Review: 'How I Met Your Mother' - 'Rabbit or Duck'

(S05E15) I've noticed that the last few episodes of 'HIMYM' have largely taken place in the "home booth" at MacLaren's. I know it's the 21st century version of the couch at Central Perk, but the world of 'Mother' is a lot bigger than that these days. And, besides, Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan aren't pregnant anymore; there's no need to hide their baby bumps under the table anymore.

That being said, it's a great place for two of this show's signature "bits" to start: 1) Absurd arguments, and 2) Incessant ball-busting. We saw both of these this week, with Ranjit thrown into the mix to make things more interesting. What really made this episode wasn't just the Rabbit/Duck argument, though; it was the subtle direction shifts that made loyal viewers think Ted was going in one not so good direction, when he was really going in a worse -- but more fun! -- direction.

Seriously, before his double-date with Lil, Marshall, and Limber Girl, you had no idea that Ted had found Barney's "magic phone" and decided to follow that lead. So when he and Robin exchanged "that look," and Ted thought Limber Girl was a rabbit and not a duck, there must have been a part of you that was thinking, "Oh, crap. He's not going back with Robin, is he?" That would have been a pretty big disaster for all involved. But, no, Ted's baser instincts took over, and that was surprisingly refreshing.

The plot where Ted asks L&M to "arranged marriage me" was a bit of a red herring, wasn't it? It was more there to help Marshall keep pressing Robin on the issue of her co-worker Don, and for Ted to introduce the much-better Duck/Rabbit concept. And, by the way, I do consider flavor and texture in the argument. Duck is succulent and delicious. Rabbit is bony and gamy. Duck wins. Oh, and Robin's down comforter argument is pretty convincing, as well. Heck, you can even make a cartoony argument: Daffy is the unwitting stooge, but Bugs is the calculating manipulator. Sorry, Marshall, I'm with the majority on this one: Ducks are good, Rabbits are bad.

As for Don... he pulled The Naked Man. Only he lured Robin to his apartment with a bogus party invite instead of getting into her place. He said he read about it on some guy's blog somewhere. Wonder if it was here? Anyway, he went from duck to rabbit back to duck, which means Robin's "gonna marry him so freakin' hard... right in the butt," as Marshall put it. Or at least we'll be seeing him around for a while. Good to see Robin have a complicated relationship and not pine after pencil-necks like she did last week.

Back on the topic of red herrings... it's clever that we saw a replay of the Super Bowl promo with the number of Barney's "magic phone" instead of the 877 number that was in the ad. Besides seeing Neil Patrick Harris' tour de force of twitches and scared looks as Barney gets seduced by too many choices, there wasn't much to this plot to hold on to. It almost seems like Bays and Thomas are accelerating Barn's tomcatting ways in response to his time as Relationship Barney. But is it a reaction, with Barney catching up, or is it just Barn trying to outdo himself? Because these volume gags are getting a little insane.

More fun stuff:

-- Teddy Westside is Ted's best nickname for himself. But Barney Westside sounds better.
-- Ted: "Permission to say 'Lawyered?' Marshall: "Granted."
-- Ranjit must have been on 24x7 call from Barney, as he knitted a scarf, hat, and gloves. Kitting is a great time-passing comedy device, isn't it?
-- Best Barneyism: "There's always a hotter girl out there with whom up can be hooked."
-- Another fun throwaway line from Marshall: "Well, dog my cats..."

[Watch clips and free episodes of 'HIMYM' at SlashControl.]