Hallelujah! This episode was actually good, considering I did not once check my watch or Instagram. Things haven’t looked this promising since a minute before season premiere.

The reason it was so great is we finally got the hell out of the Farhampton Inn and into a flashback that had everything the previous episodes had been lacking:

  • The Bar: We are back in the bar. The bar is a “HIMYM” staple and the setting of the majority of the group’s antics (or at least the funny ones). Plus, the last few episodes have been so bad, that we’ve wanted to go to an actual bar, with real alcohol that helps us forget how the formerly amazing writers of “HIMYM” just wasted thirty minutes of our lives.

  • Marshall: Marshall is back in action! Jason Segal is hilarious, and Marshall is a great character, but it’s hard for him to be so when he is separated from the rest of the gang. When he’s isolated, he might as well not be on the show at all. Marshmallow, we are glad to see you back. (BTW, whatever happened to Marshpillow? I don’t really care, the show is better off without it, but I was just wondering.)

  • The Plays: Don’t get me wrong, I am totally team Bobin (Barbin? Robney? BRObin? Rarney? Why is there no official couple name for them?), but it is nice for Barney to be single again. Part of the show’s central premise is Barney doing crazy things, mainly to get girls. With Barney engaged, we’ve been missing his sex life and pick-up shenanigans.

  • The Mother: Last week, I complained that The Mother (can she have a name already?) was devoid of personality. This week, she had some. And she’s cute! I’m into her. She sets Barney straight—you go girl. She could be a bass player with a therapy career on the side. She’s gonna make such a great wife and mother. There was a moment when it seemed like Barney and The Mother were going to hook up, and it was nauseating. Really glad that didn’t happen.

  • The Ted-Robin Love Story: I actually don’t know if we missed this. But it was there and definitely added something. And the private/general jokes were back, which I legitimately missed and want to incorporate into my daily life.

  • The Comedy: It was funny. Thank God.

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