How I Met Your Mother | 'No Pressure'

Oh ma gadddddd. CONTINUITY! OKAY. Let's get started with this recap of the season 7 episode "No Pressure."
So we left off last week's episode with the revelation that Ted still loves Robin (yes!) and enter this episode with a couple of awkward "yay, we're together again" smooches between the pair. Meanwhile, on Staten Island, Marshall and Lily rush to MacLaren's to console Ted after Robin heads to Russia for a staff trip. Whilst there, Barney searches for an alleged adult film created by the married couple, but stumbles upon a box labeled "Long-Term Bets." Inside are little slips of paper containing bets placed by Marshall and Lily, most notable is Lily betting Marshall that Ted and Robin will never end up together. Ted finds out about Lily and tries to prove her wrong, but begins to suspect Robin is still in love with Barney. Barney explains how, on the night he broke up with Nora, Robin hadn't broken up with Kevin and denied a further relationship with him (Barney). Ted is then confident about his feelings for Robin and picks her up from the airport and treats her to a night out. When the pair returns to the apartment, Ted realizes that Robin is not interested in a relationship with him. Ted informs Robin that he needs a finite answer about her feelings for him and that their whole 'If you're still single when you're forty, we'll get married' deal is now invalid. He asks Robin whether or not she loves him, and after a brief moment of reluctance and tears, Robin says no. Marshall urges Ted to continue to persist his feelings for Robin, and informs Robin that, in order to maintain a healthy friendship with Ted, she must move out of Ted's apartment. At this point, we hear 'Shake It Out' by Florence + the Machine (brilliant placement in the show! I love the song) as Robin packs her things and returns her key to Ted. We leave this plot with a speech from Future Ted stating that when one window closes, another opens, and a final look at the streets of New York packed with women wielding yellow umbrellas. The final scene of the episode consists of Marshall and Lily sitting in bed, and Lily requesting Marshall pay for his loss of the bet. Marshall replies with, "Not yet."

I absolutely LOVED this episode, especially considering I ship Ted and Robin till the end. I am so pleased that the creators have decided to get back on track with the whole character-driven aspect of HIMYM. I'm entirely glad that Kevin is out of the way, yet I really want a definite answer to the whole "will they/won't they" thing with Ted and Robin. It will be interesting to see where Robin's romantic life ends up, but let's hope it doesn't return to Kevin.

This episode, as well as the previous one ("The Drunk Train"), will be discussed at length on the next episode of the podcast.