As a kind of “prep” for Monday night’s final season premiere of How I Met Your Mother, I took it upon myself to watch some old (seasons 1-4) and some not-so-old (season 8) episodes of what has become the last sitcom I really care about.  I made a point of rewatching season eight’s weirdest episode, “The Time Travelers.”  The episode takes the shows knack for multiple time-lines to the point of credulity as Ted meets both Teds and Barneys from the near and relatively distant future as he tries to decide on whether or not to go to “Robots versus Wrestlers” alone.  Time goes all timey-wimey when we find out that the event has already taken place and that Ted has been trapped in desperate loneliness (which is saying something).  And then, somehow, he makes a run for it:

If it wasn’t Ted, it would be an over-the-top moment.  But he nails it, and necessarily so.  The guy is totally alone, left only with imaginary conversations, while those he loves the most have gotten on with their lives.  Sobering moment, but one worth remembering as the show turns the page and the Mother is introduced.