No to Zoey, Yes to Nora

CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" has been a favorite of mine since I discovered it while working on finals about two years ago (because isn't avoiding studying the best way to discover new entertainment?) Season six has been an interesting mix, with some great individual episodes (the introduction of Robin Sparkles' pal Jessica Glitter, the race to see who is the most savvy at NYC's numerous forms of transportation), but some less than awesome ongoing story lines. My least favorite of the bunch? This season's introduction of Ted's irritating love interest Zoey — a story line which I begrudgingly watched continue in last night's episode "Garbage Island."

Zoey (played by Jennifer Morrison) first appeared in the season six episode "Architect of Destruction" as an activist trying to save a building that Ted needs to knock down in order to design the new GNB building. We learn in later episodes that she's married to a man deemed "The Captain," but still I don't think anybody was surprised that her and Ted's "enemy" relationship inevitably became romantic. Two weeks ago, Zoey revealed she was getting a divorce, allowing Ted and Zoey to embark on their long-awaited relationship. Which brings us to last night where Ted had to confront the Captain while going to pick up some of Zoey's old stuff from her apartment (it's unclear to me though why Zoey couldn't do this herself). The Captain, who considers Ted a confidante, is distraught over the knowledge that someone has stolen his ex-wife — he just doesn't know it's the Ted in the room. This whole story line felt a little off because while yes, the Captain and Zoey aren't together and she and Ted should be able to date, there was something about Ted trying to get the Captain off his trail that all seemed pretty snide. In the end I just felt uncomfortable and while Zoey gave some metaphor at the end about turning "broken eggs into omelets" that wasn't doing it for me, I can only hope that we get to see the Captain in a happier state down the road.

Plot lines aside, I just think Zoey is probably the most off-putting character to ever date Ted (although season one's Victoria is right up there) so it's incredibly difficult to see why Ted likes her (example: she followed him home and egged his apartment once... come on, you're like 30, not 13). She comes across as incredibly obnoxious and antagonistic — honestly just supremely annoying. And maybe I'm not remembering it, but did she just give up on protecting that building she was sooo adamant about saving?? At least I was able to breathe easy when last night future Ted confirmed that Zoey is 100% not the mother. It didn't seem logical considering other info viewers know about the mother, but having a confirmation was great. Now here's just to hoping that she leaves soon and Ted can get a cool new girlfriend sooner rather than later.

A cool girl like.... Nora! No no, unfortunately she's not for you to date Ted, but rather there appears to be some fun story lines on the future with Barney's infatuation with Robin's friend. Although Robin and Barney's relationship was fairly disastrous, some of the show's most fun was the end of season three to season four when Barney was sincerely pining over cool girl Robin. Honestly, Barney's womanizing schtick has never been my favorite part of the show, so it's great to see the terrific Neil Patrick Harris terrificially playing the reluctant guy in love. Though we haven't seen much of her yet, Nora (played by Nazanin Boniadi) seems genuinely cool — she not only called Barney out on his attempt to pick her up on "Desperation Day" BUT she also joined him for a game of laser tag — so here's to hoping that she sticks around long after Zoey does. Until next week...