How I Met Your Mother

Barney is one of the most hilarious parts of the show, and changing him earlier also changes the whole show. At the same time, showing him falling in love with Robin and how he can change makes the viewers more interested and addicted to the show.

The word is timing. And rushing his change led to unhappy womanizer Barney fans and now, unhappy Barney/Robin shippers after this episode.

The problem about it is the way the break up happened. They had thousands of reasons to break-up and still, they didn't broke up for any of them.

It just showed that they were unhappy together because... we really don't know.

If it was because they were tied down then, how come Robin dated Ted for one year?

Besides, they made a giant, cute build up for this couple just so it would end like this? Fast and unemotionally?



Why didn't they just let Barney and Robin as friends, then? I can't help feeling like watching the episodes 3x16 to 5x06 were just a waste of time. Even though I know it wasn't because they have shown how a great couple they can become.



So what's left for me to say is:



I hope there'll be character development in the end of the show( I believe it is the right timing for it) that could(and, hopefully, will) bring Barney and Robin back together.

"The Rough Patch" is a good How I Met Your Mother episode. I actually enjoy how Barney and Robin became the most depressing couple on this show. I love how Barney gained so much weight and Robin looks so old. I love how they decide to try and break up Robin and Barney and they completely fail at it. I love how looking at their reflection in the mirror and seeing how bad they looked was the reason they broke up. The only thing I didn't like about this episode was I wish it happened later in the season. I felt like they needed to be a couple longer. I give this episode a 8/10.

It was a funny episode tainted by the very bad writing and characterization. Fat! Barney and Old! Robin are just something I can't wrap my head around. It totally came out from nowhere. Barney coin-cheated to *not* have sex? Please. Even in a parallel universe, not happening dude.



Unlike Ted-Robin or Marshall-Lily, Barney and Robin weren't given half a season to grow after all the build-up. Of course, the writers might set this break up for a BroTP reunion later on, but I can't see why they ever want to get back together since there is no real problem to begin with. Apparently they make each other so miserable Barney resorted to binge eating and Robin stopped washing her hair. Them being too awesome isn't something they could do anything about anytime soon imo.



I've always believed that Barney and Robin can just be as awesome and even more so together. As awesome as he is being single, I don't want to see his character not developing at all. What people have been complaining about this season, I would say, is largely due to poor writing than the fact that being in a relationship dulls his character.



Maybe the writers are pressured to please fans who dislike the new Barney, or they just want to sell the playbook that is due to come out this Christmas, the kind of book that won't be penned by in relationship Barney. At least, they could have written a more believable break-up.

After the last episode which was actually funny, HIMYM returns to the painful standard of most of last season and half of this. The only place people like this exist is on TV from deciding to break someone else's relationship up, to Robin's complete change from marriage-phobic to just saying yeah sure let's get married. I assume at some point we will actually find out who the mother is, if I had my way it would be at the end of this season, and this season's number of episodes would be reduced to 8. Just terrible unbelieveable writing that makes some first season episodes look like fine works of art. The only good thing about this waste of time is that finally Barney and Robin broke up, now there are no more combinations that can get together, maybe they can drop the sub-Friends need for everyone to hook up and Barney can get back to being Barney. Show me the mother ASAP.

I can't say I'm really supprised, I sort of saw it comming. Yeah, it was a good ride for both Robin and Barney but the ride is over.



This was a decent episode which was simply about the end of the couple. My problem with this episode was that I didn't laugh as much as I wanted to. Don't get me wrong it was funny but not enough to generate many big laughs. However the show did have moments, and did a good enough job at showing why both had to call it off.



