TMC
08-12-2025, 01:16 AM
https://jacksonupperco.com/2025/08/12/the-ten-best-how-i-met-your-mother-episodes-of-season-four/
Season Four is popular — it netted the series its only Outstanding Comedy Emmy nod, and I’ve often seen it cited as fans’ favorite, with well-liked entries that reflect the show’s idea-driven humor via episodic notions boasting a Seinfeld-ian sense of named minutiae. It’s also lauded for its treatment of Barney, whose crush on Robin not only grants emotional depth to his character, but also further pushes him to the fore, where he, as the series’ most comedically defined regular, can shine. However, I don’t love Four. I think it’s a comedown in quality because it doesn’t feature the situation well — specifically, the premise of Ted recounting to his future kids how he met their mom. As the novelty inherent to this setup continues to dwindle and the show has to stretch and stall to sustain an elongating run, this year struggles to maintain its emphasis on the premise in both its stories and storytelling. Beyond a brief arc where Ted is engaged to the bland-yet-functional Stella, there are few entries with any kind of narrative tension related to this series-specific focus. (And those tend to be more serious than funny!) What’s more, the primary means of this sitcom’s self-expression has heretofore come from its storytelling — flashy plot gimmicks highlighting the unreliable narrator framework — and Four essentially runs out of fresh ways to do this, ultimately deciding just to try less.
Season Four is popular — it netted the series its only Outstanding Comedy Emmy nod, and I’ve often seen it cited as fans’ favorite, with well-liked entries that reflect the show’s idea-driven humor via episodic notions boasting a Seinfeld-ian sense of named minutiae. It’s also lauded for its treatment of Barney, whose crush on Robin not only grants emotional depth to his character, but also further pushes him to the fore, where he, as the series’ most comedically defined regular, can shine. However, I don’t love Four. I think it’s a comedown in quality because it doesn’t feature the situation well — specifically, the premise of Ted recounting to his future kids how he met their mom. As the novelty inherent to this setup continues to dwindle and the show has to stretch and stall to sustain an elongating run, this year struggles to maintain its emphasis on the premise in both its stories and storytelling. Beyond a brief arc where Ted is engaged to the bland-yet-functional Stella, there are few entries with any kind of narrative tension related to this series-specific focus. (And those tend to be more serious than funny!) What’s more, the primary means of this sitcom’s self-expression has heretofore come from its storytelling — flashy plot gimmicks highlighting the unreliable narrator framework — and Four essentially runs out of fresh ways to do this, ultimately deciding just to try less.