What is that?! Short for Zoseph?: A discussion about HIMYM's Ted & Zoey

Wow that was an AMAZING episode!!  No wonder it was brilliant though, it was finally about TED.  I know a lot of people say Ted is their least favorite character (I happen to love Ted).  But when it comes down to it, he is the core of the show.  He is what brings everyone together and is the person taking us on this journey.  When the plot does nothing with his character it just feels like any other sitcom.  How I Met Your Mother is so much more than that.

So back to the episode at hand:  We have all been watching Zoey and Ted bicker back and forth the entire season.  In fact now that I think about it they kind of remind me Joey and Pacey (ha Joey/Zoey).  ANYWAY despite their bickering it has been pretty obvious that there have been sparks all along.  We all knew Ted would someday proclaim his love for her; we just didn’t know when.

Well tonight was finally the night and the writers did a FABULOUS job of writing this episode.  I just love when How I Met Your Mother connects everything.  I was wondering how they were going to handle Marshall in this episode, considering the last two episodes centered around the death of his dad.  I was really afraid they would just drop it for now, but nope they still worked it in!  The episode centered around Marshall being at home in Minnesota and the main characters telling the story through phone calls to him (super unique in my opinion).  Each character called him to discuss a major group dilemma- Ted was in love with Zoey.

I really enjoyed that this all took place with phone calls to Marshall because we got to see the story through each of the character’s eyes.  Every character on HIMYM has unique quirks and those quirks got to shine tonight when it was their turn to tell the story: Robin was of course straight forward,  Barney exaggerated like no other,  Lily dictated which people the group was allowed to “like,”  and Ted was well…Ted (stubborn, blinded by love, the list goes on).  Marshall was acting as mediator which he always does in situations with Ted (i.e. he is the one to calm down Ted’s ex girlfriends) and because of that Marshall was able to piece everything together- it wasn’t just Ted that was in love.

This episode featured Katy Perry as Zoey’s cousin.  She is referred to by her nickname Honey since Ted cannot remember her real name (a good call back to “Blah blah”).  The reason for the nickname is due to her extreme gullibility. She comes into the story when Zoey tries to distance herself from Ted by setting him up with her hot cousin.  Luckily for Zoey, Barney steals Honey away and nothing happens between her and Ted.  Katy Perry played her part perfectly- and surprisingly the episode didn’t center around her.  Usually when guest stars are that big, TV shows tend to make the episode center around the guest star.  Instead the writers used Perry as a device to show that Zoey loved Ted- BRILLIANT. 

In the end, once Marshall pieces everything together he makes two outgoing calls- one to Ted and one to Zoey.  Sidebar: Marshall only does this after explaining the whole situation to his mom and brother through an elaborate set up of cards from the board game Clue.  Ted is in the middle of telling Zoey that he hates her because he knows she is a married woman and wants to keep his distance.  Little does Ted know, Zoey has gotten recently divorced (probably due in part to her feelings for Ted).  Marshall reveals to both Zoey and Ted that they both have mutual feelings for each other and without having to say anything to each other they kiss.  It was SO cute, I almost cried out of happiness (YES I am pathetic when it comes to this show). 

Once I had time to regain composure my happiness turned to ANGER.  I started to think “How dare Carter and Craig allow me to fall in love with Ted and Zoey when they have made it pretty clear that she can NOT be the mother!” The person I have liked Ted the most with prior to him and Zoey was Robin, and I always knew she would never be the mother (despite some crazed fans’ loopy opinions).  After Robin I never really felt like anyone clicked as well with Ted…until Zoey. 

I always liked Zoey prior to this episode.  I liked how she fit in with the group (“THE GENTLEMAN!”).  I liked how she meshed with Ted (Mutual love of architecture).  I liked getting to know her backstory (The captain was hilarious).  Up until this episode I liked Zoey.  But I never fully understood why she was suddenly being tacked on as a member of the gang.  We have been watching this show for almost 6 years, and it is hard for me to just accept someone as “one of the gang” unless they are REALLY important to the story (Yes I know I have returned to being a cliquey teenage drama queen).  Then suddenly tonight I started to love Zoey.  She started to really seem a part of the group, and I wanted to be able to personally accept it.  And when the ending happened and her eyes teared up and Ted kissed her…that sealed the deal for me- I decided I want HER with Ted.   

But like I said before, Carter and Craig have made it nearly impossible for her to be the mother.  So like the crazed Robin/Ted fans out there, I have become my own crazed fan and am trying to come up with some type of loophole that would allow Zoey to be the mother (yep this episode made me lose it- I blame the brilliant writers).  So far I have come up with one theory: perhaps the wedding we saw in “Big Days” happened prior to the beginning of the series.  After all Ted never says when that wedding took place.  We only see Marshall and Lily during that scene, so it is possible this wedding took place after college but before the gang met Robin.  Maybe the writers just threw Punchy in there to make us think the wedding is in the future when really it is in the past (okay now I feel like I am talking about LOST).  Anyway, if it was in the past it’s possible Ted met Zoey years ago and did not remember her when he saw her years later in front of the Arcadia building.  I don’t know…I’m just grasping at straws here.

So do you guys have any theories that could allow Zoey to be the mother? Do you guys have any theories that completely disprove Zoey could be the mother? Do you guys even WANT Zoey to be the mother? Let me know your thoughts!  Oh and this episode was full of WIN.