The way some of the episode was handled was almost like an espanage thriller (I said almost) in a way Ted, Marchall, and Lily are the spys and the break up is the mission. I really loved that message Barney recorded on that porn tape of his, it's sort of a common thing in espanage thrilers where there is a doomed messanger than forwarns the protagonist. I really like the scam that Lily planed out, like in an espanage thriller she is sort of the lone hitwoman only with Lily it's to break people up. Her breakup scam was clever if far fetched, how the heck she was able to get those people let alone contact and hire "Growing Pains" actor Alan Thicke is anyones guess but ok she did it. There was even the stakeout element the only thing missing was the van all because Ted wouldn't pay 25 dollars extra for the rental, cheap skate. Plus, Alan Thicke did a good job in his cameo role.



The last thing I loved was they brought out the Star Wars jokes mainly on the Stormtroopers. When Robin made fun of the Stormtrooper it sort of tells me she obviously never saw "Star Wars", may'be Barney should of given Robin the "Star Wars" test that way he'd know she's not the one. I even love the fact Lily mistaked the Stormtroopers for robots, and that was understandable because when I was a kid and I saw "Star Wars" the first time I made that same mistake, heck they sounded, looked and almost practically acted like robots. I loved that comment Marchall made on the matter which was my favorate.



Lily: "So when the Death Star blew up the thousands of Stormtropers were people?"



Marchall: "Well hey they got into the Death Star they knew what they were getting into."



I always love it whenever they make "Star Wars" jokes, I'm hoping in the future there will be plenty more. And I can't help but feel the constant refenece jokes might be another hint on the mom's identity, I'm guessing she passed the "Star Wars" test but we'll see.



It was both a little funny but sad at the same time seeing how both Robin and Barney's relationship is dissintergrated and both have been reduced to acting like an old couple, that is always a very bad sign. Robin looks well bad, but Barney looks worse, I'll admit it was both funny and a bit scary seeing my favorate character Barney in that fat look he was litterally unrecognizable. But I do love how when both of them broke up it was mutual all they had to do was look in the mirror. Both realize the reason why their relationship is dissintergrating is because both are too alike they have too much in common, they know too much about one another, so it's practically predictable which makes it kinda boring. So, in the end both end it and remain friends. I liked the final minutes when we see Robin back looking healthy again, but most of all Barney who lost all the fat in one day, how he did it is anyones guess but it just lets me know Barney is back in the game. But the biggest supprise was seeing Alan Thicke mention how both Robin and him use to do some varity show one time and as you guessed it Barney is on the hunt again; I can't help but feel this is a hint on a future episode, so the Robin Sparkles saga is far from over. Overall it was a decent episode though I personally though it could of been better. I'm sure both Robin and Barney will find the one, it's just not each other because it's not in the cards.

I found this to be an immensely dull episode, and I didn't enjoy it much, I will admit, however, that it did have its funny moments, and seeing fat Robin and fat Barney was epic and hilarious!



I found the storyline as a whole to be weak, although it did have its good points, and the episode wasn't all that funny either. It just lacked all the ingredients of a good How I met You Mother episode, in my opinion.



I hope this show improves, because it is heading in the wrong direction and fast. Stoll love it, but please improve, I beg you!

The writers of How I Met Your Mother are capable of so much more. It's a shame to see them turn their back on a recent story arc and character development with one bad episode no one saw coming.



'The Rough Patch' shows us that even an award-winning show can have rough patches of its own. After building up a relationship painfully slowly, we finally see how it all ends... with poor writing.



While some fans may not appreciate the 'new' Barney, much of recent How I Met Your Mother screen time has been devoted to the redefine of his character. That's why it saddens me to see that thrown out the window.



The 'miserable' relationship that Barney and Robin have now found themselves in comes out of nowhere. Their words/actions in the episode are completely out of character, and there just isn't much humor to be had. (Or maybe I've just gotten used to HIMYM's humor actually being good.)



Perhaps this episode would have been better received if there was build up for the actual events of this episode prior to 'The Rough Patch,' but as it is, everything comes out of nowhere to give us an episode that betrays the real nature of How I Met Your Mother. Instead, the episode is simply a gimmick.

