HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: “Symphony of Illumination” – RECAP

“Symphony of Illumination” was one of those episodes of television that employed a different narrative tactic than usual that at first I found off putting, but by the end of the episode it had such a precise and meaningful purpose that all misgivings I had seemed silly. For the first time ever on How I Met Your Mother, someone other than Future Ted narrates the story. When the episode opened with Robin talking to her two future children, I rolled my eyes. When she said she was going to tell them how she met their father, Barney, I had to rewind to make sure I heard it right. Was the show actually saying Barney and Robin have kids together? I could hardly believe it. It’s one thing to say in the very first episode of the series that Ted and Robin don’t get together, but to promise another couple does! That’s just unheard of. It completely destroys the will they/won’t they nonsense.

But as the story unfolded, it became clear this wasn’t about how Robin and Barney get together. Once Robin received the news she wasn’t even able to have children, it became about how she and Barney still managed to have kids. From that point I started to prepare myself for an unhappy ending where Robin doesn’t have children of her own. I was right to do so. The reveal of Robin talking to her imaginary children was crushing. She never wanted to have kids, but to not even have the option is something she didn’t consider a possibility. That choice was yanked away from her and it’s a lonely feeling. It’s one she doesn’t know how to deal with, evidenced by her decision to not tell anyone. Instead she makes up a story of being rejected from the Canadian pole vaulting team to explain her sad state.

As depressing as this episode may sound from those two paragraphs, this was also HIMYM at its funniest. The cast was firing on all cylinders, making joke after joke work flawlessly. From Barney’s iPod playing party music when Robin’s told she isn’t pregnant to Robin celebrating by smoking a cigar, drinking and eating sushi, and all the way to how the group reacts to Robin’s news about the pole vaulting team. Everything moved quick and effortless pace. You can really tell they’ve been doing this for seven years, and not in the bad way. These people know their craft. Even the subtle marijuana/sandwich joke was good, simply because it was subtle. No one drew attention to it, it just happened and it was up to us to notice it for what it was. That’s in complete contrast to “Tick, Tick, Tick…” which made it painfully obvious what the sandwich meant.

Despite taking a prominent spot on the bench this episode, Ted came through for Robin in the end when she least expected it. Feeling emotions she couldn’t comprehend, she attempted to keep everything bottled up, expressing no need for any kind of help. Well, because Ted is just that type of guy, he goes out of his way to cheer her up, even if he has no idea why she’s sad. Thus he creates the symphony of illumination, a very impressive Christmas light show set to AC/DC. This is a tender moment between the two as Ted hugs her and reminds her she’ll never be alone, not fully realizing he’s saying exactly what she needs to hear. It was also a moment I thought for a second would turn romantic. I still feel that way actually. We were promised the friendship between Ted, Robin and Barney would get all muddled up this season, and I can’t help but feel this was set up for the Ted and Robin part in the muddleness.

In a lot of ways “Symphony of Illumination” reminded me of “Bad News” in the way it ended on a sad note rather than the usual happy, but clearly fake sitcom ending. HIMYM has never been the type of show to shy away of realism when it could be particularly effective, as it was here. It makes me happy to see such a beloved series of mine continue to surprise me seven years in. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but there’s the proof.