, I suppose) to mess with the gang if he sees fit, despite his general appreciation for their neurotic natures.

But really, Kevin just seems to be in love with Robin. Maybe more than she is him. Maybe she doesn't love him at all. Maybe this is why Robin is able to revert back to Barney so easily. All I know is that when the chorus to Pixies' "Hey" rises as she and Barney locks lips (one of the best uses of music the series has ever done), it feels like they're finally making up for lost time. God bless.

The last few episodes weren't so great, but these are improvements, even beyond Robin and Barney. "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns" is a great case of expectations vs reality. For the past decade, the thought of the girl in the weirdly sexy pumpkin costume seemed totally right for Ted stayed on his mind, especially since there's no way that they were able to meet up. Enough has happened to Ted, and likely Naomi as well, though, that their reunion could only not work.

Ted never really had too much to work on with Naomi besides the concept, which he only seems to recognize now. They had some similar interests, and her Tootsie Roll drink seemed unique enough to appease Ted, but what else was it that drew him into her? The structure of the costume, maybe? That makes sense for his architectural build, at least.

But since that brief encounter, Ted has been in at least 3 serious relationships (or four, since Karen probably fits in there). He's been able to spend more time with women that he definitely has connections with, has furthered up his career position, and has clearly been soul searching. The Ted of today needs more than a few quirks to form a bond, but there isn't anything here.

Nor is there anything for Naomi. Katie Holmes isn't given much to do with the character in terms of history, but she's strong enough in the role to make her awkwardness land. If anything, Naomi seems bored enough to give Ted a chance, and never expected them to have too much in common to begin with. She used Barenaked Ladies, for crying out loud, but Ted was too desperate to not get the signal! This results in an attempt that seems hollow, but that might be the only way things could have turned out for the two of them.

And "Disaster Averted" shares a similar structure to this season's "Ducky Tie", but works just as well, if not better. Both the flashbacks and Barney's distractions are funnier in this episode, even as the former episode was hardly a slouch. The melancholy note that Victoria left things on with Ted in "Ducky Tie" gave that a different sort of edge, but it's missing bits like Marshall's fears of being attacked by a bear in the bathroom. So yeah, it's pretty tough.

Also, Lily and Marshall's story in "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns" is sweet, if pretty broad. It works well enough for the context, but was hardly the highlight. Robin's teasing of Barney's Canadian roots was more enjoyable, actually. But they seem to always work together, which helps.