NOTHING is as bad as "We finally made paintball cool again". Nothing. Ever.

This kind of illustrates to me that S3 and S5 basically had opposite problems. S3 occasionally took itself too seriously and got bogged down in its own arcs. S5, on the other hand, didn't quite take itself seriously enough and didn't really bother with any sort of connection between episodes. I wonder if S5's looser…

I'm team Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality. (#TeamBondage?)

They totally used that music in Intro to Teaching. Intro to Teaching was probably the closest the show has ever gotten to replicating the feel of Seasons 1 & 2.

I agree, but ultimately I didn't mind too much. There were still some brilliant moments and episodes that stack up with the show at its best. The first 3 seasons are an amazing story in their own right, but I don't think the show is worse off for having this "bonus season", and I think it was pretty vital to the…

Seriously, does *anything* run into May anymore?

Erik really liked Basic Story, though.

Yeah, that storyline proves the writers can use Annie to amazing results when they really try. (I do think this has been a pretty strong season for her, though.)

Eh, I don't think ratings really matter at this point. If it gets renewed, it'll be for a final season victory lap solely for the fans. It could air on Saturday mornings for all anyone cares.

Maybe we'll get a final season relaunch with the gang traveling to Chicago?

Yeah, this struck me as a rewrite of AITF.

Is this the darkest thing the show has ever done?

Sure, but it was the conclusion to the story the show had been telling from the beginning. I just don't think you can write it off the way you can with Roseanne's strange, self-contained and mostly non-canon final season.

But like I said, the entire final season of Roseanne was so weird and different from what came before that you can just seperate it from the rest of the show and nothing changes. HIMYM was very dependant on its end - you *can't* ignore it.

I sort of wonder how the show will play in syndicated reruns now. So many big fans of the show have said they just can't imagine seeing the show in a positive light after the ending that I can legitimately see the show fading and its legacy being hurt. HIMYM always seemed like the kind if show that was approachable…

The girl in Unquiet Dead commented on Rose's clothing, but yeah, I can't remember any other instance of it.

Yeah, I was surprised no one mentioned Human Nature/The Family of Blood in this discussion, which actually used the lack of power/respect Martha had in the 1800s to add to the conflict of the story.

B-

It's nice that Parks has lived long enough to overstay its welcome and make us all wish it hadn't lived that long. Every show deserves that chance!

Oh my fucking God, the cat movie. That was beyond perfect.