Wanting to Know How I Met Your Mother

Okay, there's really only one thing to discuss about last night's television (outside of the awesomeness of Top Gear, but I'll that slide this week) — is Sarah Chalke Ted Mosby's future wife? Was she intended to be Ted's wife prior to the possibility that Scrubs was going to be picked up for another season? How has the writers' strike affected all these things? Does it matter? Was the episode good enough that we can all just sit back, relax, and let everything unfold?

Wow, apparently there's more than one question… who knew? But, I'm going to start with the last question first (and maybe only). I think that the episode was good enough that while we ought to be curious about the rest of the questions, they are not at the fore of the issue. Seriously, while the show wasn't quite back in top form last night (there was really nothing for the rest of the gang to do), it was a solid effort and certainly a better one than last week.

They even brought back Ranjit. Ranjit — the taxi, and sometimes limo, driver that the show makes use of on an irregular basis. And, as an example, that's why the show is wonderful. Last night a recurring character recurred in order for him to have something like three lines none of which consisted of more than two words and he was never in a close-up. The show could have just as easily brought in a different driver and never showed his face at all. They didn't do that though, that's not the kind of folks they are (or maybe those aren't the folks I like to think of them as being). There's a level of dedication to the show on the part of the producers that I think really shines through, and that, my friends, is why it should be back next season.

As for whether Dr. Reid is Ted's wife… I'm not even going to fathom a guess. The producers have certainly given us a bunch of breadcrumbs leading us to believe that she is (going out on St. Patrick's day, heading home early, and that kind of thing). But, I'm not ready to commit. It seems like the path is too well laid at this point for it to be right. I'm expecting more of a jarring "and that's how I met your mother" rather than a smooth linear story.