When Barney gives up his porn stash, Ted finds a hidden video in which Barney says that if he's in a committed relationship; get him out of it immediately. Ted starts to take this seriously when he notices some changes in Barney & Robin's behavior. Barney has gotten immensely fat, and Robin is stressed out and ends up looking like a tired old woman. Except they're too stubborn to break up with each other, so when the last straw is pulled, Lilly agrees to break them up. Since she did with 3 of Ted's relationships, I realized that Lilly's character has some manipulation in her. They all team up to break up Barney & Robin. I don't know if Barney & Robin breaking up would be for the better or for the worse. In the previous episodes, they were doing great, and I really enjoyed their relationship. But this episode made it seem like their relationship was horrid so it would be okay for them to break up. Lilly thinks she has failed to break them up, but she was right the first time when she said its better if things just take their course. Robin & Barney end up breaking up by the end of the episode. I didn't really enjoy this episode because Fat Barney was incredibly annoying and it was good to see him back to his normal state. Also there wasn't a side plot to liven up the episode, and they didn't mess with the time line that much. But I boost the rating for being eventful, other than that it was just an okay episode.

Looking at other reviews it would seem that I am in the minority of people when it comes to this ep. On one hand it was really good because the character are still growing as the seasons go by. But then again I just didn't find myself laughing at the situation which by all means was a solid one and have a lot of stuff that should have been funny but just wasn't.



This week Barney and Robin seem to be fighting all the time as Barney gives his porn collection to Ted. Ted thinks that Barney and Robin need to break up and be happy again. But Lilly informs Ted that the both of them are too stubborn to call it quits. This manifests in Ted seeing the two in exaggerated versions of themselves with Barney looking REALLY fat and Robin looking older. Ted and Marshall first align to break the two of them up but when it falls flat they enlist Lilly to get back in the break up game. She devises a plan that she is convinced is her masterpiece. But when it doesn't work the gang think that maybe the two of them are right for one another, but they both agree to break up because they are too much alike.



As you can see, the premise is very strong and should be very funny. But things are just too predictable and some of the set pieces are logical enough but just not funny. Even NPH in a fat suit was not that amusing and Robin looked more dirty than she did old which was just down right unpleasant. But the savng grace of this ep really does come in the story and the end of a relationship that ultimately always had an expiry date. Also the promise of more Robin Sparkles which makes me still excited for the future of the show, Here's hoping that the writing on this one was just a blip on the radar.

I can't really call this as comedy, but it was definitely a fun filled 30 odd minutes. The serious relationship stuff is kept to a minimum and the fun stuff kept the entertainment flowing.



The dramatization of breaking up Barney and Robin was decently done, but could have been done much better. It did remind us of some good old HIMYM wacko scenes. Barney's porn collection including Archi-Sex-Ture and his hidden message in it, are examples of small and insignificant funny things that can go a long way in making the show more interesting. I am also glad the old Barney is back, and hopefully the show has made a turn for good.

Very funny episode with many humorous integral parts. So many funny scenes like both Marshall and Lily stealing porn from Ted's new stash he got from Barney. Also the way that Lily kept trying to get Ted to just let them "dispose" of the box of porn!



The way they portrayed Robin and Barney. Even though they were actually fine, as their relationship derailed they looked worse and worse through the eyes of their friends and themselves.



The four major fights including Canada with I'm Alan Thicke, the old girlfriend Meg, the dirty dishes, and finally the Storm Trooper.



The surveillance station wagon was another funny part of the episode. With everyone mentioning where's the van and Ted constantly saying it was too expensive.



Probably the funniest bit though was the porn tape that Barney had taped over with a message on how he needed to be saved if he wasn't dead. The tape being called "Archisexture" which Barney was sure he'd watch first and mentioned as much in his taped address.



With a major ending I won't reveal and some more wonderful bits, this is a classic episode of How I Met Your Mother. This could be the best four episodes shown together on the four CBS comedies 2009 edition in one night ever. Thanks for reading...