TV Review: How I Met Your Mother: "The End Of The Aisle" 9x22

It's taken nine seasons and 206 episodes for it to happen...but Barney Stinson is now a married man. The journey of Barney has been one of the most compelling story arcs throughout How I Met Your Mother's entire run.

There have been numerous laughs, some tears (mainly from laughing so hard), but a shocking amount of heart.

Barney has probably been the most surprising and most fully developed character to come out of these nine seasons, and to see everything come down to this was a joy to watch.

Looking at Barney's arc, he started off as a man who only cared about scoring, being demeaning, and high fiving his friends at any given moment. Barney became the most quotable character in a show full of wonderful quotes and hilarious gags.

But credit has to be given to creators/writers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas who have always had a vision for Barney and his future in the show.

Barney is conflicted, afraid, and just desperate for some love and affection from a missing father figure.

As the show has continued down its current path, Barney had set his sights on one person and only one person: Robin Scherbatsky. He worked hard to gain her love and affection and he made it a point to be direct with her (aside from...telling lie after lie while attempting to pull off The Robin).

Barney went from a player to a man in love and willing to do what he has to for the woman he loves.

And I thank Bays and Thomas for that since if we had to continue watching Barney go through his antics for nine seasons...it would have worn off after a while.

Over the last few seasons, How I Met Your Mother has had a tough time remaining a consistently good show. Some episodes had some laughs, some episodes had some heart, but unlike the first few seasons of the show these episodes had difficulty balancing the two.

The End Of The Aisle wasn't a perfect episode or a perfect wedding for Barney and Robin, but it was done well enough that fans will enjoy what's in front of them.

Getting down to the meat of the episode now...

Robin, of course, would begin to get cold feet for her wedding confiding in Ted that because her locket never turned up she feels her marriage to Barney just isn't right. She had always hoped Barney would have found it and returned it to her but the fact he didn't worries her so much to the point where she feels like she has to run from the wedding.

Ted, having tracked down the locket, gives it to Barney so Barney can give it to Robin. Robin sees through this and asks Ted about how he retrieved the locket.

After hearing Ted tell the story of everything he went through for the locket, Robin wonders if she had made the wrong choice in choosing Barney. She began to feels that she belongs with Ted, who time after time has gone above and beyond for her.

What it pretty much comes down to is Ted, someone who genuinely loves Robin and has done everything to win her heart, or Barney, someone who for so long was just a really terrible, terrible person.

But, as Ted says, love is nonsensical.

I'd go on to talk about the storyline involving Barney, Marshall, and Lily, but it's really just there to take up time. It centers on Barney struggling with his vows and Marshall and Lily offering to help him out.

Only Barney makes a point to show how Marshall and Lily have betrayed the vows they both said. It's honestly not that interesting and drags down the episode.

Season nine has been tough to sit through...there have been more misses than hits and unfortunately the show isn't utilizing it's best tool properly: The Mother. I understand that this season is supposed to lead up to the meeting of Ted and The Mother.

But seeing flashforwards and seeing The Mother meeting every other member of the group usually leads to some of the best moments of the season.

Unfortunately, they're few and far between. Next week will be the two part series finale of How I Met Your Mother and while it's a long time coming...it'll be a sad day.