Rather than giving an in depth synopsis of this season, I will just hit on the high points. After all, throughout season six there are a number of twists, turns and exciting episodes that reconnect to major recurring themes that make How I Met Your Mother so popular. Of course, this season continues on promising to find Ted’s future wife, the mother; but this is a very minor subpoint for this seasons vast storylines. One of the major continuing stories of this season are the pregnancy of Lily and Marshall. They continue trying to have a baby, and in one episode there is a shock during these attempts.
Along with this, is the obligatory relationship for Ted. This time it takes off in a budding romance with an activist named Zoey. She is introduced as a person trying to stop GNB from destroying an old decrepit New York landmark that Ted designed. Oh, that is right, Ted goes back to being an architect and working for GNB along with Barney and Marshall. The romance is fraught with drama and passion, and culminates with an explosion that made quite the comedy.
This shocking season continues with the twists and turns of Barney. I won’t tell you where or how; but there is finally the appearance of his doppelganger, and boy is it a shock. There are intense mentions of his father that culminates with them finally meeting. His father, Jerry, has changed and Barney spends more than one episode connecting with his father and trying to bring back the wild child in him. This addition of the father, really shows where Barney gets many of his character traits. Along with the mention of his father, Barney also meets a girl this season. This really plays a role in understanding his growth during the previous seasons.
Of course, who can leave out Robin. In season six of How I Met Your Mother it was a very bad year for Robin. She continues working at her talk show, until she is finally forced to quit by the bubbily new co-star they saddle her with. While Robin lands an even better job, this is fraught with hardships for our girl. Not only does Robin take a hit in her personal life, but Robin Sparkles also comes back out to play. More than one episode shows us insight and comic antics from the former child pop star. This includes, in my humble opinion, the best comic bit of the season. The beaver song, if nothing else google it.
While there are many more shocks, laughs and plot points that happen this season there are too many to list. However, I will tell you one thing about Ted’s wife. He meets her at a wedding. Shockingly, this is not any random person’s wedding; but I am not going to ruin that surprise. Just do not be drinking anything when you watch the last episode.
Normally, I would detail each actor in depth, while discussing their character and progression. However, with How I Met Your Mother, the characters are so engrained into the actors that there is no need. Each plays their roles with panache, as is obvious from the previous five seasons of the show. While there are no permanent additions to the group, there are however an astounding number of guest stars and recurring characters. Jennifer Morrison (House) plays Zoey and does an admirable job stepping into the role of comedy. Another recurring character is Nazanin Boniadi who plays Nora. I will not tell you what part she plays, but this minx does a great job at it. Along with these two new recurring characters, there are also an amazing variety of guest stars. Three of the most amazing are Katy Perry, Maury Povich and Jorge Garcia (LOST). These three people created a great shock and brought much to each appearance.
Where the season six DVD of How I Met Your Mother shines is in the special features. I am usually very critical of the special features, but in How I Met Your Mother, there is an amazing smorgasbord to choose from. Each of the three DVDs in this season has specific special features associated with the selected episodes on each individual DVD. This targeting of special features is a major separation from the majority of DVDs I come across, and is really quite a refreshing innovation.
Of course, each DVD has at least one commentary episode. The great thing about these commentaries is that each episode provides a different and new viewpoint from the previous. This is done mainly through the choice of people making the commentaries. Each commentary was done by two unique individual combinations. For example one episode is commented on by the producers; while the second episode, of the first DVD, has one of the producers and Josh Radnor (Ted). This use of combination really creates a unique look into the experiences and insights of the making of How I Met Your Mother.
Each DVD also comes with deleted scenes. While this is a common occurrence, How I Met Your Mother season six makes it more personal once again. Each of the deleted scenes are connected back to the episodes on each individual DVD. This creates the unity between watching eight episodes then the funny additions that is not present in many collections today.
On most of the DVDs there is a specific special feature that, once again, corresponds to a specific episode. These honestly were the best part of the entire How I Met Your Mother season six collection. The first of these features is a making of section for the episode called “subway wars”. In this special feature the director and actors show what it was like making one of the most notable episodes of this season. This not only gives insight into the one episode and the cast, but also about what intense actions go into creating each episode of How I Met Your Mother. Another of the special episode features is the behind the scenes excerpt from the episode titled “Glitter”. If it isn’t apparent, this is the major Robin Sparkles episode of season six. Not only does this excerpt show a sense of the background actions in creating an episode of How I Met Your Mother; it also connects back to the hilarious Robin Sparkles subplot. This subplot goes behind the scene of the creation of the Canadian kids program. This is almost as funny as the actual episode, especially since it includes bloopers and other scenes that really capture the aura of the episode.
Along with these two behind the scenes videos there is also a special compilation entitled what we know about your mother. This compilation goes through the previous girls that Ted has dated and told how and why each woman will not secretly be the mother of the story. The story begins with “Here are some things about your mother that you already know; and here are some things that I have never told you before” and goes from there. This includes a number of flashbacks and montages. This is great because it was a great recap of the previous six seasons. Along with this wrap-up, there are a number of other interesting points that are brought up. Points about the mother that I either did not know or forgot to recognize from the previous seasons; as well as special upcoming insights that have never before been released.
Through all of the work put into the creation of the sixth season of How I Met Your Mother DVD package, there exists a hilarious way to spend a weekend or two. These episodes and special features are not only fun to watch once; but many times. Personally, I have watched the special features two or three times each; and it was for pure pleasure, not in the process of writing this review. If you are a hardcore fan of the How I Met Your Mother series, I would definitely recommend picking this DVD collection up. However, this is a culmination season and with so many of the previous subplots being reused and updated someone who is not familiar with this season will probably be lost. I would recommend starting from the beginning as a new viewer. Other than that, a great buy.