Why Barney Stinson NEEDED To Change

NPH actually gave his perspective on this in an interview where he said Barney was so terrible because Ted told the story like that to his kids so that he looks like a better match for Robin.

Hmm, interesting video! Barney clearly has some questionable actions when it comes to women. He does get better over time, especially in Season 6, 8 and 9, but one thing that is fairly consistent throughout the show is his number 1 priority, his friendships. Aside from maybe Marshall, Barney is undoubtedly the best friend in the group. He cares the most about them and goes out of his way to make sure that his friends are okay. "Whatever you do in this life, it's not legendary unless your friends are there to see it"

The thing I hated though was that they built up this whole thing with Robin for several seasons and he had a huge arch. But then in the last episode he divorces Robin and goes back to one night stands. For me it destroyed all the work they did just to put Robin and Ted back together

I think why Barney is probably one of the best characters in the show because he has multiple character arcs like an actual person, an actual person changes with time and will go back and forth whereas a lot of characters in shows change to one thing but don’t go back

That last Barney moment of him with his baby, reciting the line he emptily told to a random girl, with full emotion.... I bawled. I love this show. I know every line to every episode.

I don't think Barney's changes were unearned in the early seasons. The writers gave us a glimpse of what Barney really is like as himself in Game Night. Barney has always been a hopeless romantic. He just felt so defeated that he decides to mimic Greg's behavior to shield him from any future emotional pain. Remember, Barney has been playing a long game to get revenge on Greg, by first behaving just like Greg and playing dumb to earn his trust, and then sending him to jail, all because Greg stole Shannon away from him. Barney also uses the same guise to hide his yearning for a family of his own, a wish that he had since his father left him. To me, I think the desire for a family might even take precedence over the hopeless romantic he is deep inside. So every time Barney stops being a womanizer, I don't see it as an unearned character development, I see it as Barney's shield cracking and the real Barney is revealed for a brief moment.

I disagree completely. The first hint of Barney and Robin is shown in 1x14 "Zip, Zip, Zip"; we get a brief rundown of reasons why they would work as a couple. And then in 1x15 "Game Night" we see Barney's backstory of how he became what he is. It doesn't justify his actions but it does show that his womanizing ways were always a defense mechanism after getting dumped. In 2x19 "Bachelor Party", we find out he brought Lily back. Moments like these are sprinkled throughout the early seasons showing that while he might be a jerk, he is always a good friend when it matters. Barney was always capable of being loyal and honest, but he just didn't have a reason to be. There are plenty of external factors that lead Barney to want to be in a relationship: seeing his brother get married, being hit by a bus, and patching things with his father. His character didn't need to be "redeemed" he needed to mature as a person outside of a relationship, which he did. That's why Barney is still the best character on HIMYM. He's interesting, nuanced, immensely loyal to his friends, and funny. He is a terrible person, but a GREAT character.

I’ve always assumed that the fact that Barney had a daughter that he loved, and who would eventually start dating, meant that he’d have to live the hell of constantly worrying that she would be victimized like he did to so many woman. That sounds like some karmic payback for sure.

I think early Barney's lack of accountability was intentional bc it furthers his caricature of "that guy". Also you didn't touch on his backstory—Barney didn't start out as a terrible person 😆

I just finished this show in 2023 almost 10 years after it finished airing and it left me feeling empty. Somehow this show is irreplaceable, nothing I watch will ever fill the void this show left upon the finale. Wish I could watch it over and over again for the first time.

Interesting! I have to disagree that Barney was totally reprehensible in the earlier seasons. Very early on the writers established Barney’s fear of attachment both because of his father and because several of the people closest to him early on in his life deserted him. So underneath the skeevy stunts he pulls, you never lose that underneath he is hurting. So when you see glimpses of Barney and Robin early on, you’re like “oh! That’s someone who Barney can give his whole heart too.” To the point that Barney spends that episode learning from Ted how to be better at dating Robin. All that to say I do think it was smart in the later seasons that Barney had to suffer through the Nora and Quinn stuff to complete his character arc. Especially when you consider the alt finale where he and Robin stay together. He moves on from his old life and embraces his new one with Robin and his daughter.

One thing I often hear as a justification for Barney's behavior is that the whole show is a story told from Ted's point of view, so those things may not have really happened and really just be Ted exaggerating his friend's quirk. I think there's a discussion to be had there, since on the one hand none of fiction "really happened" so using the "it was all a dream" (or "story" in this case) explanation is almost never valid: all you're doing is adding a meta-universe above the main one, but I can still examine the events as they happen in the canon of the story within the story. On the other hand though HIMYM is a show that explicitly plays with it being a story, including meta elements like Ted not remembering some detail, or him censoring certain things for his kids, so in this case it may indeed be a valid point...

