“Challenge Accepted” is framed as a season finale, with events to push the show into the next season, but it really didn’t feel like one. Everything has been teased for so long that Lily getting pregnant or Marshall potentially getting a job as an environmental lawyer really doesn’t matter to me. I liked the final moment when Lily reveals her pregnancy, but that’s it.
On the bright side, Ted’s plot manages to do two things. Best of all, it forever takes Zoey out of the picture. Yeah, I hate that bitch. The other thing is that it brings up the question whether one should get back together with an ex and whether that can ever be successful. From Ted’s numerous experiences, probably not. But throughout the episode, we see Barney and Robin talking about their past relationship and there’s clearly something going on between the two. Finally, Nora shows up at the end of the episode and Barney wants to get back with her, Robin smiling difficultly in the background.
The episode ends with a big tease, Ted being the best man at Barney’s wedding. Intuition would tell us that the bride is Robin, but we’ve been tricked before. The writers may choose to drag this thing out long for the sake of filling in additional seasons. What if Barney and Nora get married, divorced, and then Barney and Robin marry? That could take up two seasons, which is definitely what the writers want.
Score: 8.7/10
