'How I Met Your Mother' react: Robin Sparkles returns...with an edgy twist!
[SPOILER ALERT for those who have yet to see tonight’s episode of How I Met Your Mother]
“I’m so happy right now!” Lily declared towards the end of the episode, and who could blame her? She – as well as viewers – got to witness the fourth (and last?) Robin Sparkles single, “P.S. I Love You,” which featured a suddenly edgy Sparkles singing about a guy she may or may not have been stalking (Rewatch the amazing clip here!) But this episode of How I Met Your Mother showed that obsession can happen to the best of us when romantic gestures can so easily be misconstrued as something either cute or scary, depending on how charmed the recipient is. “There’s a fine line between love and insanity,” Ted explained, “and it’s called the Dobler-Dahmer Theory.” The Dobler-Dahmer Theory is based on the character from Say Anything and the serial killer, and was easily one of the most amusing (and accurate!) terms the show has coined in quite a while. How did this convenient explanation from Ted even come up? From the top!
Ted was out there still looking for love, and he finally thought he’d found his destiny when he saw a girl on the subway reading the same book as him. Before he could ask for her name, she exited the train, dooming their love. But Ted cannot be stopped, so at the bar Ted talked through various ways he could find her. Luckily, Lily and Marshall shut Stalker Ted down. Unluckily, the subway girl, Jeanette (SNL alum Abby Elliott, whose father Chris Elliott portrays Lily’s Dad on the show) was a little bit of a stalker herself, and tracked Ted down at Columbia. Ted is 100% charmed, so he explained to the gang that this was a Dobler, not a Dahmer. Later, when Jeanette confessed that she was the one who pulled the fire alarm at Columbia that made Ted exit and run into her, Ted is still on board. His friends say it’s a stalker move, but Jeanette said the magic words to Ted: She “could not stand the idea of not meeting me,” Ted gushed to his friends.
While the gang debated whether or not this incident was a “meet-cute” or a “stalk-crazy” (Thanks for that one, Lily!), Robin refused to condemn poor Jeanette, and then divulged that someone had a restraining order against Robin herself in Canada. A jealous Barney broke into Robin’s apartment (No good!), read her old diary, and flew to Canada to get to the bottom of which guy prior to him Robin had been head-over-heels in love with. Obsession much?
And here, dear readers, was when things got cameo fun. After interviewing a list of Robin’s old boyfriends, Barney met up with Simon (James Van Der Beek returns!), who informed him that all the answers he was seeking were in Underneath the Tunes: Robin Sparkles, which was a Canadian version of Vh1’s Behind the Music. Learning there was a Robin Sparkles song he’d never seen, Barney hightailed it out of the restaurant back to NYC, and settled in alongside Marshall, Lily and Ted to watch the greatness. And boy was edgy Robin great. “It’s Robin Sparkles 4, y’all” Barney happily declared. The special had Jason Priestley, Paul Shaffer, Alex Trebek, Geddy Lee, Steven Page, k.d. lang, Dave Coulier (“Why does everyone always think it’s me?”) and Alan Thicke all playing themselves as they discussed the day Robin Sparkles – sorry, Robin Daggers — went nuts. It was glorious.
Barney assumes Alan Thicke was the culprit of Robin’s heart, but after “discussing” it with Thicke (a.k.a. Thicke had Barney in a headlock) Barney was forced to admit to Robin that anyone can become obsessed with someone – just like he was with discovering who the person Robin was so in love with could be. After he admitted that, Robin told him who “P. S. I Love You” was about: It was Shaffer. “I’m a total Dahmer” Barney said sadly. “But you’re my Dahmer. Which makes you a Dobler,” Robin replied. For a whole lot of crazy, that was pretty sweet.
Speaking of crazy, at the end of the episode, Ted was still seeing Jeanette when she had another surprise confession: She’d been stalking him since his New York magazine cover a year and a half ago. He’s definitely going to end things, right? Nope! He kissed her instead, and via voiceover explained, “Before a man meets the woman he’s going to marry, he’ll make one final horrible mistake. For me, that was Jeanette.”
So it looks like we’ll definitely be seeing more of Miss Crazy Pants. Excited about that development? What did you think of all the cameos? Did you like Barney’s accidental accent? Which version of Robin Sparkles did you prefer: her carefree “Let’s Go To The Mall” days or her darker period at the Grey Cup? Anyone else charmed by Lily and Marshall’s slightly-crazier-than-originally-thought first meeting? And never fear, your regular recapper Sandra will be back next week.
P.S. I love you! the fact that they got Dave Coulier to do his Full House “Cut It Out” bit. I always liked that joke too, Ted.
Read more:
‘How I Met Your Mother’ scoop: Kyle MacLachlan returning!
‘How I Met Your Mother’ officially renewed for FINAL season
‘How I Met Your Mother’: Five scoops on the rest of the season