Love barney, felt like his character got a lot of growth, then they made him a playboy all over again just to be a single father…out of NOWHERE… you’re telling me after years of hook ups all of a sudden Barney gets sloppy? Immaculate Barney? It could’ve been really great, him with Robin… I just refuse to acknowledge the ending. I think that’s all I have to say

I think what Barney endearing despite being a manchild with so many wrongdoings (especially towards women) was his effort. He's one to take action whenever he sets himself on a goal. Some could be manipulative and some are just truly sweet, but he'll always go all in. It's what most of us wish we could do in real life.

This video is gonna be Legen.....wait for it.... Dary. Legendary!

Admittedly Barney is a horrible person for what he's done to so many girls, but he somehow wins over the audience with his backstory and his redemption arc with Robin in the later seasons. As much as the writers tried to make Ted the main character, I think Barney stole that role from him because there was simply so much depth to his character.

I don’t know that you can say it didn’t work though. Barney was everyone’s favorite character up until like 2017. Like every fan list or poll had him as the favorite character

I mean there’s all the usual overexplained issues with Barney and the show as a whole, but I take issue with thinking he “turned into” a loving and caring father. 1. Everyone knows the show’s ending sucks. Barney was the one meant for Robin and they made the mistake of “keeping the ending so the stuff they filmed with the kids worked,” killing seasons of actual growth and change in one go. More importantly, Robin and Ted STILL don’t work, certainly not better than Barney, because she’s still wanting to do the globetrotting journalist thing, and Ted’s not done raising kids. They’re still at an age where they need a permanent support system and he’s more locked down than Barney. 2. The problem with him becoming a “loving father” is that not only is he shoved into that role in literally the last episode of the show, but he doesn’t even bother to remember the name of the mother of “the love of his life.” I get it, my parents didn’t have a good relationship either, but my parents cared enough about me to refer to each other as their literal names. And I don’t buy the showrunner’s BS about life not having happy endings or following natural progressions and change- yeah, we end up in places we never expect, often suddenly and unexpectedly, but you can follow the chain of events that leads you there.

Hearing you mention how Barney and Robin's relationship first started and how we're rooting for them to end up together was kinda funny considering I started rooting for them since season 1 episode 14 when they hang out together by themselves LMAOOO

The only reason why Barney was written this way is because the writers were wishy-washy with how to write this character. Barney is NOT one noted he is a multi-layered character. He was introduced as a one noted character but he becomes a character who DID grow and found who he is. Barney was also well rounded as a person. He was a good friend, a great son and brother, he was someone who actually does believe in love/relationships (helping Marshall and Lily get back together, helping his friends find jobs, helping Robin stay in the country, actually believing in Robin as a career woman and being her biggest supporter. He also doesn't want her to change just because they get married) Barney on the surface of the person he was/is is a funny, but broken person who puts everyone else's feelings ahead of his and actually wants to grow and change. Robin, was his first real love/relationship after Shannon broke his heart. Robin is his true love and soulmate, and he is hers. Barney and Robin meet only because Ted obsessively wants what Marshall and Lily have but doesn't actually see Robin as a person or what she wants, he treated Barney terribly and was one of the worst characters I've ever seen, even worse than Ross. Ted is supposed to be this nice guy but all he was a miserable shmuck. Barney actually had internal issues, that he needed to overcome while Ted obsesses over love and trying to find the one without respecting any of the women he obsesses over. Robin being the main one, who not only wanted different things than Ted, but she had character development that had nothing to do with Ted (the creators wanted Ted in the center of everyone's attention but really everyone had their own lives) Robin's whole character assassination turned her into what Ted wanted NOT what she wanted) while Barney and Robin grew as people they realized that their breakup was premature and wanted to be together but the writers decided to retcon the whole series to be all about Ted. While killing off the mother/tracy and undermining the character arcs that happened in 7 seasons. Tracy and Robin deserved better, but that's not my point. Barney Stinson was just really broken man/person, who hides his true self behind his womanizing but that lifestyle never made him happy that's why him getting married and being happy with Robin DOES work for him. Because the creators had an idea at the beginning of the series does not mean it was a good idea. Barney and Robin should have stayed together, adopted or tried some other way to have a kid instead they had him have one with a stranger he never cared about. They literally erased five seasons of Barney growing and becoming someone's partner to give him an ending meant for season 1/2/3 at best. Barney and Robin were so good together, and for each other. They loved each other for exactly who they are. Ted's character development only happened because of Tracy and yet he is the same person at 50? as he was when he was 20/30. Barney and Robin had their character development wiped because the creators of the show couldn't look past their smurf penis.