A good romance author will tell you that kissing and even sex are not markers of intimacy.

They all prevaricate about her, but they all do it in different ways. This is more about the other characters than it is about Robin.

This is the reality of the Manic Pixie characters: they can't really function.

Stereotype characters are often a sign of lazy writing. This episode gives us a good example of when to use shortcuts.

Ted can’t tell a short version of a story to save his life, so this is the principle we’re learning: postponing a reveal.

If you’ve gotten to the end of the story, and you don’t feel like you’ve earned it, you need to back up.

This episode is funny and has cute moments, but from fifteen years in the future, a lot of it feels like it’s striking the wrong tone. In...

This week, we are talking about Red Herrings and the awesome payoff you get when you execute them well, so we need to start talking about...

This episode opens up with Lily and Marshall eating pancakes and Lily assumes that she and Marshall are gonna get married. Marshall...

The episode opens with the guys hanging out in a coffee shop where two main things happen. 1. The barista has a crush on Marshall and he...

This week, we “plop” you right into the episode without giving you any backstory. This is a concept that writers refer to as “in media...

The episode begins with Marshall casually looking at Robin’s butt as she walks away, and while Marshall is super embarrassed about it,...

This episode opens at the bar, where we learn that Ted is turning 28. He gets some food and Lily feels the need to touch the plate to...

This is the only episode in the entire series to start with “previously”s. It shows some background info: Ted is in a long-distance...

This episode starts on Marshall as a kid, reading a book about an anthropologist studying gorillas. Then he takes her seminar and she...

This episode opens up with Ted and Victoria being kind of adorable in their new relationship. We cut to Marshall coloring up his butt so...