Ted Mosby Is(?) a Jerk
Jan. 25th, 2010 01:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jetpack_monkeyI'm kind of half-assed still working on the HIMYM chronology while I clip for my Barney/Robin vid, but I noticed something fascinating that can't really be explained away by Future!Ted as unreliable narrator.
The relevant episodes/events are these:
Ten Sessions: Somewhere between Ted's seventh and eighth sessions, Barney visits Stella's clinic. We know that Barney lies to Ted about what happens at the visit -- he doesn't really overhear Stella complain about her folliculaphilia. Let's assume that the stinger on the ep (Barney hitting on Abby the receptionist) is what actually happened. This works because other episodes have shown that the stingers can take place at any point in the episode (like in "Stuff", when Marshall gets in the second slap). It's possible that Barney visits twice or that the first visit was a complete fabrication and he only visits after Ted's treatment is complete, but the proposed scenario seems to work best for Barney's character.
No Tomorrow: March 17, 2008, St. Patrick's Day. Ted goes out with Barney to a party and plays tonsil hockey with a woman who turns out to be married.
Ten Sessions again: During Ted's tenth and final session, Stella says the only party she went to within the last year was on St. Patrick's Day, firmly placing the last session after that day.
The Bracket: This episode opens on a Saturday immediately after the 2008 NCAA Division I basketball tournament has begun, putting it on March 22, 2008 -- six days after "No Tomorrow". Barney discovers that a mysterious woman (later revealed to be Abby in "Everything Must Go") has been following him around.
Based on this, there are two scenarios for when Ted's sessions take place (since the show doesn't tie them to any particular date) and neither paint him in a very positive light.
First, "The Bracket" takes place after the end of "Ten Sessions." So, in a single week, Ted has gone to a party with one set of girls, ditched them, and made out with another girl -- all knowing that later that week, he's going to ask Stella out. Real smooth, Teddy boy.
Second, like "No Tomorrow" and "The Platinum Rule", "The Bracket" takes place during "Ten Sessions." Ted doesn't mention Stella, so it's no problem. It would need to take place after Ted's seventh session but (obviously) before his tenth. Therefore, "No Tomorrow" would take place after Ted's sixth session but before his ninth -- so he's still planning to ask Stella out after the tenth session. Ted gets a little more leeway in this scenario, I guess, but his actions in "No Tomorrow" are definitely more jerktastic than originally presented.
The relevant episodes/events are these:
Ten Sessions: Somewhere between Ted's seventh and eighth sessions, Barney visits Stella's clinic. We know that Barney lies to Ted about what happens at the visit -- he doesn't really overhear Stella complain about her folliculaphilia. Let's assume that the stinger on the ep (Barney hitting on Abby the receptionist) is what actually happened. This works because other episodes have shown that the stingers can take place at any point in the episode (like in "Stuff", when Marshall gets in the second slap). It's possible that Barney visits twice or that the first visit was a complete fabrication and he only visits after Ted's treatment is complete, but the proposed scenario seems to work best for Barney's character.
No Tomorrow: March 17, 2008, St. Patrick's Day. Ted goes out with Barney to a party and plays tonsil hockey with a woman who turns out to be married.
Ten Sessions again: During Ted's tenth and final session, Stella says the only party she went to within the last year was on St. Patrick's Day, firmly placing the last session after that day.
The Bracket: This episode opens on a Saturday immediately after the 2008 NCAA Division I basketball tournament has begun, putting it on March 22, 2008 -- six days after "No Tomorrow". Barney discovers that a mysterious woman (later revealed to be Abby in "Everything Must Go") has been following him around.
Based on this, there are two scenarios for when Ted's sessions take place (since the show doesn't tie them to any particular date) and neither paint him in a very positive light.
First, "The Bracket" takes place after the end of "Ten Sessions." So, in a single week, Ted has gone to a party with one set of girls, ditched them, and made out with another girl -- all knowing that later that week, he's going to ask Stella out. Real smooth, Teddy boy.
Second, like "No Tomorrow" and "The Platinum Rule", "The Bracket" takes place during "Ten Sessions." Ted doesn't mention Stella, so it's no problem. It would need to take place after Ted's seventh session but (obviously) before his tenth. Therefore, "No Tomorrow" would take place after Ted's sixth session but before his ninth -- so he's still planning to ask Stella out after the tenth session. Ted gets a little more leeway in this scenario, I guess, but his actions in "No Tomorrow" are definitely more jerktastic than originally presented.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-26 01:00 am (UTC)I'm still not seeing anything that you can't explain away.
Or, Ted's a jerk. Most good people are jerks sometimes. So that may be the case, too.
Personally, I don't think there is a way to accurately reconstruct this. You can only construct "This is how Ted remembers it. Huh.". There is no objectivity in that show.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-26 02:16 am (UTC)Now, when Barney actually went to Stella's office is another matter, but it still puts St. Patrick's Day squarely within the ten-week period of Ten Sessions no matter how you slice it.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-26 02:30 am (UTC)Still more times, especially in regards to Barney, the show goes way past the restraints/omissions that Future!Ted the narrator frequently imposes.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-26 12:33 pm (UTC)Also, the scenes with the kids are happening 20 years in the future, right? Well, heavens, sure, he's remembering St. Patrick's Day as being the party where such-and-such happened in 2008, but I know I mix up when things like that happen all the time. For example, in 2001, I went to parties at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and New Year's Eve, all with basically the same people. I can't remember what happened at which one a mere 9 years later, so if I were trying to relay the story of, say, the Thanksgiving party in 2021, I am very likely to incorrectly report it as having happened at the New Year's Eve party.
This is not to say Ted's not a jerk. He really often is, but I still think he's good people. :)